SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

;TRAvitlAi.

The HIghlaud+ of rEthiopia. By Major W. Cornwallis Harris, of the Hon. E. I. Engineers Aathoref " Wild Sports in Southern Africa" " Fortraitg or Arr.cau Huns Animals," &e. In three volumes Lear/tan aad Ce. Hom ey. tiisuny of Scotlaud. By Patrick Fraser Tyner, F.R. Vol. IX. ....Tait. Edinbargh, MAJOR HARRIS'S -HIGHLANDS OF 2ETHIOFIA.

THE kingdom of Shoe, forming that portion of the Highlands of /Ethiopia visited by Major Harms, lies about the 9th and 11th degrees of North latitude and the ;;9th and 40th of East longitude, and was originally a portion of the great Abyssinian empire. It is hounded on the South and East by unknown tribes of the Galla and Negro races, on the North by the central part of the old empire of Abyssinia, and on the East by the fearful desert which stretches inland from the Red Sea, till, on reaching the streams that fall from the 'Ethiopian Highlands, it rapidly passes into the richness of Abyssinian vegetation, which combines within a short distance the beauties of the Temperate and Tropical zones.

The Indian Government having determined to open " diplomatic relations" with the potentate of Shoa, for present geographical and future commercial objects, Major Meatus was selected as chief of the embassy, in consequence of the " talents and acquirements, and of the spirit of enterprise and decision united with discretion," exhibited in the gallant officer's Expedition into Southern Africa. The embassy was well composed as regarded diplomatists, medical and scientific officers and escort; whilst both liberality and judg- ment were displayed in the selection of presents for the potentate, and of what may be termed, in stage language, the " properties " of the embassy. Arriving without difficulty at Tajura, the African port of debarcation, situate near the entrance to the Red Sea, the ambassadorial troubles began, in an artful detention by the ava- ricious, cowardly, cunning, and ragged old Sultan of Tajura, a nominal ruler of the entire desert to Shoa, and very much afraid of the British Government, or rather its ships of war,—the intelli- gent powers of the Sultan not soaring beyond " the visible diurnal sphere." The next, and still more difficult task was to arrange with the camel-proprietors ; among whom, savage in- difference to the value of time, insatiable cupidity in demand, Bedouin independence, and Mahometan intolerance, were pretty equally mingled. When fairly afoot, the powers of endurance in the embassy were still more tried by the dreadful character of the country to be passed through. The road, "if road it could be called, which road was none," lay among a range of highlands; and sometimes proceeded through narrow gullies shut in on either side by precipitous cliffs, at others spread into a table-land strewn with masses of rock, and exhibiting everywhere the wildest freaks of volcanic action. The toil of the journey, however, was but a se- condary affair, though its difficulties were increased by the neces- sity of often marching by moonlight and in early morning to avoid the heat ; which is terrible in despite of every precaution. The sun heated the rocks to a degree unbearable by the hand, so that the caves, as the day wore on, became like an oven ; the parching blast of the desert occasionally swept through the nar- row passes, or over the plains, adding distress to the terrible temperature, which rose to such a height that " fifty pounds of well-packed spermaceti candles were so completely melted out of the box as to be reduced to a mere bundle of wicks." The want of water, however, was a yet worse evil. Sometimes none was met with for two days journey ; and that carried in dirty skins was so foul and so heated that only the direst necessity rendered it drink- able ; yet even of that they had not enough. The water found was rarely much better, from the saline particles which abound in that region, and the manner in which it was rendered impure by cattle. Not above two or three times did the expedition reach a spot where there was cool water in plenty ; and on one of those occasions it was brackish, but delightful. Still, all this was less fatal to life than the heat and moisture of the Niger. Camels and animals in numbers perished, or were so worn down as to be useless ; and two sailors who accompanied the embassy a certain distance even- tually died from the effects of the heat ; but none of the expedition seem to have been permanently injured.

