THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. C35 



The extraordinary manner in which the king employ- 

 ed his time foon made him the object of pubHc cenfure. 

 Pafquinades began to be circulated throughout the capi- 

 tal ; one in particular, a large roll of parchment, intitu- 

 led, " The expeditions of Tafous the Uttle^ The king in reality 

 was a man of fliort ftature. The Ethiopic word Tannufh, 

 joined to the king's name Yafous el Tannufli, applied both 

 to his ftature and actions. So Tallac, the name given to 

 another Yafous, his predeceflbr, fignified great in capacity 

 and atchievement, as well as that he was of a large and 

 mafculine perfon. 



These expeditions, though enumerated in a large Iheet 

 of parchment, were confined to a very few miles; from 

 Gondar to Kahha, from Kahha to Kofcam, from Kofcam, 

 to Azazo, from Azazo to Gondar, from Gondar to Kofcam, 

 from Kofcam to Azazo, and fo on. It was a fimilar piece 

 of ridicule upon his father Philip, as we are informed, that, 

 in the laft century, coft Don Carlos, prince of Spain, his life. 



This fatire nettled Yafous exceedingly ; and, to wipe off 

 the imputation of inadtivity and want of ambition, he pre- 

 pared for an expedition againft Sennaar. It was not, however, 

 one of thofe inroads into Atbara upon the Arabs and Shep- 

 herds, whom the Funge had conquered and made tributary 

 to them ; but was a regular compaign with a royal army, 

 aimed direcflly at the very vitals of the monarchy of Sennaar, 

 the capital of the Funge, and at the conqueft or extirpation 

 of thofe ftrangers entirely from Atbara. 



We have feen, in the courfe of our hiftory, that thcfe two 

 iiingdoms, Abyflinia and lunge, had been on very bad 



4 L 2 terms 



