“ August 25.—Such a magnificent sunset I have
never seen ! From all quarters were gathering storms
of the blackest description, each cloud emitting lightning
without intermission, and O ' as the sun touched the
horizon upon the only clear point, it illumined like a
fire the pitch-black clouds, producing the most extraordinary
effect of vivid colouring, combined with
liOg-h tningO,' and a rainbow.
“ Rain in torrents throughout the night. It is now
impossible to walk on the flat table-land, as the
soil is so saturated, that it clings to the feet like
birdlime, in masses that will pull the shoes off unless
they fit tight. All this immense tract' of rich land
would grow any amount of cotton, or wheat, as. in
this country the rains fall with great regularity—this
might be sent to Berber by boats during the season
of flood.
. “ August 27.—My antelope skins are just completed
and are thoroughly tanned. Each skin required a.
double handful of the ‘ garra,’ or fruit of. the acacia
arabica. The process' is simple; the skin being
thoroughly wetted, the garra is pounded into a paste ;
this is rubbed into the hide with a rough piece of
sandstone, until it becomes perfectly clean, and free
from impurities; it is then wrapped up with a
quantity of the paste, and is deposited in a trough
and kept in the shade for twenty-four hours. It
should, undergo a similar rubbing daily, and be kept
in, the, trough to soak in the garra for four or five
days. After this process it should be well rubbed
with fat, if required to keep soft and pliable when
wetted. If soaked in milk after tanning, the leather
will become waterproof. The large tanned ox-hides
used by the Arabs as coverlets are perfectly waterproof,
and are simply prepared with milk. These are
made in Abyssinia, and can be purchased at from ten
piastres to a -dollar each. The Arabs thoroughly
appreciate the value of leather, as they are entirely
dependent upon such material for coverlets, water-
sacks, travelling bags, &c. &c. The sac dc voyage
is a simple skin of either goat or sheep drawn off
the animal as a stocking is drawn from the leg; this
is very neatly ornamented, and arranged with loops
which dose the mouth, secured by a padlock. Very
large sacks capable of containing three hundred pounds
of corn, are made in the same manner by drawing off
entire the skins of the larger, antelopes—that of the
tétel is considered the most valuable for this purpose.
The hide of the wild ass is the finest of all leather,
and is so close in the grain that before tanning, when
dry and hardened in the sun, it resembles horn in
transparency. I have made excellent mocassins with
this skin, which are admirable if kept wetted.
• “August 28.—Sofi being upon the frontier, the laws
are merely nominal, accordingly there is an interesting
mixture in the society. Should any man commit
a crime in Abyssinia, he takes refuge over the border;
thus, criminals of the blackest character are at large.
One fellow who has paid us daily visits killed his
brother with a knife a few months since. I have