1
APPENDIX.
t
SELECT SPECIMENS
of
NATURAL HISTORY,
collected in
Travels to difcover the Source of the Nile,
in
egypt, arabia, abyssinia, and nubia.
vol. v.
" and he spake of trees, from the cedar-tree that is in lebanon, even unto " the hyssop that springeth out of the wall I he spake also of beasts, and of " fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes."
i Kings, chap. iv. ver. 33.
edinburgh:
printed by j. ruthven, for g. g. j. and j.  robinson, paternoster-row,
london.
m.dcc.xc.
C   ON   T   E NTS
of the
F I FT H VOLUME.
Introduction, P. i
Of PLANTS, SHRUBS, AND TREES.
Papyrus, '           V l
Balejfan, Balm, or Balfamr s
Sofa, Myrrh, and Opocalpafumy 2 7
Vol. V.                        a Er$*tt%
Ergcit V'dimmo, P. 34
Ergett el Krone, 35
Enfdc, 36
1
KoU quail, 41
Rack, 44
Gir Gir, or GeJJj el Aube, 47
Kantuffa, 49
Gaguedi, 52
JVanzej, 54
Farek, or Bauhima Acuminata^ 57
Kuara, $5
Walkuffa% 67 Wooginoos, or Brucea Antidyfentcrka, 69 Cujfo, or Banhefia Abyffmica, 73
8fc 76
Of QUADRUPEDS.
Rhinoceros, $
Hy&?ia, 107
Jerboa, 121 Ecnnec,
AJhkoko, J39
Booted Lynx, J4<>
Of BIRDS.
Ntfer, or Golden Eagle% 15 5
Black Eagle, lS9
Rachamah, 163
Erkoom, l69
Moroc,
Sbcregrig,
Sberegrig, fVaalia,
Ifaltfalya, or Fly> El Adda,
Ccraftes, or Homed Vipcry Binny,
Caretta, or Sea Tortoi/e, Pearls,
MAPS,
1. General Map,
2. Itinerary from Gondar to the Source of the Nile,
3. Chart of Solomon's Voyage to Tarfhifli*
I INTRODUCTION.
AS it has been my endeavour, throughout this hiftory, to leave nothing unexplained that may aifi.fl the reader , in undcrilanding the different fubjects that have been treated m the courfc of it, I think myfelf obliged to fay. a few-words concerning the manner of arranging this Appendix. With regard to the Natural Hiftory, it mutt occur to every one, that, however numerous and refpectable they may be who have dedicated them (elves entirely to this fludy, they bear but a very finall proportion to thofe who, for amufe-ment or inftruction, feck the miicellaneous and general occurrences of life that ordinarily compofe a feries of travels.
By presenting the two fubjects promifcuoufly, I was ap-prehenfive of incommoding and difgufting both fpecies of readers. Every body that has read Tourncfort, and fome other authors of merit of that kind, mud be fenfible how unpleafant it is to have a very rapid, well-told, intercfting narrative, concerning the arts, government, or ruins of Corinth, Athens, or Ephcfus, interrupted by the appearance of a nettle or daffodil, from ibmc particularity which they may poflefs, curious and important in the eye of a botanifl, but inviiible and indifferent to an ordinary beholder.
A 2 To
To prevent this, I have placed what belongs to Natural Hiftory in one volume or appendix, and in io doing 1 hope to meet the approbation of my fcientific botanical readers, by laying the different fubjects all together before them, without Subjecting them to the trouble of turning over different books to get at any one of them. 'J he figures, landfcapcs, and a few other plates of this kind, are illuitra-tions of what immediately panes in the page ; thefe descriptions feldom occupy move than a few lines, and therefore fuch plates cannot be more ornamentally or ufcfully placed than oppofite to the page which treats of them.
Some further confideration wras necelTary in placing the maps, and the Appendix appeared to me to be by far the moit proper part for them. The maps, whether fuch as are. general of the country, or thofe adapted to ferve particular itineraries, ihould always be laid open before the reader, till he has made himfelf perfectly mafler of the bearings and diflances of the principal rivers, mountains, or provinces where the fcene of action is then laid. Maps that fold lie generally but one way, and are moilly of flrong paper, fo that when they are doubled by an inattentive hand, contrary to the original fold they got at binding, they break, and come afunder in quarters and Square pieces, the map is deflroyed, and the book ever after incomplete : whereas,, even if this misfortune happens to a map placed in the Appendix, it may cither be taken out and joined anew, or replaced at very little expence by a frefh map from the bookfeller.
I shall detain the reader but a few minutes with what I have further to fay concerning the particular Subjects of
Natural
Natural Hiftory of which I have treated. The choice I know, though, it may meet with the warmed: concurrence from one fet of readers, will not perhaps be equally agreeable to the tailc of others. This I am heartily forry for. My endeavour and wifh is to pleafe them all, if it were pof-fible, as it is not.
The firft fubject I treat of is trees, ihrubs, or plants; and in the felecting of them I have preferred thofe which, having once been confidered as fubjeets of confeqttence by the ancients, and treated largely of by them, are now come, from want of the advantage of drawing, lapfe of time, change of climate, alteration of manners, or accident befallen the inhabitants of a country, to be of doubtful exiftence and uncertain defcription ; the afcertaining of many of thefe is nccelTary to the understanding the dallies.
It is well known to every one the lean: verfant in this part of Natural Hiftory, what a prodigious revolution has happened in the ufe of drugs, dyes, and gums, fince the time of Galen, by the introduction of thofe Herculean medicines drawn from minerals.   The difcovery of the new world, beades, has given us vegetable medicines nearly as active and decifive as thofe of minerals themfelves.   Many found in the new world grow equally in the old, from which much confufion has arifen in the hiftory of each, that will become inextricable in a few generations, unlets attended to by regular botanifts, alVnled by attentive and patient draughts-men ignorant of fyftem, or at lead not flaves to it, who fet down upon paper what with their eyes they fee does cxift, without amufing themfelves with imagining, according to rules they have themfelves made, what nregular-3 lY
]y mould he One drawingof Lhis kind,painfullyand attentively made, has more merit, and promotes true knowledge more certainly, thin a hundred horti ficci which conflantly produce imaginary mon[lers,and throw a doubt upon the whole. The modern and more accurate fyftem of botany has fixed its diilinetions of genus and fpecics upon a variety of fuch-fine parts naturally fo fragil, that drying, Spreading, and prefling with the molt careful hands, mull break away and dellroy fome of thofe parts. Thefe deficient in one plant, exiuing in another in all other reflects exactly fimilar, arc often, I fear, conftrucd into varieties, or different fpecies,and well if the misfortune goes no farther. They arc precifely of the fame bad confequence as an inaccurate drawing, where thefe parts are left out through inattention, or dc-iign.
After having bellowed my firft confide'ration upon thefe that make a principal figure in ancient hiilory, which are either not at all or imperfectly known now, my next attention has been to thofe which have their ufes in manufactures, medicine, or are ufed as food in the countries I am deicribing.
The next I have treated arc the plants, or the varieties of plants, unknown, whether in genus or fpecics. In thefe I have dealt fparingly in proportion to the knowledge I yet have acquired in this fubject, which is every day increafmg, and appears perfectly attainable.
The hiftory of the birds and bcafts is the fubject which occupies  the next place in this Appendix ;   and the a rule
the rule i follow here, is to give the preference to fuch of each kind as arc mentioned in fcripture, and concerning which doubts have arifen. A poiitivc precept that fays, Thou (halt not eat fuch beaft, or fuch bird, is abfo-lutely ufelefs, as long as it is unknown what that bird and what that animal is.
Many learned men have employed themfelves with fuc-cefs upon thefe topics, yet much remains ltill to do ; for it has generally happened, that thofe perfectly acquainted with the language in which the fcripmres were written, have never travelled .nor feen the animals of Judca, Palef- ' tine, or Arabia ; and again, fuch as have travelled in thefe countries, and feen the animals in queftion, have been either not at all, or but fuperficialfy acquainted with the original language of fcripture.   It has been my earned defire to employ the advantage I poflefs in both thefe requilites, to throw as much light as poiTible upon the doubts that have arifen. I hope I have done this freely, fairly, and candidly ;^ if I have at ah fucceeded, I have obtained my reward.
As for the fifhes and other marine productions *of the Red ■ Sea, my induitry has been too great for my circumftances, l.have by me above 300 articles from the Arabian gulf alone^ all of equal merit with thofe fpecimens which I have her©, laid before the public.   Though I have Selected a very few articles.only, and thefe perhaps not the moil curious, yet as they are connected with the trade of the Red Sea as it was carried on in ancient times, and may again be re fumed, and as of this I have treated profelTcdly, I have preferred ffoefe, as having a ciaflical foundation, to many others more>
Vol. V, B curious
curious and lefs known. Engraving in England has advanced rapidly towards perfection, and the prices, as we may fuppofc, have kept proportion with the improvement. My fmall fortune, already impaired with the expence of the journey, will not, without doing injuftice to my family, bear the additional one, of publishing thefe numerous articles, which, however dcfircablc it might be, would amount to a fum which in me it would not be thought prudent to venture.
If Egypt had been a new, late, and extraordinary creation, the gift of the Nile in thefe latter times, as fome modern philofophcrs have pretended, the lead thing we could have expected would have been to find fome new and extraordinary plants accompany it, very different in figure and parts from thofe of ancient times, made by the. old un-pbihfipbical way, the fat of the Creator of the univerfe. But jufl the contrary has happened, Egypt hath no trees, flirubs, or plants peculiar to it. All are brought thither from Syria, Arabia, Africa, and India; and thefe are fo far from being the gift of the Nile, as fcarcely to accultom themfelves to fuller the quantity of water that for five months covers the land of Egypt by the inundation of that river.
Even many of thofe that the necelTmes of particular times have brought thither to fupply wants with which they could not difpenfe, and thofe which curious hands have brought from foreign countries arc not planted at random ; for they would not grow in Egypt, but in chofen places formerly artificially raifed above level, for gardens, and plcafurc ground, where they arc at this day watered by machinery ; or upon banks above the caliihe.% which
though
ihough near the water, are yet above the level of its annual inundation. Such is the garden of Mattareah, fome-times filled with exotic plants from all the countries around, from the veneration or fuperftition, pilgrims and derviihcs, the only travellers of the ea(l, have for that Spot, the Sup-pofed abode of the Virgin Miry when (he lied into Egyp:, Sometimes, as at preient, fo neglected as to have fcarce one foreign or curious plant in it.
The firft kind of thefe adventitious productions, and the oldeft inhabitant of Egypt brought there for ufe, is the Sycamore, called Giumezf by the Arabs, which from its lize, the facility with which it is fawn into the thinneil planks, and the largenefs of thefe planks correfponding to the iro-menfe fize of the tree, was mod uieftiliy adapted to the great demand they then had for miimmy-chefts, or coftinsi which are made of this tree only: in order to add to its value, we may mention another fuppofed quality, its hicor^ ruptlhillty, very capable of giving it a preference, as coinciding with the ideas which led the Egyptians to thofe fan-taftic attempts of making the body eternal.
This laft property, I fuppofe, is purely imaginary, for though it be true, tradition fays, that all the mummy-ehcfts, which have been found from former ages, were made uf lycamore, though the fame is the perfuafion of latter times, and the fact is fo far proven by all the mummy-chefts now found being of that wood, yet i will not take upon me to vouch, that incorruptibility is a quality of this particular
B 2 tree
* Signifying a fig-tree, from the multitude of figs which grow round the trunk,
«
tree.   I believe that feafoned elm, oak, or afh, perhaps even Hr, laid in the dry fands of Egypt perfectly Screened from moifture, and defended from the outward air, as all mum-my-chelts are, would likewife appear incorruptible; and my reafon is, that having got made, while at Cairo, a cafe for a telefcope of Sycamore plank, I buried it in my garden after I came home from my travels, fo as to leave it covered by half a foot of earth ; in lefs than four years it was entirely putrid and rotten.   And another telefcope cafe of the cedar of Lebanon appeared much lefs decayed, though even in this laft there were evident Signs of corruption. But even fuppofe it true, that thefe planks have been found incorruptible, a doubt may full arife, whether they do not owe this quality to a kind of *varnifli of refmous materials with which I have feen almoft all the mummy-chefts covered, and to which materials the preservation of the mummy it-felf is in part certainly owing.   The Sycamore is a native of that low warm flripc of country"between the Red Sea and mountains of Ahyffinia ; wc faw a number of very line ones before we came to Taianta; they are alfo in Syria about Sidon, but inferior in fize to the former; they do not feem to thrive in Arabia, for want of moifture.
All the other vegetable productions of Egypt have been in a fluctuating State from one year to another. We find them in Profper Alpinus, and by his authority wc feek for them in that country. In Egypt we find them no more; through neglect, they arc rotten and gone, but we meet them ftourilhing in Nubia, AbyUinia, and Arabia Eelix, and thefe are the countries whence the curious firft brought
o
them, and from which* by Some accident fimilar to the firft, they may again appear in Egypt.
4 Prospar
Prosper Alpinus's work then, fo far from being a collection of plants and trees of Egypt, may be faid to be a trea-tife of plants that are not in Egypt, but by accident; they are gleanings of natural hiftory from Syria, Arabia, Nubia, Abyilinia, Perfia, Malabar, and Indoftan, of which, as far as I could difcern or difcover, feven fpecies only remained when I was in Egypt, moftly trees of fuch a growth as to he out of the power of every thing but the ax.
The plant that I iTiall now fpeak of, the Papyrus, is a ftrong proof of this, and is a remarkable inllance of the violent changes thefe fubjecls have undergone in a few ages, it was at the firft the repofitory of learning and of record; it was the vehicle of knowledge from one nation to another; its ufes were fo extended, that it came to be even the food of man, and yet we are now difputing what this plant was, and what was its figure, and whether or not it is to be found in Egypt.
A gentleman* at the head of the literary world, who from his early years has dedicated himfclf to the ftudy of the theory of this feience, and at a riper age has travelled through the world in the more agreeable purfuit of the practical .part of it, hath allured me, that, unlefs from bad drawings, he never had an idea of what this plant was till •I firft gave him a very fine Specimen. The Count de Cay-lu« fays, that having heard there wras a fpecimcn of this plant in Paris, he ufed his utmoft endeavours to find it, but when brought to him, it appeared to be a cyperus of
a very
* Sir Jofeph Banks.
a very common, well-known kind. With my own hands, not without ibme labour and riik, I collected Specimens from Syria, from the river Jordan, from two different places in Upper and Lower f gypt, from the lakes Izana and Gooderoo in Abyfhnia; and it was with the utmofl pleasure I found they were in every particular intrinfically the fame, without any variation or difference, from what this plant has been defcribed by the ancients ; only I thought that thofe of tgypt, the middle of the two extremes, were; Stronger, fairer, and fully a foot taller than thofe in Syria*, and Abyilinia.
0 1?
Of PLANTS, SHRUBS, and TREES.
PAPYRUS.
HPHE papyrus is a cyperus, called by the Greeks Biblus* ¥■ There is no doubt but it was early known in Egypt, fmce we learn from Horus Apollo, the Egyptians, wilhing to defcribe the antiquity of their origin, figured a faggot, or bundle of papyrus, as an emblem of the food they hrfl fubfiftcd on, when the ufe of wheat was not yet known in that country. But I fhould rather apprehend that another plant, hereafter defcribed, and not the papyrus, was what was fubitituted for wheat, for though the Egyptians fucked the honey or fweetnefs from the root of the papyrus, it does not appear that any part of this cyperus could be ufed for food, nor is it fo at this day, though the Enfete, the plant to which 1 allude, might, without difficulty, have been ufed for bread in early ages before the difcovery of wheat; in feveral provinces it holds its place at this day.
The papyrus fccm&to mc to have early come down from Ethiopia, and to have been ufed in Upper Egypt immediately after the difufe of hieroglyphics, and the firft paper made i from
from this plant was in Seide. By Seide was anciently meant Upper Egypt, and it is fo called to this day ; and the Saitic, probably the oldeft language known in Egypt after the Ethtopic, ftill fubfifts, being written in the firft character that Succeeded the hieroglyphics in the valley or cultivated part of Egypt.
Early, however, as the papyrus was known, it does not appear to me to have ever been a plant that could have exift-ed in, or, as authors have faid, been proper to the river Nile ; its head is too heavy, and in a plain country the wind mufl have had too violent a-hold of it.- The ftalk is fmall and feeble, and withal too tall, the root too fhort.and flender to ftay it againft the violent prefTure of the wind and current,. therefore I do constantly believe it never could be a plant growing in the river Nile itfelf, or in any very deep or rapid river.
Pliny *, who feems to have confidered and known it perfectly in all its parts, does not pretend that it ever grew in the body of the Nile itfelf, but in the califhes or places^ where  the Nile had overflowed and was ftagnant, and where the water was not above two cubits high. This obfervation, I believe, holds good univerfally, at leaft it did fo wherever I have feen this plant, cither in the overflowed ground in the Seide, or Vppcr hgypt, or in Abyflinia,, where it never grew in the bed of a river, but generally in fome fmall ftream that ifTucd out of, or into fome large ftagnant lak^ or abandoned water-ccurfc.   It did not even •
trull,
Llii:. Nat. Hid. lib. xiii, cap. ii.
truft itfelf to the weight of the wave of the deeper! part of that lake when agitated by the wind, but it grew generally about the borders of it, as far as the depth of the water was within a yard.
Pliny fays it grew likewife in Syria, and there I faw it firft, before I went into rgypt ; it was in the river Jordan, between the fituation of the ancient city Paneas, which ftill bears its name, and the lake of Tiberias, which is probably the lake Pliny alludes to, where he fays it grew, and with it the calamus odoratus, one of the adventitious plants brought thither formerly by curious men (as I conjecture) which now exifts no more, either in Syria or Egypt. It was on the left hand of the bridge called the Bridge of the Sons of Jacob. The river where it grewT was two feet nine inches deep, and it was then increafed with rain.   It grew likewife, as Guilandinus * tells us, at the confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates.    I apprehend that it was not thus propagated into Afia and Greece till the ufe of it, as manufactured into paper, was firft known.
When that was ftill admits of fome difficulty. Pliny fays that Varro writes it came not into general ufe till after the conqueft of Egypt by Alexander ; yet it is plain from Ana-crcon |, Alcazus, iF.fchylus, and the comic poets, that it was known in their time. Plato and Ariftotlc fpeak of it alfo, fo do Herodotus and T hcophraftus ±. Wc alfo know it was of old in ufe among the lonians, who probably brought it
Vol. V. C in
Mulch. GuilanfUn. Phibfo^-h. and Malic. Laufr.nne, Ann. 1576 Bvo. f Aaac, Ode. \v. $ ThVoj.h, Hift. plant, lib. iv. cap. 9.
in very carl)- days dlfec%ly from Egypt. Numa, too, who lived 3co years before Alexander, is laid to have left a number of books wrote on the papyrus, which a long time after his death were found at Rome.
All this might very well be; the writers of thofe early ages were but few, and thofe that then were, had all of them, more or lefs, connection by their learning with Egypt; it was to them only Egypt was known, and if they learned to write there, it was not improbable, that from thence too they adopted the materials molt commodious for writing upon.
With Ariftotle began the firft arrangement of a library. Alexander's conqueft, and the building of Alexandria, laid open Egypt, its trade and learning, to the world. Papyrus then, or the paper made from it, was the only materials made ufe of for writing upon. A violent defire of amafiing books, and a library, immediately followed, which we may fafely attribute to the example fet by Ariflotle.
The Ptolemies, and the kings of Pergamus, contended who mould make the large ft collection. The Ptolemies, matters of Egypt and of the papyrus, availed themfelves of this monopoly to hinder the multiplication of books in Gicece. The other princes probably fmugglcd this plant, and propagated it wherever it would grow out of Egypt. And Enmencs king of Pergamus fet about bringing to perfection the manufacture of parchment, which, long before, the lonians had uii d from the fcarcity of paper ; for whatever rc-femblance there might be in names, or whatever may be inferred from them, writing upon fkins or parchment was 2 much
much 'more ancient than any city or ilate in Greece, and in ufe probably before Greece was inhabited. The Jews we know made ufe of it in the earlieft ages. At this very time which we are now fpeaking of, wfe learn from Joic-phus *, that the elders, by order of the high pried, carried a copy of the law to Ptolemy Philadelphus in letters of gold upon ikins, the pieces of which were fo artfully put together that the joinings did not appear.
The ancients divided this plant into three parts, the head and the fmall parr, of the Stalk were cut ofF, then the woody part, or bottom, and the root connected with it, and there remained the middle.   All thefe had feparate ufes.   Pliny * fays the upper part, which fupported the large top itfelf, with the flowers upon it, was of no fort of ufe but to adorn the temples, and crown the ilatues of the gods ; but it would fccm that it was in ufe likewife for crowning men of merit. Plutarch § fays, that Agcfilaus preferred being crowned with that to any other, on account of its Simplicity, and that parting from the king he had fought to 'be crowned with this as a favour, which was granted him. Athemeus ||, on the contrary, laughed at thofe that mixt rofes in the crown of papyrus, and he fays it is as ridiculous as mixing rofes with a crown of garlic. The reafon, however, he gives docs not hold, for papyrus itfelf fmells no more of mud, as he fuppofes, than a rofe-bulh; nay, the flower of the papyrus has Something agreeable in its Smell, though not So much So as rofes. If he had faid that the head of the papyrus
C 2 refembled
* Jofeph. lit.', xii. f* 4°>> t Plin. Nat. Hift. lib. 13. cap. u.      § Plutarch in AgeGlao.
It Athtti. lib. 15.
refembled withered grafs or hay, and made a bad'contrail? with the richnefs and beauty of the role, he had faid well. But notwithftanding what Pliny has written, the head of the papyrus was employed, not only to make crowns for flames of the gods, but alfo to make cables for fhips. We are told that Antigonus made ufe of nothing elfe for ropes and cables to his fleets, before the ufe of fpartum, or bent-grafs, was known, which, though very little better, ftill ferves that pur-pofe in fmall fhips on the coaft of Provence to this day. The top of the papyrus was likewife ufed for fewing and caulking the vcilels, by forcing it into the feams, and afterwards covering it with pitch.
Pliny * tells us, that the whole plant together was ufed for making boats, a piece of the acacia-tree being put in the bottom to ferve as the keel, to which plants were joined,being firft fewed together, then gathered up at ftern and flern, and the ends of the plant tied faft there, " Ccnfcritur lunula Mcmphitis cymba papyro ;" and this is the only Goat they ftill have in Abyilinia, which they call Taneoa, and from the ufe of thefe it is that Ifaiah defcribes the nations, probably the Egyptians, upon whom the vengeance of God was fpeedily to fall. 1 imagine alfo that the junks of the Red. Sea, laid to be of leather, were firft built with papyrus and covered with fkins. In thefe the Ilomeritcs trafficked-with their friends the Sabeans acrofs the mouth of the Red Sea, but they can never perfuade me, however generally and confidently it has been afTcrtcd, that vcflcls of this kind could have lived an hour upon, the Indian ocean.
The
* riin. Nat.Hift. lib. xiii. cap. ii.
The bottom, root, or w >ody part of this plant, was like-wire of feveral ufes before it turned abfolutely hard; it was chewed in the manner of liquorice, having a confiderable quantity of Cweet juice in it.   Phis we learn from Diofco-ril s; it w is, I fnppofe, chewed, and the fweetnefs fucked out in the fame manner as is done with fugar-cane.   This is ft. 11 practifed in Abyilinia, where they likewife chew the root of the Indian corn, and of every kind of cyperus and Herodotus tells us, that about a cubit of the lower part of the (talk was cut off and roalled over the fire, and eaten.
From the fcarcity of wood, which was very great in Egypt for the rcafons I have already mentioned, this lower part was likewife ufed in making cups, moulds, and other ne-cellary utenfils; we need not doubt too, one ufe of the woody part of this plant was to Serve for what wc call. boards ftr covers for binding the leaves, which were made of the bark ; we know that this was anciently one ufe of it, both from Alcaeus and Anacreon.
In a large and very perfect: manufcript in my pofTeflion, which was dug up at Thebes, the boards arc of papyrus root, covered firft with the coarfer pieces of the paper, and then with leather, in the fame manner as it would be done now.   It is a book one would call a fmall folio, rather than hy any othei name, and I apprehend that the Shape of the book where papyrus is employed was always of the fame form with thofe of the moderns.   1 he letters are Strong, deep, black,and apparently written with a reed, as is practised by the Egyptians and Abyflinians ftill.   It is written on both fides, fo never could be rqllcd up as parchment was, nor would the brittlcnefs of the materials when dry, fup-i port
port any fuch frequent unrolling. This probably arifcs from their having firft written upon papyrus, after the ufe of (lone was laid afidc, and only adopted Skins upon their embracing the Jewifh religion. The 1 tbiopians, indeed, write upon parchment, yet ufe the fame form of books as we do. The outer boards are made of wood and covered with leather. It was the law only they fay they were in ufe to preferve in one long roll of parchment, upon the fore-fide of which it was written ; it being indecent and improper to write any part of it on the back, or a lefs honourable place of the fkin : And fuch was the roll we have jufl mentioned as prefentcd to Ptolemy, where fuch pains were taken in joining the Several fkins together, for this very rcafon.
The manner paper was made has been controverted; but whoever will read Pliny* attentively, cannot, as I imagine, be long in doubt. The thick part of the llalk being cut in hah, the pellicle between the pith and the bark, or perhaps the two pellicles, were ftript off, and divided by an iron in-ftrument, which probably was fharp-pointed, but did not cut at the edges. This was Squared at the fides fo as to be like a ribband, then laid upon a Smooth table or drefler, after being cut into the length that it was required the leaf Should be. Thefe Stripes, or ribbands of papyrus, were lapped over each other by a very thin border, and then pieces of the fame kind were laid tranfverfely, the length of thefe anfwering to the breadth of the firft.   The book
which
* Plin. N.it. Hid. lib. EH. cap. u.
APPENDIX
9
which T have is eleven inches and a half long, and feven inches broad, and' there is not one leaf in it that has a ribband of papyrus of two inches and a half broad, from which I imagine the fize of this plant, formerly being fifteen feet long, was pretty near the truth. No fuch plant, however, appears now; I do not remember to have ever teeri one more than ten feet high. This is probably owing to their being allowed to grow wild, and too thick together, without being weeded ; wc know from Herodotus *, that the Egyptians cut theirs down ycaily as they did their har-veil.
