244 
ABH A 
discovered and sent to the Ras, he would himself, before the 
moon changed, set fire to the town. 
Though the day was very fine, this event gave a gloomy 
complexion to our feelings, which made us not very obser- 
vant of the scenery through which we passed. Our course lay 
to the souths and after passing Asceriah, we descended a steep 
declivity, that brought us into the eastern end of the fine plain 
of Serawe, which is thickly interspersed with tombo-trees, 
and seems to extend westward, on a low flat, to Hamazen. 
This plain may be considered as part of the western boundary 
of the mountains of Taranta ; the country through which we 
had hitherto descended constituting only the lower ridge of 
that extensive range. Soon afterwards^ we arrived at the pictu- 
resque village of Abha, where the Baharnegash Subhart gene- 
rally resides. 
The reception he gave us was very obliging; but there ap- 
peared in his conversation, as Ayto Debib observed, using an 
expressive, though not very polite, English phrase, which he had 
learned from Mr. Pearce, so much blarney,*' in which some 
of the Abyssinians are great adepts, that it gave us very strong 
reason to doubt his sincerity. This suspicion, unluckily, did not 
turn out to be ill-founded ; for instead of laying a repast before 
us, which is always customary on the arrival of strangers, he sent 
out to me, from an inner room to which he had retired, only a 
single horn of maiz. This partial distribution of his bounty, 
being considered by our party as an absolute affront, I refused 
to receive, and having in vain sent to remonstrate on the 
subject by three or four messengers, to whom his servants 