Weather and want, however, were not the only sources of trouble. The region is of course unfitted for sustaining a large population, or forming a very well regulated society. The inhabitants area cross of the African with the Arab, the Bedouin predominating. These are divided into vat ions tribes owning a nominal submission to some few potentates, but each tribe perfectly independent, and at constant war one with another; whilst there are some tribes, or rather bands of outcasts, who murder merely for the sake of murder.- ing, prowling about the caravan to cut the throat of any sleeper they can approach, and dealing in the same manner with any defenceless persons they at any time fall in with,—a character Major Halms seems inclined to extend to the whole race. This state of things involved the necessity of a constant guard; yet in the early part of the expedition three Europeans were murdered in their sleep by the lurking assassin, whilst the sentry was pacing his beat with his back towards, them. Every man of these tribes was a thief; every petty chieftain expected presents for passing through his territory ; obstacles of different kinds were frequently interposed to delay the embassy ; and the brutality, ignorance, sod insolence of the whole set, seem to have passed that of all other barbarians The complaints of the Major are loud against theta, and naturally enough; yet, except.their moaners, something my, ;IP

said for these ugly, dirty, bigoted, and familiar savages. The de- mands of the embassy engrossed the means of locomotion in the country; they sometimes must have pretty well drained its liquid resources; they were conveying wealth, incalculable and myste- rious; and the sufferance if not the alliance of these descendants of Ham and Ishmael was necessary to the White men. Under cir- cumstances apparently similar, neither our author nor any Euro- pean would act as they did ; but in circumstances exactly similar we would back the civilized against the savage. Let any nation urgently want arms, or any other commodity, so as to produce a virtual monopoly, and see how they will fare at Manchester, Bir- mingham, Leeds, or elsewhere ; how prices will practically rise to the utmost the purchaser will pay ; and how science will be ready with its reasons why it should so be, as an illustration of the influ- ence of demand upon value. Even as it was, the weakest went to the wall. All that the barbarian could beg, steal, or get quocunque modo, was comparatively little ; he was done by the difference be- tween desert value and British. See how small was the demand beyond the voluntary gifts of the most warlike and powerful chief- tain of the whole of the tribes, by whose valour the road had been rendered passable.

"The night was already somewhat advanced when Loheita sent to demand a private audience upon two points of vital importance; and Mohammad All being the agent employed, no time was lost in arranging the desired interview. 'My beard is troublesome,' whispered the Ogre in a moat mysterious tone, after he had been some minutes seated in silence ; my tough beard is not readily trimmed with a creese, and a razor would therefore have been desirable.' A first-rate Savigny was immediately placed within his grasp. And secondly,' he continued, trying the keen edge upon the largest of his formidable talons, 'my sister, who is far advanced in her pregnancy, has lately rejected food— mutton, beef, every thing in fact, has been offered, and equally loathed. Now, I am desirous of trying whether she might not fancy a bag of dates.' "

Arrived at the frontier of Shoa, the dangers and difficulties were over. Privations and discomforts were still to be borne, from the scanty accommodation of Abyssinian houses, the want of roads, the free and encroaching habits of the people, with the other inevitable ills of civilized men doomed to reside for a time surrounded by un- civilization. Diplomatic troubles too were interposed, from the general ignorance of the many and the envy and jealousy of a few ; but presents liberally distributed, the powers of a galloper gun, the wonders of sky-rockets, and the useful qualities of surgeon, car- penter, and smith attached to the embassy, together with the tact of Major Halms and his assistant, eventually melted down all pre- judices, save those of a few individuals who had interested objects at stake. The King, SAHELA SELASSIE, was, moreover, friendly almost from the outset. The superstitions of his country, and the suspicion necessary to an Oriental monarch, rendered him at first cautious ; but his slound judgment and independence of mind soon burst the shackles of habit, so impossible for the mass of men to overcome. He quickly perceived the superiority of the civilized character, and that no danger was to be apprehended in the way he and his subjects supposed. He trusted himself more freely with the English than with his own people. In the treaty of com- merce concluded by the embassy, be abrogated several standing customs of Abyssinia,—such as vesting in the crown the property of strangers dying in Abyssinia ; forbidding the display or pur- chase of costly articles by subjects. On recovering from a severe fit of illness, he consented to restore to liberty his uncles and brothers, who, in compliance with Oriental usage, had been confined in a dun- geon, very unlike the "Happy Valley" of Rasselas ; and in the extremity of this sickness, he gave a flattering but penetrating proof of confidence.

" My children,' said his Majesty in a sepulchral voice, as he extended his burning hand towards his European visiters, behold, I am sore stricken. Last night they believed me dead, and the voice of mourning had arisen within the palace-walls; but God bath spared me until now. Tell me the medicine for this disease.'