These ribbands, or flripes of papyrus, have twelve different names in Pliny f, which is to be copious with a vengeance. They arc, philura, ramcntum, fcheda, cutis, piagu-la, corium, taenia, fubtegmen, flatumen, pagina, tabula, and papyrus. After thefe, by whatever name you call them, were arranged at right angles to each other, a weight was placed upon them while moid, which compreJTed them, and fo they were Suffered to dry in the fun.
It was fuppofed that the water of the Nile || had a gummy quality ncccflary to glue thefe flripes together. This we may be aflured is without foundation, no fuch quality being found in the water of the Nile. On the contrary, I found it-of all others the moll improper, till it had fettled, and was absolutely divcflcd of all the earth gathered in its turbid Slate.   1 made Several pieces of this paper, both in
Abyilinia
* Heiodot. lib. xi*
t Flint Nat. Hid. lib, xiii. cap. iz.
Q Plin. lib. xiii, cap. 1 2*
Abyilinia and Egypt, and it appears to me, that the fugar or fweetnefs with which the whole juice of this plant is impregnated, is the matter that caufes the adhefionof thefe flripes together, and that the ufe of the water is no more than to diffolve this, and put it perfectly and equally in fufion.
There feemed to be an advantage in putting the infide of the pellicle in the Situation that it was before divided, that is, the interior parts face to face, one long-ways, and one crofs-ways, after which a thin board of the cover of a book was laid firft over it, and a heap of (tones piled upon it. 1 do not think it fucceeded with boiled water, and it was always coarfc and gritty with the water of the Nile. Some pieces were excellent, made with water that had fettled, that is, in the (late in which we drink it; but even the bell of it was always thick and heavy, drying very foon, then turning firm and rigid, and never white ; nor did I ever find one piece that would bear the ftrokes of a mallet *, but in its green eft date the blow (hivercd and divided the fibres length-ways ; nor did I fee the maiks of any ftrokc of a hammer or mallet in the book in my cuflody, which is certainly on Sainc or Hieratic paper. I apprehend by a pailagc in Pliny f, that the mallet was ufed only when
artificial
* Sir Jofeph Banks fliewed mc a flip of paper which he got from an Italian gentleman, made, If I remember, of a cyptius found in the liver or lake of Thraiymenc. I do not recol-k'vfl the proccfs, but the paper itfelf was infinitely fuperior to any I had feen attempted, and feemed to poiTcfs a great portion of Jlexibility, and was more likely to anfwer the pjurpofa* >,    -♦f^paper than even the o'd Egyptian, if it h id teen drtlTcd up and finifhed.
,i Tim. Nat. Hiih lib. xiii. cap. 13.
artificial glue or gum was made ufe of, which muft have been as often as they let thefe ftripes of the ribband or pellicle dry before arranging them.
Pliny * fays, the books of Numa were 830 years old when they were found, and he wonders, from the brittle-nefs of the infide of the paper, it could have lafled fo long. The manufcript in my polfeflion, which was dug up at Thebes, 1 conjecture is near three times the age that Pliny mentions ; and, though it is certainly fragil, has fubftance and preservation of letter enough, with good care, to lait as much longer, and be legible.
If the Saitic paper was, as we imagine, the firft invented, it fhould follow, contrary to what Ilidore advances, that it was not firft invented in Memphis, but in Upper Egypt in Seide, wdiofe language and writing obtained in the earlieft age, though Lucan feems to think with Ilidore,
Nondum flumlncas Memphis contexcrc biblos hovcrats"   ■ -1-
Lucan, lib. hi.
After the hieroglyphics were loft, perhaps fome time before, we know nothing the Egyptians adopted fo generally as paper, and there were probably % religious rcafons that impeded in thofe early days the people from falling upon
VW, V. D the
* Plin, lib. xiU. cap, 13. % Scruples ^bout cleannefs,
the moil natural, the fkins of beads. However this be,, it is certain under the Egyptians, naturally averfe to novelty and improvement, paper arrived to no great perfection till taken in hands by the Romans. The Charta Claudia was thirteen inches wide, the Hieraticn, or Saitica, eleven, and fuch is the length of ihe leaf of my book in the Saitic dialed:, that is, the old Coptic, or Egyptian of Upper Egypt. I have no idea what the Emporetic paper was, which obtained that degree of coarfenefs and toughnefs,as to ferve for fhopkeep-ers ufes to tie up goods, unlefs it was like our brown paper, employed to the fame purpofes.
If the date of the invention of this ufeful art of making paper is doubtful, the time when it was lod, or fuperfedeci by one more convenient, is as uncertain. Eudathius fays it was difufed in his time in the 1170. Mabillon endeavours to prove it cxifted in the 9th, and even that there exided fome Popifh bulls wrote upon it as late as the 1 ith century. He gives, as indanccs, a part of St Mark's Gofpel prcferved at Venice as being upon papyrus, and the fragment of Jo-fephus at Milan to be cotton paper, while MafTei proves this to be juft the rcverfe, that of St Mark being cotton, and the other indifputably he thinks to be Egyptian papyrus, fo that Mabillon's authority as to the bulls of the pope may be fair* ly quedioned.
The fevcral times I have been at thefe places mentioned,, I have never fucccedcd in feeing any of thefe pieces; that of St Mark at Venice I was allured had been recognized to be cotton paper ; it was rendered not legible by the warm fali-va of zealots kifling it from devotion, which I can eadly comprehend mud contain a very corrofive quality, and the
Venetians,
Venetians now refute to fhew it more. 1 have feen two detached leaves of papyrus, but do not believe there is another book cxifling at the prefent time but that in my pof-feihon, which is very perfect. I gave Dr Woide leave to tranilate it at Lord North's defire ; it is a gnoflic book, full of their dreams.
The general figure of this plant Pliny has rightly faid to refemble aThyrfus; the head is compofed of a number of fmall grafly filaments, each about a foot long. About the middle, each of thefe filaments parts into four, and in the point, or partition, arc four branches of flowers; the head of this is not unlike an ear of wheat in form, but which in fact is but a chaffy, filky, foft hulk. Thefe heads, or flowers, grow upon the {talk alternately, and are not oppofitc to, or on the fame line with each other at the bottom.
Puny* fays it has no feed ; but this we maybe allured is an abfurdity.   The form of the flower fufliciently indicates that it was made to refolve itfelf into the covering of one, which is certainly very fmall, and by its exalted fituation, and thicknefs of the head of the flower, feems to have needed the extraordinary covering it has had to protect it from the violent hold the wind mult have had upon it.   Eor the fame reafon, the bottom of the filaments compofmg the head are fheathed in four concave leaves, which keep them clofe together, and prevent injury from the wind getting in between them.
D 2 The
* Plin. lib. 13. ut, fup.
The (talk is of a vivid green, thicked at the bottom, and tapering up to the top* ; it is of a triangular form. In the Jordan, the lingle fide, of apex of the triangle, flood oppofed to the dream as the cut-water of a boat or fhip, or the iharp angle of a buttrefs of a bridge, by which the preflurc of the dream upon the dalk would be greatly diminifhed. I do not precifcly remember how it dood in the lakes in Ethiopia and Egypt, and only have this remark in the notes i made at the Jordan.
This condruflion of the dalk of the papyrus feems to reproach Ariiiotle with want of obfervatiun. He fays that no plant had either triangular or quadrangular dalks. Here we fee an in dance of the contrary in the papyrus, whofe dalk is certainly and univerfally triangular; and wc learn from Diofcoridcs that many more have quadrangular dalks, or dems of four angles..
It has but one root, which is large and drong f, Pliny fays, as thick as a man's arm : So it was, probably, when the plant was fifteen feet high, but it is now diminifhed in proportion, the whole length of the dalk, comprehending the head, being a little above ten, but the root is dill hard and folid near the heart, and works with the turning loom tolerably well, as it did formerly when they made cups of it. In the middle of this long root arifes the dalk at right angles, fo when inverted it has the figure of a T, and on each fide of the large root there are fmaller elaftic ones, which arc of a direction perpendicular to it, and which, like the Airings of
a tenr,
* Din. lib, xiii. cap. if.   f Ibid. id.
a tent, fleady it and fix it to the earth at the bottom. About two feet, or little more, of the lower part of the (talk is cloathed with long, hollow, fword-fhapcd leaves, which cover each other like fcales, and fortify the foot of the plant. They are of a dufky brown, or yellow colour, 1 fuppofc the ftalk was cut off below, at about where thefe leaves end.
The drawing reprefents the papyrus as growing. The head is not upright, but is inclined, as from its fize it always mud be in hot countries, in which alone it grows. In all fuch climates, there is fome particular wind that reigns longer than others, and this being always the moil violent, as well as the mofl conftant, gives to heavy-headed trees, or plants, an inclination contrary to that from which it blows.
This plant is called el Berdi in Egypt, which fignifies nothing in Arabic, and 1 fuppofe is old Egyptian. I have be n told by a learned gentleman*, that in Syria it is known by the'name of Babeer, which approaches more to the found of papyrus, and piper ; this I never heard myfelf, but leave it entirely upon his authority.
BALE SS AN,
* Mr Adamron, interpreter to the French faclory of Seide, a man of great merit and knowledge in natural hiftory, brother to the naturnlift of that nn lie, who ha?   r th.6* "voyage to Senegal, and particularly an account of the Ihdls of thofe feas, full of barbar^a;, 'Words,, and liberal ideas.
iG
A P P E N D I X.
BALESSAN, BALM, or BALSAM.
HE great value fet upon this drug in the eafl re-
JL mounts to very early ages ; it is coeval with the India trade for pepper, and the beginning of it confequcntly loft in the darknefs of the firft ages. We know from fcripture, the oldefl hiftory extant, as well as moft infallible, that the Ifhmaelites, or Arabian carriers and merchants, trafficking with the India commodities into Egypt, brought with them balm as part of the cargo with pepper ; but the price that they paid for Jofeph was filver, and not a barter with any of their articles of merchandife.
Strabo alone, of all the ancients, hath given us the true account of the place of its origin, "Near tothis, that hiftorian *\ fays, is the moft happy land of the Sabeans, and they are " a very great people. Among thefe, frankincenfe, myrrh, " and cinnamon grow, and in the coafl that is about Saba ? the baliam alfo."   Among the myrrh-trees behind Azab
4
all
I.tilttrli  ri<Hijh<> /Jni'.'/jfiij. t>i/ O. Ilch/I,t f" .* ©.
\
all along the coaft to the Straits of Babelmandeb is its native country. It grows to a tree above fourteen feet high, fpontaneoufly and with out culture, like the myrrh, the coffee* and frankincenfe tree; they are all equally the wood of the country, and are occafionally cut down and ufed for fuel. We need not doubt but that it was early tranfplanted into Arabia, that is, into the fouth part of Arabia Felix, immediately fronting Azab, the place of its nativity. The high country of Arabia was too cold to receive it, being all mountainous ; water freezes there.
There is an anecdote relating to Sir William Middleton, who was furprifed and taken prifoner by the Turks in the firft attempt to open the trade of the Red Sea, that when about to fet * out for Sanaa, corruptly called Zenan, the re* fidence of the Imam, or prince of Arabia Eelix, he was by the people defired f to take his fur cloak along with him to keep him from the cold ; he thought they were ridiculing htm upon what he had to fuller from the approaching heat, which he was convinced in the middle of Arabia muft be exec Hive.
The firft plantation that fucceeded feems to have been at Petra, the ancient metropolis of Arabia, now called Beder, or Beder Hunein, whence 1 got one of the fpecimens from which the prefent drawing is made,
Joseph us * in the hiftory of the antiquities of his country, fays, that a tree of this balfam was brought to Jerufalcm by
the
*Dec. 22d, 1.610. -Ji Purelus, chr.p. xi, §. 3,      % Jofeph. AnticpiitJit. y-
the queen of Saba, and given, among other prefents, to Solomon, who, as wc know from fcripture, was very fludious of all fort of plants, and fkilful in the defcription and dif-t-inclion of them. Here it feems to have been cultivated and to have thriven, fo that the place of its origin came to be forgotten.
Notwithstanding this pofitive authority of Jofephus, and the great probability that attends it, we are not to put it in competition with what we have been told from fcripture, as we have jult now feen, that the place where it grew, and was fold to merchants, was Gilead in Judca, more than 1730 years before Chrift, or 1000 before the queen of Saba ; fo that reading the verfc, nothing can be more plain than that it had been tranfplanted into Judea, flourifhed, and had he-come an article of commerce in Gilead long before the period Jofephus mentions ; " And they fat down to cat bread, and " they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a com-" pany of llhmaelites came from Gilead with their camels, u bearing fpicery, and balm, and myrrh, going to carry it " down to Egypt *." Now, the fpicery, or pepper, was certainly purchafed by the llhmaelites at the mouth of the Red Sea, where was the market for Indian goods, and at the fame -place-they mull have bought the myrrh, for that neither grew nor grows any where clfe than in Saba or Azabo call to Cape Gardefan, where were the ports for India, and whence it was difperfed all over the world.
1 The
J Gen. chap, xxxvii. ver< 25*
The Immaelites, or Arabian carriers, loaded their camel* at the mouth of the Red Sea with pepper and myrrh. For reafons not now known to us, they went and completed their cargo with baifam at Gilead, fo that, contrary to the authority of Jofephus, nothing is more certain, than 1730 years before Chrift, and iooo years before the queen of Saba came to Jerufalem, the balfam-tree had been tranfplanted from Abyilinia into Judea, and become an article of commerce there, and the place from which it originally was brought, through length of time, combined with other reafons, came to be forgotten,
THEOPHRASTT7s,Diofeorides, Pliny, Solinus,and Serapion, all fay that this baifam came only from Judea. The words of Pliny are, " But to all other odours whatever, the baifam u is preferred, produced in no other part but the land of 44 Judea, and even there in two gardens only ; both of M them belonging to the king, one no more than twen-41 ■ ty acres, the other Hill fmaller V
At this time I fuppofe it got its name of Balfamum Ju-daicum, or, Balm of Gilead, and thence became an article in merchandife and fifcal revenue, which probably occa-fioned the difcouragement of bringing it any more from Arabia, whence it very probably wras prohibited as contraband.   We (hall fuppofe thirty acres planted with this tree would have produced more than all the trees in Arabia do at this day.    Nor does the plantation of Beder Hunein v°l. V. E amount
# PJin. Nu'. lhn. lib. xii. cap. 25.
amount to much more than that quantity, for wc arc ftill to obferve, that even when it had been as it were naturalifed in Judea, and acquired a name in the country, ftill it bore evident marks of its being a ftranger there ; and its being confined to two royal gardens alone, fhews it was maintained there by force and culture, and was by no means a native of the country. And this is confirmed by Strabo, who fpeaksof it being in the king's palace or garden at Jericho. This place being one of the warmed in Judea, fhews like-wife their apprehenfions about it, fo that in Judea, we may imagine it was pretty much in the ftate of our myrtles in England, which, though cultivated in green-houfes in all the reft of the illand, yet grow beautifully and luxuriantly in Devonshire and Cornwall, the weftern parts of it.
. Diodorus Siculus fays, it grew in a valley in Arabia Felix ; he fhould have faid on a number of gentle, floping hills in Arabia Deferta, which have a very fmall degree of elevation above the plain, but by no means refemble a valley. This place was the fcene of three bloody battles between Mahomet and his kinfmen the Beni Koreifh, who refufed to be converts to his religion, or acknowledge his divine legation. Thefe are at large defcribed by feveral of the hif-torians of that nation, with circumftances and anecdotes, as well intercfting and entertaining, as elegantly told. They ihew plainly that Mahomet's tribe, the Beni Koreifh, did not receive their fanatical manners and difpofition from Mahomet and his religion, but were juft as obftinate, ignorant, and fanguinary when they were Pagans, as they were afterwards when converted and became Mahometans. The laft of thefe battles, which was deciiive in Mahomet's favour, gave him the fovereignty of Mecca, and was attended with the extirpation of fome of the principal families in this tribe.
Ax
At this time the baifam is fuppofed,by being fold in Judea, and not acceflible by reafon of the commotions in A-rabia, to have become almoft forgotten in that laft part, where the trade from Abymnia, its native country, was like-wife interrupted by this innovation of religion, and by Ma-ho net's profanation of the Caaba, or temple of the fun, the ancient refort of the Sabean merchants carrying on the trade of India.   This interval the impoftor thought proper for a pretended miracle ; he faid, that, from the blood of the Beni Koreifh flain, there had fprung up this grove of trees, from the juice of which all the true believers on his fide received a cure for their wounds, however fatal they appeared, nay, fome of them were revived from even death itfelf. Since that time it has maintained its reputation equal to that which it had in antiquity.
Prosper Alpinus fays, that one MefToner a eunuch, governor of Cairo in the year 1519, caufed bring from Arabia forty plants, which he placed in the garden of Mattareah, where he fuperintended them.   Every day he went to that garden to pay his devotions to the Virgin Mary.   It was many times renewed, and has as often perifhed fince, Bel-lonius fays, that in his time there were ten plants at Mat-tareah, and he is of opinion, that in all ages they grew well in Arabia, which is not true, for thofe at Beder are conflantly fupplied with new plants fo foon as the old ones decay.   There was none exifting at Mattareah the two feveral times I vifited Cairo, but there were fome of the Chriflians ftill living there that remembered one plant in that garden.
e
Thers
There were three produ£tions from this tree very much cflecmed among the ancients. The full was called Gpobal-famum, or, Juice of the Baifam, which was the fined kind, compofed of that greenifh liquor found in the kernel of the fruit: The next was Carpobalfamum, made by the cx-preffion of the fruit when in maturity. The third was Xylobalfamum, the word of all, it was an cxprcllion or decoction of the fmall new twigs of a reddhh colour. Thefe twigs are £1 ill gathered in little faggots and fent to Venice, where I am told they are an ingredient in the Theriac, or of fome fort of compound drug made in the laboratories there : But the principal quantity of baifam in all times was produced by incifion, as it is at this day. Concerning this, too, many fables have been invented and propagated.
Tacitus fays, that this tree was fo avcrfe to iron that it trembled upon a knife being laid near it, and fome pretend the incifion fliould be made by ivory, glafs, or flone. There is no doubt but the more attention there is given to it, and the cleaner the wound is made, the better this baifam will be. It is now, as it probably ever has been, cut by an ax, when the juice is in its tlrongcft circulation in July, Augufl, and beginning of September. It is then received into a fmall earthen bottle, and every day's produce gathered and poured into a larger, which iskept clofely corked. The Arabs Harb, a noble family of Beni Koreifh, are the proprietors of it, and of Beder, where it grows. It is a lla ion of the Emir Hadje, or pilgrims going to Mecca, half way between that city and Medina.
Some books fpeak of a white fort brought by the cara-fans from Mecca, and called Baifam of Mecca, and others
a a baifam
APPEND I X. 53
a baifam called that of Judea, but all thefe arc counterfeits or adulterations. The baliam of Judea, which I have already mentioned, was long ago loft, when the troubles of that country withdrew the royal attention from it; but, as late as Galen's time, it not only exifted, but was growing in man) places of Palcftine befides Jericho, and there is no-doubt but it is now totally loft, there.-
Wiien Sultan Selim made the conquefl of Egypt and A-rabia in the 1516, three pound was then the tribute ordered to be fent to Conftantinople yearly, and this proportion is kept up to this day.   One pound is due to the governor of Cairo, one pound to the Emir Hadje who conducts the pilgrims to Mecca, half a pound to the hatha of Damafeus, and fevcral fmaller quantities to other officers, after which, the remainder is fold or farmed out to fome merchants, who, to increafe the quantity, adulterate it with oil of olives and wax, and feveral other mixtures, confulting only the agreement of colour, without confidering the aptitude in mixing ; formerly we were told it was done with art, but nothing is caiicr detected than this fraud now.
It does not appear to me, that the ancients had ever feen this plant, they defcribe it fo varioully ; fome will have it a tree, fome a ihrub, and fome a plant only ; and Profper Acinus, a modern, corroborates the errors of the ancients, by laying it is a kind of vine, (viticofus). The figure he ha*- given of it is a very bad one, and leaves us entirely in doubt in what clafs to place it. The defect of the plant in Judea and in tg\pt, and the contradiction in the description of the ancients as to its figure and rcfeniLiauce, occahoned
a. doubt
a doubt that the whole plants in thefe two countries, and Arabia alfo, had been loft in the defolation occafioned by the Mahometan conqueft; and a warm difpute arofe between the Venetians and Romans, whether the drug ufed by the former in the Theriac was really and truly the old genuine opobalfamum ? The matter was referred to the pope, who directed proper inquiry to be made in Egypt, which turned out entirely in favour of the Venetians, and the opobalfamum continuing as formerly.
A very learned and tedious treadle was publifhed by Veflingius, in the year 1643, at Padua, where this affair was difcufled at full length. As both parties of the difpu-tants feem to argue concerning what it is from the mifun-derftood reports of what it was, I fhall content myfelf briefly with ftating what the qualities of the opobalfamum are, without taking pains to refute the opinions of thofe that have reported what the opobalfamum is not.
The opobalfamum, or juice flowing from the balfam-tree, at firft when it is received into the bortle or vafe from the wound from whence it ifhies, is of a light, yellow colour, apparently turbid, in which there is a whirilh caft, which I apprehend are the globules of air that pervade the whole of it in its firft ftate of fermentation ; it then appears very light upon making.   As it fettles and cools, it turns clear, and lofes that milkinefs which it firft had when flowing from the tree into the bottle.   It then has the colour of honey, and appears more fixed and heavy than at firft.   After being kept for years, it grows a much deeper yellow, and of the colour of gold. I have fome of it, which, as I have already mentioned in my travels, I got from the 3 Cadi
APPENDIX,
Cadi of Medina in the 1768 ; it is now Mill deeper in colour, full as much fo as the yellowefl honey. It is perfectly fluid, and has loft very littb either of its tafte, fmell, or weight. The fmell at firft is violent and ftrongly pungent,, giving a fenfation to the brain like to that of volatile falts when rafhly drawn up by an incautious pcrfon. This lafts in proportion to its frefhnefs, for being neglected, and the bottle uncorked, it quickly lofes this quality, as it probably will at laft by age, whatever care is taken of it.
In its pure and frefh ftate it diflblves eafily in water. If dropt on a woollen cloth, it will wafh out eafily, and leaves no {lain.   It is of an acrid, rough, pungent tafte, is ufed by the Arabs in all complaints of the ftomach and bowels, is reckoned a powerful antifeptic, and of ufe in preventing any infection of the plague.   Thefe qualities it now enjoys, in all probability, in common with the various balfams we have received from the new world, fuch as the baifam of Tolu, of Peru, and the reft; but it is always ufed, and in particular efteemed by the ladies, as a cofmctic : As fuch it has kept up its reputation in the eafl to this very day. The manner of applying it is this; you firft go into the tepid bath till the pores are fufhciently opened, you then a-noint yourfelf with a fmall quantity, and, as much as the veffels will abforb ; never-fading youth and beauty are faid to be the confequences of this. The purchafe is eafy enough. I do not hear that it ever has been thought reftorative after the lofs of either.
The figure I have here given of the baifam may be depended upon, as being carefully drawn, after an exact ex-
amination;
animation, from two very fine trees brought from Beder Hunein ; the firft by the Cadi of Medina at Yambo ; the fc-cond at Jidda, by order of Youfef Kabil, vizir or minitler to the fherriffc of Mecca, The firft was fo deliberately executed, that the fecond feemed of no fervice but to confirm me in the exactitude of the fir it. the tree was 5 feet 2 inches high from where the red root begins, or which was buried in the earth, to where it divides itfelf firll into branches. The trunk at thicker! was about 5 inches diameter, the wood light and open, and incapable of polifhing, covered with a fmooth bark of bluifh-white, like to a ftandard cherry-tree in good .health, which has not above half that diameter; indeed a part of the bark is a reddifh brown; it flattens at top like trees that are expofed to fnow-blafts or fea-air, which gives it a (hinted appearance. It.is remarkable for a penury of leaves. The flowers are like that of. the acacia-tree, white and round, only that three hang upon three filaments, or flalks, where the acacia has but one. Two of thefe flowrcrs fall off and leave a fmgle fruit; the branches that bearthis arc the moots of the prefentyear; they are of a reddilh colour, and tougher than the old wood : it is thefe that are cut olFand put into little faggots, and fent to Venice for the Thcriac, when bruifed or diawn by fire, and formerly thefe made the Xylobaifamum.
Concerning the vipers which, Pliny fays, were frequent among the baifam trees I made very particular inquiry; fcveral were brought me alive, both to Yambo and Jidda. Of thefe I mail fpeak in another place, when I give the figure, and an account of that animal fo found.
SASSA
*
SASSA, MYRRH, and OPOC ALPASUM, T the time when I was on the borders of the TabTal,
XjL   or Troglodyte country, 1 fought to procure myfelf branches and bark of the myrrh-tree, enough prefcrved to be able to deficrihe it and make a defign ; but the length and ruggednefs of the way, the heat of the weather, and the carclcfTnefs and want of rcfources of naked favages always difappointed me. In thofe goat-fkin bags into which I had often ordered them to put fmall branches, I always found the leaves moftly in powder; fome few that were entire feemed to refembie much the acacia vera, but were wider towards the extremity, and more pointed immediately at the end.   In what order the leaves grew I never could determine.   The bark was abfolutely like that of the acacia vera ; and among the leaves I often met with a fmall, ftraight, weak thorn, about two inches long;
These were all the circumflances I could combine relative to the myrrh-tree, too vague and uncertain to rifk a drawing upon, when there Hill remained fo many defidcrata concerning it; and as die king was obdinate not to let me
Vol. V,
F
go
go thither after what had happened to the furgeon's mate and boat's crew of the Elgin Indiaman *, I was obliged to abandon the drawing of the myrrh-tree to fome more fortunate traveller, after having in vain attempted to procure it at Azab, as I have already mentioned.
At the fame time that I was taking thefe pains about the myrrh, I had defired the favages to bring me all the gums they could find, with the branches and bark of the trees that produced them. They brought me at different times fome very fine pieces of incenfe, and at another time a very fmall quantity of a bright colourlefs gum, fwceter on burning than incenfe, but no branches of cither tree, though 1 found this latter afterwards in another part of Abyilinia. But at all times they procured me quantities of gum of an even and clofe grain, and of a dark brown colour, which was produced by a tree called Saffa, and twice [ received branches of this tree in tolerable order, and of thefe Imade a drawing.
