532 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



=5^ 



O U S T A S. 



From 1709 to 17 14. 



Ufiirps the Crown — Add'iBed to hunting — Account of the Shangalla—— 

 Active and bloody Reign — Entertains Catholic Priejls privately — Falh 

 fick and dies ; but how, uncertain. 



IT has been already obferved in the courfe of this hiftoiiv 

 that the Abyllinians, from a very ancient tradition, attri- 

 bute the foundation of their monarchy to Menilek fon of 

 Solomon, by the queen of Saba, or Azab, rendered in the Vul- 

 gate, the Queen of the fouth. The annals of this countiy 

 mention but two interruptions to have happened, in the li- 

 neal fucccilion of the heirs-male of Solomon. The firft a- 

 bout the year 960, in the reign of Del Naad, by Judith queen 

 of the Falafha, of which revolution we have already fpoken 

 fufficiently. The fecond interruption happened at the pe- 

 riod to which we have now arrived in this hiflory, and owed 

 its origin, not to any misfortune that bcfcl the royal family 

 as in the maflacre of Judith, but feemed to be brought a- 

 bout by the peculiar circumflances of the times, from a 

 well-founded attention to felf-prcfervation. 



Yasous 



