94 GRAND CAIRO. 
CHAP. This is considered always as a luxury; and 
'. therefore the priests abstain from it. In his 
own village, he said, the soldiers and principal 
people prefer raw meat to every other diet; 
that before he became a priest, he had himself 
eaten much of it ; that he considered it as very 
savoury when the animal from which it is taken 
is fat and healthy. He professed himself to be 
ignorant of the virtue ascribed by Bruce to the 
fVboginoos^, now called Brucea antidysenterica; 
although he knew the plant well, and said it 
cured all disorders caused by magic : but he 
verified all that Bruce had related of the Cu^so^, 
or Banksia Abyssinica; and added, that it was 
customary to drink an infusion made from it 
every two months, as a preventive against the 
disorder noticed by Bruce. When shewn the 
Walkuffa, he mentioned a curious circumstance, 
which Bruce has not related ; namely, that the 
bark of this plant serves the Ahyssinians as a 
substitute for soap. He knew nothing of the 
word Carat, as a name said by Bruce to be 
given, in the south of Abyssinia, to the bean of 
the Kuara-iVQQ, and used in weighmg gold. 
(1) See Bruce's Travels, Appendix, p, 69. 
(2) Ibid. p. 73. 