Some weeks after, while walking at Emfras, a Mahometan village, whofe inhabitants are myrrh merchants, I faw a large tree with the whole upper part of the trunk, and the large branches, fo covered with bofles and knobs of gum, as to appear moiiitroufly deformed, and inquiring farther about this tree, I found that it had been brought, many years before, from the myrrh country, by merchants, and planted there for the fake of its gum, with which thefe Mahometans fliifened the blue Surat cloths they got damaged from Mocha, to trade in with the Galla and Abyllinians, Neither
the
* They were murdered at Axub^ fee vot I., p. 3i<jt»
appendix. 'ft?
the origin of the tree which they called Safla, nor the gum, could allow me to doubt a moment that it was the fame as what had been brought to me from the myrrh country, but I had the additionalTatisfadiontofindthc tree all covered over with beautiful crimfon flowers of a very extraordinary and flrangc conftruction. 1 began then a drawing anew, with all that fat is faction known only to thofe who have been con-verfant in fuch difcoverics.
I took pieces of the gum with me; it is very light. Galen complains that, in his time, the myrrh was often mixed with a drug which he calls Opocalpafum, by a Greek name, but whan ihe drug was is totally unknown to us at this day, as nothing fimilar to the Greek name is found in the language of the country.   But as the only view of the lavage, in mixing another gum with his myrrh, mud have been to increafe the quantity, and as the great plenty in which this gum is produced, and its colour, make it very proper for this ufe, and above all, as there is no reafon to think there is another gum bearing tree of equal qualities in the country where the myrrh grows, it feems to me next to a proof, that this mull have been the opocalpafum of Galen.
I must however confefs, that Galen fays the opocalpafum was fo far from being an innocent drug, that it was a mortal poifon, and had produced very fatal effects. Hut as thofe Troglodytes, though now more ignorant than formerly, are ftill well acquainted with the properties of their herbs and trees, it is not poilible that the iavagc, defiling to increafe his talcs, would mix them
F 2 with
with a poifon that muft needs diminifh them. And we may-there fore without fcruple fuppofe that Galen was miftaken in the quality afcribed to this drug, and that he might have imagined, from tendernefs to the profeflion, that people died of the opocalpafum who perhaps really died of the phyfician : Eirft, Becaufe we know of no gum or refin that is a mortal poifon: Secondly, Becaufe, from the construction of its parts, gum could not have the activity which violent poifon has ; and conlidering the fmall quantities in which 'myrrh is taken, and the opocalpafum could have been but. in an inconfiderable proportion to the myrrh, to have killed, it muft have been a very active poifon indeed : Thirdly, thefe accidents from a known caufe muft have brought myrrh into difufe, as certainly as the Spaniards mixing arfe-nic with bark would banifli that drug when we faw people die of it. Now this never was the cafe, it maintained its character among the Greeks and the Arabs, and fo down to our days; and a modern phyfician, Van Ilelmont, thinks it might make man immortal if it could be rendered perfectly folublc in the human body. Cialen then was miftaken as to the poifonous quality of the opocalpafum. The Greek phyfician knew little of the Natural Hiftory of Arabia, lefs ftill of that of Abyilinia, and we who have followed; them know nothing of cither..
This gum being put into water, fwclls and turns white, and Jofes all its glue ; it very much refembles gum adra-gant in quality, and may be eaten lately. This fpecimen came from the Troglodyte country in the year 1771. The Safia, the tree which produces the opocalpafum, docs not grow in Arabia,   Arabian.myrrh is eafily known from Abyf-
fmian
finian by the following method ; Take a handful of the fmalleft pieces found at the bottom of the baiket where the myrrh was packed, and ihrow them into a plate, and jufl cover them with water a little warm, the myrrh will remain for fome time without vifible alteration, for it dil-folves flowly, but the gum will fwcll to live times its original frze, and appear fo many white fpots amidft the myrrh.
Emfras, as I have faid, is a large village fomething more than twenty miles fouth from Gondar, firuated upon the face of a hill of confiderablc height above the lake Tzana, of which, and all its illands, it has a very diilinct and plea-fant view ; it is divided from the lake by a large plain, near which is the ifland of Mitraha, one of the burying-places of the kings.   The inhabitants of the lower town, clofc on the banks or the (mall river Arno, are all Mahometans, many of them men of iubllancc, part of them the king's tent-makers, who follow the camp, and pitch his tents in the field; the others are merchants to the myrrh and frankin-eenfe country, that is, from the earl parallel of the kingdom of Dancali to the point Cape Gardefan, or Promontorium Aromatum; they alfo bring fait from the plains, on the welt of the kingdom of Dancali, where follile fait is dug ; it is on the S. E. border of the kingdom of 1 igre. Thefe Mahometans trade alfo to the Galla, to the weflward of the Nile; their principal commodity is myrrh and damaged cargoes of blue burat cloth, which they unfold and clean, then ftifTen them with gum, and fold them in form of a book as when they were new.
This gum, which is called Safia, they at firft brought from the myrrh country behind Azab, till ingenious and
ju. fagacious
fagacious people had carried plants of the tree to their different villages, where they have it growing in great perfection, and more than fupply the ufes of the merchants.
This tree growrs to a great height, not inferior to that of an Engliih elm ; that from which this draught was made was about two feet diameter; the gum grows on all (ides of the trunk, in quantity enough almoft to cover it, in form of large globes, and fo it does on all the principal branches. Thefe lumps are fometimcs fo large as to weigh two pound, though naturally very light.
The bark of the tree is thin and of a bluifh colour, not unlike that of a cherry-tree when young, or rather whiter. The wood is white and hard, only the young branches which carry the flower arc red. The leaves are joined to the lides of the fmall branches by a fmall pedicle of confi-derahle itrength, the leaves are two and two, or oppofite to each other, and have no lingle leaf at the point; they are itrongly varniihcd both on one fide and the other, the back rather lighter than the forcfide of the leaf. 'I he branches that carry the leaves have about an inch of the ftalk bare, where it is fixed to the larger branch. There are generally fourteen leaves, each of about three quarters of an inch long. At the top of the branch arc knots out of which come three fmall ftalks, bare for about an inch and a half, then having a number of fmall tubes, which, when they open at the top, put forth a long piftil from the bottom of the tube. The top of the tube, divided into five fegments, or petals, arrives about one third up the piftil, and makes the figure of a calix or pcrianthium to it. From this tube proceeds a great number of very fmall capillamcnts of a * pink
APPENDIX,
33
pink colour, at the end of each of which hangs a purple fligma. At the top of this piftil is a large bunch of ftill finer fibres, or capillaments, with ftigmata likewife, and at the end the piftil is rounded as if forming a fruit; without a very diftincr. drawing, it would be difficult to make a dc* fcription that fhould be intelligible.
Nothing can be more beautiful, or more compounded, than the formation of this flower, though it has no odour; the head is compofed of about thirty of thefe fmall branches now deferibed, which make a very beautiful mafs, and is of a pink colour of different fhades. At fun-fet, the leaves on each fide of the branch fliut face to face like the fenfitive tribe. I never faw any feed or fruit that it bore, nor any thing like the rudiments of feed, unlefs it be that very fmall rotundity that appears at the end of the piftil, which feem to bear no proportion to fo large a tree. ;~4
erg ett
34
A P P E N D I X,
- 1
ERGETT Y'DIMMO,
'!"TpHE two beautiful fbrubs which I have here given to -fi- the reader are called by the name of Ergctt, which we may fuppofe, in Abyflinian botany, to be the generic name of the mimofa, as both of thefe have the fame name, and both of the fame family, of which there are many varieties in Abyilinia.
This firft is called the Bloody Ergett, as wc may fuppofe from the pink filaments of which this beautiful and uncommon flower is in part compofed, and which, we may therefore call Mimofa Sanguinea. The upper part of the flower is compofed of curled, yellow filaments, and the bottom a pink of the fame ftructure. I never faw it in any o-ther ftate. Before the bloflbms fpread it appears in the form here exhibited. The pink, or lower part, in its unripe ftate, is compofed of green tubercules, larger and more detached than where the yellow flower is produced, whofe tubercules arc fmaller and clofer fet together. I need not fay the
leaves
Lnruio/t /W/'/i'/i:/ /Jr. .'tl'/jS,/./>//i-./n>f>i/i.wii k(h.
leaves are of the dotible pinnated kind,as that and every thing elfe material can be learned from the figure, full as perfectly as if the flower was before them ; none of the parts, however trifling and fmall, being neglected in the reprefenta-tion, and none of them fuppofed or placed there out of order, for ornament, or any other caufe whatever: a rule which i would have the reader be perfuaded is invariably obferved in every article reprefented in this collection, whether tree or plant, beafl, bird, or fiih.
ERGETT EL KRONE.
THE next of this fpecies of Ergett or Mimofa, is called in Abyilinia Ergett el Krone, or the Horned Ergett; I apprehend the figure of the pods have given it that appellation. Its flower in fizc and form very much refemblcs the acacia vera, only that it is attached to the branch by a long and ftrong woody ftalk, which grows out at the bottom of the branch bearing the leaves, and is Iheltered as in a cafe by the lower part of it. The branches of it are all covered with very Ihort, ftrong, {harp-pointed thorns, Vol, V. G whofc
3&
appendix,
whofe point is inclined backward towards the root. Its pods are covered with a prickly kind or" hair,which,when touched, Hick in your fingers and give very uncafy fenfations. The pods are divided into thirteen divifions, in each of which are three round feeds, hard and thining, of a dufky brown-iih colour. The flower has fcarcely any fmell, nor do I know that it is of any utility whatever. Both thefe beautiful ihrubs were found upon the banks of the river Arno, between Emfras and the lake Tzana, The foil is black mould, with a great mixture or compofition of rotten putrefied leaves, thinly covering the rock in the temperate part of Abyilinia. What I have to obferve of both thefe fhrubs is, that they flint their leaves upon the violent rains of winter, and are never fully expanded till the fun and fair feafon again return*
e  N  s   e  t e.
*~jnHE Enfete is an herbacious plant.   It is faid to be a na» J-   tive of Narea, and to grow in the great fwamps and marlh.es in that country, formed by many rivers rifing there, 2 which
J?
London 2*ublf/?ull)ec.r/?tj$</ bis o. Rc>bi/tson tcCo.
APPENDIX, 37
which have little level to run to either ocean.   It is faid that the Galla, when tranfplanted into Abyflinia, brought for their particular ufe the coffee-tree, and the Enfete, the ufe of neither of which were before known.   However, the general opinion is, that both are naturally produced in every part of Abyflinia, provided there is heat and moifture. It grows and comes to great perfection at Gondar, but it moft: abounds in that part of Maittha and Goutto weft of the Nile, where there are large plantations of it, and is there almoft, exclulive of any thing cite, the fond Of the Galla inhabiting that province; Maitfha is nearly upon a dead level, and the rains have not Hope to get oif eaiily, but ftagnate and prevent the fowing of grain.   Vegetable food would therefore be very fcarce in Maitfha, were it not for this plant.
Some who have feen my drawing of this plant, and at the fame time found the banana in many parts of the eaft, have thought the Enfete to be a fpecics of the Mufa. This however, I imagine, is without any fort of rcafon. It is true, the leaf Of the banana refembles that of the Enfete, it bears figs, and has an excrefcence from its trunk, which is terminated by a conical figure, chiefly differing from the Enfete in uze and quantity of parts, but the figs of the banana  are  in  fhape of a  cucumber, and this is the pao which is eaten.   This fig is fweet though mealy, and of a tafte highly agreeable.   It is fuppo fed to have no feeds, though in fact there are four fmall black feeds in every fig belonging to it.   But the figs of the Enfete are not eatable ; they are of a tender, foft fubitance ; watery, taftelefs, and in colour and confluence limilar to a rotten apricot; they are of a conical form, crooked a little at the lower end, about an inch and a half in length, and an inch in breadth where
G 2 thickeft.
thicker!. In the infide of thefe is a large ftone half an inch long, of the ihape of a bean or cufhoo-nut, of a dark brown colour, and this contains a fmall feed, which is fel-dom hardened into fruit, but confifts only of fkin.
The long flalk that bears the figs of the Enfete fprings from the center of the plant, or rather is the body or folid part of the plant itfelf. Upon this, where it begins to bend, are a parcel of loofe leaves, then grows the fig upon the body of the plant without any flalk, after which the top of the flalk is thick-fct with fmall leaves, in the midlt of which it terminates the flower in form of the artichoke ; whereas in the banana, the flower, in form of the artichoke, grows at the end of that fhoot, or flalk, which proceeds from the middle of the plant, the upper part of which bears the row of figs.
The leaves of the Enfete are a web of longitudinal fibres clofely fet together ; the leaves,grow from the bottom, and are without flalks; whereas the banana is in fhape like a tree, and has been miftaken for fuch. One half of it is divided into a flem, the other is a head formed of leaves, and, in place of the flem that grows out of the Enfete, a number of leaves rolled together round like a truncheon, fhoots out of the heart of the banana, and renews the upper as the under leaves fall ofF; but all the leaves of the banana have a long flalk; this fixes them to the trunk, which they do not embrace by a broad bafe, or involucrum, as the Enfete does.
But the greatefl differences are flill remaining. The banana, has, by fome, been miftaken for a tree of the 3 pah
palmaceous tribe, for no other reafon but a kind of fi-milarity in producing the fruit on an excrefcence or flalk growing from the heart of the flem ; but ftill the mufa is neither woody nor perennial; it bears fruit but once, and in all thefe refpects it differs from trees of the palmaceous kind, and indeed from all fort of trees whatever.   The Enfete, on the contrary, has no naked flem, no part of it is woody ; the body of it, for feveral feet high, is efculent; but no part of the banana can be eaten.   As foon as the flalk-of the Enfete appears perfect and full of leaves, the body of the plant turns hard and fibrous, and is no longer eatable ; before, it is the beft of all vegetables ; when boiled, it has the tafte of the beft new wheat-bread not perfectly baked.
The drawing which 1 have given the reader was of an Enfete ten years old. It was then very beautiful, and had no marks of decay. As for trie piftil, flamina, and ovarium, they are drawn with fuch attention, and fo clearly expref-fed by the pencil, that it would be loft time to fay more a-bout them. I have given one figure of the plant cloathed with leaves, and another of the flem ftript of them, that the curious may have an opportunity of further inveftiga-ting the difference between this and the mufa.
W hen you make ufe of the Enfete for eating, you cut it immediately above the fmall detached roots, and perhaps a foot or two higher, as the plant is of age. You ftrip the green from the upper part till it becomes white; when foft, like a turnip well boiled, if eat with milk or butter it is the beft of all food, wholcfomc, nourifhing, and eafily digefted
Wit
We fee in fome of the Egyptian antique ftatues the figure of Ifis fitting between fome branches of the banana tree, as it is fuppofed, and fome handriih of cars of wheat; you fee likewife the hippopotamus ravaging a quantity of banana tree. Yet the banana is merely adventitious in Egypt, it is a native of Syria ; it does not even cxift in the low hot country of Arabia Felix, but choofes fome elevation in the mountains where the air is temperate, and is not found in Syria farther to the fouthward than lat 34°.
After ail, I do not doubt that it might have grown in Martareah, or in the gardens of Egypt or Rofetto ; but it is not a plant of the country, and could never have entered into the lift of their hieroglyphics ; for this reafon, it could not figure any thing permanent or regular in the hiftory of Egypt or iis clhuate. i therefore imagine that this hieroglyphic was wholly Ethiopian* and that the fuppofed banana, which, as an adventitious plant, figmficd nothing in Fgypt, was only a representation of the i n-fete, and that the record in the hieroglyphic of Ifis and the Enfete-tree was fome thing that happened between bar-veil, which was about Auguft, and ihe time the Enfete-trec became to be in ufe, which is in October.
The hippopotamus is generally thought to reprefent a Nile that has been fo abundant as to be destructive. When therefore we fee upon the obeliiks the hippopotamus destroying the banana, we may fuppofe it meant that the ex* tn »: uo-y inundation had gone fo far as not only to def-troy the wheat, but alfo to retaid or hurt the growth of the 1 • :t which was to fupply its place. 1 do likewife conjecture,
rure, that the bundle of branches of a plant which Horus Apollo fays the ancient Egyptians produced as the food on which they lived before the difcovery of wheat, was not the papyrus, as he imagines, but this plant, the Enfete, which retired to its native Ethiopia upon a fubftitute being found better adapted to the climate of Egypt,
• K O L - QU ALL.
IN that memorable day when leaving the Samhar, or low-flat parched country which forms the fea-coaft of Abyflinia, and turning weft ward, we came to the foot of that flupen-dous mountain l aranta, which we were to pais in order to enter into the high land of Abyflinia, we faw the whole fide of that prodigious mountain covered from top to bottom with this beautiful tree. We were entering a country where we daily expected wonders, and therefore, perhaps, were not fo much furprifed as might have been fuppofed at fo extraordinary a tight. 1 he fruit was ripe, and being, carried on the top of the branches, the trees that flood thick
together
together appeared to he covered with a cloth or veil of the moft vivid crimfon colour.
The firft thing that prcfented itfelf was the firft fhoot of this extraordinary tree. It was a fingle flalk, about fix inches mcafurcd acrofs, in eight divifions, regularly and beautifully fcol loped and rounded at the top, joining in the centre at three feet and a half high. Upon the outfide of thefe fcollops were a fort of eyes or fmall knots, out of every one of which came five thorns, four on the fides and one in the centre, fcarce half an inch long, fragil, and of no refiftancc, but exceedingly fliarp and pointed. Its next proccfs is to put out a branch from the firft or fecond fcollop near the top, others fucceed from all directions ; and this flalk, which is foft and fuccnlent, of the confiftence of the aloe, turns by degrees hard and ligneous, and, after a few years, by multiplying its branches, afTumes the form as in the fecond plate. It is then a tree, the lower part of which is wood, the upper part, which is fucculcnt, has no leaves; thefe are fuppliedby the fluted, fcolloped, fcrrated, thorny fides of its branches. Upon the upper extremity of thefe branches grow its flowers, which are of a golden colour, rofaceous, and formed of five round or almoft oval petala ; this is fuc-ceeded by a triangular fruit, firft of a light green with a flight call of red, then turning to a deep crimfon, with ftreaks of white both at top and bottom. In the infide it is divided into three cells, with a feed in each of them ; the cells are of a greenifh white, the feed round, and with no degree of humidity or moifture about it, yet the green leaves contain a quantity of bluifh watery milk, almoft incredible.
Upon
■ f/ntf/l , //■
/ / >//. /, 171 /'uAfz/JiU ./,///./ "/,y, './'r I-'. A', & (I
Upon cutting two of the fineft branches of a tree in its fall vigour, a quantity of this ilfued but, which I cannot compute to be lefs than four Englifh gallons, and this was fo exceedingly cauftic, that, though I warned the fabre that cut it immediately, the ftain has not yet left it.
When the tree grows old, the branches wither, and, in place of milk, the infide appears to be full of powder, which is fo pungent, that the fmall dull which I drew upon linking a withered branch feemed to threaten to make me fnceze to death, and the touching of the milk with my fingers excoriated them as if fcaldcd with boiling water; yet I everywhere obferved the wood-pecker piercing the rotten branches with its beak, and eating the infects, without any imprelTion upon its olfactory nerves.
The only ufe the Abyflinians make of this is for tanning hides, at lcafl for taking off the firft hair. As we went weft, the tree turned poor, the branches were few, feldom above two or three ribs, or divifions, and thefe not deeply indented, whereas thofe of Taranta had frequently eight. We afterwards faw fome of them at the fource of the Nile, in the cliff where the village of Geefh is fituatcd, but, though upon very good ground, they did not feem to thrive ; on the contrary, where they grew on Taranta it was fandy, ftony, poor earth, fcarce deep enough to cover the rock, but I fufpect they received fome benefit from their vicinity to the fea.
Some botanifts who have feen the drawing have fuppofed this to be the euphorbia oflicinarum of Linnseus ; but, without pretending to great fkill in this matter, I fhould fear there
Vol. V* H would
would be fome objection to this fuppofition: Firft, on account of the flower, which is certainly rofaceous, compofed of feveral petals, and is not campaniform : Secondly, That it produces no fort of gum, either fpontaneoufly or upon incifion, at no period of its growth ; therefore I imagine that the gum which comes from Africa in fmall pieces, firft white on its arrival, then turning yellow by age, is not the produce of this tree, which, it may be depended upon, produces no gum whatever.
Juba the younger is faid, by Pliny, to have given this name to the plant, calling it after his own phyfician, brother to Mufa phyfician to Auguflus. Wc need not trouble our-felvcs with what Juba fays of it, he is a worfe naturalifl and worfe hiftorian than the Nubian geographer*
rag k.
npi-HS is a large tree, and feems peculiar to warm climates-It abounds in Arabia Eelix, in Abyflinia, that foj in the low part of it, and in Nubia.   The full place I- uw it in was 3 in
«
APPENDIX. 4f
in Raback, a port in the Red Sea, where I difcovered this fingularity, that it grew in the fea within low-water mark. When we arrived at Mamah, in making a plan of the harbour, I faw a number of thefe in two Wands both uninhabited, and without water, the one called Shekh Seide, the other Toulahout.   Thefe two iflands are conflantly overflowed by fait water, and though they are ftrangers to frefh, they yet produce large Rack-trees, which appear in a flou-rifhing flate, as if planted in a fituation dcfigncd for them by nature.
The Arabians, it is faid, make boats of this tree. Its wood is fo hardened by the fea, and alfo fo bitter in tatle, that no worm whatever will touch it. Of this tree the Arabians alfo make tooth-picks, thefe they fell in fmall bundles at Mecca, and are reputed to be favourable to the teeth, gums, and breath.
The reader will have obferved frequent mention of fome trees found in the defert which our camels would not eat. Thefe are the Rack-tree, and the doom, or palma thebaica cuciofcra*. Thefe grow where they find fait fprings in the land; the defert being fo impregnated with foilile fait in every part of it, that great blocks and flrata of it are feen everywhere appearing above ground, efpccially about lat. 18°.
H 2 The
• TheophufK hift. plants, lib. iii. cnp. 8. lib. iv. cap. 2. Din, Nat. Hift. lib. xiii. cap. 9 j. Bauh. lib. iii. cap. «6.
The Rack fomething refembles the afh on its firft ap* pearance, though in the formation of its parts it is widely different. Its bark is white and polifhed, fmooth, and without furrows. Its trunk is generally 7 or 8 feet before it cleaves into branches. I have feen it above 24 feet in height, and 2 feet diameter*
Its leaves are, two and two, fet on different fides, that is, each two perpendicular to each other alternately. The fmall branches that bear flowers part from the infide of the leaf, and have the fame pofition with the leaves ; that is, fuppofe the loweft pair of leaves and branches are on the eaft or weft fide of the tree, the pair above them will be on the north and fouth, and the next to thefe will be on the weft as before. The leaves are long and very fharp-pointed; in the infide a deep green, and in the out a dirty white of a green caft; they have no vifible ribs either in the infide or out. The cup is a perianthium of four petals, which clofely confine the ilower, and is only a little flat at the top. The flower is compofed of four petals deeply cut, in the interfti-ces of which is a fmall green fruit divided by a nfTiire in the middle; its colour is deep orange, with lights of gold colour, or yellow, throughout it. It has no fmell, taftes very bitterly, and is never feen to be frequented by the bees. It is probable that a tree of this kind, tho' perhaps of another name, and in greater perfection, and therefore more fit for ufe, may be found in fome of our Weft-India iflands between bit. 15° and i8°, cfpecially where there arc fait fprings and marines*
GIR
Ltw,it</i /'u/t/j'/Aft/'/Jiir/n/'rf J./jSt]./'// O. fti>/>i/M'ri NY/'
APPENDIX;
47
q»—a-i--------
&IR GIR, or GESHE EL AUBE.
THIS fpecies of grafs is one of the acquifitions which my travels have procured to botany. It was not before known ; and the feed has not, as far as I know, produced any plant but in the garden of the king of France. It grows plentifully near Ras el Feel, not far from the banks of the lar^e river Guangue, of which I have fpoken in my-return from Abyflinia into Egypt. It begins to moot in the end of April, when it firft feels the humidity of the air. It advances then fpeedily to its full height, which is about 3 feet 4. inches. It is ripe in the beginning of May, and decays, if not deftroyed by fire, very foon afterwards.
The leaf is long, pointed, narrow, and of a feeble texture, The flock from which it (hoots produces leaves in great a-bundance, which foon turn yellow and fall to the ground. The goats, the only cattle thefe miferablc people have, are very fond of it, and for it abandon all other food while it is within their reach. On the leaves of fome plants I have feen a very fmall glutinous juice, like to what we fee
upon
upon the leaves of the lime or the plane, hut in much lefs quantity ; this is of the tafte of fugar.
From the root of the branch arifes a number of flalks, fometimes two, but never, as far as 1 have feen, more than three. The flower and feed are defended by a wonderful perfection and quantity of fmall parts. The head when in its maturity is of a purplifh brown. The plate reprefents it in its natural fize, with its conflituent parts diHeeted and feparated with very great attention. As they arc many, each have a number affixed to them.
Male-flower described.
The ift is the flower in its perfect ftate feparated from its flalk. the id is the upper cafe. The 3d is the cafe, or fheaih, oppofite to the foregoing. The 4th are inner cafes which indole the three iiamina, with the beard and the arilla. the 5th is its (tile. The 6th its flamina, witli the two cafes that inclofe them. The 7th is the Ihcaih, with its ear and its beard.
Flmale-flower described.
The 8th is the rudiment of the fruit, with two ftigmata. The yth, the perfect iiowcr,
KANTUFFA,
A P PEN PI X,
49
KAN T U
F F A.
HIS thorn, like many men we meet d tily in fociety, has
-■■    got itfelf into a degree of reputation and refpeTSS from the noxious qualities and power of doing ill which it pofTeffes, and the conftant exertion of thefe powers. The Abyflinians, who wear coarfe cotton cloths, the coarfeft of which are as thick as our blankets, the fineft equal to our muilin, are in the fame degree annoyed with it. The foldier fcreens himfelf by a goat's, leopard, or lion's fkin, thrown over his moulder, of which it has no hold.   As his head is bare, he always cuts his hair lhort before he goes to battle, left his enemy mould take advantage of it; but the women, wearing their hair long, and the great men, whether in the army or travelling in peace, being always cloath-ed, it never fails to incommode them, whatever fpecics of raiment they wear.   If their cloak is fine muilin, the lead motion againft it puts it all in rags; but if it is a thick, foft cloth, as thofe are with which men of rank generally travel, it buries its thorns, great and fmall, fo deep in it that
the
the wearer muft either difmount and appear naked, which to principal people is a great difgrace, or elfe much time will be fpent before he can difengage himfelf from its thorns. In the time when one is thus employed, it rarely fails to lay hold of you by the hair, and that again brings on another operation, full as laborious, but much more painful than the other.
