£02 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



which is to the fouth-wcft. At half pad ten we relied un- 

 der the before-mentioned hill ; it Hands alone in the plain, 

 in fhape like a fugar-loaf, and feems almoft as regular as if 

 it had been a work of art. At a quarter paft eleven we re- 

 fumed our journey, our courfe always nearly weft fouth- 

 wefl ; we palled the fmall village of Bowiha, at the diftance 

 of about a mile ; and, on the left, about fix miles, is Gorgova, 

 a peninfula that runs into the lake Tzana for feveral miles. 



There was one of the firft and moil magnificent church- 

 es and monafteries of the Portuguefe Jefuits, in the time of 

 their million to convert this country : Socinios, then king, 

 gave them the grounds, with money for the expence ; they 

 built k with their own hands, and lined it elegantly with 

 cedar. The king, who was a zealous Roman Catholic, chofe 

 afterwards a country-houfe for himfelf there, and encou- 

 raged them much by his prefents and by his charity ; it is 

 one of the pleafantelt fituations in the world ; the vail ex- 

 panfe of the lake is before you ; Dcmbea, Gojam, and Mait- 

 fha, flat and rich countries all round, are in view ; and the 

 tops of the high hills of Begemder and Woggora clofe the 

 profpect. 



The lake here, I am told, has plenty of 11m, which is 

 more than can be laid for many of the other parrs of it ; 

 the fifTi are of two kinds, both of them feemingly a fpecies of 

 what the Engliili call bream* I never could make them to 

 agree with me, which I attribute to the drug with which 

 they are taken ; it is of the nature of mix vomica^ pounded in 

 a morter, and thrown into ill-earns, where they run into the 

 lake ; the lilli, feeding there, are thus intoxicated and taken; 

 however, it would admit of a doubt of this being the rea- 

 2 fon, 



