156 HOSPITABLE CUSTOMS 



from the policy of non-interference on the part 

 of the guest would then be justly considered an 

 act of great ingratitude ; nor when such a con- 

 servative principle is involved in the observance of 

 hospitality towards strangers, can we be surprised 

 at the indignation which marks several tirades in 

 the productions of the ancient poets, when this 

 custom was more general than in modern times, 

 against individuals who have thus erred in their 

 duties to the hosts who have entertained them. 



Moreover, when departing from an Abyssinian 

 country, the audience of leave-taking is supposed 

 to terminate with a blessing bestowed upon the 

 king by the guest, who acknowledges in this 

 manner the kindness with which he has been 

 received. The blessing being withheld implies the 

 reverse, and no little uneasiness and superstitious 

 alarm would be occasioned in the mind of a 

 monarch, by the idea that the stranger would 

 revenge himself by a curse, for any neglect he may 

 suppose himself to have been treated with. 



These customs being borne in mind, to apply our 

 knowledge of them usefully, we must compare 

 them with similar observances which did, and still 

 do, characterize some oriental courts ; and readers 

 perhaps will recall to mind some in the histories of 

 ancient and modern Asiatic monarchies, that may 

 have originated from some former connexion in one 

 extensive empire, of the now very different and 

 widely separated countries in which such customs 