In the courfe of my hiftory, when fpeaking of the king, Tecla Haimanout 11. firft entering Gondar after his exile into Tigre, I gave an inftance that fliewed how dangerous it was for the natives to leave this thorn ftanding; and of fuch confequcnce is the clearing of the ground thought to be, that every year when the king marches, among the necef-fary proclamations this is thought to be a very principal one, " Gut down the Kantuffa in the four quarters of the world, for I do not know where I am going." This proclamation, from the abrupt ftile of it, feems at firft abfurd to ftranger ears, but when underftood is full of good fenfe and information, it means, Do not lit gofliping with your hands before you, talking, The king is going to Damot, he certainly will go to Gojam, he will be obliged to go to Tigre. That is not your bufmefs, remove nuifances out of his way, that he may go as expeditioufly as poiftble, or fend to every place where he may have occafion.
The branches of the Kantuffa fland two and two upon the flalk ; the leaves are difpofed two and two likewife, without any tingle one at the point, whereas the branches bearing the leaves part from the flalk : at the immediate joining of them are two thick thorns placed perpendicular and parallel 4 alternately,
alternately ; but there are alfo fingle ones diftributed in all the interitices throughout the branch.
The male plant, which I fuppofe this to be, has a one-leaved perianthium, divided into five fegments, and this falls off with the flower. The flower is compofed of live petals, in the middle of which rife ten ftamina or filaments, the outer row fhorter than thofe of the middle, with long ftigma-ta, having yellow farina upon them. The flowers grow in a branch, generally between three and four inches long, in a conical difpofition, that is, broader at the bafe than the point. The infide of the leaves are a vivid green, in the out* lide much lighter. It grows in form of a bufli, with a multitude of fmall branches rifing immediately from the ground, and is generally feven or eight feet high. I faw it when in flower only, never when bearing fruit. It has a very ftrong fmell, refembling that of the fmall fcented flower called mignionet, fown in vafes and boxes in windows, or rooms, where flowers are kept.
The wild animals, both birds and beafts, efpccially the Guinea-fowl, know how well it is qualified to protect them. In this flicker, the hunter in vain could endeavour to moleft them, were it not for a hard-haired dog, or terrier of the fmalleft fize, who being defended from the thorns by the roughnefs of his coat, goes into the cover and brings them and the partridges alive one by one to his matter.*
Vol.V. I GAGUEDI.
appendix*
GAGUEDL
HE Gaguedi is a native of Lamalmon ; whether it was
not in a thriving Hate, or whether it wa the nature of the tree, I know, not, but it was thick and Hunted, and had but few branches; it was not above nine feet high, though it was three feet in diameter. The leaves and flower, however, feemed to be in great vigor, and I have here defigned them all of their natural fize as they flood.
The leaves are long, and broader as thev approach the end. The point is obtufe ; they are of a dead green not unlike the willow, and placed alternately one above the other on the flalk. The calix is compofed of many broad fcalcs lying one above the other, which operates by the pref-fure upon one another, and keeps the calix lhut before the flower arrives at perfection. The flower is mono-petalous, or made of one leaf; it is divided at the top into four fegments, where thefe end it is covered with a tuft of down, refembling hair, and thi is the cafe at the top alfo. When the flower is young and. unripe, diey are laid regularly fo as to inclofe one anothei in a circle.   As y
grow
\
/..w,w /'tiMtfi ,//>,;'.'/       fy GuBetonson k-
grow old and expand, they feem to lofe their regular form, and become more confufed, till at lafl, when arrived at its full perfection, they range themfelves parallel to the lips of the calix, and perpendicular to the (lamina, in the fame order as a rofe. The common receptacle of the flower is oblong, and very capacious, of a yellow colour, and covered with fmall leaves like hair. The flile is plain, ample, and upright, and covered at the bottom with a tuft of down, and is below the common receptacle of the flower.
As this flower is of a complicated nature, I have given-two figures of it, the one where the flower is feen in face, the other in the outfide. The flamina are three fhort filaments inferted in the fegment of the flower near the fum-mit.
I ii ave obferved, in the middle of a very hot day, that the flowers unbend themfelves more, the calix feems to expand, and the whole flower to turn itfelf towards the fun in the fame manneras does the fun-flower. When the branch is cut, the flower dries as it were inflantaneoufly, fo that it feems to contain very little humidity.
wanzey.
54
appendix,
w  a  n Z   e y.
r¥^HIS tree is very common throughout all Abyflinia. I A do not know the reafon, but all the towns are full of them ; every houfe in Gondar has two .or three planted round it, fo that, when viewed firft from the heights, it appears like a wood, efpecially all the feafon of the rains ; but very exactly on the firft of September, for three years together, in a night's time, it was covered with a multitude of white flowers. Gondar, and all the towns about, then appeared as covered with white linen, or with new-fallen fnow. This tree bloflbms the firft day the rains ceafe. It grows to a considerable magnitude, is from 18 to 20 feet high. The trunk is generally about 3 feet and a half from the ground; it then divides into four or five thick branches, which have at leaft 6o° inclination to the horizon, and not more. Thefe large branches are generally bare, for half way up the bark is rough and furrowed. 1 hey then put out a number of fmaller branches, are circular and fattifh
4907407345
at the top, of a figure like fome of our early pear-trees. The cup is a fingle-leaved perianthium, red, marked very regularly before it flowers, but when the flower is out, the edges of the cup are marked with irregular notches, or fegments, in the edge, which by no means correfpond in numbers or diftances to thofe that appeared before the perfection of the flower.
The flower itfelf confifls of one leaf of the funnel-fa-fhioned kind, fpreads, and, when in its full perfection, folds back at the lips, though it has in fome flowers marks or de-preflions which might appear like fegments, yet they arc not fuch, but merely accidental^ and the edge of mofl of the flowers perfectly even, without any mark of fepara-tion.
The piftil confifls of a very feeble thread ; in the top it is bifected, or divided, into two ; its apex is covered with a fmall portion of yellow duft. There are two, and fome-times three, of thefe divifions. The fruit is fully formed in the cup while the flower remains clofed, and like a kind of tuft, which falls off, and the piftil ftill remains on the point of the fruit; is at firft foft, then hardens like a nut, and is covered with a thin, green hufk. It then dries, hardens into a fhell, and withers. The leaf is of a dark green, without varnifh, with an obtufe point; the ribs few but ftrong, marked both within and without. The outfide is a green-ifli yellow, without varniLh alfo.
i do not know that any part of this tree is of the fmall-eft ufe in civil life, though its figure and parts fcem to be
too
too confiderable not to contain ufeful qualities if fairly in~ veftigated by men endued with fciencc. 1 have feveral times mentioned in the hiftory of the Galla, that this and the coffee-tree have divine honours paid them by each and all of the feven nations. Under this tree their king is chofen ; under this tree he holds his firft council, in which he marks his enemies, and the time and manner in which his own foldiers are to make their irruption into their country. His fceptre is a bludgeon made of this tree, which, like a mace, is carried before him wherever he goes ; it is produced in the general meetings of the nation, and is called Buco.
The wood is clofe and heavy, the bark thick; there is then a fmall quantity of white wood, the reft is dark brown and reddifh, not unlike the laburnam,and the hueo is ftript to this laft appearance, and always kept plentifully anointed with butter.
FAREK,
FAREK, or BAUHINIA ACUMINATA.
THIS beautiful fhrub was found on the banks of a brook, which, falling from the well fide of the mountain of Geefh down the fouth face of the precipice where the village is fituated, is the firft water that runs fouthward into the lake Gooderoo, in the plain of Affoa. It is the water we employed for common ufes, not daring to touch that of the Nile, unlefs for drinking and drelling our food ; it grew about 20 yards from this water, on the fide of the cliff, not 400 yards from the fountain of the Nile itfelf. The name it bears here is Farek, which is, I fuppofe, given it from the divifion of the leaf.
This fhrub is compofed of feveral feeble branches: to what height it grows 1 do not know, having never feen it before, nor were there many others where I found it. The longeft branch of this was not four feet high. It grew on good black mold, but of no great depth, having at the bot-3 torn
torn a gntty or fandy ftone, and feemed in full perfection. The branch is of its natural fize; on one of the (mailer or collateral branches is the flower full blown, with two o-. thers that are buds.   The parts are feparated and defigned with care.
The firft figure is the flower in its entire date, feen in front, the ftamina of courfe forc-fhortened. The fecond is an angular three-quarter view of the calix. The third is a back view of the calix. The fourth is the calix inclofing ihe ftamina and piftil,round which laft they form a fruit or grain. The fifth is the flower ftript of its calix, where is feen thegerm, the ftamina, and the piftil. The fixth is the ftamina magnified to twice their fize. The feventh is the lower leaf. The eighth, the upper leaf of the flower. The ninth, the germ, or rudiment of the fruit, with the piftil joined to it, at the bottom of which there is a fmall cavity. The tenth is the feed or fruit entire. The eleventh represents the infide of the feed cut in half.
The leaves of this fhrub are of a vivid green, and are joined to the branch by a long pedicle, in the infide of which are the rudiments of another, which I fuppofe begin to fprout when the large one is injured or falls off.
Though very little acquainted with the fcientific part of botany myfelf, its clafies, genera, and fpecies, and ftill lefs jealous of my reputation in it, I cannot conceive why my fingle attention, in charging myfelf with a number of feeds in diftint countries, and giving part to the garden at Paris, Ihould kad to a conclufion that I was fo abfolutely unin-3 ftructcd
A P P E N D i X. 59
jftructed in the feiencc for which at lead 1 had fhewn this attachment, that I could not diftinguifh the plant before us from the acacia vera. Is the knowledge of botany fo no-torioufly imperfect: in England, or is the pre-eminence fo edablifhed in France, as to authorife fuch a prcfumption of ignorance againft a perfon, who, from his exertions and en-terprife, fhould hold fome rank in the republic of letters among travellers and difcoverers ?
A compliment was paid me by the Count de BufFon, or by fuperior orders, in return for the articles I hadprefented to the king's cabinet and garden at Paris, that the plants growing from the feeds which I had brought from Abyilinia mould regularly, as they grew to perfection, be painted, and fent over to me at London. The compliment was a hand-fome one, and, I was very fenfiblc of it, it would have contributed more to the furnifhing the king's garden with plants than many lectures on botany, ex cathedra, will ever do.
But it was not neceffary to fhew his knowledge for the fake of contrailing it with my ignorance, that Mr Juflieu fays this bauhinia is by Mr Bruce taken for an acacia vera. Now the acacia vera is a large, widc-fpreading, thorny, hard, red-wooded, rough-barked, gum-bearing tree. Its flower, though fometimes white, is generally yellow ; it is round or globular, compofed of many filaments or flamina; it is the Spina Egyptiaca, its leaves, in fhape and difpofition, refem-bling a mimofa ; in Arabic it is called Saiel, Sunt, Gcrar; and ifM. de Juflicuhadbeen at all acquainted with the hiflory of the eafl, he mull have known it was the tree of every de-fert, and confequently that I mud be better acquainted
Vol. V, K with
with it than almofl any traveller or botanift now alive. Upon what reafonablc ground then could he fuppofe, upon my bringing to him a rare and elegant fpecics of bauhinia, which probably he had not before feen, that I could not diftinguifh it from an acacia, of which I certainly brought him none?
A large fpecies of Mullein likewife, or, as he pleafes to term it, Bouillon Blanc, he has named Vcrbafcum Abyflini-cum ; and this the unfortunate Mr Bruce, it feems, has called an aromatic herb growing upon the high mountains. I do really believe, that M. de Jullieu is more converfant with the Bouillon Blancs than I am ; my Bouillons are of another colour; it muft be the love of French cookery, not Eng-lifh tafte, that would fend a man to range the high mountains for aromatic herbs to put in his Bouillon, if the Vcrbafcum had been really one of thefe.
Although I have fometimcs made botany my amufe-mem, I do confefs it never was my iludy, and I believe from this the fcience has reaped fo much the more benefit. I have represented to the eye, with the utmoft attention, by the beft drawings in natural hiftory ever yet publifhed, and to the underftanding in plain Englilh, what I have feen as it appeared to me on the fpot, without tacking to it imaginary parts of my own, from preconceived fyftems of what it fhould have been, and thereby creating varieties that never exiftcd.
When I arrived at the Lazaretto at Marfeilles, the Faren-teit, as it is called in Nubia, or the Guinea-worm, the name it bears in Europe, having been broken by mifmanagement in
my
A V P E N D I X.
6r
my voyage from Alexandria, had retired into my leg and fe'ecred there. The foot, leg, and thigh, fwelled to a mon-htous fize, appearance of mortification followed, and the fur-gron, with a tendcrnefs and humanity that did honour to his fkill, declared, though reluctantly, that if I had been a man of weak nerves, or foft difpofition, he would have prepared me for what was to happen by the interpofition of a friend or a pried ; but as from my pad furTerings he prcfumed my fpirit was of a more refolute and firmer kind, he thought favirig time was of the utmod confequence, and therefore advifed me to refolve upon fubmitting to an immediate amputation above the knee. To limp through the remains of life, after having efcaped fo many dangers with bones unbroken, was hard, fo much fo, that the lofs of life itfelf feemed the mod eligible of the two, for the bad habit of body in which 1 found myfelf in an inveterate difcafc, for which I knew no remedy, and joined to this the prejudice that an Englifhman generally has againd foreign operators in furgery, all perfu'aded me, that, after undergoing amputation, I had but very little chance of recovery, befides long and great fullering, want of deep, want of food, and the weaknefs that attends lying long in fick-bed, had gradually fubdued the natural clefire and anxiety after life; every day death feemed to be a lcffer evil than pain. Patience, however, drong fomentations, and inward applications of the bark, at length cured me.
It was immediately after receiving my melancholy fen-tence, that, thinking of my remaining duties, I remembered 1 had carried abroad with me an order from the king to procure feeds for his garden. Before I had lod the power of direction, I ordered Michael, my Greek fervant,. to take
K 2 the
the half of all the different parcels and packages that were lying by me, made up for Separate ufes, and pack them fo as they might he fent to Sir William Duncan the king's phyfician, then in Italy, to be conveyed by him to Lord Koch-fort, Secretary of ilatc. I by the fame conveyance accompanied thefe with a iTiort letter, wrote with great difficulty, — that it appearing, beyond leaving room for hope, that my return was to be prevented by an unexpected difeafe, I begged his Majeity to receive thefe as the laft tender of my duty to him.
Michael, who never cared much for botany, at no period was lefs difpofed to give himfelf trouble about it than now ; his mailer, friend, and patron was gone, as he thought ; he was left in a flrange country; he knew not a word of the language, nor was he acquainted with one per-fon in Marseilles, for we had not yet llirrcd out of the lazaretto. What became of the feeds for a time I believe neither he nor I knew ; but, when he faw my recovery advancing, fear of reproof led him to conceal his former negligence, lie could neither read nor write, fo that the only thing he could do was to put the firft feed that came to hand in the firft envelope, cither in parchment or paper, that had writing upon the back of it, and, thus Selected, the feeds came into the hands of M. de Juilieu at Paris. By this operation of Michael, the vcrbafcum became an aromatic herb growing on the higheft mountains, and the bauhinia acuminata became an acacia vera.
The prefent of the drawings of the Abyflinian plants was really, as it was firft defigncd, a compliment, but it turned out juft the contrary, for, in place of expecting the publication 4 that
that I was to make, in which they would naturally be apart, the gates of the garden were thrown open, and every dabbler in botany that could afford pen, ink, and paper, was put in poiielfion of thofe plants and flowers, at a time when I had not laid one word upon the fubject: of my travels.
"Whether this was owing to M. de JuiTieu, M. de Thouin, or M. Diubenton, to all, or to any one of them, I do not know, but I beg they will for a moment confidcr the great impropriety of the meafure. I fuppofe it would be thought natural, that a perfon delineating plants in a foreign country with fuch care, rifk, and expence as I have done, fhould wiih to bring home the very feeds of thofe plants he had delineated in preference to all others: fuppofing thefe had been the only feeds he could have brought home, and ge-nerolity and liberality of mind had led him to communicate part of them to M. de Juflieu, we (hall further fay, this lad-mentioned gentleman had planted them, and when the time came, engraved, and published them, what would he think of this manner of repaying the traveller's attention to him? The bookfeller, that naturally expected to be the fird that published thefe plants, would fay to the traveller whofe book he was to buy, This collection of natural hido-ry is not new, it has been printed in Sweden, Denmark, and France, and part of it is to be feen in every monthly magazine! Docs M. de Juflieu think, that, after having been once fo treated, any traveller would ever give one feed to the king's garden ? he certainly would rather put them in the fire ; he mud do fo if he was a reafonable man, for otherwife, by giving them away he is certainly ruining his own work, and defeating tire purpofes for which he had travelled,
When
When I firft came home, it was with great pleafure I gratified the curioiity of the whole world, by ihewing them each what they fancied the moil curious. I thought this was an office of humanity to young people, and to thofe of ilendcr fortunes, or thofe who, from other caufes, had no opportunity of travelling. I made it a particular duty to attend and explain to men of knowledge and learning that were foreigners, everything that was worth the time they bellowed upon confidering the different articles that were new to them, and this I did at great length to the Count de Buflbn, and Motif, Gueneau de Montbeliard, and to the very amiable and accomplished Madame d'Aubenton. I cannot fay by whofe induftry, but it was in confequence of this friendly communication, a lift or inventory (for they could give no more) of all my birds and beafts were pub-lifhed before I was well got to England.
From what I have feen of the performances of the artifts employed by the cabinet, I do not think that they have anticipated in any Shape the merit of my drawings, especially in birds and in plants ; to fay nothing milder of them, they are in both articles infamous; the birds are fo diffimilar from the truth, that the names of them are very neceiTarily wrote under, or over them, for fear of the old miftake of taking them for fomething elfe. I condefcend upon the Frkoom as a proof of this.   I gave a very fine fpecimen of this bird in great preservation to the King's collection ; and though I fhewed them the original, they had not genius enough to make a reprefentation that could with any degree of certainty be promifed upon for a guefs.    When I was at Paris, they had a woman, who, in place of any merit, at leaft that 1 could judge of, was protected, as they faid, by 3 the
the queen, and who made, what fhe called, Drawings; thofe of plants were fo little characl:eriftic,that it was,ftricT:ly (peaking, impoflible, without a very great confideration, to know one plant from another: while there was, at fame time, a man of the greater! merit, M. de Seve, abfolutely without employment; tho',in my opinion, he was the beft painter of every part of natural hiftory either in France or England.
R U A R A.
npPIIS beautiful tree, now prefented to the reader, is the * production of the fouth and S. W. parts of Abyflinia. It is very frequent, and, with the ebony, almoft the only wood of the province of Kuara, of which it bears the name; indeed in all Fazuclo, Nuba, and Guba, and the countries where there is gold. It is here defigncd in its natural fize both leaves, flowers, and fruit, the whole fo plainly, that it is needlcfs to defcant upon its particular parts, well known to naturalifts. It is what they call a Corallodenclron, probably
from
from the colour of its flowers or of its fruit, both equal in colour to coral.
Its fruit is a red bean, with a black fpot in the middle of it, which is inclofed in a round capfula, or covering, of a woody nature, very tough and hard. This bean feems to have been in the earlieit ages ufed for a weight of gold among the Shangalla, where that metal is found all over Africa; and by repeated experiments, i have found that, from the time of itS|being gathered, it varies very little in weight, and may perhaps have been the very bell choice that therefore could have been made between the collectors and the buyers of gold.
i have faid'this tree is called Kuara, which fignifies the Sun. The bean is called Carat, from which is derived the manner of efleeming gold as fo many carats fine. From the gold country in Africa it pafTed to India, and there came to be the weight of precious floncs, cfpecially diamonds; fo that to this day in India we hear it commonly fpoken of gold or diamonds, that they are of fo many carats fine, or weight. i have feen thefe beans likewife from the Weil-Indian iflands. They are juil the fame fize, but, as far as i know, are not yet applied to any ufe there.
WALKUFFA.
WALKUFFA.
PHIS tree grows in rhc Kolla, or hotteft part of Abyili-
A nia. It does not flower immediately after the rains, as moil trees in Abyilinia do, that is, between the beginning of September and the Epiphany, when the latter rains in November do (lill fall in violent periodical lhowers, but it is after the Epiphany, towards the middle of January, that it firft appears covered with bloffoms." However beautiful, it has no fmell, and is accounted deftructive to the bees, for which reafou it is rooted out and deftroyed in thofe countries that pay their revenue in honey. It refembles the Kentilh cherry-tree in appearance, efpecially if that tree has but a moderate, not ovcrfpreading top. The wood immediately below its bar); is white, but under that a brown-i(h yellow, fomething like cedar ; the old trees that 1 have feen turn darker, and are not unlike.to the wood of the laburnum, or peafc-cod tree. The natives fay it does not fwim in water. This however 1 can contradict upon experiment. The wood, indeed, is heavy, but ftill it Swims.
Vol. V. L Although
Although the pair.ting of this tree, which I here exhibit, is neither more nor lefs accurate in the delineation of its parts than every other defign of natural hiftory given in this work to the public, yet the inimitable beauty of the fubject: itfelf has induced me to beftow much more pains upon it than any oilier I have publifhed, and, according to my judgment, it is the beft executed in this collection. All its parts arc fo diflinctly figured, the flower expofed in fuch variety of directions, that it fupcrfedes the neceility of de-fcribing it to the fkilful hotanift, who will find here every thing he pollibly could in the flower itfelf. This is a great advantage, for if the parts had been ever fo ftudioufly and carefully refcrved in a hcrtusficcus as they arc fprcad upon, the paper, it would have been impofiibie not to have loft fome of its finer members, they are fo fragil, as I have often experienced indifferent attempts to dry and preferve it..
The flower confifls of five petals, part of each overlapping or fupporting the other, fo that it maintains its regular figure of a cup till the leaves fall off, and does not fpread and disjoin firft, as do the generality of thefe rofaceous flowers before they fall to the ground. Its colour is a pure white, in the midft of which is a kind of fheath, or involu-crum,of a beautiful pink colour, which furrounds the piftil, covering and concealing about one-third of it. Upon the top of this is a kind of impalement, confuting of five white upright threads, and between each of thefe are difpofed three very feeble ftamina of unequal lengths, which make them ftand in a triangular oblong form, covered with yellow farina.
The
The piftil is a yellow tube, divided at the top into five fegments, and fixed at the bottom in what appears to be the rudiment of a fruit; but I never faw this in any ftate of perfection, and the Abyffinians fay it never produces anything but a fmall, round, black feed, concerning which I •can fay no further. The perianthium confifts of five fharp-pointed fegments, which inclofe the flower when not arrived to maturity, in a conical pod of a light-green colour, which colour it likewife keeps in its more advanced ftate when fpread. I do not know any other name it has but that of WalkufTa, nor do I know the Signification of that name in any language.
TTOOGINOOS, or BRUCEA ANTIDYSENTERICA.
THIS fhrub, the branch of which is before us, is a production of the greateft part of Abyffinia, efpccially the fides of the valleys in the low country, or Kolla. It is indeed on the north fide of Debra Tzai, where you firft de-fcend into the Kolla.   This drawing was made at Hor-Ca-
L 2 camoot,
camoot, in Ras el Feel, where the Wooginaos grows abundantly, and where dyfenterics reign continually, Heaven having put the antidote in the fame place where grows the poifon.
Some weeks before I left Gondar I had been very much tormented with this difeafe, and I had tried both ways of treating ir, the one by'hot medicines and aftringents, the other by the contrary method of diluting. Small dozes of ipecacuanha under the bark had for feveral times procured me temporary relief, but relapfes always followed. My ftrength began to fail, and, after a fevere return of this difeafe, i had, at my ominous manfion, Hor-Cacamoot, the valley of the ihadow of death, a very unpromifing profpecr, for I was now going to pafs through the kingdom of Sen-naar in the time of year when that difeafe moll rages.
Siieba, chief of the Shangalla, called Ganjar, on the frontiers of Kuara, had at this time a kind of embaffy or meHage to Ras cl Feci. He wanted to burn fome villages in Atbara belonging to the Arabs Jchcina, and wiihed Ya-fine might not protect them : they often came and fat with me, andone of them hearing of my'complaint, andtheapprc-hcnfions 1 annexed to it, feemed to make very light of both, and the reafon was, he found at the very door this ihrul\ the Itrong and ligneous root of which, nearly as thick as a parfnip, was covered with a clean, clear, wrinkled bark, of a light-brown colour, and which peeled eafily off the root* The bark was without fibres to the very end, where it fplit like a fork into two thin divifions. After having cleared the infide of it of a whitilh membrane, he laid it to dry in the fun, and then would have bruifed it between two
Stones^
ftones, had we not fhcwn him the eafier and more expeditious way of powdering it in a mortar.
The firft doze I took was about a heaped teafpoonful in a cup of camel's milk ; I took two of thefe in a day, and then in the morning a tea-cup of the infufion in camel's milk warm. It was attended the firft day with a violent drought, but I was prohibited from drinking cither water or bouza. I made privately a drink of my own; I took a little boiled water which had flood to cool, and in it a fmall quantity of fpirits. I after ufed fome ripe tamarinds in water, which I thought did me harm. I cannot fay I found any alteration for the firft day, unlcfs a kind of hope that I was growinghetter, but the fecond day I found myfelf fenfibly recovered. I left off laudanum and ipecacuanha, and refolved to truft only to my medicine. In looking at my journal, I think it was the 6th or 7th day that I pronounced myfelf well, and, though I had returns afterwards, I never was reduced to the neceflity of taking one drop of laudanum, although before I had been very free with it, I did not perceive it occafioned any extraordinary evacuation, nor any remarkable fymptom but that continued thirft, which abated after it had been taken fome time.
