urgative; so that, eating the fruit and skin together, I fell into such
a disorder as almost brought me to my end. The ordinary dose is six of
these rinds, and I had devoured twenty.

I removed from thence to Debaroa, fifty-four miles nearer the sea, and
crossed in my way the desert of the province of Saraoe. The country is
fruitful, pleasant, and populous; there are greater numbers of Moors in
these parts than in any other province of Abyssinia, and the Abyssins of
this country are not much better than the Moors.

I was at Debaroa when the prosecution was first set on foot against the
Catholics. Sultan Segued, who had been so great a favourer of us, was
grown old, and his spirit and authority decreased with his strength. His
son, who was arrived at manhood, being weary of waiting so long for the
crown he was to inherit, took occasion to blame his father's conduct, and
found some reason for censuring all his actions; he even proceeded so far
as to give orders sometimes contrary to the Emperor's. He had embraced
the Catholic religion, rather through complaisance than conviction or
inclination; and many of the Abyssins who had done the same, waited only
for an opportunity of making public profession of the ancient erroneous
opinions, and of re-uniting themselves to the Church of Alexandria. So
artfully can this people dissemble their sentiments that we had not been
able hitherto to distinguish our real from our pretended favourers; but
as soon as this Prince began to give evident tokens of his hatred, even
in the lifetime of the Emperor, we saw all the courtiers and governors
who had treated us with such a show of friendship declare against us, and
persecute us as disturbers of the public tranquillity, who had come into
AEthiopia with no other intention than to abolish the ancient laws and
customs of the country, to sow divisions between father and son, and
preach up a revolution.

After having borne all sorts of affronts and ill-treatments, we retired
to our house at Fremona, in the midst of our countrymen, who had been
settling round about us a long time, imagining we should be more secure
there, and that, at least during the life of the Emperor, they would not
come to extremities, or proceed to open force. I laid some stress upon
the kindness which the viceroy of Tigre had shown to us, and in
particular to me; but was soon convinced that those hopes had no real
foundation, for he was one of the most violent of