LOBO*S NARRATIVE. 
^5 
dog, the hare, and the swine ; being the four ani- 
mals which are held in utter abomination through- 
out Abyssinia. Every protestation to the contrary 
was in vain ; whenever this symbol of religion 
appeared, precipitate flight was the consequenceo 
The Jesuits endeavoured to ingratiate themselves 
with the lady of the village, hoping, through her 
means, to procure some favour with the people, 
but in vain ; and, indeed, the fair sex seem to 
have been invariably their enemies. They paid 
a visit to some of the neighbouring villages ; 
but their arrival awakened always the same dole- 
ful concert ; and, as grief turned sometimes into 
rage, their lives, but for the protection of the 
governors, might have fallen a sacrifice. They 
soon therefore judged it most advisable to return 
to their head-quarters at Fremona. Lobo seems 
to have expected and wished to have been sent 
on a mission to court ; instead of which he was 
appointed superintendent of the monasteries in 
the province of Tigre. This charge was render- 
ed peculiarly painful by the famine, which the in- 
road of the locusts, so unjustly imputed to himself, 
had occasioned. The monastery was besieged by 
unhappy persons, whom want had driven from 
their habitations, and whose meagre forms, and 
pale aspect, indicated the excess of their misery. 
The utmost exertions of charity were insufficient 
to prevent many from perishing with hunger. 
