1844.] Agricultural and Land produce of Shoa. 289 



and altogether, the inhabitant of countries where wholesome air and 

 freedom from vermin are ranked a mong conveniences, must object 

 highly to the want of either, under the roof of the Shoan farmer. 



103. There is a dreary look of desertion also in the external ap- 

 pearance of all the lone farm-steadings which are scattered over the 

 country, and the absence of all tidiness and comfort in the arrange- 

 ment of the yards, as well in the interior of the houses further en- 

 hances the picture of desolation. The cattle, the farm stock, and the 

 inhabitants, all reside under the shelter of one roof, not particularly to 

 the comfort or cleanliness of any party. The unseemly dunghill, 

 which in other countries is carried far away to improve the soil and 

 the means of the proprietor, is here suffered to accumulate and rot 

 adjoining the entrance to the dwelling, poisoning the atmosphere 

 with its baneful exhalations, until carried by the descending torrents 

 a few yards from the door, to feed the rank weeds which batten in 

 the filth. There is no attempt at the small trim garden or the 

 neat rustic porch; but bare mud walls and slovenly thatch rise from 

 the midst of a straggling wattle stockade, which completely surround- 

 ing the premises, is intended to preserve the inmates from the night 

 attacks of the prowling hyena, but which imparts an idea of utter 

 confinement and misery. There are few trees to break the monotony 

 of this rural scene; no busy hum of glad labour; and the want of bus- 

 tle and noise among the elders, and the sounds of merry games and 

 amusements among the children, appears to the European visitor, 

 strange, savage, and unnatural. 



104. Rough-clad and devoid of every finer art and elegance of life, 

 the original proprietor of the sheep still wears but the raw skin of the 

 animal, which is shifted over the shoulders according to the vicis- 

 situdes of the weather ; a pair of coarse cotton trowsers, barely reach- 

 ing to the knees, and a scanty cotton waistcloth summing up the 

 remaining articles of the wardrobe ; which, however, is perfectly suffi- 

 cient for the purpose required as the dearly-beloved coat of rancid 

 fat seems to form a most effectual preventive against the extremes 

 of either heat or cold. If but a small portion of this grease, which 

 is so plentifully besmeared over their Christian persons, was more 

 usefully employed in the fabrication of candles, the long, idle even- 

 ings might be passed in a more pleasant and profitable manner, 



