were in bent grafs, where, fo r the firft time, w e faw flock*
o f goats ly ing on the tops o f the houfes for fear o f w ild
beafts.
“ You fhall fee, fays Welled Amlac, whether I am telling:
truth or n o t ; this is the houfe o f Welled A ra g aw i; i f he is
here at home, then I have deceived you." We faw a number
o f women laden with jars o f bouza and hydromel, and
aiked where they were going. They faid to their mailer
at Delakus, who waited there to prevent Welleta Michael
o f Degwaffa from pafling the river. Our Greeks on this
began to relapfe into their panic, and to wifh we were again
at Welled Abea Abbo. At three quarters pail one we continued
our-journey to the north, and palled a river, called
Amlac-Ohha, larger than the former r it comes from the
eaft, and, h a lf a mile further, receives the other ftream already
mentioned. The fun was now burning hot. At three
o’clock we halted a quarter o f an hour ; and, beginning to>
defcend gently, an hour after this we-eame to the banks o f
the Abay. Here we faw the two combatants, Welleta Michael
and Welled Aragawi, exactly oppofite to- each other,
the firft on the weft the other on the eaft fide ; they had
fettled all their differences, and each had killed feverali
kine for therafelves and friends, which Was all the blood
Iked that day.
T he Nile is here a eonfiderable r iv e r ; its breadth at this;
time fu ll three quarters o f an Engliih mile ; the current
is Very gentle f where deep you fca-rce can perceive it flow
it comes f from W. by S. and W. S. W. and at the ford runs
eaft and weft. The banks on the eaft fide were very h igh
and fteep ; and on the weft, at the'firft entrance, the bot-
; ' - torn.
fòm is loft and bad, the water four feet and a h a lf deep,
but above another foot, which we fink in clay. I cried to
Welled Amlac, while he was leading my mule acrofs, that
he Ihould not pray to his faint that néver eats, as at the
paffage o f the Jemma in May. He only anfwered lowly to
me, Do you think thefe thieves would have let yoti pafs i f
I was not with you ? My anfwer was, Welleta Michael
would not have feen me wronged ; Ifa ved his life, he and
every body knows it.
We gained with difficulty the middle o f the river, where
the bottom was firm, and there we relied a little. Whilft
w e were wading near, the other fide,we found foul ground,
but the water was fhallow, and the banks low and eàfy
to afcend. The river fide, as far as we could fee, is bare
and deftitute o f wood o f any kind, only bordered with thiftles
and h igh grafs, and the water tinged deep with red earth,
o f which its banks are compofed. This paffage is called
Delakus, and is paffable from the end o f Oétóber to the
middle o f May. Immediately on the top o f the hill afcend-
in g from the river is the fintali town o f Delakus, which gives
this ford its name; it extends from N. E. to N. N. E. and is
more eonfiderable in appearance than is the generality o f
thefe finali towns or villages in Abyffinia, becaufe inhabited
b y Mahometans only,, a trading, fru gal, intelligent, and in-
duftrious people.
Our conductor, Welled Amlac, again put us in mind o f
the fervice he had rendered us, and we were not unmindful
o f him. He had been received with very great refpedl by
the eaftern body o f combatants, and it is incredible with
what expedition he fwallowed near a pound o f raw fléfli
C 2 , cut