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land_n	bring_v	call_v	king_n	1,914	5	3.4981	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30860	The late travels of S. Giacomo Baratti, an Italian gentleman, into the remote countries of the Abissins, or of Ethiopia interior wherein you shall find an exact account of the laws, government, religion, discipline, customs, &c. of the Christian people that do inhabit there with many observations which some may improve to the advantage and increase of Trade with them : together with a confirmation of this relation drawn from the writings of Damianus de Goes and Jo. Scaliger, who agree with the author in many particulars / translated by G.D.	Baratti, Giacomo.; G. D.; Góis, Damião de, 1502-1574.; Scaliger, Joseph Juste, 1540-1609.	1670 (1670)	Wing B677; ESTC R11736	63,785	282

the Blacks lives a people very deformed and mishapen different from the rest of men not in the main composition of the body but in the disproportion of the parts They do not love to appear amongst persons that have the true form of men necessity constrains them to entertain a Trade which they do in such a strange manner that they are not like to the rest of Nations They inhabit the Country called Guangara and Media it is mountainous and inconvenient for passengers whom they never suffer to go through their dominions The River Niger so full of Gold passeth along their Territories and furnishes them with that Commodity to exchange for those other Commodities that nature requires and that they have not in such plenty as their Neighbours It is a business of difficulty to speak with some of them they are so savage Those that Trade upon the River may Land their Goods and see them afar off but they seldom do shew themselves They are very just in their dealings and will not wrong strangers of a farthing which if they did it might put a stop to their Trade without which they cannot probably live They seem to have some Government amongst them for upon the mountains places are fortified and the passages blockt up and they have been seen to observe a Decorum in their manner of Life and behaviour From this place many Nations of Europe have their Golden dust for the ships go up the River many hundred leagues to Trade with this obscure sort of people who shew themselves afar off leaving with their Merchandise such tokens and signs that may express their demands but they alwayes retreat at the same time into the Woods and will not suffer any to come near This hath been related to me for certain by many eye-witnesses and by persons of Credit and Worth this is a strange sort of people which none of their Neighbours can certainly know Ethiopia yields many other Commodities Hides are very plentiful especially of the wilde Beasts and Buff-skins which in this Country are bigger and thicker than in any other Here are stuffs made of the Bark of the Indian-tree that grows also here in every place the common people are employed to fit it for sale and work Some Spices Drugs and Roots do naturally come forth in this Climate called by the ancients the Torrid Zone The Merchants of Adel and Mozambique and of other places adjoyning to the Sea do enter into the Land in times of Peace to Trade with the Inhabitants and fetch from them their Commodities to convey them afterwards to the Sea-side where the Moors the Arabs and Banyans of the Indies do meet them with the Factors of other Nations to take from them their Goods Now this is the policy of all the Princes that keep the Sea shoar not to suffer an Abyssin unless he be an Apostate to have liberty to Trade out of the Country of the Neguz of whose power they are very jealous least he should recover again the Dominion of the Sea which he hath lost with all his Ships and Sea-port Towns some few years since When he offers to stir all his Neighbours do joyn together to force him into his bounds for he is lookt upon as their common enemy Some nevertheless of the Abyssin Monks have correspondency with the Indians and Chineses but it is only for those Merchandises that are for the supply of their own territories A short Relation of some of their Emperours found in an ancient Ethiopian Record that the Author hath brought with him into Itaty THis Empire is very ancient and was as large in its first beginning the people were warlike incroaching daily upon their Neighbours especially upon those that live in Egypt and about the River Nilus The Egyptians have had continual wars with them In the time of the Pharoes our Emperours were famous Moses the Lawgiver of the children of Israel was the General of Pharaoh or of King of Egypt he was ordered to march with a party of Israelites against Mouchadir Emperour of Ethiopia he readily obeyed and with a small party he routed the great Army of our Emperour not s● much by valour as by the assistance of a divine power the King of Egypt was grown jealous of him and of his people and therefore he sent them to this war hoping to free himself from his fears by the swords of the Ethiopians who were become terrible to all their