330 THE TABEEBS AND 



that of the devil worshippers, but gave them the 

 salt notwithstanding, and after a long blessing, 

 which I thought would never have ended, these 

 two holy men took their leave. 



When I was at Myolones, I heard that I was not 

 far distant from a " goodam," or monastery of 

 Tabeebs. This is the name of the artificers of Shoa, 

 a blacksmith, a carpenter, a potter, a saddle-maker, 

 each being called " Tabeeb." This has also become 

 proverbial to particularize a clever man by an 

 allusion to these cunning workmen, and I suspect 

 that ere long the Shoans will have no other word 

 for a sorcerer. I heard some remarkable tales 

 respecting them : that they lived in common, men 

 and women, but only met during the darkness 

 of night, and the consequence was, that the 

 greatest confusion of family and kindred ties 

 resulted. In the day time the sexes lived, I was 

 told, in separate houses. There was something 

 very mysterious about them, so I determined as 

 soon as the rains had subsided to visit one of their 

 "goodams" and judge for myself. Among other 

 things, it was said they were not Christians, and 

 yet worshipped God and believed in Christ; that 

 they had no " tabot," and that all the men and 

 women were priests and priestesses. I could, in 

 fact, make nothing of them ; sometimes I thought 

 they might be Jews, and then again that they were 

 Freemasons, whose orgies had here assumed a 

 religious character. 



