54 MEMOIR OF BRUCE. 



tlie same name, and consisted of about three hun- 

 dred houses, each dwelling being enclosed by hedges 

 and trees. The residence of Ras Michael was on 

 the top of a hill, and resembled a prison rather than 

 a palace. In it and the adjoining building, more 

 than three hundred people were confined in irons : 

 the object of this cruel treatment was to extort 

 money from them; many of them had been there 

 twenty years, and were kept in cages like wild 

 beasts. The houses were of rough stone, cemented 

 with mud instead of mortar : the roofs were cone- 

 shaped, to resist the heavy rains, and thatched with 

 reeds. The inhabitants have three harvests annu- 

 ally, according to the different kinds of crop ; wheat 

 is reaped in November, barley in February, and 

 teff, or vetches, in April. They are much annoyed 

 with rats and field-mice, which they destroy by 

 setting fire to the straw. 



Bruce was anxious to proceed without delay to 

 Gondar, and the tranquil state of political events 

 seemed to offer him a favourable opportunity. Has 

 Michael had found the old king, Hatre Hannes, 

 whom he had raised to that dignity by assassinating 

 his predecessor, too feeble and sluggish for his 

 duties ; and having despatched him by poisoning his 

 breakfast, he placed his son, Tecla Haimanout, on 

 the throne. The people, wearied of these revolutions, 

 had subsided into a temporary calm. Of this in- 

 terval Bruce determined to avail himself, and on 

 the 17th of January, 1770, he and his party quitted 

 Adowa, and on the following day they reached the 



