translated the New Testament into Ethiopic, using the Geez character, which was equally unknown, unless in Tigré. The saving of time and labour would have been very material to him; he would have used the whole Scriptures, as received in his own church, and the Greek letter and language would have been just as easily attained in Amhara as the Geez; and those people, even of the province of Tigré, that had not yet learned to read, would have written the Greek character as easily as their own. I do not know that there was any Arabic translation of the Old Testament so early; if there was, the same reasons would have militated for his preferring this; and still he had but the New Testament to undertake. But having found the books of the Old Testament already translated into Geez, this altered the case; and he, very properly, continued the Gospel in that language and letter also, that it might be a testimony for the Christians, and against the Jews, as it was intended.

CHAP. VII.

Books in Use in Abyssinia-Enoch-Abyssinia not converted by the Apostles-Conversion from Judaism to Christianity by Frumentius.

THE Abyssinians have the whole Scriptures entire

as we have, and reckon the same number of books; but they divide them in another manner, at least in private hands; few of them, from extreme poverty, being able to purchase the whole, either of the historical or prophetical books of the Old Testament. The same may be said of the New; for copies containing the whole of it are very scarce. Indeed, no where, except in churches, do you see more than the Gospels, or the Acts of the Apostles, in one person's possession, and it must not be an ordinary man that possesses even these *.

The following is a list of the Ethiopic MSS. brought from Gondar by Mr Bruce :

I. The Old Testament, in five large quarto volumes, each about a foot in length and breadth. These contain all the books in our canon, except the Psalms, and several of the Apocrypha.

II. Two copies of the Gospels, in four volumes, two of which are in small quarto, answering in size to the two volumes which contain the writings of the apostles, and the rest of the New Testament, mentioned in No. IV.

Many books of the Old Testament are forgot, so that it is the same trouble to procure them, even in churches, for the purpose of copying, as to consult old records, long covered with dust and rubbish. The revelation of St John is a piece of favourite reading

III. The Synodos, or Constitutions of the Apostles, beautifully written, and containing about 300 folia. An analysis of this large volume is given by Ludolf in his Commentarius ad Historiam, Abyssinia. It forms what is called the kanoun, or positive law of the church, beyond the letter of which the clergy have no judicial powers.

IV. The Acts of the Apostles, and all the epistles in our canon, with the Revelation of St. John, in two small quarto volumes, uniform with the Gospels before mentioned.

V. A Chronicle of the Kings of Abyssinia, from Arwè to Bacuffa, with a very curious preface on the law and customs brought from Jerusalem, by Ibn Hakim, the son of Solomon. From this preface is extracted the information respecting the great officers of the Negus, given in the Introduction to the History of Abyssinia. As the MS. contains a perpetual chronicle of all the princes, from Icon Amlac to Bacuffa, inclusively, it has been of great use in preserving entire the chain of history, which is broken in the larger annals. It consists of about 120 folia, of the quarto size.

VI. The Kebir Zaneguste, or Glory of the Kings; the celebrated book of Axum, described in a succeeding note.

VII. The Annals of Abyssinia, in five volumes, quarto; the principal, source of the history given in the third volume of this work. The first of these contains the Kebir Zaneguste, verbatim, as in the preceding number, but having many various readings, no titles nor divisions to the chapters, nor the usual appendix. The 2d contains the history of Amda Sion, Zera Jacob, Baeda Mariam, Iscander, Naod, David, Claudius, Menas, and Sertza Denghel. The 3d contains the annals of Susneus, Facilidas, and Hannes I. The 4th contains the annals of Yasous Tallak, or Yasous the Great; of Teclaliaimanout I. Tiflis, and David IV. The 5th contains the annals of Bacuffa, his son Yasous II. and grandson Joas, who was murdered in the year Mr Bruce entered Abyssinia. The history of Ras Michael is an interesting part of this volume, which authenticates his character, as drawn by the writer of these travels.

among them. Its title is, the Vision of John Abou Kalamsis, which seems to be a corruption of Apocalypsis: at the same time, we can hardly imagine that Frumentius, a Greek and a man of letters, should make so strange a mistake. There is no such thing as a distinction between canonical and apocryphal books. Bell and the Dragon, and the Acts of the Apostles, are read with equal devotion, and, for the most part, I am afraid, with equal edification; and it is in the spirit of truth, not of ridicule, that I say, St George and his Dragon, from idle legends only, are objects of nearly as great veneration as any of the heroes in the Old Testament, or saints in the New. The Song of Solomon is a favourite piece of reading among the old priests, but forbidden to the young ones, to deacons, laymen, and women. The Abyssinians believe, that this song was made by Solomon in praise of Pharaoh's daughter; and do not think, as some of our divines are disposed to do, that there is in it any mystery or allegory respecting Christ and the church. It may be asked, Why did I choose to have this book translated, seeing that it was to be attended with this particular difficulty? To this I answer, The choice was not mine, nor did I at first know all the difficulty. The first I pitched upon was the book of Ruth, as being the shortest; but the subject did not please the scribes and priests, who were to copy for me,

VIII. The Synaxar (Zuvagapa), or Lives of the Ethiopic Saints, arranged according to their order in the national calender, in four volumes quarto. Most of the idle legends, contained in this book, are translations from the Greek and Coptic. The saints are nothing inferior to their western brethren in strength of faith. They perform greater miracles, live more ascetic lives, and suffer more dreadful martyrdom than those holy men; all which is nothing surprising in the native country of credulity, superstition, and religious zeal. E.

and I found it would not do. They then chose the Song of Solomon, and engaged to go through with it; and I recommended it to two or three young scribes, who completed the copy by themselves and their friends. I was obliged to procure licence for these scribes, whom I employed in translating it into the different languages; but it was a permission of course, and met with no real, though some pretended difficulty.

A nephew of Abba Salama* the Acab Saat, a young man of no common genius, asked leave from his uncle before he began the translation; to which Salama answered, alluding to an old law, That, if he attempted such a thing, he should be killed as they do sheep; but, if I would give him the money, he would permit it. I would not have taken any notice of this; but some of the young men having told it to Ras Michael †, who perfectly guessed the matter, he called for the scribe, and asked what his uncle had said to him; who told him very plainly, that, if he began the translation, his throat would be cut like that of a sheep. One day Michael asked Abba Salama, whether that was true; he answered in the affirmative, and seemed disposed to be talkative. "Then," said the Ras to the young man, 66 your uncle declares, if you write the book for Yagoube, he will cut your throat like a sheep; and I say to you, I swear by St Michael, I will put you to death like an ass, if you don't write it; consider with yourself which of the risks you'll run, and come to me in eight days, and make your choice." But, before the eighth day,

* I shall have occasion to speak much of this priest in the sequel. He was a most inveterate and dangerous enemy to all Europeans, the principal ecclesiastical officer in the king's house.

Then prime minister, concerning whom much is to be said hereafter.