EVILS OF INCONSISTENCY. 113 



portant information. This reason is sufficient also 

 to account for the mysterious disappearance of the 

 greater part of the documents which assisted Tellez 

 in drawing up his compilation, a suspicious cir- 

 cumstance of itself, that the object of this book was 

 anything but to give a correct description of the 

 physical character and capabilities of the country 

 of Abyssinia. 



I have dwelt too long, perhaps, upon an unimpor- 

 tant subject, but it is necessary, because modern 

 geographers invariably advance Tellez as an 

 unquestionable authority upon the subject of the 

 water-shed of the Gibbee ; and with his assistance 

 they have already obliged more than one Abys- 

 sinian traveller to throw aside information received 

 in the country, and instead of adhering to 

 opinions advocated whilst there, to repudiate the 

 whole, and follow in supporting errors they thus 

 confessed themselves unable to refute. This is not 

 the only evil of their inconsistency, for their 

 present opinions are so many important authorities 

 which have an equal claim to the attention of the 

 scientific world as my own, and render it impossible 

 for my testimony, even were it demonstrated to be 

 correct, to be received against the conjoined evidence 

 of two or three others who have visited Abyssinia 

 as well as myself. This I admit to be fair, but not 

 so the attempts which have been made to convince 

 me of my geographical errors, not by argument, but 

 by threats of all kinds of critical pains and penalties, 



VOL. II. I 