" An attempt was made to follow the etiquette of the Abyssinian court, by tasting the draught prescribed; but the King, again extending his parched hand, protested against this necessity. What need is there now of this? be exclaimed reproachfully ; ' do not I know that you would administer to Sdhela Selissie nothing that could do him mischief? My people are bad ; and if God had not mercy on me to restore me, they would deal evil with you, and to strip you of your property would even take away your lives.'" The. only point on which be was positive was, not to have his pOrirait painted, from an idea that whoever possessed it would be master of his mind.

Besides the narrative of the journey and the personal traits and sketches of the King and his courtiers, the volumes of Major Has- ins contain an account of several expeditions and minor excursions. One of the expeditions was a foray or campaign against a tribe of

tax-repudiating ; and the muster under the respective chief- tains, the disorderly march, the rude but for the purpose sufficient tactics, with the slaughter and devastation consequent upon suc- cess, forcibly bring to mind the wars of feudal Europe. Two sport- ing expeditions were undertaken by the embassy to the North and South-eastern quarters of the kingdom, partly to impress the natives with an idea of British prowess, by the slaughter of a buffalo and an elephant—the last considered an impossible feat— and partly with geographical objects. The manners, customs, and Christianity of the Abyssinians, are also described ; and some ac- counts, gathered from various quarters, are presented of the sur- rounding nations in the interior. The Major, too, illustrates Iris facts by fictions bottomed in reality and told him by different natives. Scientific observations in geography, geology, and the various branches of natural history, are relegated to appendixes ; and there is a capital map of the whole of this portion of Africa. An additional map, however, exhibiting on a larger scale the country actually traversed by the expedition, would have been an advantage,

and enabled the different routes to have been followed with less trouble.

The value of this work is twofold ; consisting, first, in the reported accounts of the interior, and in the accession made to scientific knowledge by the observation of precise facts, sometimes in a re- gion where no European foot had ever trod, and always in places where no traveller of any education had penetrated since the days of the Portuguese missionaries. Its second and popular value is its merit as a graphic narrative of adventure, and an animated pic- ture of manners and character, striking in themselves and new to European readers. As regards Abyssinian customs and usages— the strange mingling, for example, of Jewish, Christian, and Ma- hometan practices with superstitions of African growth—we do not think Major HARRIS has added much to our previous knowledge. The readers of this traveller's Expedition into Southern Africa will be prepared to expect a rapid, picturesque, and almost brilliant narra- tive, everywhere sustained by a full flow of animal spirits, and spiced by quiet touches of humour : nor will the expectation be disap- pointed. We are not indeed quite sure but that the style may be too good and the results too effective for an ambassadorial traveller. A slight suspicion may now and then rise in the mind that the reader is a subject of diplomacy as well as King SAHELA SELASSIE, not in the exhibition of any thingwhich is false, but in the colouring of that which is true. The intermingling of fictions founded on fact, in order more forcibly to illustrate manners and customs, may induce a vague doubt whether the arts of fiction may not sometimes be introduced into the narrative of facts ; the attraction of the two being so equal, if the facts do not bear away the palm. Such is the gratitude of the reading public ! If the traveller through dangerous and remote regions gives an account of the wonders he has seen in a grave and measured style, he is pronounced heavy, dull, unreadable, and people say he might as well have stopped at home. If, like La VAILLANT, he unites an elegant literature and animated style to the enterprising spirit of an explorer, people say this is too enter- taining to be believed.

We shall draw pretty freely upon the contents of these volumes ; principally confining ourselves, however, to delineations of manners and character, leaving mere description, scientific facts, and illus- trations of national habits, to be sought for in the book itself.

SUFFERINGS FROM THIRST.

The horrors of that dismal night set the efforts of description at defiance. An unlimited supply of water in prospect, at the distance of only sixteen miles, had for the brief moment buoyed up the drooping spirit which tenanted each wayworn frame ; and when an exhausted mule was unable to totter further, his rider contrived manfully to breast the steep hill on foot. But, owing to the long fasting and privation endured by all, the limbs of the weaker soon refused the task, and, after the first two miles, they dropped fast in the rear.