Neighbours but God caused that which was intended for the mischief of the Israelites to turn to their advantage for by the Victory they purchased unto themselves the esteem and admiration of all their enemies It is true that the King did then begin to vex the Children of Israel with hard burthens and grievous taxes thinking by that means to weaken their spirits and disable them from in●uring either himself or any other but this also turned to their benefit for it procured their freedom and the ensuing miracles that forced it from those that kept them in bondage When the Egyptians were overthrown the Ethiopians had wonderful success against them they subdued all the Country as far as Thebis bordering upon the Red Sea but about thirty years afterwards there rose a King of Egypt that was valiant in war that recovered with his small numbers of men all the dominions belonging to his Predecessors as far as the Mountains where the River Nilus hath a terrible downfall In his race it continued until the time of Cambyses who entered Egypt and conquered it but could never subdue Ethiopia for when he sent his Embassadours to our Emperor they were sent back with a defiance of his Power as he was passing over some of the sandy hills between Ethiopia and Egypt with some of his Troops they lost a great number of men in a storm of wind for they were there buryed alive some of them saved themselves with their King out of the violent storm but this overthrow prevented his coming into our Country where our Emperour expected him with all his people The wind did fight for us against our enemies it saved us the trouble and hazard of venturing against them with our swords In the time of King Solomon our Empire was governed by Queen Maqueda she sent Embassadors to him and afterwards went to visit him her self she was kindly entertained at her return she was brought to bed of a Son which she had by Solomon called Melich she brought Circumcision into the Land and laid the foundations of the Jewish Religion which her Son afterwards when he was come from Jerusalem did establish commanding all people under his command to receive it After him many Kings did Reign in Ethiopia the most famous was Ubsharem Habraini David the 1 Solomon the 1 and many others The Scepter hath always continued in the same race since that time until now Ubsharem was a warlike Prince he conquered all the Provinces as far as the Sea-coast South-wards and made all the Kings his

and he governs the people keeps all things in order assists the Bikir and all his inferiour Officers in the execution of their Offices when they are requir'd for that purpose they have so many men ready upon all occasions to obey their orders these receive a continual salary from the Emperour although they are otherwise employed in several Trades At the least summons they assemble at the Rendezvous and follow their Leaders who by this means keep all the Country in awe and appease the tumults and disorders that may happen amongst a mixed multitude In the time of the Wars these Lieutenants of distinct places gather their men together at the place appointed and then march with them according to order usually to the place where the great Neguz is himself to guard and defend his Person They carry with them their Provisions and Victuals proportionable to the time appointed for them to stay in Arms. These officers have places allotted to them for their maintenance by the Emperour who is Lord and sole owner of all the Land within his great Empire All the people are but his slaves their substance and goods are his when he will require them unto persons more eminent than the rest he appoints certain Lands and places for to recompence them for the pains they take in his service All the people pay the tenth part of all fruits to the King that Revenue belongs to the Crown they always pay the tribute and taxes in the Commodities of the Country in Salt Gold Silver Corn Hides Elephants Teeth the horn of the Rhinocerot slaves and such like Now this manner of Government is only in the Territories more immediately subject to the Neguz the others where tributary Kings do Reign are not thus subject to his power the Kings give no account of their actions to him or to his Officers but play the soveraigns in all their jurisdictions causing money to be stamp'd in their names tributes and customs to be levyed according to the publick wants disposing of all offices and places within their territories at their will Of late they have brought in stamped Coin which before was not known in this Empire The name and titles of the Neguez is Printed in one side and a large Cross on the other with some Characters signifying that he is a defender of the Cross There are yet some little pieces of Gold Brass and Iron with Pepper and all other Merchandises that serve instead of Coin in the places far from the Imperial Court and where Coin cannot so easily be obtained nor made Those that are found guilty of crimes are not ordinarily punished with death they use to deprive them for their offences of some of their