In the courfe of my journey through Sennaar, I faw that all the inhabitants were w< 11 acquainted with the virtues of this plant. I had prepared a quantity pounded into powder, and ufed it fuccefsfully everywhere. I thought that the mixing of a third of bark with it produced the effect, more fpcedily, and, as we had now little opportunity of getting milk, we made an infufion in water.    I tiled a fpiritous
tincture,
tincture, which I do believe would fucceed well. I made fome for myfelf and fervants, a fpoonful of which wc ufed to take when we found fymptoms of our difeafe returning, or when it was raging in the place in which we chanced to relide. It is a plain, fimple bitter, without any aromatic or refinous tafte. It leaves in your throat and pallet fome-thing of rough nefs refembling ipecacuanha.
This fhrub was not before known to botanifts. I brought the feeds to Europe, and it has grown in every garden, but has produced only flowers, and never came to fruit. Sir Jofeph Banks, prelident to the Koyal Society, employed Mr Miller to make a large drawing from this fhrub as it had grown at Kcw. The drawing was as elegant as could be wifhed, and did the original great juftice. Jo this piece of politen.efs Sir Jofeph added another, of calling it after its difcoverer's name, Brucea Antidyfenterica : the prefent figure is from a drawing of my own on the fpot at Ras el Feci.
The leaf is oblong and pointed, fmooth, and without collateral ribs that are vifible. The right fide of the leaf is a deep green, the reverfe very little lighter. The leaves arc placed two and two upon the branch, with a fingle one at the end. The flowers come chiefly from the point of the flalk from each fide of a long branch. The cup is a perian-thium divided into four fegments. The flower has four petals, with a ftrong rib down the center of each. In place of a piftil there is a fmall cup, round which, between the fegments of the perianthium and the petala of the flower, four feeble ftamina arife, with a large ftigma of a crim-a fon
ion colour, of the fhapeof a coiTee-bean, and divided in the middle.
HE CulTo is one of the moft beautiful trees, as alfo one
country of Abyilinia, and indigenous there ; I never law it in-the Kolla, nor in Arabia, nor in any other part of Aiia or Africa. It is an inilancc of the wiidom of providence, that this tree does not extend beyond the limits of the difeafe of which it was intended to be the medicine or cure.
The Abyilinians of both fexes, and at all ages, are troubled with a terrible difeafe, which cuftom however has enabled them to bear with a kind of indifference. Every individual, once a month, evacuates a large quantity of worms; thefe are not the tape worm, or thofe that trouble children, but they are the fort of worm called \fearides, and the method of promoting thefe evacuations, is by inruiing a handful of dry
GUSSO, BANKESIA ABYSSINICA.
It is an inhabitant of the high
Cuflb
Cuflb flowers in about two Englifh quarts of bouza, or the beer they make from teff; after it has been fleeped all night, the next morning it is fit for ufe. During the time the patient is taking the Cuffo, he makes a point of being invifi-bleto all his friends, and continues at home from morning till night. Suchtoo-was the cuflom of the Egyptians upon taking a particular medicine. It is alledged that the want of this drug is the reafon why the Abyilinians do not travel, or if they do, mofl of them are fhort-lived.
The feed of this is very fmall, more fo than the femen fan.tonicum, which feems to come from a fpecies of wormwood. Like it the Cuflo fheds its feed very eafily ; from this circumfbmce, and its fmallncfs, no great quantity of the feed is gathered, and therefore the flower is often fubflitu-ted. It is bitter, but not nearly fo much as the femen fantonicum.
The CulTo grows feldom above twenty feet high, very rarely flraight, generailySrooked or inclined. It is planted always near churches, among the cedars which furround them, for the ufe of the town or village. Its leaf is about a j inches long, divided into two by a firong rib. Ihe two divifions, however, are not equal, the upper being longer and broader than the lower; it is a deep unvarnifhed green, exceedingly pleafam to the eye, the fore part covered with foft hair or down. It is very much indented, more fo than a nettle-leaf's winch in funic meafure it refembles, only is narrower and longer.
» bjm leaves rrowtwoand two upon a branch ; between ^aeh i wo ire the rjadimtiu^ pf two pah of young ones, pre-1 parcel
/.t'itt6<n /'it/i/i.;/ifi/ Dei '/'//'<//■> /.'/('/•/•//'...•// v
pared to Supply the others when they fall off, but they are terminated at laft with a fmgle leaf at the point. The end of this Halle is broad and ftrong, like that of a palm-branch. It is not folid like the gerid of the date-tree, but opens in the part that is without leaves about an inch and a half from the bottom, and out of this aperture proceeds the flower. There is a round ftalk bare for about an inch and a quarter, from which proceed crooked branches, to the end of which are attached fingle flowers ; the ftalk that carries thefe proceeds out of every crook or geniculation ; the whole cluftcr of flowers has very much the Shape of a cluftcr of grapes, and the ftalks upon which it is Supported; very much the ftalk of the grape ; a very few fmall leaves » are Scattered through the cluftcr of flowers.
The (lower itfelf is of a greenifh colour,,tinged with purple ; when fully blown, it is altogether of a deep red or purple ; the (lower is white, and con Sifts of five petal?, in the midft is a Short piftil with a round head, furrounded by eight ftamina of the fame form, loaded with yellow farina. The cup con lifts of five petals, which much refemblc another flower ; they are rounded at the top, and.nearly of an equaL breadth every way..
The bark of the tree is fmooth, of a yellowish white, in--terfperfed with brown ftreaks which pals through the whole body of the tree.   It is not firm or hard, but rather ftringy and reedy.    On the upper part, before the firft branch of leaves fet out, are rings round the trunk, of fmall filaments, of the confidence of horfc hair; thefe are generally fourteen or Sixteen in number, and area very remarkable character--illic belonging to this tree. Vol. V. 7VE As-;
As the figure of this plant is true and exacT beyond all manner of exception, I cannot but think it may be found in latitudes 11 or 120 north in the Well Indies or America; and having been found a gentle, fafe, and efficacious medicine in Abyilinia, it is not doubted but the fuperior fkill of our phyficians would turn it to the advantage of mankind in general, when ufed here in Europe. In confequence of the eltablilhcd prerogatives of difcoverers, I have named this beautiful and ufeful tree after Sir Jofeph Banks, Prefi-dent of the royal Society.
T   E   F F.
THIS grain is commonly fown all over Abyflinia, where it feems to thrive equally on all forts of ground; from it is made the bread which is commonly ufed throughout Abyilinia. The Abyilinians, indeed, have plenty of wheat, and fome of it of an excellent quality : They likewife make
as
as fine wheat-bread as any in the world, both for colour and for tafte; but the ufe of wheat-bread is chiefly confined to people of the firft rank. On the other hand, Tcff is ufed by all forts of people from the king downwards, and there are kinds of it which are efteemed fully as much as wheat. The beft of thefe is as white as flour, exceedingly light, and eafily digefted. There are others of a browner colour, and fome nearly black ; this laft is the food of fol-diers and Servants. The caufe of this variation of colour is manifold ; the TefF that grows on light ground having a moderate degree of moifture, but never dry ; the lighter the earth is in which it grows, the better and whiter the TefF will be ; the hulk too is thinner. That TefF, too, that ripens before the heavy rains, is ufually whiter and finer, and a great deal depends upon fifting the hufk from it after it is reduced to flour, by bruiting or breaking it in a ftone-mill. This is repeated feveral times with great care, in the nneft kind of bread, which is found in the houfes of all people of rank or fubftance. The manner of making it is by taking a broad earthen jar, and having made a lump of it with water, they put it into an earthen jar at fome distance from the fire, where it remains till it begins to ferment, or turn four; they then bake it into cakes of a circular form, and about two feet in diameter: It is of a fpun-gy, foft quality, and not a diiagreeable fourifh tafte. Two of thefe cakes a day, and a coarfe cotton cloth once a-year,, are the wages of a common Servant.
At their banquets of raw meat, the flefh being cut in fmall bits, is wrapt up in pieces of this bread, with a proportion of folfile fait and Cayenne pepper. Before the company fits down to cat, a number of thefe cakes of different
M 2~ • qualities ■
qualities are placed one upon the other, in the fame manner as our plates, and the principal people, fitting firfl down, eat the white TefT; the fecond, or coarfer fort, ferves the fecond-rate people that fuccecd them, and the third is for the fervants. Every man, when he is done, dries or wipes his lingers upon the bread which he is to leave for his fuccellor, for they have no towels, and this is one of the molt beaftly cuftoms of the whole. • - *" ■* •, • ^
The TefT bread, when well toailed, is put into a large jar, after being broken into fmall pieces, and warm water poured upon it. It is then fet by the fire, and frequently ilirred for feveral days, the mouth of the jar being clofe cove red. After being allowed to fettle three or four days, it acquires a founfh taile, and is what they call houza, or the common beer of the country. The bouza in Atbara is made in the fame manner, only, in (lead of Tell, cakes of Barley-meal are employed ; both are very bad liquors, but the vvoril is that made of bailey.
The plant is herbaceous; from a number of weak leaves proceeds a ftalk of about twenty-eight inches in length, not perfectly ftraight, fmooth, but jointed or knotted at particular diftances.   This ftalk is not much thicker than that of a carnation or jcllynower. About eight inches from the top, a head is formed of a number of fmall branches, upon which it carries the fruit and flowers; the latter of which is fmall, of a crimfon colour, and fcarcely perceptible by the naked eye, but from the oppe)fnion of that colour. The p1 Gil is divided into two, fccmingl) attached to the germ or the fruit, and has at each end fmall capillaments forming a brufh. The ftamina arc three in number, two on the
2 lower
lower fide of the piftil, and one on the upper. Thefe are, each of them, crowned with two oval Stigmata, at firft green, but after, crimfon. The fruit is formed in a capfula, confilt-. ing of two conical, hollow leaves, which, when clofed, Seems to compoSe a Small conical pod, pointed at the top. The fruit, or Seed, is oblong, and is not So large as the head of the Smalleft pin, yet it is very prolific, and produces thefe feeds in fuch quantity as to yield a very abundant crop in the quantity of meal.
Whether this grain was ever known to the Greeks and Romans, is what we are no where told. Indeed, the various grains made ufe of in antiquity, are fo lamely and poorly defcribed, that, unlefs it is a few of the molt common, we cannot even guefs at the reft. Pliny mentions Several of them, but takes no notice of any of their qualities, but medicinal ones; fome he Specifies as growing in Gaul, others in the Campania of Rome, but takes no notice of thofe of Ethiopia or Egypt. Among thefe there is one which he calls Tiphe, but fays not whence it came; the name would induce us to believe that this was i cfF, but we can only venture this as a conjecture not Support-cd. hut it is very improbable, connected as Egvpt and Ethiopia were from the firft ages, both by trade and religion, that a grain of fuch con Sequence to one nation fhould be utterly unknown to the other. It is not produced in the low or hot country, the Kolla, that is, in the borders of it; for no grain can grow, as J. have already laid, in the Kolla or Mazaga itfelf; but in place of TefT, in thefe borders, there grows a black grain called TocufTo, The Stalk of this is Scarce a foot long; it has four divifions where the grain is produced, and feems to be a Species of the mciem
mSalib,
«r
mfalib, or gramen cruris, the grafs of the crofs.   Of this a very black bread is made, ate only by the pooreft fort but though it makes worfe bread, 1 think it makes better bouza.
Some have thought, from the frequent ufe of TefT, hath come that difeafe of worms which I have mentioned in the article CufFo. But I am inclined to think this is not the cafe, becaufe the Gibbertis, or Mahometans, born in Abyilinia, all ufe TefF in the fame proportion as the Christians, yet none of thefe are troubled with worms. And from this I fhould be led to think that this difeafe arifes rather from eating raw meat, which the Mahometans do not, and therefore are not affected with this diforder as the Christians are.
OF
O f QJJADRUPEDS.
IBELIEVE there is in the world no country which produces a greater number, or variety of quadrupeds, . whether tame or wild, than Abyflinia. As the high country is now perfectly cleared of wood, by the wafle made in that article from the continual march of armies, the mountains are covered to the very top, with perpetual verdure, and moft luxuriant herbage.
The long rains in fummer are not fuddenly abforbed by the rays of the fun : a thick veil defends the ground when it is in the zenith, or near it, affording heat to promote vegetation without withering it by destroying the moifture, and by this means a never-failing ftore of provender is constantly provided for all forts of cattle. Of the tame or cow-kind, great abundance prcfent themfelves everywhere, differing in fize,fome having horns of various dimenfions;
3 fome
fome without horns at all, difFcring.alfo in the colour and! length of their hair, by having holies upon their backs, according as theirpafture or climate varies. There are kinds alfo dellined to various ufes ; fome for carriage, like mules-or affes, fome to be rode upon like horfes; and thefe arc not the large if of that kind, but generally below the middle fize. As for that fpecics bearing the monllrous horns, of which I have often fpokc in my narrative, their fize is not to be eilimatcd by that of their horns ; the animal itfelf is not near fo big as a common Englifh cow ; the growth of the horn is a difeafe which proves fatal to them, becaufe encouraged for a peculiar purpofc. Whether it would be othcrwife curable, has not yet, I believe, been ever afcer-tained by experiment. But the reader may with confidence affure himfelf, that there are no fuch animals as carnivorous bulls in Africa, and that this flory has been invented for no other purpofe but a defire to exhibit an animal worthy of wearing thefe. prodigious horns. I have always wifhed that this article, and fome others of early date, were blotted out of our philofophical tran factions; they are abfurdities to be forgiven to infant phyfic and to early travels,,but they are unworthy of Handing among the cautious, well-fup-portcd narratives of our prefent philOfophers. Though we may fay of the buffaloc that it is of this kind, yet we cannot call it a tame animal here ; So far from that, it is the moft ferocious in the country where hereSides ; this, however, is not in the high temperate part of Abyflinia, but in the Sultry Kolla, or valleys below, where, without hiding him 'elf, as wild bealls generally do, as if confeious of Superiority of ftrength, he lyes at his cafe among large fpread-ing fhady trees near the clearer! and dcepelt rivers, or the large it itagnant pools of the pur eft water, Notwithstanding
ing this, he is in his perfon as dirty and flovenly as he is fierce, brutal, andindocile ; he feems to maintain among his own kind the fame character for manners that the wolf docs among the carnivorous tribe*
But what is very particular is, this is the only animal kept for giving milk in Egypt. And though apparently thefe are of the fame Species, and came originally from Ethiopia, their manners are fo entirely changed by their migration, difference of climate or of food, that, without the exertion of any art to tame them, they are milked, conducted to and fro, and governed by children of ten years old, without apprehenfion, or any unlucky accident having ever happened.
Among the wild animals are prodigious numbers of the gazel, or antelope kind ; the bohur, fafla, fecho, and mado-qua, and various others ; thefe are Seldom found in the cultivated country, or where cattle paflure, as they chiefly feed on trees; for the rnofl parr, they are found in broken ground near the banks of rivers, where, during the heat of the day, they conceal themfelves, and flcep under cover of the bufhes ; they arc ftill more numerous in thofe provinces whofe inhabitants have been extirpated, and the houfes ruined or burnt in time of war, and where wild oats, grown up fo as to cover the whole country, afford them a quiet reiidence, without being diflurbed by man. Of this I have mentioned a very remarkable inflance in the firSt attempt I made to difcover the fource of the Nile, (vol. III. p. 439.) The hyaena is ftill more numerous : enough lias been faid about him ; I apprehend that there are two fpecics. There are few varieties of the dog or fox kind.   Of thefe
Vol. V. N the
A FEE N Ufx,
the moil numerous is the Deep, or; as he is callrcl, the Jackal f: this is precifcly the fame in all rcSpecTs as the Deep of Bar-bary and Syria, who are heard huntiftg in great number^ and howling in the evening and-moaning* The true Deepi as fir as appears to me, is not yet known, at lead I never yet faw in any ai^hor a figure that rciembled hini» The wild boar, fmaller and fmooaier in.the hair than that o,f Barhary or Europe, but diUering imnothing clfe, is met frequently in fsvamps or banks of risers covered with wood. 'As he is accounted unclean in Abyilinia, both by Chriilians and Mahometans, eonfequenrly nor perfecuted by the hunter, both he and the fox fhould have multiplied; but it is probable they, and many other bcalts, when young,.are deftroyed by the voracious hyaaia,
The elephant, rhinoceros, giraffa, or Camelbpardalisy are inhabitants of the low hot country; nor is the lion, or leopard^ faatlh, which is the panther, feen in the high and* cultivated country. There are no tigers in Abyfliniaj nor, as* far as I know, in Africa; it is an Afiatic animal; for what reafon fome travellers, or naturalifhs, have called him the tiger-wolf, or miftaken him altogether for the tiger, is what I cannot difcover. Innumerable flocks of apes, and baboons of different kinds, deitroy the fields of millet every where; thefe, and an immenfe number of common rats, make great deftruction in the country and harvefh I never faw a rabbit in Abyffinia, but there is plenty of hares ; this, too, is an animal which they reckon unclean ; and not being hunted for food, it fhould Teem they ought to have increased to greater numbers; Itis probable, however, that the great quantity of eagles, vultures, and beafls of prey, ha*
ii kept,
kept them within rcafonablc hounds. The hippopotamus and crocodile abound in all the rivers, not only of Abyflinia, but as low down as Nubia and Egypt: there is no good figure nor deferiprion extant, as far as I know, of either of thefe animals; fome unforeseen accident always thwarted and prevented my Supplying this deficiency. There are many of the afs kind in the low country towards the frontiers of Atbara, but no Zebras; thefe arc the inhabitants of Faz-nclo and Narea.
rhinoceros,
NATURALISTS feem now in general to be agreed tliat there are two fpecies of this quadruped, the firft having two horns upon his nofe, the fecond one. It is alfo a generally received opinion, that thefe different fpecies are confined to diftant places of the old continent; that with one horn is thought to be exclufively an inhabitant of Afia, that with two horns to be only found in Africa.
N 2 WlirTHEt
Whether this divifion is right in all its parts, I Shall not advance.   That there is a  rhinoceros in Alia with one horn is what we pofitively know, but that there is none of the other fpecies in that part of the continent does not appear to me as yet fo certain.   Again, there is no fort of doubt, that though the rhinoceros with two horns is an inhabitant of Africa, yet is it as certain that the fpecies with one horn is often found in that country likewife, efpecially in the eaftern part, where is the myrrh and cinnamon country, towards Cape Gardefan, which runs into the Indian ocean beyond the Straits of Babelmandeb*   And if I was to credit the accounts which the natives of the refpectave countries have given me, I mould be induced to believe that the rhinoceros of the kingdom of Adel had but one horn. They fay this is the cafe where little rain falls, as in Adel^. which, though within the tropics, is not liable to that fe-venl months deluge, as is the inland part of the country more to the wcflward. They fay further, that all that woody part inhabited: by Shangalla, correfponding to Tigre and Sire, is the haunt of the rhinoceros with two horns. Whether this is really the cafe I do not pretend to aver, I give the reader the ftory with the authority ; I think it is probable ; but as in all cafes where very few obfervations can be repeated, as in this, 1 leave him entirely to the light of his own undcrftanding,
The animal represented in this drawing is a native of Tchcrkin, near Ras el Feel, of the hunting of which I have already fpoken in my return through the defert to Egypt, and this is the fir 11 drawing of the rhinoceros with a double liorn that has ever yet been prefented to the public. The ftrft figure of the Afiatic rhinoceros, the fpecies having but
one horn, was painted by Albert Durer, from the life, from one of thofe fent from India by the Portuguefe in the beginning of the fixteenth century. It was wonderfully ill-executed in all its parts, and was the origin of all the mon--ftrous forms under which that animal has been painted, ever fmce, in all parts of the world, Several modern philosophers have made amends for this in our days ; Mr Par-fons, Mr Edwards, and the Count de Buffon, have given good figures of it from life ; they have indeed fome faults, owing chiefly to preconceived prejudices and inattention,. Thefe, however, were rhinocerofes with one horn, all Afia-tics. This, as I have before faid, is the firft that has been publifhed with two horns, it is defigned from the life, and is an African ; but as the principal difference is in the horn, and as the manners of this beaft are, I believe, very faithfully defcribed and common to both fpecies, I Shall only note what I think is deficient in his hiftory, or what I can fupply from having had an opportunity of feeing him alive and at freedom in his native woods*
It is very remarkable, that two fucli animals as the elephant and rhinoceros fhould have wholly efcaped the description of the facred writers. Mofes, and the children of Ifrael, were long in the neighbourhood of the countries that produced them, both while in Egypt and in Arabia, The clafling of the animals into clean and unclean, feems to have led the legiflator into a kind of neceflity of describing, in one of the claffes, an animal, which made the food of the principal Pagan nations in the neighbourhood. Con-fidcring the long and intimate connection Solomon had with the fouth-coaft of the Red Sea, it is next to impoftible that he was not acquainted with them, as both David his
4: father
father, and he, made plentiful ufe of ivory, as they frequently mention in their writings, which, along with gold, came from the fame part. Solomon, befides, wrote cxprefsly upon Zoology, and, we can fcarce fuppofe, was ignorant of two of the principal articles of that part of the creation, inhabitants of the great Continent of Afia eafl from him, and that of Africa on the fouth, with botli which territories he was in conftant correspondence.
There are two animals, named frequently in fcripture, without naturalists being agreed what they are.   7he one is the behemoth, the other the reem, both mentioned as the types of Strength, courage, and independence on man, and as fuch exempted from the ordinary lot of hearts, to be Subdued by him, or reduced under his dominion. Tho' this is not to be taken in a literal SenSe, for there is no animal without the fear or beyond the reach of the power of man, we are to understand this as applicable to animals poiTeffed of Strength and fize fo Superlative as that in thefe qualities other beafts bear no proportion to them.
The behemoth, then, I take to be the elephant; his history is well known, and my only bufinefs is with the reem, which I fuppofe to be the rhinoceros.   The derivation of this word, both in the Hebrew and the Ethiopic, Seems to be from erectnefs, or Handing Straight. This is certainly no particular quality in the animal itfelf, who is not more, or even fo much erect as many other quadrupeds, for, in its knees it is rather crooked ; but it is from the circum-ilance and manner in which his horn is placed. 1 he horns of all other animals are inclined to fome degree of paral-lelizm, with his noSc, or as fror/tis.   The horn of the rhinoceros
ceros alone is erect and perpendicular to this bone, on which k Hands at right angles, thereby poifeifing a greater pur-chafe, or power, as a lever, than any horn could poilibly have in any other pofition*
This nutation of the horn is very happily alluded to in the facred writings r "My horn malt thou exalt like the " horn of an unicorn*and the horn here alluded to 13 not wholly figurative, as I have already taken notice of in the courfe of my hiftory f, but was really an ornament, worn by great men in the days of victory, preferment, or rejoin cing, when they wrere anointed with new, fwcet, or frefh oil, a circumftance which David joins with that of erecting the hornr
Some authors, for what reafon I know not, have made the reem, or unicorn, to be of the deer or antelope kind, that is, of a genus whofe very character is fear and wcak-nefs, very oppofite to the qualities by which the reem is defcribed in fcripture ; befides, it is plain the reem is not of the clafs of clean quadrupeds; and a late modern traveller, very whimfically, takes him for the leviathan, which certainly was a nth. It is impoflible to determine which is the fillieft* opinion of the two. Balaam, a prieft of Mi-dian, and fo in the neighbourhood of the haunts of the rhinoceros, and intimately connected with Ethiopia, for they themfelves were fhepherds of that country, in a tran-fport, from contemplating the ftrength of Ifrael whom he was brought to curfe, fays, they had as it were the ftrength
of
* TTalm xciK ver. 10.
f Vol. Iii. p. 220.
of the reemf. Job* makes frequent allufion to his great ftrength, and ferocity, and indocility. He afks, Will the reem be willing to ferve thee, or abide by thy crib ? that is, Will he willingly come into thy liable, and eat at thy manger ? And again, Canft thou bind the reem with a band in the furrow, and will he harrow the vallies after theef ? In other words, Canft thou make him go in the plow or harrows ?
Isaiahf, who of all the prophets fcem to have known Egypt and Ethiopia the beft, when prophecying about the deftrudtion of Idumea, fays, that the reem fhall come down with the fat cattle ; a proof that he knew his habitation was in the neighbourhood. In the fame manner as when foretelling the dcfolation of Egypt, he mentions as one manner of effecting it, the bringing down the fty§ from Ethiopia to meet the cattle in the defert, and among the bullies, and deftroy them there, where that infect did not ordinarily come but on command ||, and where the cattle fled every year to fave themfelves from that infect:.
The Rhinoceros, in Geez, is called Arwc Harifh, and in the Amharic, Auraris, both which names lignify the large wild beaft with the horn. This would feem as if applied to the fpecies that had but one horn. On the other hand, in the country of the Shangalla, and in Nubia adjoining, he is called Girnamgirn, or horn upon horn, and this would feem to denote that he had two.   The Ethiopic text renders
the
f Numb. chap, xxiii. ver. 22. * Job, chap, xxxix. ver. 9.      f Job, chap, xxxix. vcr. 10.      $ Ifciah, chap, xxxiv. ver. 7.      § Ifaiah, chap. vii. ver, 18. and jg.      j| Exod. chap. yiii. ver. 22.
the word Reem, Arwe Harifh, and this the Septuagint translates Monoceros,or Unicorn.
If the Abyflinian rhinoceros had invariably two horns, it feems to me improbable the Septuagint would call him Monoceros, cfpecially as they muft have feen an animal of this kind expo fed at Alexandria in their time, then firft mentioned in hiftory, at an exhibition given by Ptolemy Phila-dclphus at his acceflion to the crown, before the death of his father, of which we have already made mention.
The principal reafon of tranftating the word Reem, Unicorn, and not Rhinoceros, is from a prejudice that he muft have had hut one horn. But this is by no means fo well-founded, as to be admitted as the only argument for cftablifhing the exiftence of an animal which never has appeared, after the fearch of fo many ages. Scripture fpeaks of the horns of the unicorn *, fo that, even from this circumftancc, the reem may be the rhinoceros, as the Afia-tic, and part of the African rhinoceros, may be the unicorn. It is fomething remarkable, that, notwithstanding Alexander's expedition into India, this quadruped was not known to Ariftotlc f. Strabo and Athenseus both fpeak of him from report, as having been feen in Egypt, Paufanius calls him an Ethiopic bull; the fame manner the Romans call; d the elephants Lucas bovis, Lucanian oxen, a? being firft il n in that part of Magna Grecia.   Pompey exhibited him firft
Vol. V. o in
* Deut. chap, xxxiii. 17. Pfalm xxii. 2il f This (hews that the Mofaic pavement of Praenefte is not a record of Alexander's ex, pedition into India, as Doctor Shaw has pretended, feci. vii. p. 423.
in Italy, and he was often produced in games as low a Heliogabalus.
