TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA. 
75 
were to be given to the chief in his various charac- 
ters $ as Naybe of Arkeeko, as a Turkish Aga, and 
as having abstained from searching the baggage. 
Mr Bruce, emboldened by Achniet's protection, 
peremptorily refused to give any thing in any of 
these capacities. He was immediately sent for, 
and a .violent altercation ensued ; though, at the 
end of it, the Naybe, learning that he had letters to 
Michael Suhul, governor of Tigre, growled a species 
of consent to his departure. He afterwards, how- 
ever, again attempted, by the most violent threats, 
to extract presents and sums of money, and at- 
tempts were even made by his emissaries to break 
into the house in the night time ; but Bruce being 
supported not only by Achmet, but by the sardar 
of the Janissaries, at length succeeded in effecting 
his departure. 
Our traveller now ascended the vast chain of 
mountains, over which the road into the interior of 
Abyssinia is conducted. The pass of Taranta was 
particularly formidable, it being extremely difficult 
to convey over the quadrant and other astronomi- 
cal instruments. Mr Bruce does not agree, how- 
ever, with those who represent the mountains of 
Tigre as loftier than the Alps or the Pyrenees. A 
mountain, near St Jean Pied de Port, appeared to 
him higher than Lamalmon, and the St Bernard 
than Taranta. The most striking circumstance con- 
sists in their forms, some being flat, thin, and square, 
