YEEHA. 
433 
'iLL^^unfihrti°^Ti^) 
and I cannot therefore help entertaining the hope, that some 
future discoveries in Abyssinia, or the countries adjacent, may 
give us the whole alphabet, and lead to a satisfactory confirma- 
tion of my conjecture. 
While engaged in the examination of the ruins, the priests 
and several of the principal inhabitants attended us, very civilly 
pointing out every thing worthy of notice, and assisting us in 
the removal of some large stones, for the purpose of promoting 
the objects we had in view. They related to us also, with appa- 
rent pleasure, all the traditional stories handed down from their 
ancestors connected with the place, which I shall comprise in 
a few words ; that the building we had admired was erected 
by an holy man, who came from Misr' a long time ago ; but that 
the spot on which it stood had for ages before been regarded as 
sacred, owing to the ark of the covenant, which had been 
brought into Abyssinia by Menilek, having been kept there for 
a considerable time previous to its removal to Axum which 
story may probably deserve about the same degree of credit as 
the one recorded bv Alvarez, " that Yeeha was the favourite resi- 
dence of Queen Candace,when she honoured the country with her 
presence."* After having completed our observations, and given 
a trifling remuneration to the attendant priests, we returned 
* Et de fait, on dit, que la Royne de Candace avoit eleu ce lieu la pour sa demeurance 
a cause que sa maison d'co est pas fort eloignee (by this he meant Axum) ce que ne 
semhle point repugner a la verite. 
