CH ELI C UT. SOI 
Assiibo; The Ras also mentioned to me, that besides these, the 
Maitsha, and the Boren Galla, who reside in Gojam, another tribe 
is found near the Abay, or White River, more barbaroos in its 
character than any of the others, called Woldutchi, which retains 
all the sanguinary ferocity of its first ancestors. The Woldutchi, 
like the Assubo, drink the warm blood of animals,* adorning 
themselves, in the same way as some of the southern natives of 
Africa, with the entrails of animals, and still continuing the 
practice of riding on oxen. 
In the course of my conversations on these subjects, I made 
many enquiries about the story told by Mr. Brucet respecting 
Guanguol ; but the Ras assured me this could not be correct, as 
he knew Guanguol well, who was very respectable in his appear- 
ance, and when he visited the court, received great attention. He 
told me, however, that scenes somewhat similar to that described 
byMr. Bruce, were often represented by the jesters aboutthe court; 
so that it seems not unlikely that the story originated from some 
such circumstance, if it be not an improved edition of an incident 
related by Jerome Lobo,+ which occurred to him among the Galla 
in the neighbourhood of Jubo, as Mr. Bruce, though in the habit 
of constantly abusing the Jesuits, was not averse from borrowing 
pretty largely from their works, of which the reader may be satis- 
fied by a comparison of his writings with either those of Tellez 
* Will it be believed, that in the fifteenth century, one of the monarchs of France, 
Louis XL, " dranke children's blood to recover his health !" yet this is seriously stated 
by a commentator on Philip de Commines, on the authority of " Gaguin," without any 
observation upon the barbarity of the act. 
+ Vide Vol. VL p. 43-4. 
<^ I Relation Historique d'Abyssinie, p. 23, 