Limbs of their eyes hands or feet forcing them to a continual sufferance the rest of their days If any commit sacriledge he is burnt without mercy in the fire and those that murder by their Law are to lose their lives unless the Prince will mitigate the punishment by a perpetual prison or banishment In the Manda are several penal Statutes amongst the rest that if a Priest be guilty of any crime as of murder of perjury adultery c. he is to be punished in the same manner as the rest of the people that he is to be called before the common Judge after that the Bishop hath notice of the fact and that both together are to pronounce the sentence that he deserves without any mercy It is commanded in that book that all both Secular and Ecclesiastick persons are to abstain from all carnal Copulation during the space of twenty four hours next immediately before they enter into the Churches There is in it a very wholsome Law that concerns the good of the publick It is that two times every year there shall be an Assembly called of the most Reverend and Eminent Persons of the Nation to consult of the Affairs of the Church and establish Laws according to the occasions and times That then the Abuna shall sit as President with the Emperours chief Judge and that of the Clergy and Fryers there shall be called out of all parts to make Decrees for the good of the Empire Adulterers are punished with death in this manner The Man and the Woman are stript naked and ty'd up by the legs to some high tree where they are to remain to feed the Fowl of the air until their bones and flesh fall to the ground It is no less than death to touch them or to offer to shew favour to their dead Carkasses By this exemplary punishment of these offenders men grow more wary how they venture to defile their Neighbours Bed and Women are not so free of their Tailes as amongst our jealous Italians Men in this Country pretend not so much Courtship and Gallantry and Women dare not countenance the declarations or passion of a secret Lover Custom here teaches women as much privacy as in any other place but not with that strictness that might render them ridiculous but they abuse it not as other people do the better to hide their foul actions and the meetings of their Gallants There is more innocency in the behaviour of the women as much modesty but less craft and subtilty as much freedom but little debauchery Murder is no less hateful in this place it hath a punishment allotted to it no less grievous The murderer that knew how to destroy others is forced to destroy himself also in this manner a Sword is put into his hands and he is laid upon a large piece of Iron flat as long and as broad as a mans body it is supported with four feet under it a gentle flame is entertained that heats it and puts him by degrees to cruel torments the pain rage forces him to thrust the weapon into his own bowels by that means to deliver himself from the unmerciful fury of the fire and abridge his tortures This kind of death is practised in Tigremahon and Angote in other places the murder is executed in another manner they flea him alive and cut his eye lids and then they expose him to the Sun in that raw condition in some eminent place rubbing him over with honey to invite the Bees and Wasps to feed upon him This kind of death is the most inhumane that I ever beheld The pain is both grievous and tedious death creeps upon them by degrees and suffers them not to die till they have endured a world of misery The Noblemen and Grandees of the Court that offend the Neguz or commit any other crime worthy of death are not executed in the common manner nor in the usual places appointed for that purpose There is in the Kingdom of Damut a high Mountain naturally well fortified with a steep ridge of hills on every side a narrow passage leads up to the top where a Castle is erected kept by the Souldiers of the Neguz guard There all noble men are brought that venture to break the Laws of

because at a certain time of the year they send a sweet perfume unto them a Purse full of Gold and Silver and in consideration of this yearly tribute they suffer them to exact cheat and rob the poor Travellers and Merchants We advanced far into the Country many days journey before we came to the Turks Army they were upon their return from pillaging the Christians they were laden with spoils and slaves They made as much haste as they could in their march for the Precious John had gathered his Army together and was in the pursuit of them from Suez we came first into the Country called by the Inhabitants Ganfila next to Dafroha and so through Barnagasso Lacca and part of Dangali we arrived at last upon the borders The body of the Turks Army when we met it was near a large lake full of excellent fish The people of this Country are ignorant of all kind of Arts they have not the address of fishing with Bows and Arrows they kill Birds and Beasts upon which they feed and live they own the Turks for their Masters against their will This lake is in the Kingdom of Bamagasso which was lately conquered and