Fanned by the fiery blast of the midnight sirocco, the cry for water, uttered feebly and with difficulty by numbers of parched throats, now became inces• sant; and the supply of that precious element brought for the whole party falling short of one gallon and a half, it was not long to be answered. A tiny sip of diluted vinegar for a moment assuaging the burning thirst which raged in the vitals, and consumed some of the more down-hearted, again raised their drooping souls; but its effects were transient, and after struggling a few steps, overwhelmed, they sunk again, with husky voice declaring their days to be num- bered, and their resolution to rise up no more. Dogs incontinently expired upon the road ; horses and mules that once lay down, being unable from ex- haustion to rally, were reluctantly abandoned to their fate; whilst the lion- hearted soldier, who had braved death at the cannon's mouth, subdued and unmanned by thirst, finally abandoning his resolution, lay gasping by the wayside, and, heedless of the exhortation of his officers, hailed approaching dis- solution with delight, as bringing the termination of tortures which were not to be endured.

Whilst many of the escort and followers were thus unavoidably left stretched with open months along the road, in a state of utter insensibility, and appa- rently yielding np the ghost, others, pressing on to arrive at water, became be- wildered in the intricate mazes of the wide wilderness, and recovered it with the utmost difficulty. As another day dawned, and the round red sun again rose in wrath over the Lake of Salt, towards the hateful shores of which the tortuous path was fast tending, the courage of all who had hitherto borne up against fatigue and anxiety began to flag. A dimness came before the drowsy eyes, giddiness seized the brain ; and the prospect ever held out by the guides, of quenching thirst immediately in advance, seeming like the tantalizing delu- sions of a dream, bad well nigh lost its magical effect; when, as the spirits of the most sanguine fainted within them, a wild Bedouin was perceived, like a delivering angel from above, hurrying forward with a large skin filled with muddy water. This most well-timed supply, obtained by Mohammad Ali from the small pool at Hanleffinta, of which, with the promised guard of his own tribe, by whom he had been met, he bad taken forcible possession, in de- fiance of the impotent threats of the ruthless "red man," was sent to the rear. It admitted of a sufficient quantity being poured over the face and down the parched throat to revive every prostrate and perishing sufferer; and at a late hour, ghastly, haggard, and exhausted, like men who had escaped from the jaws of death, the whole had contrived to straggle into a camp, which but for the foresight and firmness of the son of Ali Abi few individuals indeed of the whole party would have reached alive.

THE LADIES OF THE DESERT.

Crowds of Bedouin shepherdesses, and females belonging to all the various unmade tribes, were likewise assembled in the %illation ravine; and the cry or " Wurkut, Wfirkut !" " paper, paper !" was incessant on the part of the softer sex, who, with a licence unknown and a freedom unenjoyed by the daughters of Eve in other Mohammedan countries, were unremitting in their attendance and flirtations, without exciting the jealousy of their lords. From the lips of these damsels, " Mabisse, Mahisseni!" "Manias teal?" "Good morrow !" " How do you do ? " came not disagreeably; and trinkets such as they loved, being civilly solicited instead of imperiously demanded, the applicants were rarely unsuccessful.

Among those who boasted of the most feminine and attractive appearance, were the fair partner and sister of Mohammad Ali; their wedded and single state being, as usual, distinguishable from the coif of blue calico which marks the wife, and by the long uncovered plaited locks of the maid. Assembling with many of the frail sisterhood at the door of the tent, where numbers were usually lounging in careless attitudes, they one day demanded that the palm of beauty might be awarded. Unwilling to throw the apple of discord, the mirror was placed in their hands, that the coquettes might judge for themselves; and after each in succession had started involuntarily at the eight of her own greasy charms, and had defended the individual features whereof she was mistress to the utmost of her eloquence and ability, the verdict was finally found in favour of the virgin daughter of the venerable old Sheikh.

A MOST VALUABLE "EYE."

Many a weary hour was passed in listening to tales of real or counterfeit maladies, which were daily recounted in the hovel at Alio Amba. Witchcraft and the influence of the evil eye have firm possession of the mind of every in- habitant ; and sufficiently diverting were the complaints laid to their door by those who sought amulets and talismans at the hand of the foreigners. A young Moslem damsel, whose fickle swain had deserted her, could never gaze on the moon that her heart went not pit-a-pat, whilst the tears streamed from her dark eyes ; and a hoary veteran, with one foot in the grave, sought the re- storation of rhetorical powers, which had formed the boast of his youth, but which had been destroyed by the pernicious gaze of a rival. " Of yore," quoth he who introduced the patient, " this was a powerful orator ; and when he lifted up his voice in the assembly, men marvelled as he spoke ; but now, although his heart is still eloquent, his tongue is niggard of words."

