At nine o'clock, after passing a plain, with the lake Tzana all the way on our right, in length about three miles, we came to the banks of the river Gorno, a small but clear stream; it rises near Wechnè, and has a bridge of one arch over it about half a mile above the ford. Its course is north and south nearly, and loses itself in the lake between Mitraha and Lamguè. A mile farther we arrived at Emfras, after a very pleasant, though not interesting excursion.
The town is situated on a steep hill, and the way up to it is almost perpendicular like the ascent of a ladder. The houses are all placed about the middle of the hill, fronting the west, in number about 300. Above these houses are gardens, or rather fields, full of trees and bushes, without any sort of order, up to the very top. Emfras commands a view of the whole lake, and part of the country on the other side. It was once a royal residence. On a small hill is a house of Hatzé Hannes, in form of a square tower, now going fast to ruin.
Emfras is in lat. 12° 12′ 38″ N. and long. 37° 38′ 30″ E. of the meridian of Greenwich. The distances and directions of this journey from Gondar were carefully observed by a compass, and computed by a watch of Ellicot's, after which these situations were checked by astronomical observations of latitude and longitude in every way that they could be taken, and it was very seldom in a day's journey that we erred a mile in our computation.
The lake of Tzana is by much the largest expanse of water known in that country. Its extent, however, has beengreatly