As all thefe were from Afia, it feems moft probable they had but one horn, and they are reprefented as fuch in the medals of Domitian. Yet Martial * fpeaks of one with t wo horns; and the reality of the rhinoceros fo armed being till now uncertain, commentators have taken pains to per-fuade us that this was an error of the poet; but there can be now no doubt that the poet was right, and the commentators wrong, a cafe that often happens.
I no not know from what authority the author of the Encyclopedia | refers to the medals of Domitian, where the rhinoceros, he fays, has a double horn; in all thofe that havebeen publifhed, one horn only is figured. The ufe made of thefe horns is in the turning-loom; they are made into cups, and fold toignorantpeoplcascontaining antidotes againft poifons; for this quality they generally make part of the prcfents of the Mogul and kings of Perfia at Constantinople. Some modern naturalifts have fcarce yet given over this prejudice ; which might have had a poflibility of truth while the Galenical fchool flourished, and vegetable poifons were chiefly ufed ; but it is abfurd to fuppofe, that what might difcover folanum, or deadly night-fhade, upon contact', would have the like effect upon the application of arfenic; and from experience I can pronounce, that a cup of this is alike ufeiefs in the difcovery of either.   The handles
of
* Martini <fe SgeQtc.
•J- See Supplement to Chambers's 0*6.
fcf daggers are always, in Abyflinia, made of this horn, and thefe being the only works to which they are applied, is one of the reafons why I have faid we mould not rafhly pronounce that the Afiatic rhinoceros has but one horn, merely becaufe the foremoft, or round horn, is the only one of the many that have been fent from India.    In Abyflinia wc fcldom fee the hunters at the pains to cut off or bring to market the fecond horn of the rhinoceros they have flain, becaufe, being flat, in place of round, it has not diameter or fubflance enough to fervc for the ufes jufl fpoken of; fo that the round horn is the only one that appears cither at Gondar or Cairo ; and if we were to judge from this circumftancc, the African rhinoceros is unicorn for the fame rcafon as wc do the Afiatic.   The horns of this animal are hard and folid, of a reddifh brown on the outfidc, a yellow inclining to gold within, and the heart a fpot of black, which occupies the fpace of near two inches where the diameter of the horn is five.   The fur-face takes a perfect polifli, but when dried is very liable to fplinter and crack.   It likewife warps with heat, and fcratches eafily.   And this was the reafon that, though exceeding beautiful when new, it never would endure any time when made into the form of a fnufl-box, but warped and fplit with the heat of the pocket, though this 1 believe Was chiefly owing to the lamina, or flat pieces into which it was cut, being always left too thin. The foremofl of thefe horns crook inward at the point, but by no means with Ibfudden a curve as is rcprefentcd by the Count de bu(lon.     How fcniible the animal is in this part, may be known from the accident I was cyc-wit-nefs ro in hunting him at Tcherkin, where a mufquet-ball breaking off a point of that horn, gave him fuch a ^thock, as to deprive him for an inflant of all appeared x ance
ancc of life. Behind the foremoft, or crooked horn, is the flat ftraight one, and again immediately behind that I have feen diitinctly the rudiments of a third, and the horn full an inch long. If we may judge by its bafe, it would feem this third horn was intended to be as long as the o-ther two.
The hunters of thefe large beafts are called Agageer, from Agaro, to kill, by cutting the hams or tendon of Achilles with a fword.   I have already defcribed the manner of this hunting. Thefe Agageers, the only people that have an opportunity of obferving, if they would only tell what they do obferve truly, fay, they frequently fee rhinocerofes with three horns grown ;  that this laft is round, but does not crook at the point, and is not quite fo long as are the other two, nor tapered fo much as the foremoft or crooked one ;   but this I leave entirely upon their veracity.    I never did fee the animal myfelf, nor three grown-horns adhering to each other, as I have feen two. So if this is truth, here is a third fpecies of this quadruped. They fay the third horn is only upon the male, and does not grow till he is advanced in years ; the double horn which I have is fixed to a ftrong mufcle or cartilage ; when dry, exceedingly tough.   It comes down the os frontls, and along the bone of the nofe ; but not having obferved accurately enough at the time the carcafe was lying before me, I do not remember how this mufcle terminated or was made fait, either at the occiput or on the nofe.   It has been imagined by feveral that the horn of the rhinoceros and the teeth of the elephant were arms which nature gave them againft each other: that want of food, and vexation from being deprived of their natural habits, may make any two
beads
beafts of nearly equal ftrength fight or deftroy each other, cannot be doubted ; and accordingly we fee that the Romans made thefe two animals fight at mows and public games: but this is not nature, but the artifice of man; there muft be fome better reafon for this extraordinary conftruction of thefe two animals, as well as the different one of that of fo many others. They have been placed in extenfive woods and deferts, and there they hide themfelves fn the moft inacccf-fible places; food in great plenty is round about them ; they are not carnivorous, they are not rivals in love ; what motive can they have for this conftant premeditated deiire of fighting?
I have faid the rhinoceros does not eat hay or grafs, but lives entirely upon trees; he docs not fpare the moft thorny ones, but rather feems to be fond of them ; and it is not a fmall branch that can efcape his hunger, for he has the ftrongeft jaws of any creature I know, and beft adapted to grinding or bruiling any thing that makes refiftance. fie has twenty-eight teeth in all, fix of which are grinders, and I have feenfhort indigefted pieces of wood full three inches diameter voided in his excrements, and the fame of the elephant.
But befides thefe trees, capable of moft refiftance, there are in thefe vaft forefts within the rains, trees of a fof ter con-fiftence, and of a very fucculent quality, which feem to be deftined for his principal food. For the purpofe of gaining, the higheit branches of thefe, his upper lip is capable of being lengthened out fo as to increafe his power of laying hold with this in the fame manner as the elephant does with his trunk. With this lip, and the alliftance of his 3 tongue,,
"   $6 APPENDIX.
tongue, he pulls clown the upper branches which have moft leaves, and thefe he devours firft ; having ftript the tree of its branches, he does not therefore abandon it, but placing his fnout as low in the trunk as he finds his horn will enter, he rips up the body of the tree, and reduces it to thin pieces, like fo many laths; and when he has thus prepared it, he embraces as much of it as he can in his monftrous jaws, and twills it round with as much cafe as an ox would do a root of celery, or any fuch pot-herb or garden-fluff.
Such, too, is the practice of the elephant; wre faw, at eve* ry ftcp in thefe immenfe forcits, trees in different progref-fes of this operation, fome divefted of their leaves and branches, and cut over as far down the trunk as was foft, and pliable, and was capable of being fnapped off by one bite, without fpi it ting or laceration; others, where the trunk was cut into laths or ribbands, fome of which were ate in part, others prepared, but which had been left from fatiety or ap-prehenfion of danger, a feaft without labour for the next that mould find it. In fome places we faw the trees all con-fumed, but a flump that remained about a foot from the ground, and thefe were of the moft fucculcnt kind, and there wc diftinctly perceived the beginning of the firft la, ceration from the bottom ; and what, befide the tcftimony of 'the hunters, confirmed this fact beyond doubt was, that in feveral places large pieces of the teeth of elephants, and horns of the rhinoceros were brought to us, partly found lying on the ground at the foot of thefe trees, and part flick* ing in them.
Ne i t u eh the elephant nor rhinoceros eat grafs; if their food depended upon that, many times in the year they muft be
reduced
A t V £ N D I X. |?
reduced to a (late of flarving, for the grafs is naturally parched up in fome feafons, and at others burnt purpofely by the Shangalla. It is true, that in Europe their chief food is hay ; trees cannot be every day fpoiled for them in the quantity they would need. But this is not their natural food, more than the fugar and the aquavita: that arc given them here.
The roughnefs of the tongue of the rhinoceros is another matter in difpute: it is faid to be fo rough, that the animal with that can lick off the flelh of a man's bones. Others fay, the tongue is fo foft that it refembles that of a calf. Both of thefe are in fome meafure true, but aggravated by the reporters. The tongue of the young Rhinoceros is foft, for the fkin is much tougher and thicker too, than that of a calf, and has apparently fome furrows or wrinkles in it, but it has no puflules nor rudiments of any that are dif-cernible, nor indeed has any ufe for them. On the other hand, the tongue and infide of the upper lip of the old Rhinoceros are very rough, and this appears to me to arife from the conflant ufe he makes of thefe parts in feizing the branches of trees which have rough barks, particularly the acacia. It is, when purfued, and in fear, that wc fee he poflefles an aflonifliing degree of fwiftnefs, considering his fize, the apparent unwieldyncfs of his body, his great weight before, and the fhortnefs of his legs, fie is long, and has a kind of trot, which, after a few minutes, increafes in a great proportion, and takes in a great diflance ; but this is to be underflood with a degree of moderation. It is not true, that in a plain he beats the horfe in fwiftnefs. I have palled him with cafe, and feen many worfe mounted do the fame, and though it is certainly true, that a horfe
i can
can very fcldom come up with him, this is owing to his cunning, but not his fwiftnefs. He makes conftantly from wood to wood, and forces himfelf into the thickeft part of them. The trees that are fruih, or dry, are broke down, like as with a cannon Ihot, and fall behind him and on his fide in all directions. Others that are more pliable, greener, or fuller of fap, are bent back by his weight and velocity of his motion. And after he lias paffed, rcftoring themfelves like a green branch to their natural pofition, they fweep the uncautious purfuer and his horfe from the ground, and dafh them in pieces againft the furrounding trees.
The eyes of the Pvhinoceros are very fmall, and he fcldom turns his head, and therefore fees nothing but what is before him, To this he owes his death, and never ef-capes, if there is fo much plain as to enable the horfe to get before him. His pride and fury, then, makes him lay afide all thoughts of efcaping but by victory over his enemy. He Hands for a moment at bay, then, at a Hart, runs Straight forward at the horfe, like the wild boar, whom in his manner of action he very much refembics. The horfe eafily avoids him, by turning fhort to afide, and this is the fatal inflant: The naked man, with the fword, drops from behind the principal horfeman, and unfeenby the Rhinoceros, who is fceking his enemy the horfe, he gives him a flroke acrofs the tendon of the heel, which renders him incapable of further flight or refillance.
In fpeaking of the great quantity of food necelTary to fuppoit this enormous mafs, we muft likewife confider the valt quantity of water which he needs.   No country but
that
that of the Shangalla, which he pofTefTes, deluged with fix months rains, and full of large and deep bafons, made in the living rock, and fhaded by dark woods from evaporation ; or watered by large and deep rivers, which never fall low or to a flate of drynefs, can fupply the vail: draughts of this monflrous creature; but it is not for drinking alone that he frequents wet and marfhy places; large, fierce, and ftrong as he is, he muft fubmit to prepare to defend himfelf a-gainft the weakeft of all adverfaries. The great confump-tion he conftantly makes of food and water necefTarily confine him to certain limited fpaces ; for it is not every place that can maintain him, he cannot emigrate, or feek his defence among the fands of Atbara.
The fly, that unremitting perfecutor of every animal that lives in the black earth, does not fpare the rhinoceros, nor is afraid of his fiercenefs. He attacks him in the fame manner as he does the camel, and would as eafily fubdue him, but for a ftratagem which he practifes for his preservation. The time of the fly being the rainy fcafon, the whole black earth, as I have already obferved, turns into mire. In the night when the fly is at reft, he choofes a convenient place, and there rolling himfelf in the mud, he clothes himfelf with a kind of cafe, which defends him againft his adver-fary the following day. The wrinkles and plaits of his fkin ferve to keep this muddy pi after firm upon him, all but about his hips, fhoulders, and legs, where it cracks and falls oft by motion, and leaves him expofed in thofe places to the attacks of the fly. The itching and pain which follow occafion him to rub himfelf in thofe parts againft the rougheft trees, and this is at leaft one caufe of the puftules
Vol. V, P ^ or
or tubcrcules which we fee upon thefe places, both on the elephant and rhinoceros.   The Count de Euffon, who believes thefe puftules to be natural parts of the creature, fays, in proof of this, that they have been found in the foetus of a rhinoceros. I do not pretend to disbelieve this ; it may be,, that thefe puncTives happening to the old female at the time lhe was with young, the impreflion of her fulferings might have appeared upon the young one.    However this is, I cannot conceal that I have heard, not from hunters only, but men worthy of credit, that this is the origin of thefe protuberances; and many rhinocerofes, Slain in Abyilinia, are known to have been found at the feafon of the flv, with their Shoulders and buttocks bloody and excoriated.   It is likewife by no means true, that the Skill of the rhinoceros is hard or impenetrable like a board. I Should rather lufpecf. this to be difeafe, or from a diilerent habit acquired by keeping ; for in his wild Slate he is Slain by javelins thrown from indifferent hands, which 1 have feen buried three feet in his body.  A mulket Shot will go through him if it meets not with the intervention of a bone ; and the Shangalla kill him by the worfl and mofl inartificial arrows that ever were ufed by any people practifing that weapon, and cut him to pieces afterwards with the very worli of knives.
I have faid that, in the evening, he goes to welter in the mire. He enjoys the rubbing himfelf there fo much, and groans and grunts fo loud, that he is heard at a confidcra-blc diflance. The pleafure that he receives from this enjoyment, and the darknefs of the night, deprive him of his ufual vigilance and attention. The hunters, guided by his noife, Ileal fecrctly upon him, and, while lying on the
ground,
ground, wound him with their javelins moftly in the belly where the wound is mortal.
A surgeon of the Shaftefbury Indiaman was the firft who obferved and mentioned a fact which has been rafhly enough declared a fable *. He obferved on a rhinoceros newly taken, after having weltered and coated itfelf in mud, as above mentioned, feveral infects, fuch as millepides, or fcolopendra, concealed under the ply of the fkin. With all fubmiiTion to my friend's cenfure, I do not think he is in this fo right or candid as he ufually is ; not having been out of his own country, at leaft in any country where he could have feen a rhinoceros newly taken from weltering in the mud, he could not poflibly be a judge of this fact as the officer of the Shaftefbury was, who faw the animal in that ftate. Every one, 1 believe, have feen horfes and cows drinking in foul water feized by leeches, which have bled them excefllvely, and fwelled under the animal's tongue to a monftrous fize. And I cannot fay, with all fubmiflion to better judgment, that it is more contrary to the nature of things, that a leech fhould feize an animal, whofe cuftom is to welter in water, than a fly bite and depofit his eggs in a camel in the fun-fhine on land. But further I muft bear this teftimony, that, while at Ras el Feel, two of thefe animals were flain by the Ganjar hunters in the neighbourhood. I was not at the hunting, but, though ill of the flux, I went there on horfcback before they had fcraped off their muddy covering. Under the plies of one I faw two or three very large worms, not carnivorous ones, but the common
P 2 large
* Vid. BufFun Hid, fhinoceros, p. 22$.    Edwards, p. 35. and 26.
\
large worm of the garden. I faw likewife feveral animal* like earwigs, which I took for young fcolopendne, and two fmall, white, land-fnail ihells. I fought no further, but was told a number of different infects were found, and fome of them that fucked the blood, which I take to be a kind of leech. There is then no fort of reafon to accufe this gentleman of telling a falfehood, only becaufe he was a better obferver, and had better opportunities than others have had, and it is indeed neither jufl nor decent; on the contrary, it is a coarfe manner of criticifing, to tax a man with falfehood when he fpeaks as an eye-witnefs, and has faid nothing phyfically impouible.
The rhinoceros fhewn at the fair of St Germain, that which the Count de Buffon and Mr Edwards faw, kept clean in a liable for feveral years, I fhall believe had neither worms not fcolopendne upon it, neither does this officer of the Shaftefbury report it had ; but he fays, that one covered with mud, in which it had been weltering, had upon it animals that are commonly found in that mud; and this neither Mr Parfons nor Mr Edwards, nor the Count de Buffon, ever had an opportunity of verifying.
Chardin * fays, that the AbyfTinians tame and train the rhinoceros to labour. This is an abfolutc fable ; befides, that wc have reafon to believe the animal is not capable of inftruction, neither hiftory not tradition ever gave the fmallefl reafon to make us believe this, nor is there any motive for attempting the experiment, more than for believing
* Chardin, torn. iii. p. 45.
vingit ever was accomplished. Tractable as the elephant, is, the Abyilinians never either tamed or instructed him ; they never made ufe of beafls in war, nor would their country permit this training; fo much the contrary, as wc have already feen, that Ptolemy Philadelphus, and his fucccflbr Ptolemy Evergetes^ did every thing in their power to pcr-fuade them to take the elephant alive, that they might tame them; but, as he was a principal part of their food, they never could fucceed; and the latter prince, for this very purpofe, made an expedition into Abyflinia, and was obliged to extirpate thefe hunters,and fettle injtheir place a colony of his own at Arkceko near Mafuah, which he called Ptolemais I heron for that very reafon ; after which, he himfelf tells us in the longGreek infeription he left in thekingdom of Adcl, that he had fucceeded fo far, by means of his colony of Greeks, as to train the Ethiopic elephant foas to make him fuperior to thofe in India; but this he could never do by employing Abyilinians,
It is a general observation made in every part where this animal relides, that he is indocile, and wants talents ; his fiercenefs may be conquered, and we fee, with a moderate degree of attention, he is brought to be quiet enough ; but it is one thing to tame or conquer his fiercenefs, and another to make him capable of inflruction; and it feems apparently allowed to be his cafe, that he has not capacity. A fteady; uniform fiercenefs in the brute creation, is to be fub-dued by care and by hunger, this is not the cafe with him, his violent tranfports of fury upon being hungry, or not being ferved in the inflant with food, feems to bar this manner of taming him. 1 is behaviour is not that of any other animal; his revenge and fury are directed as much againft himfelf as againit an enemy; he knocks his head
againft
againft the wall, or the manger, with a feeming intention to deftroy himfelf, nay, he does deftroy himfelf often. That fcnt from India to Emanuel king of Portugal, in the year 1513, and by him prefented to the pope, was the caufe the fhip* that carried him was funk and loft, and the one that was fhewn in France purpofcly drowned itfelf going to Italy.
The rhinoceros and the elephant are the principal food of the Shangalla. The manner of preparing the ftefh I have already defcribed, and mall not repeat. He is ate too with great greedinefs by all the inhabitants of the low country, and Atbara. The moft delicate part about him is fuppofed to be the foles of his feet, which are foft like thofe of a camel, and of a griftly fubftance; the reft of the flelh feems to refemble that of the hog, but is much coarfer. It fmells of mufk, and is otherwife very taftelefs/, I fhould think it would be more fo to the negroes and hunters, who cat it without fait. The only hair about it is at the tip of its tail; they are there few and Scattered, but thick as the loweft wire of a harpfichord ; ten of thefe, faliened fide by fide, at the diftance of half an inch from each other, in the figure of a man's hand, make a whip which will bring the blood every ftroke.
This rhinoceros was thirteen feet from the nofe to its anus; and very little lefs than feven feet whence flood, meafuring from the fole of his fore-foot to the top of the ihoulder. The firft horn was fourteen inches.   The fecond
2 fome-
* Tran. Phllfoph. No. 470.
ibmething lefs than thirteen inches. The flat part of the horn, where it was bare at its bafe, and divefted of hair, was four inches, and the top two inches and a half broad. In the middle it was an inch and quarter thick; it was fha-ped like a knife; the back two inches, and, when turned, meafured one fourth of an inch at the edge.
It feems now to be a point agreed upon by travellers and naturaiifts, that the famous animal, having one horn only upon his forehead, is the fanciful creation of poets and painters ; to them I fhould willingly leave it, but aSwedifh naturalifl, Dr Sparman, who has lately published two volumes in quarto, in which he has diflinguifhed himfelf by his low illiberal abufe of learned foreigners, as much as by the fulfome flattery he has bellowed on his own countrymen, has fliewed an inclination to revive this antiquated fable. I do not, for my own part, believe the authority will be thought fuflicicnt, or have many followers. The publifher, by way of apology, as I fuppofe, for his ruf-ticity and ill-manners, fays, that he was employed in labour to earn a fufficient mm upon which to travel. What labour he applied to is not faid; it was not a lucrative occupation furely, or the Doctor was not an able labourer, as the fum produced was but 38 dollars, and I really think "his knowledge acquired feem to be pretty much in proportion to his funds.
Kolbe mentions what would feem a variety of the rhinoceros at the Cape.   He fays it has one horn upon its nofe,. and another upon his forehead.   This the Count de Buffon thinks is untrue, and, from other circumflances of the narrative, fuppofes that Kolbe never faw this rhinoceros, and
has
lias defcribed it only from hearfay.   Though this, too, is DocTor Mparman's opinion, yet, unwilling to let flip an opportunity of contradicting the Count de Buffon, he taxes it as an improper criticifm upon this rhinoceros of Kolbe: he fays the defcription is a juit one, and that a man of the Count's learning fhould have known that the forehead and nofe of all animals were near each other. Although he has given a ftrange drawing of the lkeleton of the head of a rhinoceros, where the nofe and the forehead are very difiincr.-ly different, yet, in another drawing, he has figured his rhinoceros bicornis, with a head feemingly all nofe, and much likcr an afs than any thing we have feen pretended to be a rhinoceros ever fincc the time of Albert Durcr.   He pretends that, in his travels at the Cape, he faw an animal of this form, which had two horns upon his forehead, or his nofe, whichever he plcafcs. to call them. If fuch an animal docs really exifl, it is undoubtedly a new fpecies; it has not the armour or plaited fkin, feen in every rhinoceros till this time.   He tells us a heap of wonderful ftories about it, and claims the honour of being the firft difcovcr-er of it; and really, I believe, he is fo far in the right, that if he can prove what he fays to be true, there is no man that will pretend to difpute this point with him.    Befides its having a fkin without plaits, it has two horns on the forehead, fo loofc that they clam againft one another, and make a noife when the animal is running: then he has one of thefe only that are moveable, which he turns to one fide or the other when he choofes to dig roots ; an imagination fcarcely poilible, i think, to any one who has ever feen a rhinoceros.  With thefe loofe and clafhing horns he diverts himfelf by throwing a man and horfe into the air; and, though but five feet high, at other times he throws a load-.
4 ed
cd, covered waggon, drawn by two oxen, over hedges into the fields.
This rhinoceros very luckily is not carnivorous, for he is among the fwiftcft of animals, and fmells and fcents people at a great diflance ; and yet, with all thefe advantages, though his conftant occupation, according to Dr Sparman, ieems to be hunting waggons and men alfo, he never was fofuccefsful as to kill but one man, as far as was ever
H Y £ N a.
THERE are few animals, wmofe hiftory has pafled under the confederation of naturalifls, that have given oc-caiion to fo rntich confufion and equivocation as the Hyscna lias done. It began very early among the ancients, and the moderns have fully contributed their fhare. It is not my intention to take up the reader's time with difcufling the errors of others, whether ancient or modern. With-Vol. V. ^ out
put difplaying a great deal of learning to tell him what it is not, I fhall content myfelf with informing him what it is, by a good figure and diltinct relation of what in his hiftory hath been unknown, or omitted, and put it in the reader's power to reject any of the pretended Hy-oenas that authors or travellers fhould endeavour to im-pofe upon him. At the fame time, I fhall fubmit to his decifion, whether the animal 1 mention is a new one, or only a variety of the old, as it muft on all hands be allowed that he is as yet undefenbed.
Most of the animals confounded with him are about fix times fmaller than he is, and fome there are that do not even ufe their four legs, but only two. The want of a critical knowledge in the Arabic language, and of natural hiftory at the fame time, has in fome meafure been the oc-cafion of this among the moderns. Bochart * difcufles the feveral errors of the ancients with great judgment, and the Count de Buffon f, in a very elegant and pleafant manner, hath nearly exhaufted the whole.
I no not think there is any one that hath hitherto written of this animal who ever faw the thoufandth part of them that I have. They were a plague in Abyflinia in every fituation, both in the city and m the field, and I think furpaffed the fhecp in number. Gondar was full of them from the time it turned dark till ,the dawn of day, feeking the different pieces of flaughtered carcafes which this cruel
and
* Eocb. vol. I. cap. xxxiii. f -Buffon vol. IX. 4to.
and unclean people expofe in the flreets without burial, and who firmly believe that thefe animals arc Falafha from the neighbouring mountains, transformed by magic, and come down to cat human flcfh in the-dark in fafety. Many a time in the night, when the king had kept me late in the palace, and it was not my duty to lie there, in going a-crofs the fquare from the king's houfe, not many hundred yards diftant, I have been apprehcnfive they would bite me in the leg. They grunted in great numbers about me, though I was furrounded with feveral armed men, who feldom paffed a night without wounding or flaughtering fome of them.
One night in Maitfha, being very intent on obfervation, I heard fomethingpafs behind me towards the bed, but upon looking round could perceive nothing. Haying finifhed what I was then about, I went out of my tent, refolving directly to return, which I immediately did, when I perceived large blue eyes glaring at me in the dark. I called upon my fervant with a light, and there was the hyaena Handing nigh the head of the bed, with two or three large bunches of candles in his mouth. To have fired at him I was in danger of breaking my quadrant or other furniture, and he feemed, by keeping the candles fleadily in his mouth, to wifh for no other prey at that time. As his mouth was full, and he had no claws to tear with, I was not afraid of him, but with a pike ftruck him as near the heart as I could judge. It was not till then he Ihewed any iign of fiercenefs; but, upon feeling his wound, he let drop the candles, and endeavoured to run up the fhaft of the fpear to arrive at me, fo that, in felf-defence, I was obliged to draw out a piflol from my girdle and flioot him, and nearly at the fame time my
Qjj fervant
fervant cleft his fkull with a battle-ax. In a word, the hyaena was the plague of our lives, the terror of our night-walks, the definition of our mules and alles, which above all o-thers are his favourite food. Many inflanccs of this the reader will mcctwith throughout my Travels.
