44 TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA. 
nounced to the king; but that monarch was so 
deeply employed in operations of witchcraft, which 
forms here the main engine of state policy, that he 
could not receive them into his presence for eight 
days. They were then sent for, and found the 
king seated on a scaffold, twenty-five palms high, 
and which was ascended by steps in front. His 
courtiers stood on foot upon the ground, to whom, 
says the writer, he issued his orders from this lofty 
height, like a thundering Jupiter. As soon as the 
letter of the king of Abyssinia was shewn to him, 
he came down from the scaffold, received it on 
foot, and inquired for the health of the emperor, 
after which he reascended, and conversed for some 
time through the medium of an interpreter. This 
interpreter, whenever the king spake, kissed the 
tips of his fingers, and then stooping, kissed the 
ground, and when he had received Fernandez's 
answer, went through the same salutations before 
delivering it to the king. That prince made many 
inquiries about the health of the king of Abys- 
sinia ; said that the object of the letters was to re- 
quest him to use them well, and to supply them 
with whatever they wanted, which he promised to 
do. 
Gingiro is considered by Bruce as the entrance 
into the dominions of the Devil in Africa ; and, in 
fact, it appears to be the first state, in this quarter, 
where the system of magic m&feticherie-, so wide- 
