MEMOIR OP BRUCE. 4? 



Except its river and its religion, Abyssinia seems 

 to possess little that can excite the interest of 

 Europe, or connect it with the civilized world. 

 Alternately deluged with rain, or burnt up by a 

 vertical sun, it presents at different seasons a picture 

 of luxuriant vegetation or cheerless solitude. Satu- 

 rated with heat and moisture, the black fat earth 

 is impregnated with swarms of insects, which burst 

 into existence, and overshadow the land with flying 

 armies of desolation. To avoid this living pesti- 

 lence, even the elephant and rhinoceros plunge into 

 marshes, that the mud, when dried on their skin, 

 may form a shield impenetrable to their attacks. 

 The inhabitants, with their cattle, repair to the 

 deserts, or take refuge in their cities, which are 

 generally perched on the tops of mountains. The 

 country of the Shangalla tribes, being low and flat, 

 is chiefly exposed to this annoyance. 



This rude people migrate in tents, and during the 

 rainy season they live in holes, excavated in the 

 soft sandy rocks. They are Pagans, and worship 

 the moon, stars, trees, and serpents. They are 

 early trained to archery, and practice polygamy, as 

 they reckon a great number of children the best 

 defence against their enemies. One of the savage 

 amusements of the Abyssinians is to hunt these 

 ill-fated tribes in the woods, a sort of horrid recrea- 

 tion which is customary on the accession of every 

 new king to the throne. As the Shangalla men 

 are active, and quite familiar with the intricacies of 

 the forests, their merciless pursuers enjoy, what in 



