b y Gojam ; on the eaft and north by the Abay or Nile, and
the lake : this is. Maitffia proper ; but by exteniion it comprehends
a large trait on the weft fide o f the Nile, which
begins by Sankraber on the north, and is bounded by the
Aeows on the weft, comprehending Atchefl'er and Arooffi
to the banks o f the Nile. T im is the Maitlha o f the books,
but is not properly fo.
M a it s h a is governed b y ninety-nine Shums, and is an
appendage, o f the office o f Betwudet, to whom it pays two
thoufand ounces o f gold. The people a re , originally o f
thofe Galla weft o f the Abay. Yafous the Great, when at
w ar with that people, who, in many preceding reigns, had
laid wafte the provinces o f Gojam and Damot, and efpecial-
ly Agow, when he pallid the Abay found thefe people at
variance among themfelves ; and the k ing, who was everywhere
viriorious,being joined by the weakeft, advanced toNa-
rea, and, on his return, tranfplanted thefe Galla into Maitffia,
placing part o f them along the Nile to guard the pafTes.
His fuccelfors at different times followed his example;
part they fettled in Maitffia, and part along the banks of
the Nile in Damot and Gojam, where being converted to
Chriftianity, at leaft to fuch Chriftianity as is profeffed m
Abyflinia, they have increafed exceedingly, and amounted;
a t leaft before the war in 1768, to 15,000 men, o f whom a-
bout 4000 are horfenic:n.
T he capital o f Maitffia is Ibaba. There is here a houfe
o r fmall caftle belonging to the king. The town is one o f
the largcll in Abyflinia, little inferior to Gondar in fize or
riches, and has a market every day ; this is governed by an
officer called Ibaba Azage, w hofe employment is worth 600
, ounces
«Minces o f gold, and is generally conferred1 upon' the principal
perfon o f Maitffia; to keep- him firm in his allegiance,
as there is a: very- confiderabfe territory depends upon- this
office. The country round Ibaba is the Moft pllafant and
fertile, not o f Maitffia only, but o f a ll Abyflinia, elpeeially
that part called Róllela-, betweenTbaba and- Gojath, where
the principal Oèioròs have'all houfes1 and pOffeffions, called
Goult or Fiefs, which they have received fism- t-heir refpec-i
tive aneeffiors when kings;
T h o u g h Maitffia he peculiarly die appendage o f Betwu-
det, and governed by him, yet it has a particular political
. government o f its own. T h e ninety-nine' Shums, who are
each adiftincft family o f Galla; chufe a king, lik e the Pagan
Galla; every feventh-year, with all the cereirionies-ani
ciently obferved while they were Pagans ; and-' thefe governors
have mucll-more influence over them than the King
Or Betwudet; fo have they- (in my time at leaft) been in a
conftant rebellion; and-that-has-much- lefll-ned their nil in—
hers, which will not now amount" to above' j o ;o o o men;
Ras Michael having- evéry where dlftroyed; their houfes,
and carried in to -flàvery their wives1 and1 children; who
have been fold to the Mahometan merchants-, and- tranf.
ported to Mafhah, and from thence to A rabia;
A t twelve o’clock, Guefgùé was to thè right, three o f
four, perhaps more miles ; and the very rugged mountain
Cafercla, broken and fu ll o f precipices, oil oür right, at a-
■bout 1-2 miles-diftance-,-thèy rife from Rolla; Guefgùé;
which, though the language and T a c c he Agow, is not'com-
prehended in the góvernment o f that country, but generally
goes with Kuara. At a quarter paft one we arrived at the
V o l . IV. D houfe