1843.] and the Abyssinian Church. 671 



being of a certainty either baulked in the object of his journey, robbed, 

 maltreated, or murdered. 



146. Savage man obtaining only through the medium of his own 

 wishes and imagination a faint idea of the invisible and supreme Power, 

 seeks for some tangible object of veneration and means of protection, 

 and the Abyssinian, whose vague religious ideas afford him but small 

 consolation in the hour of tribulation, and little reliance of security in the 

 day of danger, reposes the utmost faith in the doctrine of charms, 

 which present a substance stamped with a mystic and supernatural 

 character, and capable of being attached to himself individually. The 

 " tulsim" which is a worked zone studded with tiny leathern pockets, 

 containing sacred charms enclosed in double and treble cases, encircles 

 the waist of every man, woman and child in the kingdom ; the arms and 

 neck are also hung in a perfect panoply of amulets against the influence 

 of every disease, whether experienced or anticipated ; the written talis- 

 mans of holy monks, mixed with the seed and leaves of potent witch 

 plants, gathered by the hand of the forest recluse, afford a feeling of 

 security which is not to be extracted from the leaves of the Gospel ; and 

 no one ever thinks of mounting his mule, without being well stored with 

 these paper preservatives against the spear of the robber, or the sharp 

 knife of the Galla. 



147. On the first arrival of the Embassy on the frontier, the simple 

 natives on their knees implored the gift of the anxiously desired charm 

 against the charge of the dreaded lion, and the king himself, by no 

 means free from the prevailing superstition, had in his possession two 

 talismans, which till lately he considered of high dread and import; they 

 were inscribed on parchment in the French language, one containing a 

 portion of the Lord's Prayer, and the other the words, " May God open 

 the eyes of Sabela Selassie to his errors." 



148. Their superstitions are childish as they are numerous. They 

 believe in the evil eye, in the existence of evil spirits who roam about 

 the earth and waters, and in every description of omen, and the igno- 

 rance of many is passing strange, considering St. Michael to be God Al- 

 mighty ; the Virgin Mary the creatoress of the world ; and Sunday, to have 

 been a saint of great sanctity, far superior to St. George or St. Michael, 

 which has ensured for him one day in seven to be held holy to his name, 

 whilst the others have their festivals only once during the month. 



