238 
DESCENT OF TARANTA. 
of Tigre to the pinnacled and distant heights of Adowa, which, 
though singiilarly diversified with patches of vegetation, extensive 
forests of koiquall, and numberless intersecting vallies, were so 
harmoniously blended together by a luminous atmosphere, as to 
form one vast and unbroken expanse. On my former journey we 
descended this mountain in the midst of a heavy and incessant 
storm : we were then entering upon an unknown country, with 
dubious steps and no very certain assurance of the reception that 
we were likely to encounter; the recollection of our feelings on that 
occasion formed a pleasing contrast to our present sensations ; for 
now every thing promised success, the sun shone bright on the 
landscape before us, and we were surrounded with tried and 
faithful followers. 
As the steepness of the path we had to descend rendered riding 
unsafe, we dismounted from our mules, threw the reins over 
their necks, and left them to make the best of their way down the 
mountain, as is customary with travellers in Abyssinia : an 
hour's walk carried us down the worst part of the road, and we 
then re-mounted and proceeded forward through a wild and 
rocky district, along a winding path-way, towards Dixan. The 
change of climate here began to be very apparent : the heat of the 
sun became intense and scorching, compared with what we had 
experienced on the other side of Taranta ; the vegetation looked 
parched, the brooks were dry, and the cattle had all been driven 
across the mountain in search of pasture. This remarkable and sud- 
den change of the seasons is noticed in one of the earliest accounts 
respecting Abyssinia ; for Nonnosus, an ambassador from the 
Emperor Justinian to the ruling sovereign of the Axomites^ 
