THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 103 



nibns from Barranda, and alfo of our own, none of whom had 

 ever before feen a gun fired from a horfe galloping, except- 

 ing Yafine and his fervant, now my groom, but neither of 

 thefe had ever feen a double-barrelled gun. We palled the 

 plain with all the diligence confiflent with the fpecd and ca- 

 pacity of our long-eared convoy ; and, having now gained • 

 the hills, we hade defiance to the Serawe horfe, and fent our 

 guard back perfectly content, and full of wonder at our fire- 

 arms, declaring that their mailer the Baharnagath, had he 

 feen the black horfe behave that day, would have given me 

 another much better* 



We entered now into a clofe country covered with bruih- 

 wood, wild oats, and high bent-grafs ; in many places rocky 

 and uneven, fo as fcarce to leave a narrow part to pal's. 

 Jufl in the very entrance a lion had killed a very fine ani- 

 mal called Agazan. It is of the goat kind ; and, excepting 

 a fmall variety in colour, is precifely the fame animal I had 

 feen in Barbary near Capfa. It might be about twelve flone 

 weight, and of the fize of a large afs. (Whenever I mention 

 a flone weight, I would wifli to be undcrilood horfeman's 

 weight, fourteen pound to the flone, as mofl familiar to 

 the generality of thofe who read thefe Travels.) The animal 

 was fcarcely dead ; the blood was running ; and the noife of 

 my gun had probably frightened its conqueror away : every 

 one with their knives cut off a large portion of flefli ; Moors 

 and Chriflians did the fame ; yet the Abymnians averfion to 

 any thing that is dead is fuch, unlcfs killed regularly by 

 the knife, that none of them would lift any bird that was 

 fhot, unlefs by the point or extreme feather of its wing. 

 Hunger was not the excufe, for they had been plentifully 

 fed all this journey ; fo that the diflinction, in this particu- 



2 - lar 