taken from the Great Neguz the people retain some Reliques of Christianity but with that ignorance that one can scarce distinguish them from the Heathens unless it be by the name up and down the Country some sorry houses are erected fitter for wild beasts than men The walls are of mud and stones the roofs of a sort of slender Cane and Reeds which grow near the water side and in low places the middle of it is supported by a Pillar of wood that stands in the huts and keeps the whole Fabrick from falling to the ground for this miserable people are not acquainted with the Art of Architecture The Towns are composed of this sort of dwellings there are not many of them but those that are have chosen the best Land for their scituations near some fresh waters or lakes for unless it be in these places the ground is parched up all the year long but during the time of the Rains In Egypt they never fall but in Aethiopia they are very extraordinary about the month of January and February Such violent showers do pour down that no creature is able to abide without a shelter several parties of the Turks Army were stragling up and down but the main body was at the lake Gueresh When we came up to them they were composed of Horse and Foot about six thousand not able to abide a a combat with the Abyssins therefore they thought upon nothing else than a safe retreat They had plundred the Country people that were yet subject to Prester John and had carryed men women and children into captivity A sad sight it was unto us that were Christians to behold our brethren and our Christian name so miserably abused by the enemy of Christ our Abuna could not refrain from tears he laboured to relieve some of them and to comfort them in their affliction but for fear of discovering himself he was not willing to express too much grief or kindness to them The Embassadours credit saved us from all affronts we lodged two nights with them for during that time they expected the coming up of some Troups that were sent to pillage It is the custom of the people that border upon the Abyssins once a year to visit their Territories for they meet with a considerable deal of plunder with little or no hazard The Abyssins are more superstitious than warlike they have been renowned for Valour but at present they are Cowards they suffer every petty Nation that is daring to destroy their borders which is the fault chiefly of their Governors for having so much Riches as they have so many Mines of Gold and other considerable Commodities they might allow a part to some war-like people to fight under their banners and assist them against their troublesome Neighbours At present they have little communication with people of their Religion which if they had it would be a mighty support to them and their interest When the Portugueses were sent with an unconsiderable party into those Dominions the Abyssin Emperour felt the benefit of forrein succours for the enemy was beaten in two battels and forc'd to yield to the Christian Valour Amongst the Prisoners several Noblemens children were seen who by their Meen and Garb were distinguishable from the ordinary sort These poor creatures were led to be sold in Turky and other places as beasts and the worst is they were to be forced to renounce their Religion What a grief was it to their Christian Parents to suffer such a loss to have their Sons and Daughters amongst the Infidels This inconveniency might be prevented did these In-land Christians keep a strong Guard upon their confines or with a stout resolution labour to drive these Robbers far from their habitations or labour to revenge themselves by carrying the War into their own Land or by seizing on the Sea coast and the passages of the mountains that limit their Country where they might place such strong Castles and numerous Guards as might keep the Turks and Moors from all such attempts But when we have fully taken a view of Abassia or Aethiopia Superiour and of the Emperour and Government we may be better able to see the cause of these disorders that happen almost every year in some corner of the Land Having therefore spent some days in the view of our Christian brethren that were led into Captivity we took our leave of them and of the Turks Army and marched on our journey towards a large Town of the Kingdom of Tigremahon called Bashaw it lies beyond a large River that runs through Africa it receives the tribute from other small Rivers and then it runs through many Countreys until it discharges it self into Nilus the people of the Country call it in their language Togassi and others Guekrahock Were it not for this River it were not possible to subsist in this In-land Country but it divides it self into so many branches and waters so large a Territory that no part of the Emperours Country is without some benefit that it brings unto it The Country round about did hear the Marches of the enemies rage and fury the Towns were burnt to the ground the people either fled or carryed into captivity the land and trees were not spared in some places for they had cut down a great quantity to facilitate their passages over some Rivers Here we came into a Country far more fruitful than any other I had seen in Africa it was capable of more improvement did the Inhabitants skill and industry answer the goodness of the soil I do not find but this part might bear as excellent Fruits as any other place of the world The heat of the climate quickens nature in the production of all Vegetatives so that it is blessed with two Springs every year or at

