302 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap. 



re-Opened to trade, and the suppression of the robber 

 bands who now infest the caravan route to the west 

 of Lake Tana, I believe Gondar will again become a 

 thriving commercial city. 



As we climbed by a steep short cut to the plateau on 

 which the town stands, I took a photo of the Moham- 

 medan camp-followers' village mentioned by Bruce, of 



The Castle of the Emperor Fasildas. 



which little but the encircling wall now remains. When 

 we reached the edge of the plateau, we found ourselves 

 among fallen stone walls on every side. Passing through 

 these to an open space like a village green, which was 

 formerly the great market-place, I caught sight of the 

 grand old feudal castle built by Fasildas, which much 

 resembles those on the banks of the Rhine, and 

 struck me all the more after the everlasting mud- 

 and-wattle structures of Abyssinia. It was Bruce's 

 description of this castle, which was so different to what 

 was then known of Abyssinian architecture, that his 



