;io TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



-SSBCJ^ 



CHAP. VIII. 



War of the Elephant — Fir/} Appearance of the Small-Pox — Jews perfe- 

 cutc the Chrijlians in Arabia — Defeated by the Abyfinians — Mahomet 

 pretends a divine MiJJion — Opinion concerning the Koran — Revolu- 

 tion under Judith— Ref oration of the Line of Solomon from Shoa. 



IN the reigns of the princes Abreha and Atzbeha, the A- 

 byflinian annals mention an expedition to have happen- 

 ed into the fartheft part of Arabia Felix, which the Arabian 

 authors, and indeed Mahomet himfelf in the Koran calls by 

 the name of the War of the Elephant, and the caufe ' of it 

 was this. There was a temple nearly in the middle of the 

 peninmla of Arabia, that had been held in the greateft ve- 

 neration for about 1400 years. The Arabs fay, that Adam, 

 when fliut out of paradife, pitched his tent on this fpot ; 

 while Eve, from fome accident or other I am not acquaint- 

 ed with, died and was buried on the fliore of the Red Sea, 

 at Jidda. Two days journey eaft from this place, her grave, 

 "of green fods about fifty yards in length, is fhewn to this 

 day. In this temple alfo was a black ftone, upon which 

 Jacob faw the vifion mentioned in fcripture, of the angels 

 defcending, and afcending into Heaven. It is like wife laid, 

 with more appearance of probability, that this temple was 



* built 



