296 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



the king, retreating towards Dembea, paffed the Nile near 

 Dara, and encamped at Zinzenam, whence he inarched 

 round the lake into Dembea to his palace at Gorgora. 



This village, whofe name lignifies r^?/;/ upon r«i«, affords 

 us a proof of what I have faid in fpeaking of the caufe of 

 •the overflowing of the Nile, in contradiction to the Adulitic 

 infcription, that no fnow falls in Abyffinia, or rather, that 

 though fnow may have fallen in the courfe of centuries, it 

 is a ph^enomenon fo rare as not to have a name or word to 

 exprefs it in the w^hole language, and is entirely unknown to 

 the people in general, at leall to the well of the Tacazze. 



The Abyflinian hiftorian, from whom thefe memoirs are 

 compofed, fays, " That this village, called Zinzenam, has 

 its name from an extraordinary circumftance that once hap- 

 pened in thefe parts, for a Ihower of rain fell, which was 

 not properly of the nature of rain, as it did not run upon 

 the ground, but remained very light, having fcarce the 

 weight of feathers, of a beautiful white colour like flour ; it 

 fell in fhowers, and occafloned a darknefs in the air more 

 than rain, and liker to mift. It covered the face of the 

 whole country for feveral days, retaining its whitenefs the 

 whole time, then went away like dew, without leaving 

 any fmell or unwholefome efFedl behind it. 



This was certainly the accidental phasnomenon of a day; 

 for, notwithftanding the height of the mountains Taranta 

 and Lamalmon, fnow never was feen there, at leafl: for ages 

 paft; andLafla, in whofe mountains armies have perifhed by 

 cold, as far as a very particular inquiry could go, never yet 

 had fnow upon them ; and Zinzenam is not in thefe moun- 

 tains. 



