248 RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



II. 



Journey of the Queen of 8heba to visit Solomon at Jeru- 

 salem, and Conversion of Abyssinia to the Jewish 

 Faith. 



It is not surprising that the constant traffic and the 

 important business transacted by the men of Tyre and 

 the Jews with the Chussites and the pastors of the 

 African coast should have established close relations 

 between them. "We can understand, therefore, that 

 the Queen of Sheba, the sovereign of those lands, 

 should have desired to see for herself what became of 

 the treasures which had been exported in such large 

 quantities from her own country, and to make the 

 acquaintance of the prince for whom they were in- 

 tended. There can be no doubt as to the journey 

 having taken place, for all the Eastern nations speak 

 of it in the same terms as those in which it is de- 

 scribed in the Bible. The Abyssinian annals say that 

 the Queen lived at Saba or Azab, the land of myrrh 

 and incense, situated not far from the Red Sea. They 

 add that she went to Jerusalem under the auspices of 

 Hiram, King of Tyre, whose daughter accompanied her, 

 as we are told in Psalm xlv. ; that she did not go by 

 sea or pass through Arabia for fear of the Ishmaelites, 

 but went from Azab into Palestine, and returned by 

 way of Massowah and Suakim, escorted by her own 

 subjects, the pastors ; and that she performed the 



