A B Y 



A B Y 



ir.nJe of cow's milk. To tlie alternation of icorcliing heat well as the wild hoar, is dtcmed unclean, ard not Hf-d as 

 and ch.lliiitr cold, thin cloathiiig, the iilc of ilagnant putrid food. To the amplKblous kind wc may riAr the irmcu.'il, 

 water for four months, and other fuch caufos, tlicfc dif- -- ' ' ' • ■ ■ <- i^ic 

 eafes may he partly, if not wholly, afcrihcd. The fmall- 

 pox was introduced into Ahyffiiiia at the time of the fici'-e 

 of iN'Iucca, about the year 356, and the Abyffiniau army 

 was the firil vifiim to it. The difeafes and other incon- 

 veniences to which the Abyifuiians are fubjeft from the na- 

 ture of their climate, are in fome degree counterbalanced 

 by fubftantial advantages, if they would avail themfclves of 

 tliem by th^'ir induftry and adivity. Their foil, though in 

 many places thinly Ipread, is rendered fertile and produc- 

 tive by their rains and rivers. Wherever it can be tilled and 



well u-atered, it yields very large crops of wheat, barley, proceeded with' moon-light nights to the fout'h-we'iL 

 millet, and other grain. The inhabitanti have two and Bruce faw no fparrows, magpies, nor bats; uo.- maiiy w.-- 

 often three havvcfts in the year; and where they have a fup- ter-fowl, nor any geefe, except the golden gcxjfj or goofe 

 ply of water, they may fow in all feafons ; many of their of the Nile, which is common in every part of Africa f but 

 trees and plants retain their verdure, and yield fruit or there are fnipes in the mar/hes. The locusts of this couutiy 

 flowers throughout the year ; the well fide of a tree blof- are very dcftruftive ; they have alio a fpecies of ants, that 

 foms firfl, and bears fiuit, then the fouth fide, next the are injurious : but from their bees they derive .i rich fupply. 

 north fide, and laft of all the eaft fide goes througli the fame Of their vipers and ferpents we fhall take notice under the 

 piocefs towards the beginning of_the rainy feafon. Their articles Cerastes and Boa. For a peculiar fly, fee 



fo 



and hippopotamus, and the watcr-li-«ard, culled asguec by 

 the natives, and !)y the Italians candivcrbcrn. Of the vaA 

 variety of iilh with which their lakes and rivers teem, we 

 fliall only mention the torpedo and the binny. Anioutrd 

 the birds, we might enumerate tlvc eagle, hawk, and many 

 of the vulture kind ; the oiirich, llie (Urk, the WAALiA.aud 

 many other fpecics of pigeons wh.ich are birds of palTagc, tha 

 EnKoOM, the Anou-H ANNUS, the Moroc, or honey bird, 

 &c. The Iwallows that are known in Europc,.nppear in paifage 

 there when they take tiieir flight from licnce. In the idand 

 of Mafuah, they lighted, and tarried two days, and tlica 

 " ■ ' Mr. 



rivers abound with various kinds of fidi ; and their pallures 

 are covered with flocks and herds ; and yet for want of ap- 

 plication and exertion, notwithllanding the almoll fpon- 

 taneous produftions of nature which their countiy aflords 

 them, they are in general poor and wretched. Thouo'h 

 they have plenty of wheat, and fome of excellent quality 



TsALTSALYA. 



The inhabitants of Abyfllnia arc Chriftians, Jews, Maho- 

 metans, and Pagans. The Chriftians are tho£e of the 

 Abylfinian church, of whom we fhall give fome account in 

 the next article. — The Jews have been fettled in this coun- 

 try from time immemorial. Of tlufe fome have been'volun- 



the chief grain they ufe is that called Teff. They have tar)- profelytes to cjiriftianily ; others have been compclkd 



grafs in abundance, but they negleil to make hay of it ; and to embrace t'le profcffion of it, in order to avoid perfecution 



■' '' hey are obliged to fupply this defcil by feeding and to enjoy the benefits of manufacture and commtrce ; 



: with barley, or fome other grain. Notwilh- and thofe that remain Jews have been, for the moll part. 



