THE SOURCE OF THENILE. toy 
‘Asout half a mile on the hill above is the village Kai- 
bara, wholly inhabited by Mahometan Gibbertis ; that is, na- 
tive Abyflinians of that religion. Kella being one of thefe 
bers, or paflages, we were detained there three whole days, 
by the extravagant demands of thefe farmers of the Awide, 
who laughed at all the importance we gave ourfelves. They 
had reafons for our reafons, menaces for our menaces, but no 
-_civilitiestoanfwer ours. Whatincreafed the awkwardnefs of 
our fituation was, they would take no money for provifions, 
but only merchandife by way of barter. We were, indeed, 
prepared for this by information ; fo we began to open fhop 
by fpreading a cloth upon the ground, at the fight of which, 
hundreds of young women poured down upon us on every 
fide from villages behind the mountains which we could 
mot fee. The country is furprifingly populous, notwith- 
ftanding the great emigration lately made with Michael. 
Beads and antimony are the ftandard in this way-faring 
commerce; but beads are a dangerous fpeculation. You 
lofe fometimes every thing, or gain more than honeftly 
you fhould do; for all depends upon fafhion; and the 
fancies of a brown, or black beauty, there, gives the sox 
cas decifively as does the example of the faireft in England. 
- “To our great difappointment, the perfon employed to 
buy our beads at Jidda had not received the laft lift of fa- 
fhiens from this country; fo he had bought us a quantity 
beautifully slowered with red and green, and as big as a 
darge pea; alfo fome large oval, green, and yellow ones; 
whereas the tox now among the beauties of Tigré were 
Zmall fky-coloured blue beads, about the fize of fmail 
dead fhot, or feed pearls; blue bugles, and common 
white bugles, were then in demand, and “large yellow 
O 2 glafs 
