418 
A"XUM. 
rhinoceros ; on the contrary, he supposed it to have been the 
{j^j^ of the Arabs, or unicorn, said to be a species of goat of 
extraordinary swiftness/* a conjecture in which he was most 
certainly mistaken. 
Before we had completed our labour of copying the characters 
the chief of the district, Nebrid Isgere Barea, made his appear- 
ance, with a large party of his followers, riding hastily over the 
plain, and, in consequence of his urgent request, we consented to 
alter our previous intention, and return to Axum, where we re- 
mained with him the rest of the day. He treated us with the 
kindest hospitality, and introduced us to his family, consisting 
of his wife and one daughter. The retired manners and modest 
behaviour of the latter, confirmed me strongly in the opinion, 
that the females in Abyssinia before marriage are generally 
well educated, and very superior in character to those of maturer 
years, who, after marriage, have been accustomed to mingle with 
greater freedom in society, and to allow themselves, perhaps, too 
great a latitude of conduct. 
On the following morning we set out at day-light, and once 
more proceeding to the stone with the Greek inscription, again 
went over the work of the preceding day, and made out all the ad- 
ditional Ethiopic characters which could be traced, Our success, 
however, was not very great, for though the inscription occupied 
the whole surface of the stone, being fully as long as the Greek 
one on the lower side, it had been so much effaced by the effects 
of the weather, owing to its reclined position, that we only found 
the last line entire, the rest of the characters which are given, 
being taken from different parts of the inscription, wherever they 
