CHAPTER XXXV 



A visit to Axum — The oldest monolith — The stone of King Aeizanas — 

 Other relics of the past — The governor receives me — The great 

 church — Service — The bell-towers — A mausoleum — The King's seat 

 or coronation stone — The largest obelisk — Sacrificial altars —A curious 

 ornamentation — Jewellery and coins — Colonel Prideaux on Axumite 

 coins — The evidence of the bilingual inscription — Historical dilemma. 



Next morning I was up at daylight, but the guide 

 promised by the Shum to take me to Axum was not to 

 be found, so I went over to Ledj Marcha, who advised 

 me to take an escort of half a dozen armed men and set 

 out, saying I could easily see all that there was and 

 return that evening. 



Our road lay nearly due west for 14 miles across 

 a rough plain, with the cliffs of a high tableland on our 

 right. Within two miles of Axum we passed on our 

 left a venerable sycamore of stupendous size, under 

 whose shade all travellers, from the Emperor down- 

 wards, make a halt before entering the sacred city. 

 The most striking object we saw as we pursued our 

 journey was the convent of Abba Pantaleon, perched 

 on the highest point of a crag that jutted out from 

 the plateau upon our right into the plain. A quarter 

 of a mile further, as we skirted the base of the cliffs, 



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