What would not this spell be worth in our Parliament, and else- where 1

THE PRESENTATION.

It was now noon, and the weather having temporarily cleared, the British party, radiant with plumes and gold embroidery, succeeded, after much fruit- less opposition, in mounting their gaily caparisoned steeds, and, escorted by the governors, the commander-in-chief of the body-guard, and by a numerous and clamorous escort, proceeded in full uniform towards the palace. Many were the attempts made to enforce the etiquette which denies ascent in eques- trian order ; but as, on gaining the foot of the eminence, the roar of artillery burst from the centre of the encampment, and the deep valley, filling fast with

a cloud of white smoke, began to echo back the salute at the rate of six dis- charges in a minute, no further interference was attempted, and an universal shout arose of " Malifia Ungliz ! melcom, melcom "—" Wonderful English ! well done, well done !"

The last peal of ordnance was rattling in broken echoes along the mountain chain as the British Embassy stepped at length over the high threshold of the

reception•hall. Circular in form' and destitute of the wonted Abyssinian

pillar in the centre, the massive and lofty clay walls of the chamber glittered with a profusion of silver ornaments, emblazoned shields, matchlocks, and double-barrelled gulls. Persian carpets and rugs of all sizes, colours, and pat- terns, covered the floor, and crowds of Alakas, governors, chiefs, and principal officers of the court, arrayed in their holyday attire, stood around in a posture of respect, uncovered to the girdle. Two wide alcoves receded on either side ; in one of which blazed a cheerful wood fire, engrossed by indolent cats, whilst in the other, on a flowered satin ottoman, surrounded by withered eunuchs and

juvenile pages of honoul' and supported by gay velvet cushions, reclined in

_Ethiopic state his most Christian Majesty Stiliela Selassie. The Deck Aga- fari, or state door-keeper, as master of the ceremonies, stood with a rod of

green rushes to preserve the exact distance of approach to royalty ; and, as the British guests entered the hall and made their hoes to the throne, motioned them to be seated upon chairs that had previously been sent in; which done, it was commanded that all might be covered,

The King was attired in a silken Arab vest of green brocade, partially shrouded under the ample folds of a white cotton robe of Abyssinian manufac- ture, adorned with sundry broad crimson stripes and borders. Forty summers,

whereof eight-and-twenty had been passed under the uneasy cares of the crown, had slightly furrowed his dark brow, and somewhat grizzled a full

bushy head of hair, arranged in elaborate curls after the fashion of George the First; and, although considerably disfigured by the loss of the left eye, the ex- pression of his manly features, open, pleasing, and commanding, did not in their tout ensemble belie the character for impartial justice which the despot has obtained far and wide; even the Danakil comparing him to " a fine ba- lance of gold." All those manifold salutations and inquiries which overwrought politeness here enforces, duly concluded, the letters with which the Embassy had been charged—enveloped in flowered muslin and rich gold kirnkhab—were presented in a sandal-wood casket, minutely inlaid with ivory ; and the contents having been read and expounded, the costly presents from the British Government were introduced in succession, to be spread out before the glistening eyes of the court. The rich Brussels carpet which completely covered the hall, together with Cachemire shawls and embroidered Delhi scarfs of resplendent hues, at- tracted universal attention ; and some of the choicest specimens were from time to time handed to the alcove by the chief of the eunuchs. On the introduc- tion of each new curiosity, the surprise of the King became more and more un- feigned. Bursts of merriment followed the magic revolutions of a group of Chinese dancing-figures; and when the European escort in full uniform, with the sergeant at their head, marched into the centre of the hall, faced in front of the throne, and performed the manual and platoon exercises, amidst jewellery glittering on the rugs, gay shawls, and silver cloths, which strewed the floor,

or ented clocks chiming, and musical-boxes playing " God save the Queen," sjesty appeared quite entranced, and declared that he possessed no words to express his gratitude. But many and bright were the smiles that lighted up the royal features, as three hundred muskets, with bayonets fixed, were piled in front of the footstool. A buzz of mingled wonder and applause, which half drowned the music, arose from the crowded courtiers; and the measure of the warlike Monarch's satisfactieit now filled to overflowing: " God will re- ward you," he exclaimed, "for I cannot."

