a^6 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



fays he, do not belong to Ayto Confu, but to his coufins, the 

 fons of Baflia Eufebius. They indeed died in rebellion, but 

 our matter has taken pofleffion of them for the family, 

 left the king fhould give them away to a ftranger. Some 

 bad news muft have arrived from Gondar ; at any rate, if 

 you are afraid, I will accompany you to-morrow paft Dav- 

 Dohha. We thanked him for the kind offer, but excufed 

 ourfelves from accepting it, as we fully relied upon his in- 

 telligence ; and having made him fome trifling prefents, 

 about the value of what he brought, though in his eyes 

 much more confiderable, we took our leave, mutually fatif- 

 fied with each other. From this I no longer doubted that 

 the whole was a project: of the king to terrify me, and make 

 me return. What ftruck me, as moft improbable of all, 

 was the ftory of that lying wretch who faid that Ayto Con- 

 fu had fent a number of mules to carry away his furniture, 

 and trufted the defence of his place to Abba Gimbaro, chief 

 of the Baafa. For,^ firft, I knew well it did not need many 

 mules to carry away the furniture which Ayto Confu left 

 at Tcherkin in time of war, and when he was not there ; 

 next, had he known that any perfon whatever, Shangalla 

 or Chriftians, had intended to attack Tcherkin, he was not 

 a man to fight by proxy or lieutenants ; he would have 

 been himfelf prefent to meet them, as to a feaft, though he 

 had been carried thither in a fick-bed. 



On the 30th, at half paft fix in the morning we fet out 

 from Waalia ; and, though v;e were perfedlly cured of our 

 apprehenfions, the company all joined in defiring me to go 

 along with them, and not before them. They -wifely added, 

 that, in a country like that, where there was no fear of 

 God, I could not know what it might be in the power of 

 3 the 



