ftraight like columns, and fome fharp in the point, and broad in the bafe, like pyramids and obelifks, and fome like cones. All thefe, for the moft part inacceffible, unlefs with pain and danger to thofe that know the paths, but they are places of refuge and fafety in time of war, and are agreeably feparated from each other by fmall plains producing grain. Some of thefe mountains, however, have at the top water and small flats that can be fown, fufficient to maintain a number of men, independant of what is doing below them.

The 30th, we encamped at Addergey. The hyænas devoured one of the best of our mules. They are here in great plenty, and fo are lions; the roaring and grumbling of the lions, in the part of the wood neareft our tent, greatly diffurbed our beafts, and prevented them from eating their provender. I lengthened the ftrings of my tent, and placed the beafts between them. The white ropes and the tremulous motion made by the impreffion of the wind, frightened the lions from coming near us. I had procured two fmall brafs bells, fuch as the mules carry; thefe I tied to the stormfrings of the tent, where their noise, no doubt, greatly contributed to our beafts fafety from these ravenous, yet cautious animals, fo that we never faw them; but the noise they made, and, perhaps, their fmell, fo terrified the mules, that, in the morning, they were drenched in sweat as if they had been a long journey. But the brutish hyæna was not fo to be deterred. I fhot one of them dead, and, I fired at another fo near, that I was confident of killing him. Whether the balls had fallen out, or that I had really missed him with the firft barrel, I know not, but he gave a fnarl and a kind of bark upon the first shot, advancing directly upon me as if unhurt. The second shot, however, took place, and laid him without motion on the ground. Yafine and his men killed another with a pike; and fuch was their determined coolnefs, "that they stalked round about us with the familiarity of a dog, or any other domeftic animal brought up with man. But we were ftill more incommoded by a lefler animal, a large black ant, about an inch long, which coming out from under the ground, demolished our carpets, which they cut all into fhreds, and part of the lining of our tent likewife, and every bag or fack they could find. We had first seen them in great numbers at Angari, but here they were intolerable. Their bite caufes a confiderable inflammation, and the pain is greater than that which arises from the bite of a fcorpion.

Feb. 1ft, the Shum, [or governor of the place,] fent his people to value our merchandife, that we might pay custom, I humoured them fo far as to open the cafes where were the telescopes and quadrant. They could only wonder at things they had never before feen.

Next day the Shum came himfelf, and a violent altercation enfued. At length he foftened his tone, and faid, he would dif patch us on the morrow, and would fend us that evening fome provifions. And, indeed, we now began to be in need, having

E 2

only

only flour barely fufficient to make bread for one meal next day. The miferable village had nothing to barter with us; and none from the villages about the Shum had come near us, probably by his order. I gave him a small prefent, and he went away repeating his promifes. But all that evening paffed without provision, and all next day without his coming, fo we got every thing ready for our departure. Our fupper did not prevent our fleeping, as all our provifion was gone, and we had tafled nothing all that day fince our breakfast.

On the 4th we left Addergey: hunger prefling us. While employed in making ready for our departure, which was just in the dawn of day, a hyena, unfeen by any of us, faftened upon one of the affes. I was bufied in gathering the tent-pins into a fack, and had placed my mufket and bayonet ready against a tree, as it is at that hour, and the clofe of the evening, you are always to be on guard against banditti. A boy faw the hyæna firft, and flew to my mufket. Yafine was disjoining the poles of the tent, and, having one half of the largeft in his hand, he ran to the affiftance of the afs, and in that moment the mufket went off, luckily charged with only one ball, which gave Yafine a flesh wound between the thumb and forefinger of his left-hand. The boy inftantly threw down the mufket, which had terrified the hyena, but he flood ready to fight Yafine, who, not amufing himfelf with the choice of weapons, gave him fo rude a blow with the tent-pole upon his head, that it felled him to the ground; others, with pikes, put an end to his life. What fufficiently marked the voracity of thefe beafts, the hyænas, was, that the bodies of their dead companions, which we hauled a long way from us, and left there, were almost entirely eaten by the furvivors the next morning; and I then obferved, for the firft time, that the hyena of this country was a different fpecies from those I had seen in Europe, which had been brought from Asia or America.

