for which, in retaliation, he had himself been slain. This event produced an open rupture; and, as the Nayib at Arkeeko had it in his power to starve Massowa, the Jidda soldiers had given up the contest, and returned home, leaving a few slaves only in attendance upon the Aga.
I soon afterwards went on shore, where I found two of the Dumhoeta Chiefs, Hamooda and Undodo, younger brothers of Alli Govéta, with a number of their followers, waiting to receive me. I also found a party of Somauli traders, who, under the direction of Yunus's brother, had established a small factory at this place for the purpose of carrying on an intercourse with the natives, an instance of enterprise strongly marking the superiority of the Somauli over all other African tribes on the coast. The chief exports consist of slaves, horses, cattle, goats, and ghee, of which latter very considerable quantities are always to be procured in the neighbourhood. On mentioning to the chiefs, that my intention in visiting them was to confirm that friendship which I had entered into with Alli Govéta, they expressed themselves highly gratified, and declared, that what their brother had sworn to should be upheld by the whole of their tribes.
After the ceremony of introduction, we made a short excursion along the coast, in pursuance of our object, and in a little time came in sight of a hill, which might be distant about ten miles, close to which, the natives say, lies the town of Zulla, belonging to the Hazorta. Near this spot I was delighted with the sight of a great many pieces of a black substance, bearing a very high polish, much resembling glass, that lay scattered about on the ground at a short distance from the sea; and I collected nearly a hundred specimens of it, most of which were two, three or four inches in diameter. One of the natives told me, that a few miles further in the interior, pieces are found of much larger dimensions. This substance has been analyzed since my return to England, and proves to be the true opsian, or obsidian, stone, which answers most exactly to the following description given by Pliny: "Among the different sorts of glass may be enumerated the obsidian, made to resemble a stone found by Obsidius in Æthiopia, of a very deep