The hyaena is known by two names in the eaft, Dceb and Dubbah. His proper name is Dubbah, and this is the name he goes by among the bell Arabian naturalifls. In Abyilinia, Nubia, and part of Arabia, he is, both in writing and converfation, called Deeb, or Deep, either ending with a b or p ; and here the confufion begins, for though Dubbah is properly a hyana, Dabbu is a fpecies of monkey; and though Deeb is likewife a hyaena, the fame word fig-nifies a jackal; and a jackal being by naturalifls called a* wolf, Deeb is under flood to be a wolf alfo. In Algiers this difference is prefcrved ilriclly ; Dubbah is the hyaena; Deeb is the jackal, which run in flocks in the night, crying like hounds. Dubb is a bear, fo here is another confufion, and the bear is taken for the hyaena, becaufe Dubb, or Dubbah, feems to be the fame word. So Poncet, on the frontiers of Scnnaar, complains, that one of his mules was bit in the thigh by a bear, though it is well known there never was any animal of the bear-kind in that, or, I believe, in any other part of Africa. And I iliongly apprehend, that the leopards and tigers, which Alvarez and Don Roderigo de Lima mention moleltcd them fo much in their journey to Shoa, were nothing elfe but hyaenas. For tigers there are sertainly none in Abyflinia; it is an Afiatic animal. Though there are leopards, yet they are but few in number, and are j&oi gregarious, neither, indeed, are the hyenas, only as they
gather-
gather in flocks, lured by the fmell of their food; and of thefe it would feem there are many in Shoa, for the capital of that province, called Tegulat, means the City of the Hyaena.
If the description given by M. de BufTon is an elegant and good one, the draught of the animal is no lefs fo. It is exactly the fame creature I have feen on Mount Libanus and at Aleppo, which makes me have the lefs doubt that there are two fpecies of this animal, the one partaking more of the dog, which is the animal I am now defcribing, the other more of the nature of the hog, which is the hyaena of M. de Buffon. Of this the reader will be eafily fatisfied, by comparing the two figures and the meafures of them. The fame diftincTion there is in the badger.
The animal from which this was drawn was flainat Te-awa, and was the largefl I had ever feen, being five feet nine inches in length, meafuring from his nofe to his a-nus ; whereas the hyaena exhibited by M. de Buffon was not half that, it being only three feet two inches nine lines in length. Notwithflanding the great fupcriority in fize by which the hyaena of Atbara exceeded that of M. de Buffon, I did not think him remarkable forhisfatnefs, or that he owed any of his fize to his being at that time in more than ordinary keeping; on the contrary, I thought the mofl of thofe I had before feen were in a better habit of body. As near as I could guefs, he might weigh about 8 (lone, horfeman's weight, that is, 14 pound to the Hone, or 112 pound.
The length of his tail, from the longefl hair in it to its infertion above the anus, was one foot nine inches.  It was
compofed
compofed of ftrong hair of a reddifh, brown colour, without any rings or bands of blackncfs upon the points. In the fame manner, the mane confifted of hairs exactly Similar both in colour and fubftance, being longer as they approached the neck, where they were about feven inches long ; and though it was obvious that, upon being irritated, he could raife them upon his back, yet they were not rigid enough, and were too long to have the refiftance of briftlcs of the hog or boar. This mane reached above two inches beyond the occiput between his ears, but then turned fhorr, and ended there.
From the occiput to his nofe he was one foot three inches and a half. The length of the nofe, from the bottom of the forehead, was five inches and a half, in ihapc much like that of a dog, the whole head, indeed, more fo than that of the wolf or any other creature. The aperture of tl-e eye was two inches nearly; that of the mouth, when not gaping or marling, about four inches and a half. The ear, from its bafe to its extreme point, was nine inches and a quarter; it was moftly bare, or covered with very thin, fhort hair. From the infide of one ear to that of the other, meafured acrofs the forehead, was feven inches and a half. From the edge of the opening of one eye to that of the o-ther, meafured in the fame manner, it was three inches nearly. From the fole of the fore-foot, as it flood on the ground, to the top of the back above the (houlder, it was three feet feven inches; but his back was fmooth and plain, not rifing or curved as the hyaena of M. de BufFon appears to have been. The fore-leg was two feet in length, the foot flat, and four inches broad, from the fole of the foot to the middle or the fore joint was fix inches and a half, and this
3 j°int
joint feemed to be ill-made, and as it were crooked and half bent. He has four toes, and a flraight nail between each of them, greatly refembling that of a dog, ftrong and black, but by no means calculated for tearing animals, and as little for digging, by which occupation he is faid chiefly to get his food.
He ftands ill upon his hind-legs, norcan his meafure there be marked with precifion. It is obfervable in all hyaenas, that when they are firft diflodged from cover, or obliged to run, they limp fo remarkably that it would appear the hind-lcg was broken, and this has often deceived me ; but, after they have continued to run fome time, this affection goes entirely away, and they move very fwiftly. To what this is owing it is impoffible for me to fay. I expected to have found fomething likely to be the origin of it in the direction of this animal given by M. de Buffon, but no fuch thing appears, and I fear it is in vain to look for it elfe-where.
■
I apprehend from the fole of his hind-foot to the joining of the thigh at his belly, was nearer two feet feven inches than any other meafure. The belly is covered with hair very little fofter and fhorter than that of his back. It grows fhorter as it approaches his hind-legs. His colour is of a yellowifh brown, the head and ears the lighter! part of him. The legs are marked thick with black bands which begin at the lower hinder joint, then continue very dark in colour till the top of the thigh, where they turn broad and circular, reaching acrofs the whole fide. Over the fhoul-dcr are two femicii cular bands likewife, then come very frequent bands down the outlide of the fore-leg in the fame
manner
manner as the hind. The infide of all his legs arc without marks, fo are the neck, head, and cars, but a little above the thorax is a large black flreak which goes up along the throat, and down to the point of the lower jaw. His nofe is black, and above the point, for fome inches, is of a darfc colour alfo.
The Hyaena is one of thofe animals which commentators have taken for the Saphan, without any probability whatever, further than he lives in caves, whither he retires in the fummcr to avoid being tormented with flies. Clement * of Alexandria introduces Mofes faying, You fhall not eat the hare, nor the hyaena, as he interprets the word faphan ; but the Hyaena does not chew the cud ; they arc not, as I fay, gregarious, though they troop together upon the fmell of food. We have no reafon to attribute extra-ordinary wifdom to him ; he is on the contrary brutifh, in* dolent, flovenly, and impudent, and feems to poffefs much the manners of the wolf. His courage appears to proceed from an infatiable appetite, and has nothing of the brave or generous in it, and he dies oftener flying than fighting; but leafl of all can it be faid of him that he is a feeble folk, being one of the ftrongeft beafls of the field.
Upon the moft attentive confideration, the animal here re«* presented feems to be of a different fpecies from the hyaena of M. de Buffon. This of Atbara feems to be a dog, whereas the firft fight of the hyaena of M. de Buffon gives the idea of a hog, and this is the impreftion it feems to have made upon
i the
Clem. Alcwn. lib. ii. Pxdagog. cap. 10.
the firft travellers that defcribe him. Kempfer * calls him Taxus Porcinus, and fays he has briftles like a hog.
We have an example of variety of this fort in the badger. There is a fow of that kind, and a dog. The dog is carnivorous, and the fow lives upon vegetables, though both of them have been fufpected at times to eat and devour animal food.
THEhya:naaboutMountLibanus,Syria,thenorthof Afia,and alfoaboutAlgiers,isknown to live for themoft part uponlarge fucculent,bulbousroots,efpecially thofe of the fritillaria, and fuch large, fleihy, vegetable fubftances. I have known lar «.e fpaces of fields turned up to get at onions or roots of thole plants, and thefe were chofen with fuch care, that, after having been peeled, they have been refufed and left on the ground for a fmall rotten fpot being difcovcred in them. It will be obferved the hyaena has no claws either for feizing or fe-parating animal food, that he might feed upon it,and I therefore imagine his primitive manner of living was rather upon vegetables than upon flcfh, as it is certain he ftill continues his liking to the former; and I apprehend it is from an opportunity offering in a hungry time that he has ventured either upon man or beaft, for few carnivorous animals, fuch as lions, tigers, and wolves, ever feed upon both.
As to the charge againft him of his difturbing fepul-chres, I fancy it is rattier fuppofed from his being unable Vol. V. R tQ
Kemp. p. 411. and 412.
to feize his living prey that lie is thought to attach himfelf to the dead. Upon much inquiry 1 never found one example fairly proved. The graves in the eaft are built over with ma ion-work ; and though it is againft the law of the Turks to repair thefe when they fall down, yet the body is probably con fumed iong before that happens; nor is the hyxna provided with arms or weapons to attempt it in its entire ftate ; and the large plants and flowers, with fief by bulbous roots, are found generally in plenty among the graves*
But the hyaena of Atbara feems long to have abandoned his primitive food of roots, if that was ever his, and to have gone largely and undeniably into the flaughter of living creatures, cfpecially that of men. Indeed, happily for himfelf, he has adopted this fuccedaneum ; for as to roots or fruit of any kind, they are not to be found in the defert country where he has chofen his domicil; and he has no difficulty from the fcpulchres, becaufe whole nations perifh without one of them being buried. Add to this, that the depravity of human nature, the anarchy and bad govern* mcnt of the country, have given him greater opportunities than anywhere elfe in the world to obtain frequent and eafy victories over mam
It is a conftant observation in Numidia, that the lion aw voids and flies from the face of man, till by fome accident they have been brought to engage, and the beaft lias prevailed agautft him; then that feeling of fuperiority jmprintcd by the Creator In the heart of all animais for man's preferva-tion, feems to for fake him. The lion, having once tailed human blood, relinquishes the purfuit after the flock. He
repair*
APPENDIX. x I7
repairs to fome high way or frequented path, and has been known, in the kingdom of Tunis, to interrupt the road to a market for feveral weeks; and in this he perfiils till hunters or foldiers are lent out to deftroy him.
The fame, but in a much greater extent, happens in At-bara. The Arabs, the inhabitants of that country, live in encampments indifferent parts of the country, their ancient patrimony or conqueft, Here they plow and fow, dig wells, and have plenty of water ; the ground produces large crops, and all is profperity fo long as there is peace, lnfolence and prefumption follow eafe and riches. A quarrel happens with a neighbouring clan, and the firft act of hofttli-ty, or decifive advantage, is the one burning the others crop at the time when it is near being reaped. Inevitable famine follows ; they are provided with no ftores, no flock in hand, their houfes are burnt, their wells filled up, the men flain by their enemies, and many thoufands of the helplefs remainder left perfectly deftitute of nceHiarv • ; and that very fpot, once a fcene of plenty, in a few days is> reduced to an abfolute defert. Moft of the miferable fur-vivors die before they can reach the next water ; they have no fubfiftence by the way ; they wander among the acacia-trees, and gather gum. There, every day lofing their ftrength, and deftitute of all hope, they fall fpontaneoufly, as it were, into the jaws of the mercilcfs hyaena, who finding fo very little difference or difficulty between flaying the living and devouring the dead, follows the miferable remains of this unfortunate multitude, till he-has extirpated the laft individual of them. Thence it comes that we find it remarked in my return through the defert, that the whole country is ftrewed with bones of the dead; horrid
R 2 monument*
monuments of the victories of this favage animal, and of man more favage and cruel than he. From the eafe with which he overcomes thefe half-ftarved and unarmed people, arifes the calm, Heady confidence in which he furpalTes all the refl of his kind,
In Barbary I have feen the Moors in the day-time take this animal by the ears and pull him towards them, without his attempting any other refiftance than that of his drawing back : and the hunters, when his cave is large enough to give them admittance, take a torch in their hand, and go ftraight to him ; when, pretending to fafcinate him by a fenfelefs jargon of words which they repeat, they throw a blanket over him, and haul him out. He feems to be ftupid or fenfelefs in the day, or at the appearance of ftrong light, unlefs wdien purfued by the hunters.
I have locked■ up a goat, a kid, and a lamb with him all day when he was fading, and found them in the evening alive and unhurt. Repeating the experiment one night, he ate up a young afs, a goat, and a fox, all before morning, fo as to leave nothing but fome fmall fragments of the afs\s bones.
In Barbary, then, he has no courage by day; he flies from man, and hides himfelf from him : But in Abyflinia or Atbara, accuftcmed to man's flcfh, he walks boldly in the day-time like a horfe or mule, attacks man wherever he finds him, whether armed or unarmed, always attaching himfelf to the mule or afs in preference to the rider. I may iafely fay, 1 Speak within bounds, that I have fought him a-bove fifty times hand, to hand, with a lance or fpcar, when
I had
I had fallen unexpectedly upon him among the tents, or in defence of my fcrvants or beads. Abroad and at a diftancc the gun prevented his nearer approach ; but in the night, evening, or morning, we were conftantly in clofc engagement with hiitu
This frequent victory over man, and his daily feeding upon him without refiftance, is that from which he furely draws his courage. Whether to this food it is that he owes his fuperior fize, I will not pronounce. For my own part, I confider him as a variety of the fame rather than another fpecies. At the fame time I muft fay, his form gave me di-ftinctly the idea of a dog, without one feature or likenefs of the hog, as was the cafe with the Syrian hyaena living on Mount Libanus, which is that of M. de Buffon, as plainly appears by his drawing.
I have oftentimes hinted in the courfe of my Travels at the liking he has for mules and alTes ; but there is another paftion for which he is ftill more remarkable, that is, his liking to dog's flefh, or, as it is commonly exprefled, his a-verfion to dogs. No dog, however fierce, will touch him in the field. My greyhounds, accuftomed to faften upon the wild boar, would not venture to engage with him. On the contrary, there was not a journey I made that he did not kill feveral of my greyhounds, and once or twice robbed me of my whole flock : he would feck and feize them in the Servants tents where they were tied, and endeavour to carry them away before the very people that were guarding them..
Tins
This animofity between him and dogs, though it has efcaped modern naturalills, appears to have been known to the ancients in the.eaft. In t'cclefiaflicus (chap. xiii. ver. 18.) it is faid, " What agreement is there between the hyaena and the dog ?" a Sufficient proof that the antipathy was fo well known as to be proverbial.
And I mud here obferve, that if there is any prccifion in the definition of Linnaeus, this animal docs not anfwer to it, eii her in the cauda recta or annulata, for he never carries his tail erect, bui always clofe behindhim like a dog when afraid, or unlefs when he is in full fpced; nor is the figure given by M. dc Buffon marked like the hyaena of Atbara, though, as have 1 laid, perfectly refembling that of Syria, and the figure I have here given has, I believe, Scarcely a haur misplaced in it. Upon the whole, I Submit this entirely to my reader, being Satisfied with having, I hope, fully proved what was the intent of this difiertacion, that the faphan is net the hyaena, as Greek commentators upon the fcripture have imagined  
JERBOA.
rutin &4cTt*iffi\y£ Mhfimm k&
J E R B 0 Ar
T HAVE already obferved that the Arab? haVfc confounded X the Saphan with feveral other animals that have no fort of refemb!ac£ to if ; there are two of thefe ve/y remark* able, the Eennec and Jerboa^ of which I am now to treat* As 1 have given excellent figure! of both, by drawings taken from the creaturea alive, I have no doubt I fhall prevent any confufion for the future, and throw fome light upon facred fcripture, the greateu profit and ufe that can refute from this fort of writing*
If the rabbit has been frequcjitty confounded with the faphan, and flood for it in the kterjM elation of the Hebrew text, the fame has likewife happened to another animal, fhtf Jerboa,ftill moredifumijar inform and in manners from the faphan, than even the rabbit itfelf, and much lefs known. The Jerboa is a fmall ham* lefs animal of the defert, nearly the fize of a common rat: the fkin very Smooth and mining, of a biown tinged with yellow or gold colour, and the ends of the hairs tipt with black. It fives In the fmootheft plains or places of the defert, efpccially where the foil is fixed gra*
vel, for in that chiefly it burrows, dividing its hole below into many manfions. It feems to be apprehenfive of the falling in of the ground ; it therefore generally digs its hole under the root of fome fpurge, thyme, or abfinthium, upon wliofe root it feems to depend for its roof not falling in and burying it in the ruins of its fubterraneous habitation. It feems to delight molt in thofe places that are haunted by the ceraftes, or horned viper. Nature has certainly impofed this dangerous neighbourhood upon the one for the good and advantage of the other, and that of mankind in general. Of the many trials I made, I never found a Jerboa in the body of a viper, excepting once in that of a female big with young, and the Jerboa itfelf was then nearly confumcd.
The Jerboa, for the moft part, ftands upon his hind-legs ; he refts himfelf by fitting backwards fometimes, and I have feen him, though rarely, as it were lie upon all four; whether that is from fatigue or ficknefs, or whether it is a natural pofture, I know not. The Jerboa of the Cyrcnaicum is fix inches and a quarter in length, as he ftands in the drawing. He would be full half an inch more if he was laid ftraight at his length immediately after death. The head, from his nofe to the occiput, is one inch two lines. From the nofe to the foremoft angle of the eye, fix lines. The opening .of the eye itfelf is two lines and a quarter; his,ears three quarters of an inch in length, and a quarter of an melt in breadth ; they are fmooth, and have no hair Within, and but very little without; of an equal breadth from bottom to top, do not diminifb to a point, but are rounded there. The buttocks are marked with a femieir-ck of black, which parts from the root of the tail, and ends at the top of the thigh. This gives it the air of a .compound
4 animal,
animal, a rat with bird's legs, to which the flying pofturc ftill adds reiemblance. From this ftroke to the center of the eye is three inches, and to the point of his toe the fame meafure; his tail is fix inches and a quarter long, feems aukwardly fet on, as (luck between his buttocks, without any connection with his fpine ; half of it is poorly covered with hair of a light or whiter colour than his body ; the o~ therhalf is a beautiful feather of long hair, the middle white, the edges jet black: this tail, which by its length would feem an incumbrance to him, is of a furpriiing advantage in guiding and directing him in his jumping.
From the fhoulder to the elbow of the fore-foot is half an inch; from the elbow to the joining of the paw, |ths of an inch. The claw itfelf is curved, and is fome-thing lefs than a quarter of an inch. It has very long mu-ftachocs, fome of them Handing backward, and fome of them forward from his nofe; they are all of unequal lengths, the longeft an inch and a half; his belly is' white : he feems to be of a very cleanly nature, his hair always in great order. From his fnout to the back part of the opening of the mouth is half an inch; his nofe projects beyond his under jaw three quarters of an inch. He has four toes in his hind-foot, and a fmall one behind his heel, where is a tuft of hair coloured black. The fore-foot hath three toes only*
The ancients have early defcribed this animal; we fee him in fome of the firft medals of the Cyrenaicum, fitting under an umbellated plant, fuppofed to be the filphium„ whofe figure is preferved to us on the filvcr medals of Cy-rene. The high price fet upon it is mentioned by feveral hifto-
Voju V, S rians;
rians, but the reafon of that value, or the ufe of the plant, I have never yet been able to comprehend. I fuppofe it was an adventitious plant, which the curiolity and correfpon-dence of the princes of that State had probably brought from fome part of Negroland, where the goats are broufing upon it at this day with indifference enough, unconfeious of the price it bore in the time of the Ptolemies.
Herodotus*, Theophraftus |, and Ariftotle J, all mention this animal under the name of j^*?, ya.?^ ^iWg?, or, two-footed rats. This animal is found in moft of the parts of Arabia and Syria, in every part of the fouthern deferts of Africa, but no where fo frequently, and in fuch numbers, as in the Cyrenaicum, or Pentapolis. In my unfortunate journey there, I employed the Arabs, together with my Servants, to kill a number with flicks, fo as that the Ikins might not be injured by Shot... I got them dreftcd in Syria and in Greece, and fewed together, making ufe of the tail as in ermine for the lining of a cloak, and they had a very good effect ; the longer they wore, the gloflier and finer appearance the fkins made. The Jerboa is very fat and well-coloured; the buttocks, thighs, and part of the back, are roafted and ate by the Arabs. I have eaten them; they are not diftinguifliable from a young rabbit either in colour or tafte; they have not even the ftrong tafte the rabbit has. Some writers have confounded thefe wo animals together; at leaft they have miftaken this for
the
Herod, Mclp. toft. 192.        t Theoph. apud Elian. Kift. Auira. lib. xv. cap. %&■ %. Arift. de Marcb. Egypt, lib. vi,»
the faphan, and the faphan for the rabbit. This, however, is plainly without foundation. Thefe long legs, and the neceflity of leaping, demand the plain ground, where nature has always placed this creature.
The Arabs Ibn Bitar, Algiahid, Alcamus, and Damir, and, many others, have known the animal perfectly, though fome of them feem to confound it with another called the Aihkoko.   Ibnalgiauzi fays, that the Jerboa is the only kind that builds in rocks, which from ten thoufand examples I am fure he does not, nor is he any way made for it, and I am very certain he is not gregarious.   They have a number of holes indeed in the fame place, but I do not remember ever to have feen more than two together at a time.   The Arab Canonifls are divided whether or not he can be lawfully eaten.   Ibnalgiauzi is of opinion he cannot, nor any other animal living under the ground, excepting the land crocodile, which he calls El Dabb, a large lizard^ faid to be ufeful in venereal purfuits. Ata and Achmct, Ben-hantal, and feveral others, exprefsly fay, that the eating of the Jerboa is lawful.   But this feems to be an indulgence, as we read in Damir, that the ufe of this animal is granted becaufe the Arabs delight in it.   And Ibn Bitar fays, that the Jerboa is called Ifraelitifh, that the flefh of it is dried in the outward air, is very nourilhing, and prevents conivenefs, from which we mould apprehend, that medicinal considerations entered into this permiflion likewife.   However this may be, it feems to me plain, fuch was not the opinion of the old tranflators of the Arab vcrfion from the Hebrew ; they once only name this animal exprefsly, and there they fay it is forbidden.   The paffage is in Ifaiah, " They that fanc-" tify themfelves and purify themfelves in the gardens * behind one tree in the midft, eating fwine's flelh,
S 2 and
" and the abomination, and the moufc, fhall be confirmed " together, faith the Lord *." The Hebrew word fignifics moufe, and fo our Englifh tranflation renders it. But the Arabic veriion calls it exprefsly the Jerboa, and clafles it with the abomination and fwine's flem, that is, in the clafs of things in the higheft degree forbidden.
There is little variety in this animal either in fize or colour, in the wide range that they inhabit. Towards Aleppo they have broader nofes than the African ones, their bodies alfo thicker, and their colour lighter; a thing we always fee in the Syrian animals, compared to the African. The firft ef thefe I faw was in London, in the hands of Dr kuflel, who has wrote the hiflory of Aleppo, of whom I have before made mention. Haym published an account of the Jerboa, lb does Dr Shaw, but there exifls not, that I know, one good figure of him, or particular defcription.
The figure given us by Edwards is thick and fhort, out o£ all proportion. His legs are too fhort, his feet too large, he wants the black mark upon his heel, the nails of his forefeet are greatly too long, and there is certainly a latitude taken in the defcription, when his head is faid very much to referable that of a rabbit. Dr HafTelquift has given us a kind of defcription of him without a figure. He fays the Arabs call him Garbuka, but this is not fo, he goes by no other name in all the eaft, but that of Jerboa, only the letter J, fometimcs by being pronounced Y, for Jerboa he ia called Yerboa, and this is the only variation in name.
The
* ltiiiih, char- Ixtj. rer. 17.
The Arabs of the kingdom of Tripoli make very good diverlion with the Jerboa, in training their grey-hounds, which they employ to hunt the gazcl or antelope after in-flrucTing him to turn nimbly by hunting this animal. The prince of Tunis, fon of Sidi Younis, and grandfon of Ali Bey, who had been Hrangled by the Algerines when that capital was taken, being then in exile at Algiers, made me a prefent of a fmall grey-hound, which often gave us excellent fport. It may be perhaps imagined a chace between thefe two creatures could not be long, yet I have often feen, in a large inclofure, or court-yard, the greyhound employ a quarter of an hour before he could mailer his nimble adverfary; the fmall fize of the creature aiTiited him much, and had not the greyhound been a practifed one, and made ufe of his feet as well as his teeth, he might have killed two antelopes in the time he could have killed one Jerboa.
It is the chara&er of the faphan given in fcripture, that he is gregarious, that he lives in houfes made in the rock, that he is diftinguiihed for his feeblenefs, which he fup-plies by hiswifdom: none of thefe chara&eriflics agree with the Jerboa, and therefore though he chews the cud in common with fome others, and was in great plenty in Judea, fo as to be known by Solomon, yet he cannot be the faphan of the fcripture.
FENKEC.
•128
APPENDIX.
■SSBEOMWSB
FENNEG
*T^HIS beautiful animal, which has lately fomuch excited the curiofity, and exercifed the pens rather than the judgment of fome naturalifts, was brought to me at Algiers by Mahomet Rais, my drugoman or janizary, while conful-general to his Majeily in that regency.
MAHOMETRaisboughtir for two fequins from an acquaintance, a Turkifh olda/h, or foot-foldier, jull then .returned from Ifeifcara, a fouthern diftricl: of Mauritania Caefarie'nfis, now called the Province of Conilantina. The foldier faid they were not uncommon in Bifcara, but more frequently met with in the neighbouring date territories of Beni Mcz-zab and W^rglah, the ancient habitations of the Melano-G&tuli; in the lafl mentioned of which places they hunted them for their fkins, which they fent by the caravan to a fell
)/?///// r
. >!<(i/J/ .fr
fell at Mecca, and from whence they were after exported to India. He faid that he had endeavoured to bring three of them, two of which had efcaped by gnawing holes in the cage. I kept this for feveral months at my country-houfe near Algiers, that I might learn its manners. I made feveral drawings of it, particularly one in water-colours of its natural lize, which has been the original of all thofe bad copies that have fi nee appeared. Having fatisiied myfelf of all particulars concerning it, and being about to leave Algiers, I made a prefent of him to Captain Cleveland, of his majcity's ihip Phoenix, then in that port, and he gave him to Mr Grander, Swcdifh conful in Algiers. A young man, Balugani, of whom I have already fpoken, then in my fer-vice, in which, indeed, he died, allowed himfelf fo far to be furprifed, as, unknown to me, to trace upon oiled paper a copy of this drawing in water-colours, juft now mentioned. This he did fo ferviiely, that it could not be miftaken, and was therefore, as often as it appeared, known to be a copy by people* the lead qualified to judge in thefe matters. The affectation of the pofture in which it was fitting, the extraordinary breadth of its feet, the unnatural curve of the tail, to fhew the black part of it, the affected manner of difpofing its ears, were all purpofely done, to fhew particular details that I was to defcribe, after the animal itfelf mould be loft, or its figure, through length of time, fhould be lefs frefh in my memory.
