456 
MASSOWAH. 
had written a second letter, by order of the Nayib, to hasten the 
mules ; he had also sent for two men, of the tribe of the Shiho, to 
attend us. These people are very wild, and inhabit the mountains 
through which our road lies. He particularly mentioned the 
mountains of Gidam, Taranta, and Assooba, as frequented by 
them. He recommended us not to let the ship go away till our 
arrival at Dixan was announced ; and to permit Hamed, the Nayib*s 
son, to go over to Arkeko with us, as the people of this latter 
place are not to be depended upon; even the Nayib himself can- 
not trust them ; but that if we had his son with us, they would not 
dare to molest the party. I told him that his thoughts were mine ; 
that I would follow his advice, and that Captain Court had already 
determined to stay till our letters from Dixan should be received. 
" July 8. — The Christian from Dowarba came to us again in the 
evening, accompanied by an attendant of the Nayib. He appeared 
to be a simple uneducated creature, from whom we could not ex- 
pect to obtain any important information ; and it was not impro- 
bable that he had been selected on this very account, out of four 
who had arrived, as the Nayib's people were evitlently shy of 
letting us know the object of their mission. From repeated ques- 
tions, however, we learned, that they had brought from Welleta 
Sulimaun, Governor of Dowarba,^ an answer to a demand which 
the Nayib had made of some long forgotten tribute. The purport 
of the answer was, that the Governor was the Nayib's friend, and 
would prevent, so far as lay in his power, any of the neighbouring 
tribes from making plundering incursions into the territory of his 
* The Banian and Amed YusufF informed us that the mis&ion to the Nayib was 
from Ras Aylo, the Chief of Seraw^, eight days journey beyond Dowarba, Ras Aylo, 
we understand, is a dependent upon Ras Welleta Selasse. 
