58 
MEMOIR OF DEUCE. 
characters written on a tin plate, and then washed 
off and given him to drink, that the consultation 
was deferred till next day. Scarcely had he returned 
home, however, when a second message informed 
him that "Welled was so ill that his mother, the 
beautiful Ozoro Esther (wife of old Ras Michael), 
and the Iteglie, begged him to come again and visit 
him, witli some others who were sick. 
On entering the palace, he found a deputation of 
monks had arrived to perform a miraculous cure, by 
laying upon the patient a cross and a picture of the 
Virgin Mary, sent by three renowned saints from 
Waldubba. In consequence of this prescription, 
Bruce’s skill was not put in requisition ; but he was 
introduced to the queen-mother, until whom he held 
a long conversation about the Roman Catholic reli- 
gion and the healing virtues of miracles. Next 
afternoon he was informed that Welled Hawaryat 
and some others that were sick had died, an event 
which destroyed all faith in the medical reputation 
of the saints. 
As the contagion had spread itself all over Gon- 
dar, Bruce was requested to take up his abode in 
the palace, where the whole children and grand- 
children belonging to the royal family were placed 
under his charge. Accordingly, being provided with 
an Abyssinian dress, with his hair cut round, curled, 
and perfumed in the true Amharic fashion, he pro- 
ceeded to his destination, and entered at once upon 
the functions of his new profession. His mode of 
treating the disorder, by the admission of fresh air 