of his de Emendatione temporum speaks thus of the Ethiopians We have not been the first that have heard of the Ethiopian Chri 〈…〉 ans for they have Churches not only in Constantinople but also at Rome and Venice where for a while they have had liberty to perform their devotions From the Voyages of the Portugueses and the Journal of Francis Alvarez who passed into the heart of Ethiopia many things may be known of them and of their customs until this time we have heard only of the name of Ethiopia but it is strange that in the time of our fore-fathers we first heard that there were Ethiopians from those of Asia for about 300 years ago they did command in Asia especially Drangiana upon the confines of Sufiana also in India and amongst the Chinenses a great Continent until the Emperours of the Tartars did drive them out of Asia for the Abyssins being vanquished were driven out of China by Cingi King of the Tartars when Uncam the great Emperour of Ethiopia was kill'd Afterwards Cincan Son of Cingis and his Son Bathin Can Emperours of the Tartars pursued the Abyssins and forced them out of Moni and all the Region of the Chinenses and obliged them to return into Africa We may at present wonder that this Nation should be so ignorant of the Art of Navigation who was so powerful by Sea and by Land that it commanded from Ethiopia as far as China from that time we have heard of the Emperour of Ethiopia by the name of Prestegiani which in the Persian language that is in Asia as universal as the Latin is in Europe signifies Apostolick Padescha Prestegiani the Apostolick King that is the Christian King The Arabians call him Melich Ressuli and the Ethiopians Negusch Chavvariavvi There are many Crosses yet standing in Asia in Japan China and other places that declare how large the Empire of the Ethiopians was in that Continent besides in Malabar there is a Temple of St. Thomas yet to be seen that is of the Structure and manner of building of the Ethiopians A Continuation of Segn ● Barat 〈…〉 Of the Growth and Commodities of the Country THis Country stretches 〈…〉 self about eight degrees North and as many South from the Line So that it lies exposed to the fury of the Sun beams The soil nevertheless in many places is extream fruitful and the ay● temperate especially towards the Evening then the great Dew● come to refresh the herbs and fruits that the parching Sun had injured Part of this Country is very barren and incommodious for habitation sometimes we have felt such extream heats that it was not possible to subsist out of the shade and about sixe miles further between the Mountains and amongst the trees we had such a pleasant ayr that I never saw any more temperate in Europe I met with a great many Lakes and fresh Rivers especially upon the borders of Tigremahon where the ground yields all manner of Fruit Trees and Corn Pomegranates of extraordinary bigness Apples Pears Peaches and Apricocks are very small but of a very pleasant taste They have here a Fruit that they call Cavashau that grows in their Gardens it is very delicious and much like unto our little Muskmellons but of a contrary taste The Abyssins make a great account of it in their Feasts The Corn of this Country is very good bigger than that of Italy in most places They have Beans Pease Lentils Barley Wheat and all sorts of Grains but where the Country is so dry and barren that it will not answer the labour of the Husbandman nature hath provided instead o● Corn a wild Grain called Taf● Deguza of this the Inhabitants make a Bread which is as course and unpleasant as the Climate In many places Oranges and Limons grow naturally in the Woods here is also many Trees that yield an odoriferous smell and a great deal of Brazil-wood Sugar Canes in great abundance which the Inhabitants do make use of not as we do for they have not the Art to extract the Sugar but they feed upon them raw They have no Oil nor Olive Trees but an Herb that serve● them instead of Olives it is called Henar they steep it and draw out the juice that looks like Gold very beautiful to the eye and n● less pleasant to the taste for the Oil or Liquor extracted from it hath neither smell nor taste and is very fat as Oil uses to be so that the Inhabitants are by that means supplyed with that which serves them as well as the best Oil of Italy The Woods and Rocks are full of Bees so that they have much Honey and Wax with which they make Candles for they have no Tallow because they do not kill many tame Beasts Here is a great Trade of Raw Silks and Stuffs which the Blacks fetch from hence to carry into their Country