At one o'clock we alighted at the foot of a mountain called Debra Toon. The mountains of Waldubba, refembling thofe of Adebarea, lay north of us about four or five miles. Waldubba, which fignifies the Valley of the Hyaena, is a territory entirely inha bited by the monks, who, for mortification's fake, have retired to this unwholefome, hot, and dangerous country, voluntarily to fpend their lives in penitence, meditation, and prayer. This, too, is the only retreat of great men in difgrace or in difguft. They firft have their hair, and put on a cowl like the monks, renouncing the world for folitude, and taking vows which they refolve to keep no longer than exigencies require; after which they return to the world again, leaving their cowl and fanctity in Waldubba. Thefe monks are held in great veneration; are believed by many to have the gift of prophecy, and fome of them to work miracles, and are very active inftruments to ftir up the people in time of trouble. Violent fevers perpetually reign there. The inhabitants are all of

the

the colour of a corpfe; and their neighbours, the Shangalla, by conftant inroads, destroy many of them.

The 5th we encamped at the foot of the mountain Adama. On the other fide of this valley are the broken hills which conftitute the rugged banks of the Anzo. Behind thefe, the irregular and broken mountains of Salent appear in forms which European mountains never wear; and still higher, above thefe, is the long ridge of Samen, which run along in an even ftretch till they are interrupted by the high conical top of Lamalmon, reaching above the clouds, and reckoned to be the highest hill in Abyffinia, over the steepest part of which, the road of all caravans to Gondar muft lie. In this territory are feveral confiderable villages; the people are much addicted to robbery, and rebellion, in which they were engaged at this time.

On the 8th, we began to afcend Lamalmon, through a very narrow road, or rather path, for it fcarcely was two feet wide any where. It was a fpiral winding up the fide of the mountain, always on the very brink of a precipice. Torrents of water, which in winter carry prodigious ftones down the fide of this mountain, had divided this path into feveral places, and opened to us a view of that dreadful abyfs below, which few heads can (mine at least could not) bear to look down upon. We were here obliged to unload our baggage, and, by flow degrees, crawl up the hill, carrying them little by little upon our fhoulders round thefe chalms where the road was interfected. The mountains grow fleeper, the paths narrower, and the breaches more frequent as we safcend. Scarce were our mules, though unloaded, able to fcramble up, but were perpetually falling; and, to increase our difficulties, which, in fuch cafes, feldom come fingle, a large number of cattle was defcending, and feemed to threaten to push us all into the gulph below. After two hours of conftant toil, we alighted in a fmall plain, neither beaft nor man being able to go a step further.

-The air on Lamalmon is pleafant and temperate. We found here our appetite return, with a chearfulness, lightnefs of fpirits, and agility of body, which indicated that our nerves had again refumed their wonted tone, which they had loft in the low, poifonous, and fultry air on the coast of the Red Sea. The fun here is indeed hot, but in the morning a cool breeze never fails, which increases as the fun rifes high. In the fhade it is always cool.

Lamalmon is the pass through which the road of all caravans to .Gondar lies. It is here they take an account of all baggage and merchandise, which they tranfmit to the chief officer of the cuftoms at Gondar. There is alfo a prefent due to the private proprietor of the ground; and this is levied with great rigour and violence, and, for the most part, with injuftice; fo that this ftation is always the place where the firft robberies and murders are committed in unfettled times. Though we had nothing with us which could be confidered as fubject to duty, we fubmitted every thing to the will of the robber of the place, and gave him his prefent. If he was

not

not fatisfied, he feemed to be fo, which was all we wanted. We had obtained leave to depart early in the morning of the 9th, but it was with great regret we were obliged to abandon our Mahometan friends into hands that feemed difpofed to fhew them no favour. The king was far from Gondar, and various reports were fpread abroad about the fuccefs of the campaign; and these people only waited for an unfavourable event to make a pretence for robbing our fellow-travellers of every thing they had.

