18 
CALAUT. 
of a sheep and milk, and also engaged to supply us with people 
at an early hour on the following morning. He made an excuse for 
appearing in a squalid dress, by informing me that he was in mourn- 
ing for his brother. His shirt was blackened with dirt, and was to 
be worn eighty days. In confirmation of this, Hadjee Hamed in- 
formed me that all the Christians in Abyssinia mourn in the same 
way, and also tear the skin off their temples, to shew their affection 
for the deceased. 
" From this worthy man, who seemed more shrewd and sensible 
than any we had yet met with, 1 procured some information, which, 
when joined with what I had before obtained, pretty clearly ex- 
plained the present state of this part of the country. This man's fa- 
father, Woldo Kemellet, w^as chief of the district of Agowma, in 
extent three days march across, in which are the villages of Seraxo, 
Gullimuckidah, Akran, Duccakallah, Calaut, and many others. This 
territory, in the time of Michael Suhul, yielded to him, as Ras, much 
tribute in gold, matchlocks, and cattle; but after Ras Welleta Se- 
lasse came into power, Woldo Kemellet was forcibly driven out of 
his country by Shum Woldo, a celebrated warrior, the friend and 
favourite of the present Ras, who styled him brother, though there 
was no relationship by blood between them. Since this revolution, 
the district has only paid to the Ras annually two hundred skins 
of honey, two hundred sheep, fifty cows, and ten matchlocks, being 
a trifling tribute in comparison to what it before yielded. As a 
compensation to the family of Woldo, the Ras gave to Welleta 
Samuel the villages of Debra Muttai, with the surrounding land, to 
be held free of all tribute. 
It is now three years since a battle was fought between Shum 