where no Trees are to be found to harbour the Silk-worm Upon the confines of the Neguz dominions near the Kingdom of Damut are Mines of Gold about the lake out of which the River Niger proceeds so that this river carrys away some of the sandy part and rowls it with the stream that is extream fierce for it falls from high Mountains and runs with a great impetuosity to the main Ocean upon the sand the Negers do pick up much Gold which crumbles from the Rocks and proceeds out of the Mines that are dispersed all over the Country The N 〈…〉 hath people daily at work in them they are commonly men taken Captives from their Enemies When the Ethiopians go out to War they save the lives of all those that submit themselves to their mercy and send them to these places to prepare the Gold and fit it for the use of the people Some Silver Mines are also here but not so many as of Gold for the hot country is not so proper for that kind of Oar. The parching Sun is more powerful in this Climate in the bosom of the earth so that all the ground that is proper for the substance of Gold it turns it into this Metal The Mines are not so deep as in other Kingdoms they are much like unto our Quarries of Stone in Italy The Stone or Rock with which the Gold is mingled is very sandy so that it will crumble without any difficulty The mine doth usually run in a vain it is easie to distinguish it by the colour which is distinct from the other part of the Rock The Inhabitants say that all along the River that bursts forth of the Lake Laira many such Golden Quarries are to be found so that the violence of the stream doth sometimes unloose the more precious part from the rest and carry it away to the great benefit of the Inhabitants who gather it up along the shoar after great Rains and afterwards they carry it to Gui●y or to Mozambique and other places of note where Merchants resort In the Land towards the Country of

Neighbours to send Presents to him but when he was forty years old he grew amorous and wanton so that his new conquered subjects took advantage of him in a Battel where he lost all that he had conquered with his life his successour laboured to revenge this affront but in vain until the days of David the first none ever did recover the vast dominions that did formerly own the Ethiop Scepter This Prince was wise and very politick sufficiently qualified to fit at the Helm of State but he was no Warrior for want of Courage to manage the affairs in desperate occasions he appointed a General Zecharia a stout man that did perform the Office of his Prince in this particular He was very successful against all our Neighbours especially against the Blacks that inhabit beyond the sands their Princes came to do homage unto our mighty Emperour and to pay their yearly tribute they continued in their obedience many years until the Reign of Joseph the third a Prince that was given to all manner of debauchery he Reigned ten years and was afterwards killed by his chief Officers who were willing to preserve the State from total ruine which would have happened had he continued longer upon the Throne for he did not only permit but also invite the enemies of the Empire to enter into his dominions that they might revenge him of those Princes that he did not love and that he did not dare to punish himself therefore he made use of the strangers weapons to vex them that he could not otherwise overcome From that time we have nothing remarkable until Christs death at Jerusalem for all the Princes that did rule until that time were neither good nor bad they contented themselves with their own limits and if they did lose any part of their possessions they never made any great noise by raising their Armies to retake them Queen Candace was a most pious and Religious Woman her Eunuch of the Race of Black a-Moors did follow her steps he made his Pilgrimage to Jerusalem every five years from that place he brought the Christian faith that did daily increase insomuch that not one was found opposing it within two hundred years after The eldest Son of Candace for whom she did govern was Shediahr a mostvertuous man he encouraged Christian Religion in his dominions but would never suffer the old ceremonies to be abolished so that since the Jewish and Christian are mingled together he pull'd down many Idol Temples upon the borders which caused the revolt of some of his most superstitious subjects but one battel brought them under his command again His Son was Adreschek he succeeded his father when he was but sixteen years of Age. A certain Heathen Priest had crept into his favour so much that for his sake he did labour to oppose the success of the Christian and the continuance of the Jewish Religion in Ethiopia His Princes could not suffer him long they conspired against him and placed his young brother in his place but him they sent into the Kingdom of Damut into a close Prison that hath always been in those parts he did afterwards escape out of it and fled to the Blacks who did come against Ethiopia with a strong Army but they were vanquished and