to leave him without his direft permiffion, that Guiho had
allured me o ffa fe ty i f I kept clofe to his perfon, that it
would be a breach o f truft to leave my Greek fervant unprovided
at Gondar, and that forfaking my , inftrument*
would have the effeft o f m a k i n g my return through the de-
fert imperfeft,— I rejefted this propofal, andMifmifledYafine,
with orders to adhere inviolably to the inftruftions I had
given him.
As for the kin g himfelf, his countenance was not changed,
nor did he fay to me one word that day in confidence,
whether he did or did not intend to return to Gondar.
As no body knew what conditions weremade, or whether
any were really made at all, fear kept the .common foldiers
under obedience till it was night. The firft who began to
file off, it being near dark, were the women, who carried
the mills, jars, and the heavy burdens:; thefe were in great
numbers. Soon after, the foldiers were in motion, and the
Ras and the King’s tents were ftruck juft as it was night ;
darknefs freed the whole army from obedience to orders,
and a confufion, never to be forgot or defcribed, prelently
followed,-every body making the bell o f their way to get
fafe down the hill. At firft fetting out I kept d o le by the
k in g ; but,without treading upon, or riding over a number
- o f people, I could not keep my place. I was now, for.the
firft time, on one o f the ftrong blackhorfes that came laft
from-.Sennaar, given me by the king, and h e was fo impatient
and fretful at being preffed on by the crowd o f men
and beafts, that there was no keeping him within any fort
o f bounds. T h e defcent o f the h ill had become very flip-
4 cPery,
pery, and men, horfes, and m ules were rolling promifcuouf-
1-y over one another.
I r e s o l v e d to try for m y fe lf fome other way that might-:
be lefs thronged. I went to the place where Woodage A-
fahel defcended when he was fh o t b y Sebaftos; but the
ground there was more uneven, and fu lly as much crowded.
I then crofted the road to the eaftward, where the Ras’s
tent flood, and where Kefla Yafous’s two nephews had gone'
round to diflodge Ayto T e s fo s th e r e was a confiderable
number o f people even here, but it was not a croud, and
they were moftly women.. I determined to attempt it, and
got into a fmall flaming road, which I hoped would cbn-
duft me to the bed o f the torrent; but I found, upon go in g
h a lf way down the hill, that, in place o f a road, it had been
a hollow made b y a torrent, which ended on a precipice,,
and below, and on each fide o f this, the hill was exceedingly
fteep, the fmall diftance I could fee..
In Abyflinia, the camp-ovens for making their bread are'
in form o f two tea-faucers joined bottom to bottom, and are
ibmething lefs than three feet in diameter, being made o f
a ligh t, beautiful potter’s ware, which, although red when
firft made, turns to a glofly b lack colour after being greafed
with butter. This being placed upright, a fire o f charcoal:
is put under the bottom-part; the bread, made like pancakes,
is pafted all Within the fide o f the upper cavity, or
howl, over which is laid a cover o f the fame form or fliape.-.
It is in form o f a broad wheel, and a woman carries one o f
thefe upon her back for baking bread in the camp. It happened
thatj juft as I was deliberating whether to proceed,
or return, a woman had rolled one o f thefe down the'
hilh