666 Report on Shoa [No. 140. 



139. But the Abyssinian scribes do not hold the pen of a ready 

 writer, and the dilatory management of their awkward instrument is at- 

 tended with gestures and attitudes most distressingly ludicrous, clutch- 

 ing the tiny style like a hot apple in the paws of a hungry ape. It is 

 carried with the most convulsive twitches, and seemingly by some 

 supernatural force to the mouth of the writer, where the end is seized 

 between the teeth and masticated, in a sort of mental phrenzy. During 

 the whole period of this strange operation, the thin strip of dirty vellum 

 is held at arms-length and viewed askance from every side, with looks 

 of utter horror and dismay, and when at last the stick descends to dig 

 its furrow upon the parchment, no terrified school- boy with the birch 

 of the master hanging over his devoted head, ever took such pains in 

 pointing the most elaborate pot-hook, as does the Abyssinian scribe in 

 daubing his strange characters upon the scroll. 



140. Like the Chinaman, each individual letter must be looked at 

 from every point of view, before progressing to the next ; every word 

 must be read again and again by the delighted artist, and the greasy 

 skin must be many times turned upside down by the grinning penman 

 proud of his talents, to observe the happy effect of his handy- work. 



141. During the intervals of approval, the destructive bites continue 

 fast and fierce, to the utter demolition of the pencil ; and long before the 

 termination of the first sentence, European patience is apt to become 

 utterly exhausted at the scene of awkward, foolish stupidity, and gross 

 waste of valuable time. Seventeen years have been employed in tran- 

 scribing a single manuscript, and a common epistle of five lines is the 

 utmost extent of one entire day's exertion. 



142. The following list gives the names of all the books at present 

 in existence in Abyssinia. Tradition, however, records the titles of other 

 works, which were deposited for safety in the islands in the Lake Zoo-ai, 

 on the great invasion of Gragno, and which are said to exist with many 

 other precious treasures of Ethiopia even unto this day. 



1 . All parts of the Old Testament, excepting the Pentateuch and the 



Books of the Maccabees. 



2. The four Gospels with readings. 



3. Chrysostom. Biography and Exposition of the Epistle to the 



Hebrews. 



4. A dogmatical work of Cyril. 



