54 
MEMOIR OP BRUCE. 
the same name, and consisted of about three hun- 
dred houses, each dwelling being enclosed by hedges 
and trees. The residence of Ras Michael was on 
the top of a hill, and resembled a prison rather than 
a palace. In it and the adjoining building, more 
than three hundred people were confined in irons : 
the object of this cruel treatment was to extort 
money from them; many of them had been there 
twenty years, and were kept in cages like wild 
beasts. The houses were of rough stone, cemented 
noth mud instead of mortar : the roofs were cone- 
shaped, to resist the heavy rains, and thatched with 
reeds. The inhabitants have three harvests annu- 
ally, according to the different kinds of crop ; wheat 
is reaped in November, barley in February, and 
teff, or vetches, in April. They are much annoyed 
with rats and field-mice, which they destroy by 
setting fire to the straw. 
Bruce was anxious to proceed without delay to 
Gondar, and the tranquil state of political events 
seemed to offer him a favourable opportunity. Ras 
Michael had found the old king, Hatre Hannes, 
whom he had raised to that dignity by assassinating 
his predecessor, too feeble and sluggish for his 
duties ; and having despatched him by poisoning his 
breakfast, he placed his son, Tecla Haimanout, on 
the throne. The people, wearied of these revolutions, 
had subsided into a temporary calm. Of this in- 
terval Bruce determined to avail himself, and on 
the 17th of January, 1770, he and his party quitted 
Adowa, and on the following day they reached the 
