there was some meaning in this, and that he was wishing to throw difficulties in the way, till some accident, or sudden emergency (never wanting in that country) should make it absolutely impossible for me to leave Abyssinia. When therefore the last message came to Koscam on the 27th, at night, I returned my respectful duty to his majesty, put him in mind of his promise, and, somewhat peevishly I believe, intreated him to leave me to my fortune; that my servants were already gone, and I was resolved to set out next morning.
In the morning early, I was surprised at the arrival of a young nobleman, lately made one of his bed-chamber, with fifty light horse. As I was satisfied that leaving Abyssinia, without parade, as privately as possible, was the only way to pass through Sennaar, and had therefore insisted upon none of my friends accompanying me, I begged to decline this escort; assigning for my reason, that, as the country between this and Ras el Feel belonged first to the Iteghé, and then to Ayto Confu, none of the inhabitants could possibly injure me in passing. It took a long time to settle this, and it was now, as I have said, one o'clock before we set out by the well side of Debra Tzai, having the mountain on our right hand. From the top of that ascent, we saw the plain and flat country below, blank, and, in its appearance, one thick wood, which some authors have called lately, the Shumeta[1], or Nubian forest. But of the meaning of Shumeta I profess myself entirely ignorant; no
- ↑ See chart of the Arabian Gulf published at London in 1781 by L. S. Dela Rochette.
