ADOWA. 425 
trade, as I have before remarked^ resting almost entirely in their 
hands. 
The chief production of Adowa consists in a manufactory of 
coarse and fine cloths, the former being considered unrivalled in 
any other part of the country, and the latter, being thought little 
inferior to those manufactured at Gondar. The quantity of 
cloth made at Adowa occasions a great demand for cotton, a 
considerable portion of which is procured from the low countries 
bordering on the Tacazze, and this is considered of a finer 
quality, and consequently more valuable, than that brought up 
from Massowa. The latter, notwithstanding, finds a ready sale? 
and though its importation be hampered by arbitrary exactions 
on the road, and a heavy duty on its being landed, fetches a 
considerable profit. The other imports, which pass through 
Adowa for the Gondar market, are lead, (in small quantities) 
block tin, copper, and gold foil ; small Persian carpets of a 
shewy pattern and of low price, raw silks from China, a few vel- 
vets, French broad cloths, and different coloured skins from 
Egypt ; glass ware and beads, which find their way from 
Venice, and a number of other petty articles, which are brought 
by different conveyances to Jidda. 
The exports which are carried down to the coast in return, 
most of which pass through the hands of the traders at Adowa, 
consist of ivory, gold, and slaves ; a very considerable quantity 
of the first article is procured in the province of Walkayt, and 
in the low country northward of Shire, and the sale of it is so 
certain at Massowa, that the price at Adowa only differs in the 
expenses of carriage being deducted. A great part of the gold 
