ugh that kingdom and Tunis, Crete and Rhodes, Syria, Lower
and Upper Egypt. Then I crossed the desert from Assouan to Cosseir on
the Red Sea, explored the Arabian Gulf, and after visiting Jidda,
arrived at Masuah [Massowah] on September 19, 1769. Masuah, which means
the "Harbour of the Shepherds," is a small island close upon the
Abyssinian shore, and the governor is called the naybe. He himself was
cruel, avaricious, and a drunkard, but Achmet, his son, became my
friend, as I had cured him of an intermittent fever, and on November 10
he carried me, my servants and baggage, from the island of Masuah to
Arkeeko, on the mainland, from which point my party started for the
province of Tigre, in Abyssinia, on November 15.

For days we travelled across a gravelly plain, and then over mountains,
bare and full of terrible precipices with thickly wooded intervening
valleys, and on November 22 we descended into the town of Dixan, in the
province of Tigre. It is inhabited by Moors and Christians, and the only
trade is that of selling children, stolen or made captives in war, who
are sent after purchase to Arabia and India. The priests are openly
concerned in this infamous practice. We were frequently delayed by
demands from local chiefs for toll dues, and did not arrive at Adowa
till December 6. This is the residence of the governor of the province
of Tigre--Michael Suhul, ras, or prime minister, of Abyssinia. The
mansion of the ras is situated on the top of a hill. It resembles a
prison rather than a palace, for there were in it 300 people confined in
irons, the object being to extract money from them. Some of them had
been there for twenty years, and most of them were kept in cages like
wild beasts.

On January 17, 1770, we set out on our way to Gondar, and on the
following day reached the plain where the ruins of Axum, supposed to be
the ancient capital of Abyssinia, are situated. In one square are forty
obelisks of one piece of granite. A road is cut in the mountain of red
marble, having on the left a parapet wall about five feet in height. At
equal distances there are solid pedestals, upon the tops of which stood
originally colossal statues of Sirius, Litrator Anubis, or Dog Star.
There are 133 of these pedestals, but only two much mutilated figures of
the Dog remain. There are also pedestals for figures of the Sphinx. Two
magnificent flights of steps several hundred feet long, all of granite,
are the only remains of the gre