But astonishment and admiration knew no bounds, as the populace next spread over the face of the hills to witness the artillery practice, which formed the sequel to the presentation of these princely gifts. A sheet was attached to the

opposite face of the ravine. The green valley again rung to the unwonted roar of ordnance : and as the white cloth flew in shreds to the wind, under a rapid

discharge of round shot, canister, and grape, amidst the crumbling of the rock

and the rush of the falling stones, the before despised sponge-staves became a theme of eulogy to the Monarch as well as to the gaping peasant. A shout

rose, long and loud, over the pealing echoes which rattled from hill to hill; and fir along the serrated chain was proclaimed the arrival of foreign guests, and the royal acquisition, through their means, of potent engines of war.

THE HOUSE-WARMING.

Ayto Melkoo, the Baldaras, or King's Master of the Horse, has under his charge the royal stud, saddles, and accoutrements, as also the workers in leather—is equerry in waiting, and conservator of pastures and meadows pertaining to the crown. He is moreover the greatest gourmand in the kingdom; and, con- descending to honour the denounced Christians with his company at the house- warming, did ample justice to the novel viands that were placed before him. He even submitted to the innovation of a silver fork, and politely partook of a salad, notwithstanding his firm conviction that the undressed vegetable would cause a return of ailments to which he had been a martyr in youth. The eirculation of water for the ablution of fingers caused no little diversion on the removal of the cloth; but the marasquino' which followed, was unhesitatingly pronounced to be a nectar fit for princes alone. " Were but the Negoos aware with what good things the board of you English is spread," he exclaimed, smacking his lips after the last glass, " his Majesty would come and dine with you as often as you chose to invite him." " Bat let we give you a lesson in politeness," added the old =14 when, i reply to his abrupt intimation of intended departure, he was wjebed a "safe entrance to his house," in accordance with Abyssinian etiquetse-f1" You should have said, stay.'" " Such is not the fashion of the countries across the water," was the reply : " every man is permitted to withdraw as be lists, and be happy in his own way." " Ay, ay," returned the guest ; " but then, if you bad pressed me to tarry, I would at all events have stopped with you until the moon rose. Do you see ?"

A grand review was held previous to the campaign ; and the European troops and artillery bad been reserved to bear a part at the close of the spectacle, to impress those Gallas who had only thoughts of repudiation. But a more startling scene was reserved for the evening.

EFFECT OP ROCKETS.

As soon as it became dark, rockets, which had been brought by the Embassy, were to be discharged from the tents by the King's express desire. With fire- arms the Abyssinians were previously acquainted; and the brass galloper which had echoed so recently, although viewed with wonderful respect, was still only the engine, on a colossal scale, to which they were familiarized. But these were the first rockets of which his Majesty had viewed the fight; and the impression they produced upon his mind, as he gazed from his watch-tower, was scarcely less than that worked upon his assembled subjects. Night had thrown her sable mantle around, and the novel principle of ascent, with the grandeur of the brilliant rush into the skies, afforded matter of amazement to all spectators. When the projectile started with a loud roar from its bed, men, women, and children, fell flat upon their faces. Horses and mules broke loose from their tethers, and the warrior who had any heart remaining shouted aloud. The Galla tribes, who witnessed the meteor-like explosion from the vicinity, ascribed the phenomenon to the use of potent medicines; and declared, that since the Gyptzia could at pleasure produce comets in the sky, and rain fire from heaven, there was nought for them left save abject submission to the King's commands.

MEDICAL ANECDOTES.

