148 



CHAPTER IX. 



Court dress.' — Palace of Angolahlah. — Interview with Negoos. — ■ 

 Memolagee. — Invited to house of Tinta. — Supplies from palace. 

 ■ — Return to Ankobar. 



June 30th. — This morning, after a breakfast of bread 

 and cayenne pottage, which proved to be the con- 

 tents of the little earthenware jar carried back from 

 the palace the day before, I was sent for, to present 

 myself immediately before the Negoos. Under- 

 standing that it was etiquette to appear before 

 royalty either with the upper part of the body, 

 above the waist, quite naked, or else, on the con- 

 trary, closely clothed up, I chose the latter alter- 

 native, and put over my blowse dress my black 

 Arab cloak, and following the messenger, walked 

 up the side of the low hill upon which the Palace 

 of Angolahlah stands. This ridge, scarcely one 

 hundred feet high, is a red ferruginous basaltic 

 dyke, which has here protruded through the 

 general surface rock of grey columnar porphyry. 

 The rock of which it consists contains so much iron 

 as to render the compass completely useless in 

 taking bearings, and the oxidization, where it is 