forced to suffer their Fugitive Prince to become a Prisoner again The eldest Son of this King was an accomplished Prince so that his Uncle had some jealousie of him therfore clapt him in a close prison with his Father but when he was dead the Grandees fetcht him out of his confinement and raised him to the Throne during the life of his Father who consented to the promotion of his Son After him Absalom was a famous Prince renowned for his careful provision against the enemies incursions for he caused certain Forts to be built in convenient places to bridle them in They were afterwards neglected and ruinated by the Wars He first began to encourage Shipping by offering great advantages to the Mariners and men that did study the Art of Navigation This good policy caused all the idle persons to render themselves excellent in the Sea affairs and laid the Foundation to that greatness unto which the Ethiopian Empire did afterwards rise Benjamin Reigned forty years about the year 600 after Christ from his time we have a good account of all our Kings but before none are named but those that have been excellent for some vertue or infamous by their notable vices This Prince was full of piety he reformed the disorders of the Clergy and put them in that form of Government in which they are at present before the persons that did wait upon the Worship of God had no setled allowance the people gave them what they pleased so that unless they did work as other people for their livings they were reduced to great necessities which nevertheless did happen in many places for he that depends upon his peoples kindness shall be enentertain'd with course Diet unto this great evil that entroduces many others in a Nation this Religious Prince did bring a Remedy As he was the sole Lord of all the Lands of his Empire and that none enjoyed them but from him he caused such a quantity of ground to be set apart for the maintenance of the Priests and Bishops as might entertain them with the yearly Revenue and caused this Land to be separated from the rest by granting unto it the priviledge of immunity from all saxes and Imposts so that they depend no longer upon the Crown This liberality redeemed the Clergy from contempt and raised them in the esteem of the people that usually treats them not according to their desert but according to that State that they maintain After the good Prince his second Son Hechakiah did Reign he followed his Fathers footsteps therefore he was blessed with a prosperous Reign his greatest enemies did respect him he continued in the Throne about thirty five years and a few moneths His Brother Abraham the first succeeded he held the Scepter ten years and then left it to his Son with all the Wealth his Brother had gotten His Sons name was Haroahki a Warlike Prince he began to leave the Cities and to pass his time in Tents for in the beginning of his Reign all the Nations subject to the Neguz began to revolt from him he could not appease the tumult so soon he was therefore forced to live in the Camp and to be in continual action all the time of his Reign He caused it to be enacted for the security of the State that the Ethiopian Emperour should never spend above six days in a Walled Town at a time but should live in the open Field All the Nobility that doth follow the Princes custom imitates him in this particular They look upon it as a great expression of weakness and fear to run into a fortified place This hath caused them to neglect such places and suffer them to be dismantled by time

the Land or to displease their Soveraign Lord. The Territorie round about is very barren and the place extream cold most part of the year whether it be the nature of the Soil or the elevation of the Mountain into the second Region of the Air none could tell me but here these Persons of Quality are famished to death imprisoned and put to suffer several other sorts of puments according to the pleasure of the Neguz This place is very convenient for that purpose for the Friends and Acquaintance of the offenders cannot come to learn the miseries that they endure nor the cruelties that they suffer which if they did know might oblige them to a revenge or ill will against their Emperours Of several Customs of the Abyssins THe Emperour and people have so great a respect for the Churches that they never ride by them upon their Horses as soon as they come within a hundred paces they alight and walk a foot bowing at the publick places of their Devotion in honour of that great God that hath named them his Houses of Prayer as they pass by When the Emperour makes any progress far from the usual place of Residence certain Religious men do carry before him upon their shoulders a banner with some pious representation in it with an Altar or Table of Stone upon which they use to Celebeate their Communion before them marcheth a fellow with a Censer in one hand and a little Bell in the other at the sound of it the horsemen come down the people stand by and all do prepare themselves to let their Prince pass They never use to send their thoughts