An exceedingly ill-favnured fellow, striding into the tent, exhibited a node upon the forehead, which he desired might be instantly removed. " The knife, the knife !" he exclaimed ; " off with it ; my face is spoiled, and has become like that of a cow." A ruffian, who in a domestic brawl bad contrived to break the arm of his wife, entreated that it might be " mended " ; and a wretched youth, whose leg had been fractured twelve months previously, was brought in a state of appalling emaciation, with the splinters protruding horribly. Ampu- tation was proposed as the only resource ; but the Master of the Horse was loud in his opposition. " Take my advice," be remonstrated, " and leave this busi- ness alone. If the boy dies, all will declare that the proprietor of the medi- cines' killed him; and furthermore, should he survive, it will be said the Al- mighty cured him." Whilst invalids of all classes daily flocked to the camp of the Europeans for medical assistance, applications were not wanting from the palace in proof of the reputation acquired. One of the Princesses Royal, who had been lodged with the illustrious visiter from Achun-Kurra, in the crimson pavilion pre- sented by the British Government, found herself in need of advice ; and, on being visited, lay concealed beneath the basket pedestal of a wicker dining-table, whence her sprained foot was thrust forth for inspection. Divers respectable duennas of the royal kitchen, who had been severely scalded by the bursting of a pottage-cauldron, were also treated with success when they had been given. over by the body-physician, at whose merciless hands the sobbing patients had been plastered over with honey and soot; and a mutton-bone was extracted from the throat of a page, where it had been firmly wedged for three days. But the cure which elicited the most unqualified and universal amazement, was that of a favourite Baalomaal, who, labouring under a fit of apoplexy, which bad deprived him of animation, was suddenly revived by venesection, after fumiga- tion with ashkoko goomun had been tried without the smallest avail, and pre- parations were already commencing for his interment. Medicine, in fact, now engrossed the entire of the Royal attention. Phials and drugs without number were sent to the tent, with a request that they might be so labelled as to admit of the proper dose being administered to patients labouring under complaints for the removal of which they were re- spectively adapted. Two or more invalids, who objected to be seen, were cer- tain to arrive at the palace within every four-and-twenty hours ; and no sub- terfuge that ingenuity could devise was left untried by which to augment the already ample stock of pills on hand. " You will take care not to give the whole of the remedies to my people, or there will be none left for myself should. I fall sick," was an almost daily message from the selfish despot. But pre- scriptions designed for his own use were invariably tried first upon a subject ; and the much-dreaded goulard-wash having been once more prepared, direc- tions were given to apply it constantly to a boy who had been found labouring under ophthalmia, in order to ascertain whether he died or survived.

ABYSSINIAN MARRIAGES.

In Shoe a girl is reckoned according to the value of her property; and the heiress to a house, a field, and a bedstead, is certain to add a husband to her list before many summers have shone over her head. Marriage is generally concluded by the parties declaring, before witnesses, " upon the life of the King," that they intend to live happily together; and the property of each

i

being produced, is carefully appraised. A mule or an ass, a dollar, a shield, and a sheaf of spears, on the one side, are noted against the lady's stock of wheat, cotton, and household gear ; and the bargain being struck, the effects become joint for the time, until some domestic difference results in either taking up their own and departing to seek a new mate. Matrimony is, however, occasionally solemnised by the church, in a manner somewhat similar to the observance of more civilized lands ; the contracting parties swearing to take each other for life, in wealth or in poverty, in sickness or in health, and afterwards ratifying the ceremony by partaking together of the holy sacrament, and by an oath on the despot's life. But this fast bind- ing is not relished by the inhabitants of Shoa, and it is of very rare occurrence. Favourite slaves and concubines are respected as much as wedded wives. No distinction is made betwixt legitimate and illegitimate children ; and, to the extent of his means, every subject follows the example set by the Monarch, who, it has been seen, entertains upon his establishment, in addition to his lawful spouse, no fewer than five hundred concubines.

The art of building and internal decoration is at a low ebb in Shoa ; and among other things done for the King, was the erection and furnishing a Gothic cottage orne,—a source of wonder from beginning to end.

" The Abyssinians have from time immemorial expended an entire tree in the reduction to suitable dimensions of every beam or plank employed in their primitive habitations ; and it is not therefore surprising that his Majesty should have been equally delighted and astonished at the economy of time, labour, and material, attending the use of the cross-cut saw. From age to age, and generation to generation, the _Ethiopian plods on like his forefathers, without even a desire fur improvement. Ignorance and indolence confine him to a narsow circle of observation, from which he is afraid to move. Strong pre- judices are arrayed against the introduction of novelties, and eternal reference is made to ancestral custom. But in a country where the absence of forest is so remarkable and inconvenient, the advantages extended by this novel imple-

went of handicraft was altogether undeniable. You English are indeed a strange people,' quoth the monarch, after the first plank had been fashioned by the European escort. ' I do not understand your stories of the road in your country that is dug below the Waters of a river, nor of the carriages that gallop without horses ; but you are a strong people, and employ wonderful inventions.'

