308 RETURN TO ALTU AMBA. 



afforded every assistance to my servants on the 

 descent; beginning the war by rearing up on his 

 hind legs, and with nose pressed down upon 

 his chest, darted like a flying battering ram, upon 

 his persecutors, who generally went to the bottom 

 of the hill by one application of the sort. In this 

 manner he compelled us to come to terms, and 

 when we arrived at Dubdubhee, Walderheros left 

 him in charge with his mother, who was to take 

 every care of him for the few remaining days of the 

 fast ; at the conclusion of which, he was destined 

 to form a prominent actor in the festivity, which 

 it is usual among the Shoans to indulge in, the day 

 after any term of abstinence has expired. 



After remaining nearly all day at Dubdubhee, 

 where my ague paroxysm came on, and obliged me 

 to stay, w T e again started, and arrived at Aliu Amba 

 a few hours before sunset, where I was right glad 

 to lay myself comfortably down upon my own bed, 

 and under my own roof. A bright fire soon blazed 

 upon the hearth, and my first essay in the art of 

 brewing was tested, a large gambo of tallah being 

 brought out of the store recess, a small concavity 

 being first made in the earthen floor, to receive its 

 round bottom. The potent beverage was soon being 

 decanted into large drinking-horns, and the value 

 of misfortunes to heighten the enjoyment of suc- 

 ceeding pleasures, was demonstrated by the zest 

 that the comforts of the night derived, from the 

 recollection of the miseries of the last we had 



