60 
TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA. 
all with his own hand. On their arrival, accord- 
ingly, he for some time talked of nothing but im- 
paling and flaying alive. On finding, however, 
that a liberal ransom might be obtained, his views 
changed, and he directed his rigour solely to the 
object of extorting the utmost possible sum. A 
high ransom being accordingly paid, they were at 
length set at liberty, and sailed for Diu. 
Lobo gives a somewhat particular account of 
the Abyssinian religion. There does not from 
thence appear much room for such extreme zeal 
to convert them to the Catholic faith, as they ap- 
pear merely to carry a little farther some of its 
superstitions. Their reverence for the Holy Vir- 
gin surpasses even that of the Romish church, 
and it is their boast, that no nation on earth, ex- 
cept themselves, entertains an adequate sense of 
the dignity of that sacred personage. Their fasts 
are much stricter, as they include milk and but- 
ter, and the country aifording no fish, they are 
reduced to roots and pulse. The country is so 
full of churches and monasteries, that it is scarce- 
ly possible to sing in one without being heard by 
another. This singing, indeed, is extremely audi- 
ble, for, besides straining their voices to the high- 
est pitch, they fall to leaping, dancing, and clap- 
ping of hands, so that it seems rather a riotous 
meeting than a religious assembly. The father 
having reproached them with this tumultuous spe- 
