THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 269 



tions in which they were nrft obferved; others, not fo learn- 

 ed, have thought they originated in Abyffinia. I mall fiid 

 take notice of thofe that regard the king and court. 



The kings of Perfia*, like thefc we are fpeaking of, were 

 eligible in one family only, that of the Arfacidas, and it was 

 not till that race failed they chofe Darius. The title of the 

 king of Abyffinia is, King of Kings; and fuch Daniel f tells us 

 was that of Nebuchadnezzar. The right of primogeniture 

 does not fo prevail in Abyffinia as to exclude election in the 

 perfon of the younger brothers, and this was likewife the 

 cafe in Perlia \. 



In Perfia§ a preference was underftood to be due to the 

 king's lawful children ; but there were inftances of the na- 

 tural child being preferred to the lawful one. Darius, tho* 

 abaftard, was preferred to Ifogius, Xerxes's lawful fon, and 

 that merely by the election of the people. The fame has 

 always obtained in Abyffinia. A very great part of their 

 kings are adulterous baftards ; others are the iiiiie of con*- 

 cubines, as we ffraH fee hereafter, but they have been pre- 

 ferred to the crown by the influence of a party, always un- 

 der name of the Voice of the People. 



Although the Perfian kings j| had various palaces to 

 which they removed at different times in the year, Paiagar- 

 da, the metropolis of their ancient kings, was obferved as 



the 



* Strabo, lib. xv. p. 783. Jofeph. lib. xviii. cap. 3. Procop. lib, i. de Bel Pers 

 •J- Dan. c a;., ii. J Prow;, lib. 1. cap. II. § Arrian, lib. ii. cap. 14. || Pin 1 

 in Artax, ii6. xv. p. 730. 



