HIDE TO ALII" AMBA. 179 



one that leads through Ankobar above, and after 

 an hour's ride, I arrived upon the market-place 

 portion of the rock of Aliu Amba, long before 

 Walderheros, but the mule took me direct to my 

 old quarters at Miriam's house, along the labyrinth 

 of lanes that would otherwise have sorely puzzled 

 me. Here I was received by a crowd of women, 

 who announced my arrival with a loud and long- 

 continued cry of " La, La, La," a customary 

 welcome, never omitted on the return home of any 

 one who has been absent for a time. I subse- 

 quently observed, that the more chance there was 

 of receiving an ahmulah to spend in ale afterwards, 

 the more joyous was the cry, and more numerous 

 was the assembly. Two native fiddlers also pre- 

 sented themselves, immediately that I had seated 

 myself in the house, bringing with them their 

 instruments, and a little doll dressed up to repre- 

 sent an Amhara soldier, with small but well-made 

 models of spear, shield, and the peculiar crooked 

 sword of the country. 



Their fiddles were clumsy-looking affairs, con- 

 sisting of a long handle, a lozenge-shaped parch- 

 ment body, and one string formed of a loose 

 bundle of horse-hairs, that at the upper extremity 

 of the handle were secured to a moveable pin of 

 wood three or four inches long, and after being 

 carried over a bridge which stood upon one of the 

 parchment faces, were looped down to a little 

 projection beyond. The string thus formed, was 

 n 2 



