1843.] and the Abyssinian Church. 675 



prived the monarch of his eye-sight by means of a powerful spell, which 

 had been imparted by her learned paramour. 



158. But the enchanted village of "Daska Stephanas," hid from 

 mortal gaze, and enclosing upon earth all the pleasures of paradise, 

 forms the never- failing topic of all wonder-loving souls; the poetic fancy 

 of Abyssinia has been utterly exhausted in depicting this rare scene 

 of delight. 



159. "Its sleep-soothing groves with lawns between, are situated 

 on the Nile, where released from the loose shackles of all marriages 

 whatever, beautiful females are plentiful as they are common. Potent 

 liquors flow on in never-ending streams, and the earth yields her 

 spontaneous fruits without care or labour. But shrouded in the magic 

 mist, these Elysian fields open their portals only to mortals of command- 

 ing form and handsome feature, on whom the glance of favor has been 

 cast by the fair inmates of the enchanted garden ; human endeavour is of 

 no avail to unriddle the mystery, and the dread art of the sorcerer and 

 his most powerful talismans, are alike unavailing to unloose the spell 

 for the benefit of any of those unfortunates on whom nature has bestow- 

 ed a tortuous figure, or an ill-starred visage." 



160. The blacksmith is also endowed with supernatural powers by 

 the credulous Abyssinians, and is supposed to be able to transform him- 

 self at pleasure into the likeness of a wolf or hyena ; the cunning prac- 

 tice being in common use amongst the craft of secretly encasing the 

 whelp of one of these animals in a metal collar, which being retained in 

 after life, strengthens in the eyes of the uninitiated the fabulous stories 

 in circulation. 



161. The presence of any Christian emblem, badge, or portion of the 

 Holy Scripture is supposed to neutralize the handicraft of the dreaded 

 artist. The metal cannot be wielded in sight of the cross, and will by no 

 means assume the required design, should any scrap of the Bible be 

 worn on the person of the bye-stander. Whilst fumbling with their 

 imperfect instruments to transform a bar of iron into the necessary re- 

 pair of one of the galloper guns, the small draft of air which proceeded 

 from the tiny bellows, proved insufficient to heat the metal, and the na- 

 tive artists' smelters declared aloud, that the phenomenon was conse- 

 quent on the presence of some holy charm. Badges and emblems, 

 charms and amulets were incontinently stripped off by all ; the labour 



