THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 353
the bifhop of Alexandria, becaufe the Egyptians, from old times feem to have had this gift of computation given them; and when thefe had fignitied to the apoftolic See the days upon which the moveable, feafls were to happen, .the church of Rome then notified this by writing to churches at a great-. er diltance.
We are not to doubt that this privilege, which the church of Alexandria had been fo long in poffeilion of, contributed much to inflame the minds of the Abyffinians againll the Roman Catholic priefts, for altering the time of keeping Eafter, by appointing days of their own ; for we fee violent commotions to have arifen every year upon the celebration of this feftival. .
The Abyflinians have another way of defcribing time peculiar to themfelves ; they read the whole of the four evangelifts every year in their churches. They begin with Matthew, then proceed to Mark, Luke, and John, in order; and, when they fpeakof an event, they write and fay it hap- pened in the days of Matthew, that is, in the firfl quarter of the year, while the gofpel of St Matthew was yet reading in the churches. .
They compute the time of the day in a very arbitrary, ir- regular manner. The twilight, as I have before obferved, is veryfliort, almofl imperceptible, and was Hill more fo when the court was removed farther to the fouthward in Shoa. As foon as the fun falls below the horizon, night comes on, and all the ftars appear. This term, then, the twilight, they choofe for the beginning of their day, and call it Najrge, which is the very time the twilight of the
V.qu 111 Y y morning
