THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 293 



The men in Egypt* did neither buy nor fell ; the fame is 

 the cafe in Abyffinia at this day. It is infamy for a man to 

 go to market to buy any thing. He cannot carry water 

 or bake bread; but he mull \vafh the cloaths belonging to 

 both fexes, and, in this function, the women cannot help 

 him. In Abyffinia the men carried their burdens on their 

 heads, the women on their fhoulders, and this difference, 

 we are told, obtained in Egyptf. It is plain, that this buying, 

 in the public market, by women, mull have ended whenever 

 jealoufy or fequeitration of that fex began ; for this reafon 

 it ended early in Egypt, but, for. the oppofite reafon > it fub- 

 fifts in Abyflinia to this day. 



It was a fort of impiety in Egypt to eat a calf; and the 

 reafon was plain, they worlhipped the cow. In Abyffinia, to 

 this day, no man eats veal, although every one very willing- 

 ly eats a cow. The Egyptian $ reafon no longer fubiiils as 

 in the former cafe, but the prejudice remains, though they 

 have forgot the reafon. 



The Abvffinians eat no wild or water-fowl, not even the 

 gooi'e, which was a great delicacy in Egypt. The reafon of 

 this is, that, upon their converlion to judaifm, they were 

 forced to relinquifh their ancient municipal cuftoms, as far 

 as they were contrary to the Mofaical law ; and the animals, 

 in their country, not correfponding in form, kind, nor name, 

 ■with thole mentioned in the Septuagint, or original Hebrew, 



it 



*"Herodot. lib. ii. p. 101. feft. 35. f Herodot. lib. ii. p. 101. fed. 35.^ 



X Herodot. lib. ii. p. 1C4. ftift. 41. 



