61 



CHAPTER IV. 



Reception of visitors by the Sultaun of Tajourah. — Arrival in that 

 town, from Shoa, of Demetrius and Joannes. — Ruin* and remains 

 of antiquity. — Preparations for our departure. — The day fixed 

 for our start. — Leave Tajourah on the 27th of March. 



During my stay in Tajourah, the fair at Berberah 

 broke up, and three or four boats belonging to the 

 town returned, some of them firing guns to an- 

 nounce their approach, the reports of which, as was 

 justly observed by Nassah, being very thin com- 

 pared to good fat English ones. 



As each boat anchored, the rais and passengers, 

 if there were any, dressed in their cleanest and best 

 apparel, proceeded to the Sultaun's house, escorted 

 by a mob of the townspeople, to an audience with 

 his Majesty, who received them with great formality. 

 Every one touched his hand, and then kissed their 

 own, placing the ends of their fingers immediately 

 afterwards on their foreheads, the usual mode of Arab 

 salutation. After this, the whole assembly repeated 

 the opening chapter of the, Koran called the 

 Fahtah, to intimate the peaceable nature of the 

 meeting. The latest news of the fair were now 

 discussed, the ever-circulating coffee sent round, 



