The extraordinary severity exercised upon the army of the Galla, after the battle, was still as apparent as it had been in the flight. Woosheka, of whom we have had already occasion to speak, fell in among the horse of Powussen and Gusho, and being known, his life was spared. He was cousin-german to Lubo, but a better man and soldier than his relation; and, in all the intrigues of the Galla at Gondar, was considered as an undesigning man, of harmless and inoffensive manners. He had been companion of Gusho, and many of the principal commanders in the army, and, after the defeat at Nefas Musa, had the guard of Powussen and the eleven officers, whom he suffered to escape into Michael's tent, as I have already said, while Lubo was murdering Mariam Barea. He had been, for a time, well known and well esteemed by Ras Michael, nor was he ever supposed personally to have offended him, or given umbrage to any one. As he was a man of some fortune and substance, it was thought the forfeiture of all that he had might more than atone for any fault that he had ever committed.

It was therefore agreed, on the morning after Powussen's return from the pursuit, that Gusho and he, when they surrendered this prisoner, should ask his life and pardon from the Ras; and this they did, prostrating themselves in the humblest manner, with their foreheads on the earth. Ras Michael, at once forgetting his own interest, and the quality and consequence of the officers before him, fell into a violent and outrageous passion against the supplicants, and, after a very short reproof, ordered each of them to their tents in a kind of disgrace.

He then sternly interrogated Woosheka, whether he did not remember, that, at Tedda, he had ordered him out of the country in ten days? Then, in his own language of Tigre, he asked, if there was any one

among the soldiers that could make a leather bottle? And being answered in the affirmative, he ordered one to be made of Woosheka's skin; but first to carry him to the king. The soldiers understood the command, though the miserable victim did not; and he was brought to the king, who would not suffer him to speak, but waved with his hand to remove him; and they accordingly carried him to the river side, where they flayed him alive, and brought his skin, stuffed with straw, to Ras Michael.

It was not doubted, that Ozoro Esther, then in the camp, had sealed the fate of this wretched victim. She appeared that night in the king's tent dressed in the habit of a bride, which she had never before done since the death of Mariam Barea. Two days after, having obtained her end, she returned triumphant to Gondar, where Providence visited her with distress in her own family, for the hardness of her heart to the sufferings of others.

During this time I was at Masuah, where, by reason of the great distance and interruption in the roads, these transactions were not yet known. Hatze Hannes was still supposed alive, and my errand from Metical Aga that of being his physician. I shall now begin an account of what passed at Masuah, and thence continue my journey to Gondar, till my meeting with the king there.

TRAVELS

TO DISCOVER

THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.

BOOK V.

ACCOUNT OF MY JOURNEY FROM MASUAH TO GONDAR -TRANSACTIONS THERE-MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ABYSSINIANS.

CHAP I.

Transactions at Masuah and Arkeeko.

MASUAH*, which means the port or harbour of the Shepherds, is a small island immediately on the Abys

*There is much reason to doubt the accuracy of this interpretation. Masuah is written by the Arabs and Abyssinians Matzua, which signifies the landing place or harbour: The author derives the word from Ma, a place," and Suah or So, "a Shepherd," both of Egyptian origin. The Portuguese write it Macsua.

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sinian shore, having an excellent harbour, and water deep enough for ships of any size to the very edge of the island. Here they may ride in the utmost security, from whatever point, or with whatever degree of strength, the wind blows. As it takes its modern, so it received its ancient name from its harbour. It was called by the Greeks Sebasticum Os, from the capacity of the port, which is distributed into three divisions. The island itself is very small, scarcely three quarters of a mile in length, and about half that in breadth, one-third occupied by houses, one by cisterns to receive the rain-water, and the last is reserved for burying the dead.

Masuah, as we have already observed, was one of those towns on the west of the Red Sea, that fell after the conquest of Arabia Felix by Sinan Basha, under Selim, emperor of Constantinople. At that time it was a place of great commerce, possessing a share of the Indian trade in common with the other ports of the Red Sea near the mouth of the Indian Ocean. It had a considerable quantity of exports brought to it from a great tract of mountainous country behind it, in all ages very inhospitable, and almost inaccessible to strangers. Gold and ivory, elephants, and buffaloes' hides, and, above all, slaves, of much greater value, as being more sought after for their personal qualities than any other sort, who had the misfortune to be reduced to that condition, made the principal articles of exportation. Pearls, considerable for size, water, or colour, were found all along its coast. The great convenience of commodious riding for vessels, joined to these valuable articles of trade, had overcome the inconvenience of want of water, the principal necessary of life, to which it had been subjected from its creation.