10 
TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA. 
sion. They found the prince in a room on the 
ground-floor, his residence containing no other. 
He did not receive them very graciously. Though 
he complained of sore eyes, he rejected their prof- 
fered medical aid, and told them, that he could 
give them no mules, though he would allow them 
to buy for themselves. On coming out, they were 
offered a repast of half kneaded barley and a horn 
of mead, but chose rather to abstain, than to ac- 
cept of such food. The prince's mother, however, 
moved by a hospitable impulse, sent after them a 
supply of more savoury victuals. 
The country for a great distance around Do- 
barwa is very fertile, abounding in cattle, and 
crowded with villages. The town itself is agree- 
ably situated upon a rock. Alvarez was particu- 
larly struck with the number of females by whom it 
was peopled, but whose deportment does not seem 
to have been very exemplary. This is accounted 
for by the great number of persons who came 
« thither to pay court to the Barnagasso, and who, 
instead of bringing their own wives or concubines, 
chose rather to use such as were already resident. 
Polygamy here is forbidden by the church, but per- 
mitted by the king and the law, and thus liable to 
no penalty except excommunication. A great 
market is held at Dobarwa, where, as elsewhere 
in Abyssinia, every transaction is carried on by 
barter. If a goat is to be exchanged for an ass, 