one to another in writing but by messengers either out of ignorance or superstition for they fancy the use of writing so sacred that they will not profane it in ordinary business because God hath been pleased to commit his Holy Word in writing yet of late seeing the inconveniencies their scrupulous fancies have reduced them to they have made use of writing in several occasions as in Registring the Affairs of the Kingdoms in setting down the expences disbursements and Receits of the Emperours Revenues c. But the characters are distinct from those of the Bible or of their Sacred Books And when the Emperour sends an Embassadour he then dispatches with him some Credential Letters They are not to make Wine but by stealth none but the Abuna and the King may cause the Grapes to be strained for they are afraid that if Wine did grow common it would introduce much debauchery and many disorders which could not find a remedy They do not forbid it out of superstition as the Turks but for some politick considerations that Wine may not grow so common amongst them that they might neglect the other drinks which encourage Husbandry for they use a sort of drink made of a leaf which they sow it is of a pleasant taste much like unto old Mede a drink made of Honey They drink also water steeped with Barley other Grains The Emperour and the Abuna have liberty to drink and make Wine by their Laws All the Wine of this Country is very black but a great Cordial it burns not so much the stomach as others do in hot places but cherisheth and refresheth the body The towns in this Country are not numerous in Houses they seldom contain above 2000. I never ●aw a walled City some Castles of late have been built for pleasure rather than for defence Their houses are but mean and low covered with a thick thatch their beds are Hides tied up at the four corners They eat upon couches with a little round and low table placed before them that supports a large dish they have some Vessels made of earth of a shining black very beautiful these are their cups to drink of late they have the use of Gold and Silver in their houses They have several sorts of weapons short Lances Swords Bows and Arrows without Feathers Helmets and Head-pieces they have got some field Guns purchased from Merchants at an extraordinary rate to encourage them to import more The Abyssins are natural lyars and deceivers they seldom speak truth when they swear unless they be brought to take a solemn Oath or be forced to swear by the Head of their Neguz or be scared with the thoughts of Excommunication for they apprehend that above all corporal punishments This is their manner of administring an Oath the party that is to swear follows two Priests to the Church-door they carry before him Fire and Incense as soon as the party comes the Priests cause him to lay his hand on the door saying unto him these words If thou swear an untruth as the Dragon devoureth the beasts of the Forrest so let the infernal Devils devour thee as the Grapes are bruised in the Wine-press so let them bruise thy body and as the fire consumeth the wood so let thy soul for ever burn in hell The party that sweareth answers to every one of these imprecations Amen But if thou speak the truth let thy life be prolonged with honour and thy soul at last be received into heaven and again he answereth Amen which being ended he tells what he knows of the business required from him They have not the liberty to kill an Ox without the Governours leave although it belong to them for they are careful to preserve Cattel in that place from the excess of Luxury here are no shambles therefore in the towns as in Europe their ordinary victuals are Mutton Herbs Fruit Fowl wild Beasts and such like The wild Goats do increase here in such a manner especially near the Mountains that they eat up all the Corn and Grass other wild things are here in great numbers they do not therefore suffer their tame Cattel to be destroyed whiles they have so many wild that they threaten the Fruits of the earth with destruction to encourage the hunting of them they forbid the ordinary use of Beef This Inland people is naturally of a lazy disposition they have therefore many Laws to quicken them and oblige them to labour and provide for their own preservation As the not killing of their Oxen without License the refusing alms to beggars they are not to suffer any in the Kingdoms of the Neguz that will not work unless they be so sick and maimed that they are not able to help themselves then the Religious houses do administer comfort to them for they are endowed for that purpose with many Lands and Reversions The Abyssins are very devou● in all holy duties in holy places they pay unto them a great respect they 'l neither spit nor sit down in their Churches nor suffer any Dogs nor Cats nor any other unreasonable creature to enter into them but instead of seats they use Crutches very conveniently made to lean upon At the Church door there stands a multitude of them every one takes his own and draws as near the Preacher as possible he can They