" At length the Gothic ball was complete. It had been amusing in the in- terim to watch the progress making immediately below the palace by an un- Refloat° gun-man of the body-guard, who, whensoever the vigilant eye of the chtlitii permitted, would add to the frail wall of his circular dwelling a few layers of loose stone, which with his own single labour he had collected in the meadow. But each morning's dawn revealed to his sorrowing eyes some monstrous breach in the unstable fabric ; which, like Penelope's web, was never nearer to completion. The novel style of architecture introduced by the Gyptzis, so immeasurably superior in elegance, stability, and comfort, to any thing before witnessed in Shoe, and combining all these recommendations with ed limited an expenditure of material, afforded an undeniable contrast to the adjacent tottering pile upon vaults whereon three years of labour had been vainly expended. Beyond the rude fabrics of the neighbouring states, where the more common manufactures have attained a somewhat higher cultivation, the palace of the King can boast of no embellishment saving the tawdry trap- pings Which decorate the throne—gaudy trapestries of crimson velvet, loaded With massive silver ornaments, but ill in keeping with the clumsy mud walla to which they are appended, and serving to render the latter still more incon- gruous by so striking a contrast. But the new apartments Were furnished after the model of an English cottage ornd, and with their couches, ottomans, car- pet% chairs, tables, and curtains, bad assumed an aspect heretofore unknown in Abyssinia. ' I shall turn it into a chapel,' quoth his Majesty, accosting Abba Rfiguel, and patting the little dwarf familiarly upon the back—' What say you to-that plan, my father? ' "As a last finishing touch, were suspended inthe centre hall a series of large coloured engravings, which the Cathedral of St. Michael might well have envied, for they represented the chase of the tiger in all its varied phases. The domestication of the elephant, and its employment in war or in the pageant, had ever proved a stumbling-block to the King, who all his life had been con- tent to reside in a house boasting neither windows nor chimniee, and who reigned not in the days when • the Negfis arrayed in the barbaric pomp of gold chains, collars, and bracelets, and surrounded by his nobles and musicians, gave audience to the ambassador of Justinian, seated, in the open field, upon a lofty chariot drawn by four elephants superbly caparisoned.' The grotesque appear- ance of the 'hugest of beasts' in his hunting-harness struck the chord of a new idea. I will have a number caught on the Robi,' he exclaimed, 'that you may tame them, and that 1 too may ride upon an elephant before I die.' A favourite Governor from a remote frontier province was standing meanwhile, with his finger to his mouth, gazing in mute amusement at the wonders before him. This place is not suited for the occupation of man.' he at length ex- claimed in a reverie of surprise, as the Monarch ceased—• This is a palace de- signed only for the residence of the Deity, and of Sfihela Selassie.' " Some part of Major HARRIS'S work is occupied with a disqui- sition on the commercial capabilities of Shoa, and of the neigh- bouriag regions to the South and West. If one did not constantly see how mercantile shrewdness is at fault when aiming at profit in untried channels, it would seem unnecessary to advise a perusal of this book, and a careful consideration of the natural and social obstacles to transit between the Red Sea and the frontier, as well as an examination into the means of exchange, not which Shoa might produce, but which she now possesses, before embarking in any speculation of this kind, unless upon a small scale and by a person possessing some Oriental experience. Commercial enter- prise promises better on the Eastern coast of Africa. A large river enters the Indian Ocean on the Equator itself and about the 43d degree of longitude ; and this is said to be navigable for a-long distance inland, to be frequented by Mahometan traders as well as White men, (Portuguese slavers, most probably,) yield- ing a ready market for appropriate goods, and possessing means of return. Slaves, however, through all these regions, as well as Shoa, are the only existing export ; and though others might be produced on demand, the slave-trade is likely to remain for many years the staple business of this part of Africa. Nor is it easy to find a remedy except time and traffic. Major HARRIS is a tho- rough opponent of the slave-trade ; but he admits that its stoppage (supposing it could be stopped) would cause the massacre of every prisoner, and render the social state in Africa more bloody and ferocious than it is.