therefore tl: 

 their cattle 



Handing the plenty, and frequent return of theii^ crops, they forced to rtfide in the inacceffible and mountainous parts of 

 are fonietimes reduced almoil to famine, either by the de- the country ; and even here they retain the ancient dillinc- 

 vaftations of the locufts or grafshoppers, which infeft the tion of Cardites and Tahnndills, with invincible pertinacity. 

 country, or by the more deflruiftive ravages of their own Bcfides thefe two feels, there is a third fort of them, (fays 

 armies, and thofe of their enemies. They cultivate the Ludolf, 1. i. c. 14. p. 73.) v/ho inhabit the Abyfliniaa 

 vine, peach, pomegranate, ingar-cane, almonds, citrons, and frontiers, between them and the CaflVes, who dwell along 

 oranges ; and they have many roots and herbs, which grow the Nile. Thefe are fuj)pofed to be defcended cither from 

 fpontaneoufly ; and their foil, if properly managed, would thofe whom the kings of Affyria and Babylon carried away 

 produce many more. However, they make little wine ; captive, or from thofe who were difperfed over the world, 

 but content themfelves with the liquor w'hlch they draw from or were fold by Titus Vefpafian, after the dellruftion of Je- 

 the fugar-cane, and their honey, which is excellent and rufalem. They were never incorporated with the ori- 

 abundant. They have alfo the cofiee-tree, and a plant ginal Jews that came hither, as tradition fays, with Meni- 

 called Ensete, which produces an eatable nouridiing fruit, leek, the fon cf Solompn, but were looked upon as aliens. 

 The country alfo produces many other plants an',1 fru'ts, ' .. . ^. . . „ .. 



that are adapted both for dOmeilic and medicinal ufes : fuch 

 as the KoLQj/ALL, Papyrus, Wanzey, Balessan, 

 WooGiNoos, Ctjsso, SvssA, Ergett, Sena, Carda- 

 MOM, and Ginger. Here is alio plenty of cotton, 

 which grows on flirubs, like the Indian. Flowers in 

 a rich variety adorn the banks of their rivers, aid en- 

 circle their houfes ; fome of which are common with 

 us, and others unknown in Europe. Their foreils likcwife 



being ciUed Salaxa, /. e. llrangers or exiles. They reta.ii 

 their Hebrew bible in the corrupt Talmudic dialtft, and 

 their fynagogue-worlhip. — The M.-'licmctans are reckoned 

 to amount to about one third part of the inhabitants t.f 

 Abyfllnia, and are every where intermixed with the Chrif- 

 tians. Some of them apply to agriculture ; but the riciicfl 

 and moil profperous are the fadors, wiio, fince the AbylTi- 

 nians have been deprived of their fea-poits on the Red Sea 

 by the Turks, have, by favour of the MulTulmanf, cn- 

 abound with trees of various defcriptions, particularly the grofled t'liat trade very much to themfelves. — The Pagans 



Rack, Baobab, Cedar, Sycamore, &c. This coun- 

 try produces a great number of animals, both doineilic and 

 wild. Amongll the former we may enumerate horfes, fome 

 of which are of a very fine breed, mules, aifcs, camels, 

 dromedaries, oxen, cows, iheep, and goats ; and thefe con- 

 ftitute the principal wealth of the inhabitants. Amongll 

 the wild animals we may reckon the antelope, the bufFaloe, 

 the wild boar, the jackall, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the 

 lion, the leopard, the hyasna, the lynx, apes and baboons, 

 which are veiy deflruiSlive to the fields of millet, as well as 

 the common rats ; the zecora or wild mule, and the wild afs; 

 tjie jerboa, the fcnnec, alhkoko, hare, &c, The hare, as 



are chiefly the Gallas ; befides fome others who are dif- 

 perfed through feveral of the provinces of the Abyflinian 

 empire. Amidll this variety of nations, there mull be fup- 

 pofed a correfponding variety of language, difpofition, cuf- 

 toms-, and government. The Jews fpeak a kind of corrupt 

 Hebrew. The IVloors ufe their own Arabic in an impure 

 ftate. The dialeifil of the court is that of Amhara ; that 

 uf Tigre', however, approaches ncareH to tiic old Ethio- 

 pic, which is called Lefhone Geez, or the learned lan- 

 guage, and is ftill ufed, not only in all their literary and re- 

 ligious books, but alfo in the king's letters patent, aod all 

 their records. See fpccimens in Brace's Travels, vol. i. 



3 P- 4H» 