The perfons whofe right it was to levy these contributions were two, a father and fon; the old man was dreffed very decently, fpoke little, but fmoothly, and had a very good carriage. He profelfed a violent hatred to all Mahometans, on account of their religion, a fentiment which feemed to promife nothing favourable to our friend Yafine and his companions: but, in the evening, the fon, who feemed to be the active man, came to our tent, and brought us a quantity of bread and bouza, which his father had ordered before. He feemed to be much taken with our fire-arms, and I gave him every fort of fatisfaction. He brought his gun, and infifted on shooting at marks. I humoured him in this; but as I used a rifle, which he did not underfland, he found himself overmatched, efpecially by the greatnefs of the range, for he fhot ftraight enough. I then fhewed him the manner we fhot flying, there being quails in abundance, and wild pigeons, of which I killed feveral on wing, which left him in the utmoft aftonishment, Having got on horfeback, I next went through the exercife of the Arabs, with a long fpear and a fhort javelin. This was more within his comprehenfion, as he had feen fomething like it; but he was wonderfully taken with the fierce and fiery appearance of my horfe, and, at the fame time, with his docility, the form of his faddle, bridle, and accoutrements. He threw at laft the fandals off his feet, twisted his upper garment into his girdle, and fet off at fo furious a rate, that I could not help doubting whether he was in his fober understanding. It was not long till he came back, and with him fervants carrying a fheep and a goat, and a jar of honey-wine. I had not yet quitted the horfe; and when I faw what his intention was, I put the horse to a gallop, and, with one of the barrels of the gun, fhot a pigeon, and immediately fired the other into the ground. There was nothing after this that could have furprized him, and it was repeated feveral times at his defire; after which he went into the tent, where he invited himself to my houfe at Gondar. There I was to teach him every thing he had feen. We now fwore perpetual friend!hip; and I introduced the cafe of our fellow travellers, and obtained a promise that we should have leave to fet out together.

On the 9th, we took leave of the friends whom we had fo newly acquired at Lamalmon. We began to afcend what ftill remained of the mountain, which, though fleep and full of buthes, was much lefs difficult than that which we had paffed. When we arrived at the top of Lamalmon, which has, from below, the appearance of

being fharp-pointed, we were much furprifed to find there a large plain, part in pafture, but more beating grain. It is full of fprings, and feems to be the great refervoir from whence arife moft of the rivers that water this part of Abyffinia. A multitude of ftreams iffue from the very fummit in all directions; the fprings boil out from the earth in large quantities, capable of turning a mill. They plow, fow, and reap here at all feafons; and the hufbandman muft blame his own indolence, and not the foil, if he has not three harvefts. We saw, in one place, people bufy cutting down wheat; immediately next to it, others at the plough; and the adjoining field had green corn in the ear; a little further, it was not an inch above the ground.

On the 10th, we continued along the plain on the top of Lamalmon; and encamped at fome villages called Macara. The ground was every where burnt up; and, though the nights were very cold, we had not observed the smallest dew fince our first ascending the mountain.

On the 12th we travelled through the plain of Woggora. The country now grows inconceivably populous; vaft flocks of cattle of all kinds feed on every fide, having large and beautiful horns, exceedingly wide, and boffes upon their backs like camels; their colour is moftly black.

After having fuffered, with infinite patience and perfeverance, the hardships and danger of this long and painful journey, we were gratified, at last, with the fight of Gondar, about ten miles diftant. The king's palace is diftinely feen, but none of the other houses, which are covered by the multitude of trees, growing in the town, fo that it appears one thick, black wood. Behind it is Azazo, likewise covered with trees. On a hill is the large church of Tecla Haimanout, and the river below it makes it diftinguifhable; ftill further on is the great lake Tzana, which terminates our horizon. We paffed feveral plantations of fugar-canes, which grow here from the feed. On the 15th refted on the river Angrab, about half a mile from Gondar. This country is full of large ants, and prodigious fwarms of rats and mice, which confume immenfe quantities of grain; to thefe plagues may be added still one, the greatest of them all, bad government, which speedily destroys all the advantages they reap from nature, climate, and fituation.

We were much furprifed at arriving on the Angrab, that no perfon had come to us from Petios, Janni's brother. We found afterwards, indeed, that he had taken fright upon fome menacing words from the priests, at hearing a Frank was on his way to Gondar, and that he had, foon after, fet out for Ibaba, where Ras Michael was, to receive his directions concerning us. This was the most disagreeable accident could have happened to me. I had not a fingle perfon to whom I could addrefs myfelf for any thing. My letters were for the king and Ras Michael, and could be of no ufe, as both were abfent; and though I had others for Petros and the Greeks, they, too, were out of town.

Man