TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA. 
the wound, and again drove her before them. This 
appeared to him the most soldier-like and commo- 
dious mode of carrying provisions that he had ever 
seen. He was not yet aware, that food in this live 
state, was the common and favourite banquet of 
the country. 
Bruce now passed through the province of Sire, 
and crossed the Tacazze, the banks of which ap- 
peared to him very beautiful, from the number of 
fine trees with which they were covered. Before 
reaching Gondar, he had still to cross the lofty 
mountain of Lamalmon. He did not, however, ex- 
perience any inconvenience in the passage ; on the 
contrary, the cool air proved a restorative both to 
his spirits and appetite. On its top is a large 
plain, where corn is produced abundantly. In de- 
scending, he came in sight of Gondar, in which 
the king's palace only was visible ; the rest was so 
involved in trees, that it appeared merely like a 
dark grove. 
Abyssinia was at this time convulsed by violent 
civil war. Ras Michael, the governor of Tigre, 
had assassinated the late king Joas, and had placed 
on the throne Tecla Haimanout, a youth of fifteen, 
who acted entirely under his direction. To conso- 
lidate this usurped power, he endeavoured to se- 
cure an alliance with the queen dowager or Iteghe, 
by marrying her daughter Ozoro Esther, and he 
courted Powussen and Gusho, the governors of 
