TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA. 
43 
very steep mountain, they came to the banks of 
the Zebee, a river which appeared to them to roll 
a greater mass of waters than the Nile. It was 
here sunk to a vast depth beneath perpendicular 
rocks, between which it rolled with prodigious ra- 
pidity. To the Portuguese, as they cast their 
eyes into the abyss, and heard the awful roarings 
of the flood beneath, it appeared as if they were 
looking down into the infernal regions. But all 
their attention was soon drawn to the mode in 
which this frightful gulf was to be passed. The 
sole bridge consisted of the trunk of a tree, so 
long that it reached across from rock to rock. The 
moment this bridge felt the smallest weight above 
it, it began immediately to quiver and creak, like 
a green twig. The travellers started U with hor- 
" ror backward but the Galla, a worse fear, 
urged them behind. At length, after much tre- 
pidation, the boldest of the party put his foot on 
this frail support, and treading lightly, reached the 
opposite bank. The rest then passed one by one j 
leaving two to guard the cattle, with instructions, 
if the Galla should come, to save themselves in- 
stantly, and abandon their charge. Those dread- 
ful enemies, however, did not appear, and a ford 
was afterwards found in a neighbouring valley, 
over which the cattle were driven. This danger 
past, they were not long of arriving at the capital 
of Gingiro. Their arrival was immediately an- 
