424 
ADO WA. 
known to express their disapprobation of the whole ceremony, the 
Ras himself, since his accession to power, having attended only 
three, two of which were those of his brothers, and the other being 
that of Fit-Aurari Zogo. The superior classes of inhabitants, I 
may also observe, never mutilate their temples by tearing off the 
skin, nor do they otherwise go into any extraordinary excess of 
grief on these occasions. 
As Adowa may be considered a town of great importance in 
the country I shall here give a short description of it, to which 
may be properly added a few remarks respecting its trade. 
The town of Adowa is situated partly on the side, and partly 
at the bottom of a hill, a circumstance very unusual in Abyssi- 
nia ; and the houses, which are all of a conical form, are pretty 
regularly disposed into streets or allies, interspersed with wanzy 
trees and small gardens, some of which are cultivated with con- 
siderable care ; the town itself being plentifully supplied with 
water from three streams, which take their course through the 
valley below. The number of residents in this place, may, on a 
general calculation, be estimated at full eight thousand, as I 
reckoned in it more than eight hundred habitations, each of 
which, on a moderate computation, being supposed to contain 
ten inmates, would altogether amount to a sum probably falling 
short of the actual population. Adowa may be regarded as the 
chief mart for commerce on the eastern side of the I'acazze, all 
the intercourse between the interior provinces and the coast being 
carried on through the merchants residing at that place, in con- 
sequence of which the Mahomedans there have retained a greater 
degree of importance, than in any other part of the empire, the 