Doctor Sparman, with his natural dullnefs, and a dif-ingenioufnefs which feems partly natural, partly acquired,
and
*'Sparium, vol. ii. p, 18&
and improved by conftant plagiarifms, from the works of others, pretends in favour of his country and countrymen, to ileal this into a Swediih difcovery. He fays that Mr Bran-der has publilhed an account of it in fome Swediih transactions, a book I never faw, but that being long importuned by his friend Mr Nicander, to give the figure of the animal itfelf to be publifhed, he conftantly refufed it.
Whether this fact is fo or not, I do not pretend to give my opinion : if it is, I cannot but think Mr Brander's conduct in both cafes was extremely proper. The creature itfelf palled, by very fair means, from my poiTeilion into Mr Bran-der's, who cannot doubt that I would have given it to him in preference to Mr Cleveland, if I had known he thought it of the leaft confequence; he was then, as having had the animal by juft means in his pofTeflion, as much entitled to de-fcribc him as I was; or as the Turk, the prior pofTeflbr, who gave him to me, had he been capable, and fo inclined. On the other hand, Mr Brander likewife judged very properly in refuting to publifh the drawing at the requeft of Mr Nicander.   The drawing was not juftly acquired, as it was obtained   by a breach of faith, and feduction of a fervant, which might have coft him his bread.   It was conducted with a privacy feldom thought neceflary to fair dealing, nor was it ever known to me, till the young man be<-gan to be dangeroufty fick at Tunis, when he declared it vcv luntarily to me, with a contrition, that might have atoned for a much greater breach of duty.
Dr Sparman attempts to conceal thefe circumftances. He fays Mr Brander told him, that I faw this animal at Algiers, and that I employed the fame painter that he did to make
i thQ
t
trie drawing of him, and fpeaks of a painter found at Algiers as readily as if he had been at the gates of Rome or Naples. Thefe are the wretched fubterfugcs of low minds, as diftant from fcience as they are from honour and virtue. Why, if the animal was equally known to Mr Brander and me, did he not, when writing upon it, give his name, his manners, the ufes to which he was dcftined, and the places where he refided ? why fend to Algiers for an account of him, after having him fo long in his poffeffion, iincc at Algiers he was probably as great a flranger as he was at Stockholm ? why call him a fox, or pronounce his genus, yet write to Algiers for particulars to decide what that genus was ?
The Count of Buffon *, content with the merit of his own works, without feeking praifc from fcraps of information picked up at random from the reports of others, declares
candidly, that he believes this Animal to be as yetanonyme,
that is, not to have a name, and in this, as in other refpects, to be perfectly unknown. If thofe that have written con-cerning it had ftopt here likewife, perhaps the lofs the public would have fuffered by wanting their obfervations would not have been accounted a great detriment to natural hiftory,
Mr Pennant f> from Mr Brander's calling it a fox, has taken occafion to declare that his genus is a dog. Mr Sparman, that he may contribute his mite, attacks the defcription which I gave of this animal in a convcrfation with Vol. V. T the
* Supplement to Tom. iii. p. 148. f Vol. I. p. 24?.
the Count de BuiTon at Paris. Pie declares I am miftaken by faying that it lives on trees * ; for in confequcncc, I fuppofe, of its being a fox, he fays it burrows in the ground, which, I doubt very much, he never faw an African fox do. His reafon for this is, that there is a fmall animal which lives in the fands at Camdcbo, near the Cape of Good Hope, which is rofe-coloured, and he believes it to be the animal in queftion, for he once hunted it till it cfcaped by burrowing under ground, but he did not remark or diftin-guilh his ears f»
I do really believe there may be many fmall animals found at Camdebo, as well as in all the other fands of Africa ; but having feen the reft of this creature during the whole time of a chacc, without remarking his ears, which are his great characSteriftic, is a proof that Dr Sparman is either miftaken in the bcaft itfelf, or elfe that he is an unfortunate and inaccurate obfervcr. There is but one other animal thatch** c«*f* more confpicuous or difproportioncd than this we are now fpeaking of. I need not name him to a man of the profeifor's learning. The Doctor goes on in a further defcription of this animal that he had never feen. He lays his name is Zerda, which I iuppofe is the fweeteft tranflation of the Arabic word Jerd, or Jcrda. Put here Dr Sparman has been again unlucky in his choice, for, befides many other differences, the Jerd, which is an animal well known both in Africa and Arabia, has no tail, but this perhaps is but another inftancc of the Doctor's ill fortune ; in
the
Span-nan's voyage to the Cape, vol. ii. p. 1S5. | p# , gjf
the firft cafe, he overlooked this animal's ears ; in the fecond, he did not perceive that he had a tail.
The Arabs who conquered Egypt, and very foon after the reft of Africa, the tyranny and fanatical ignorance of the Khalifat of Omar being overpaft, became all at once excellent obfervers. lhey addicted themfelves with wonderful application to all forts of feience ; they became very fkilful phyficians, aftronomcrs, and mathematicians; they applied in a particular manner, and with great fuccefs, to natural hiftory, and being much better acquainted with their country than we are, they were, in an efpecial manner, curious in the accounts of its productions. They paid great attention in particular to the animals whofe figures and parts are defcribed in the many books they have left us, as alfo their properties, manners, their ufes in medicine and commerce, are fet down as diftinctly and plainly as words alone could do. Their religion forbade them the ufe of drawing; this is the fource of the confufion that has happened, and this is the only advantage we have over them.
. I believe there arc very few remarkable animals, either in Africa or Arabia, that arc not ftill to he found defcribed in fome Arabian author, and it is doing the public little fer-vice, when, from vanity, we fubftitute crude imaginations of our own in place of the obfervations of men, who were natives of the country, in perpetual ufe of feeing, as living with the animals which thev defcribed. There cannot, I think, be a ftronger inftance of this, than in the fubjeet now before us ; notwithftanding what has been a:, confidently as ignorantly allerted, I will venture to affirm, that this animal, fo far from being unknown, is particularly defcribed in all
T 2 the
134 A P P END I X.
the Arabian books; neither is he without a name ; he has one by which he invariably pafles in every part of Africa, where he cxifts, which in all probability he has enjoyed as long as the lion or the tiger have theirs.. He is white, and not rofe-coloured* ; he does not burrow in the earth, but lives upon trees; he is not the jerda, but has. a, tail, and his genus is not a dog, for lie is no fox. Here is a troop of errors on one fubject, that would give any man a furfeit of modern defcription, all atiiing from conceit, the uiroetbes jlri-bendi, too great love of writing, without having been at the. pains to gain a fumcient knowledge of the fubjccT by fair inquiry and a very little reading.
The name of this quadruped all over Africa is El Fennec j fuch was the name of that 1 firft faw at Algiers; fuch it is called in the many Arabian books that have defcribed it. But this name, having no obvious fignification in Arabic, its derivation has given rife to many ill-founded guciTes, and laid it open to the conjectures of grammarians who were not naturalifts. Gollius fays, it is a weafel, and fo fay all the Arabians, He calls it mujlda fcenaria, the hay weafel, from fcenum, hay, that being the materials of which he builds his neft. But this derivation cannot be admitted, for there is no fuch thing known as hay in the country where the Fennec reticles. But fuppofmg that the dry grafs in-all countries may be called hay, ftill fcenum, a Latin word* would not be that which would exprefs it in Africa. But when we confider that long before, and ever after Alexander's conqueft, down as low as the tenth century, the language
• Sparnwo, vol. II.-p. 185.
guage of thefe countries behind Egypt was chiefly Greek, an etymology much more natural and characteristic will prefenc itfelf in the word yow% a palm tree, whence comes phcenicus, adjective, of or belonging to the palm or date-tree,
Gabriex Sionita * fays, the Fennec is a white weafel that lives in Sylvis Nigrorum, that is, in the woods of the Mclano-Ga:tuli, where indeed- no other tree grows but the palm-tree, and this juft lands us in the place from which the Fennec was brought to me at Algiers, in Bifcara, Beni-Mezzab, and Werglah. It will be obferved, that he does not fay it is an animal of Nigritia; for that country being within the tropical rains, many other trees grow befides the palm, and there the date docs not ripen ; and by its very thin hair, and fme lkin, this creature is known at firft fight to belong to a dry, warm climate. But to leave no fort of doubt, he calls him Gaetulicus, which fhews precifely what country he means. There, in the high palm-trees, of which this country is full, he writes, the Fennec builds its neft, and brings up its young. Gig-geius tells us, that their fkins are made ufe of for fine pelif-fes; Ibn Beitar, that quantities of this fur is brought from the interior parts of Africa, and Damir and Razi fay, that their fkins are ufed for fummer pelilfes f.
After leaving Algiers I met with another Fennec at Tunis ;
* Clem. 11 part i.
* Vid, Lpiii. J- Cat!, An2!i ad Gefrcrum.
nis; it had come lad from the ifland of Gerba *, and had been brought there by the caravan of Gadems, or Fezzan. I bought one at Sennaar, from whence it came I know not. 1 kept it a confiderable time in a cage, till finding it was no longer fafe for me to flay at Sennaar, 1 milled it by way of depofit in the hands of a man whom it was neceflary to deceive, with the expectation that I was to return, and only going for a few days to the camp of Shckh Adelan. It was known by Mahomet Towafh, and feveral people at Sennaar, to be frequently carried to Cairo, and to Mecca, with paroquets, and fuch curiofities which are brought by the great caravan from the Niger which traverfes the dreary defert of Selima, and takes the date villages in its way eaft-ward.
All thefe animals found at feparate times did exactly rcfemble the firft one feen at Algiers. They were all known by the name of Fennec, and no other, and laid to inhabit the date villages, where they built their nelts upon trees perfectly conformable to what the Arabian authors, whether naturalifts or hittorians, had faid ot them.
Though his favourite food feemed to be dates or any fweet fruit, yet 1 obferved he was very fond of eggs: pigeons eggs, and fmall birds eggs, were firft brought him, which he devoured with great avidity; but he did not feem to know how to manage the egg of a hen, but when broke for him, he ate it with the fame voracity as the others. When he was hungry, he would eat bread, efpecially with honey
or
* Meninx Ins.
or fugar. It was very obfcrvablc that a bird, whether confined in a cage near him, or flying acrofs the room, engrolfed his whole attention. lie followed it with his eyes wherc-cver it went, nor was he at this time to be diverted by placing bifcuit before him, and it was obvious, by the great interefl he feemed to take in its motions, that he was accustomed to watch for victories over it, citner for his plea-fure or his food. He feemed very much alarmed at the approach of a cat, and endeavoured to hide himfelf, but fhewed no fymptom of preparing for any defence. I never heard hg had any voice ; he fullered himfelf, not without fome dilliculty, to be handled in the day when he feemed rather inclined to ileep, bur was exceedingly unquiet and retllefs fo foon as night came, and always endeavouiing his efcape, and though he did not attempt the wire, yet with his fliarp teeth he very foon mattered the wood of any common bird-cage.
From the fnout to the anus he was about ten inches long, his tail live inches and a quarter, near an inch on the tip of it was black. From the point of his fore-(boulder to the point of his fore-toe, was two inches and lihs. He was two inches and a half from his occiput to the point of his nofe, the length of his ears three inches and Jths. Thefe were doubled, or had a plait on the bottom on the outlidc ; the border of his ears in the infide were thick covered with foft white hair, but the middle part was bare, and of a pink or role colour. They were about an inch and a half broad, and the Cavities within very large. It was very difficult to meafure thefe, for he was very impatient at having his ears touched, and always kept'them erect, unlets when terrified by a cat.   The pupil of his eye was large
3, and
and black, furrounded by a deep blue iris. He had ftrong, thick muftachoes ; the tip of his nofe very Iharp, black, and polhhed. His upper jaw reached beyond the lower, and had four grinders on each fide of the mouth. It has fix foreteeth in each jaw. Thofe in the under jaw are fmaller than the upper. The canine, or cutting teeth, are long, large, and exceedingly pointed. His legs are fmall, and his feet very broad; he has four toes armed with crooked, black, fharp claws ; thofe on his fore-feet more crooked and lharp than behind. All his body is nearly of a dirty white, bordering on cream colour; the hair of his belly rather whiter, fofter, and longer than the reft, and on it a number of paps, but he was fo impatient it was impoftible to count them. He very feldom extended or iliffened his tail, the hair of which was harder. He had a very fly and wily appearance. But as he is a folitary animal, and not gregarious, as he has no particular mark of feeblcncfs about him, no fhift or particular cunning which might occafion Solomon to qualify him as wife ; as he builds his neft upon trees, and not on the rock, he cannot be the faphan of the fcripture, as fome, both Jews and Arabians, not fufficiently attentive to the qualities attributed to that animal, have neverthelefs erro-neoufly imagined.
ASHKOKOo
London AM///,/ /),,-Tfftftfa. />/, i.'.A'r/'imon Sc (I
ASHKOKO,
THIS curious animal is found in Ethiopia, in the caverns of the rocks, or under the great (tones in the Mountain of the Sun, behind the queen's palace at Kofcam. It is alfo frequent in the deep caverns in the rock in many other places in Abyflinia. It does not burrow, or make holes, as the rat and rabbit, nature having interdicted him this practice by furnifhing him with feet, the toes of which are perfectly round, and of a foft, pulpy, tender fubftance; theflcfhy parts of the toes project beyond the nails, which are rather broad than fharp, much fimilar to a man's nails ill grown, and thefe appear rather given him for the defence of his foft toes, than for any active ufe in digging, to which they arc by no means adapted.
His hind foot is long and narrow, divided with two deep wrinkles, or clefts, in the middle, drawn acrofs the centre, on each fide of which the flelh rifes with confiderable pro-tuberancy, and it is terminated by three claws, the middle one is the longed. The forefoot has four toes, three difpo-Vol. V. U fed
fed in the fame proportion as the hind foot; the fourth, the large ft of the whole, is placed lower down on the fide of the foot, fo that the top of it arrives no farther than the bottom of the toe next to it. The fole of the foot is divided in the centre by deep clefts, like the other, and this cleft reaches down to the heel, which it nearly divides. 1 he whole of the forefoot is very thick, flefhy, and foft, and of a deep black colour, altogether void of hair, though the back, or upper part of it, is thick-covered like the reft of its body, down to where the toes divide, there the hair ends, fo that thefe long round toes very much refemble the fingers of a man.
In place of holes, it feems to delight in lefs clofe, or more airy places, in the mouths of caves, or clefts in the rock, or where one projecting, and being open before, affords a long retreat under it, without fear that this can ever be removed by the ftrength or operations of man. The Afhkoko arc gregarious, and frequently feveral dozens of them fit upon the great ftones at the mouth of caves, and warm themfelves in the fun, or even come out and enjoy the frefh-nefs of the fummer evening. They do not ftand upright upon their feet, but feem to fleal along as in fear, their belly being nearly clofe to the ground, advancing a few ftcps at a time, and then paufing. They have fomething very mild, feeble like, and timid in their deportment; are gentle and eafily tamed, though, when roughly handled at the firft, they bite very fevercly.
This animal is found plentifully on Mount Libanus. 1 have feen him alfo among the rucks at the Pharan Promon-
3 torium,
torium, or Cape Mahomet, which divides the Elanitic from the Heroopolitic Qulf, or Gulf of Suez. In all places they feem to be the fame, if there is any difference it is in favour of the fize and fatnefs, which thofe in the Mountain of the Sun feem to enjoy above the others. What is his food 1 cannot determine with any degree of certainty; When in my pofTemon, he ate bread and milk, and feemed rather to be a moderate than voracious feeder. I fuppofe he lives upon grain, fruit, and roots. He feemed too timid and backward in his own nature to feed upon living food, or catch it by hunting.
The total length of this animal as he fits, from the point of his nofe to his anus, is 17 inches and a quarter. The length of his fhout, from the extremity of the nofe to the occiput, is 3 inches and |ths. His upper jaw is longer than his under; his nofe ftretches half an inch beyond his chin. The aperture of the mouth, when he keeps it clofe in profile, is a little more than an inch. The circumference of his fnout around both his jaws is 3 inches and Iths ; and round his head, jufl above his ears, 8 inches and £ths; the circumference of his neck is 8 inches and a half, and its length one inch and a half. He feems more willing to turn his body altogether, than his neck alone. The circumference of his body, meafured behind his forelegs, is 9 inches and three quarters, and that of his body where greateft, eleven inches and |ths. The length of his foreleg and toe is 3 inches and a half. The length of his hind thigh is 3 inches and \rth, and the length of his hind leg to the toe taken together, is 2 feet 2 inches. The length of the forefoot is 1 inch and -|-ths; the length of the middle toe 6 lines, and its breadth 6 lines alfo.   The diftance between
U 2 the
the point of the nofe and the firft corner of the eye is one inch and £ths; and the length of his eye, from one angle to the other, 4 lines. The difference from the fore angle of his eye to the root of his ear is one inch 3 lines, and the opening of his eye 2 lines and a half. His upper lip is covered with a pencil of ftrong hairs for muftachoes, the length of which are 3 inches and iths, and thofe of his eyebrows 2 inches and iths.
He has no tail, and gives at firft fight the idea of a rat, rather than of any other creature. His colour is a grey mixt with a reddifh brown, perfectly like the wild or warren rabbit. His belly is white, from the point of the lower jaw, to where his tail would begin, if that he had one. All over his body he has fcattered hairs, ftrong and polifhed like his muftachoes, thefe are for the moft part two inehes and a quarter in length. His ears are round, not pointed. He makes no noife that ever I heard, but certainly chews the cud. To difcovcr this, was the principal reafon of my keeping him alive ; thofe with whom he is acquainted he follows with great afliduity. The arrival of any living creature, even of a bird, makes him fcek for a hiding-place, and I fhut him up in a cage with a fmall chicken, after omitting feeding him a whole day ; the next morning the chicken was unhurt, tho' the Afhkoko came to me with great figns of having fullered with hunger. I likewife made a fecond experiment, by inclofing two fmaller birds with him, for the fpace of feveral weeks ; neither were thefe hurt, though both of them fed, without impediment, of the meat that was thrown into his cage, and the fmallcft of thefe a kind of tit-moufe, feemed to be advancing in a fort ^f familiarity with him, though I never faw it venture to
perch
APPENDIX, |43
perch upon him, yet it would eat frequently, and at the fame time, of the food upon which the Afhkoko was feeding ; and in this confided chiefly the familiarity I fpeak of, for the Afhkoko himfelf never fliewed any alteration of behaviour upon the prcfence of the bird, but treated it with a kind of abfolute indifference. The cage, indeed, was large, and the birds having a perch to fit upon in the upper part of it, they did not annoy one another.
In Amhara this animal is called Afhkoko, which I apprehend is derived from the Angularity of thofe long hcrina-cious hairs, which, like fmall thorns, grow about his back, and which in Amhara are called Afhok. In Arabia and Syria he is called Ifracl's Sheep, or Gannim Ifrael, for what reafon I know not, unlefs it is chiefly from his frequenting the rocks of Horeb and Sinai, where the children of Ifrael made their forty years peregrination ; perhaps this name obtains only among the Arabians. I apprehend he is known by that of Saphan in the Hebrew, and is the animal erro-neoufly called by our tranflators Cuniculus, the rabbit or coney.
Many are the reafons againft admitting this animal, mentioned by fcripture, to be the rabbit. We know that this laft was an animal peculiar to Spain, and therefore could not be fuppofed to be either in Judea or Arabia. They are gregarious indeed, and fo far refemble each other, as alfo in point of fize, but in place of feeking houfes in the rocks, we know the cuniculus' defire is conftantly fand. They have claws, indeed, or nails, with which they dig holes or burrows, but there is nothing remarkable in them, or their frequenting rocks, fo as to be defcribed by that cir-
cumflancc;
cumflancc; neither is there any thing in the character of the rabbit that denotes excellent wifdom, or that they fup-ply the want of ftrength by any remarkable fagacity. The faphan then is not the rabbit, which laft, unlefs it was brought to him by his fhips from Europe, Solomon never faw. It was not the rabbit's particular character to haunt the rocks. He was by no means diftinguilhed for feeble-nefs, or being any way unprovided with means of digging for himfelf holes. On the contrary, he was armed with claws, and it was his character to dig fuch, not in the rocks, but in the fands. Nor was he any way diftinguilhed for wifdom, more than the hare, the hedge-hog, or any of his neighbours.
Let us now apply thefe characters to the Afhkoko. He is above all other animals fo much attached to the rock, that I never once faw him on the ground, or from among large ftones in the mouth of caves, where is his conftant re-fidence ; he is gregarious, and lives in families. He is in Judea, Paleftine, and Arabia, and confequently muft have been familiar to Solomon. For David defcribes him very pertinently, and joins him with other animals perfectly known to all men: " The hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the faphan, or alhkoko V And Solomon fays, " There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wife f —" The laphan-nim are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houfes in the rocks J." Now this, 1 think, very obvioufty fixes the Afhkoko to be the faphan, for this weaknefs feems to allude
* Pfalm civ. ver. 18.      f Prov. chap. xxx. ver. 24-      t Prov. chap. xxx. ver. 26.
hide to his feet, and how inadequate thefe are to dig holes in the rock, where yet, however, he lodges. Thefe are, as I have already obferved, perfectly round ; very pulpy, or flefhy, fo liable to be excoriated or hurt, and of a foft flefhy fubftance. Notwithstanding which, they build houfes in the very harden: rocks, more inacceftible than thofe of the rabbit, and in which they abide in greater fafety ; not by exertion of ftrength, for they have it not, but are truly as Solomon fays, a feeble folk, but by their own fagacity and judgment, and are therefore juftly defcribed as wife. 1 aftly, what leaves the thing without doubt is, that fome of the Arabs, particularly Damir, fay, that the faphan has no tail; that it is lefs than a cat, and lives in houfes, that is, not houfes with men, as there are few of thefe in the country where the faphan is ; but that he builds houfes, or nefts of ft raw, as Solomon has faid of him, in contradiftinftion to the rabbit,, and rat, and thofe other animals, that burrow in the ground, who cannot be faid to build houfes, as is exprels-ly laid of him.
The Chriftians in Abyftinia do not eat the flefh of this animal, as holding it unclean, neither do the Mahometans, who in many refpects of this kind in abitinence from wild meat, have the fame fcruple as chriftians. The Atabs in Arabia Petrea do eat it, and I am informed thofe on Mount Libanus alfo. Thofe of this kind that I faw were very fat, and their flefh as white as that of a chicken. Though I killed them frequently with the gun, yet I never happened to be alone fo as to he able to eat them. They are quite devoid of ail hnell and rankneis, which cannot be faid of the rabbit,
i 1 have.
I have no doubt that the EI Akbar and the El Webro of the Arabs, arc both the fame animal. The El Akbar only means the largefl of the Mus-montanus, under which they have claffed the Jerboa. The Jerd, and El Webro, as alfo the Afhkoko or Akbar, anfwer to the character of having no tail.
BOOTED LYNX.
TH I S is a very beautiful fpecies of Lynx, and, as far as 1 know, the fmalleft of the kind. His body from the tip of the nofe to the anus being only 22 inches. His back, neck, and forepart of his feet are of a dirty grey. His belly is of a dirty white, fpotted with undefined marks, or ftains of red. Below his eyes, and on each fide of his nofe, is a red-dim brown,the back of his ears being of the fame colour, but rather darker; the infide of his ears is very thickly clothed with fine white hair, and at the end is the pencil of hairs diflinctive of this genus. On the back of his forefeet, he has a black ftreak or mark, which reaches from his heel
1 two
two inches tip his leg. On his hinder foot he has the fame, which reaches four inches from the heel, and ends juft below the firft joint, and from this circumftance I have given him his name.
His tail is 13 inches long, the lower part of it, for 6 inches^ is occupied with black rings. Between thefe rings his tail is nearly white^ the reft much the fame color as his back. From his nofe to his occiput is 4 inches and three quarters. From one eye to the other, meafuring acrofs his nofe, is one inch and three quarters. From the bafe of one ear to that of the other, is 2 inches and jths. The aperture of the eye three quarters of an inch, and of a yellow iris. The length of his ear from its bafe to the point of the pencil of hairs at the top of it, 4 inches and three quarters. From the fole of his forefoot to his Ihoulder, as he ftands, 13 inches and three quarters. From the fole of his hind foot, to the top of his rump, 15 inches and a quarter.
He has very much the appearance of a common cat, both from the length of his tail, and the ftiape of his head, which however is broader, and his neck thicker than that of a domeftic animal. He is an inhabitant of Ras el Feel, and, fmall as he is, lives among thofe tyrants of the foreft, the elephant and rhinoceros. I do not mean that he has any hunting connections with them, as the jackal with the lion, I rather think'he-avails himfelf of what is left by the hunters of the carcafes of thofe huge beafts. But the chief of all his food is the Guinca-hen, of which the thickets and bullies of this country are full. For thefe he lurks chiefly at the pools of water when they drink, and in this act of violence I furprifed him.   He is faid to be exceedingly
Vol. V. X fierce,
fierce, and to attack a man if any way prefTed. At this time he mounts eafily upon the higheft trees ; at other times he is content with hiding himfelf in bufh.es, but in the feafon of the fly he takes to holes and caverns in the ground. I never faw its young ones, nor did I ever hear any noife it makes, for the fhot killed him outright, but did not in the leaft disfigure him; fo that the reader may depend upon this representation of him as I have given it, with all pofli-ble truth and precilion.
Or
Of BIRDS.
HE number of birds in Abyflinia exceeds that of other
X animals beyond proportion. The high and low countries are equally flored with them, the firft kind are the carnivorous birds. Many fpecies of the eagle and hawk, many more ftill of the vulture kind, as it were overftock all parts of this country. That fpecies of glede called Haddaya, fo frequent in Egypt, comes very punctually into Ethiopia, at the return of the fun, after the tropical rains. The quantity of fhcll-fifh which then covers the edges of the defert, and leaves the fait fprings where they have been nourifhed, furprifcd by the heat, and deferted by the moifture, are the firft food thefe birds find in their way. They then are fupplied in the neighbouring Kolla, by the carca-fes of thofe large beafts, the elephant, rhinoceros, and gi-raffa, the whole tribe of the deer kind, and the wild aftes
X 2
that
that are flain by the hunters, part of which only are ufed in food.
The vafl quantity of field-rats and mice that appear after harveft, and fwarm in the cracks, or fiiTures in the ground, are their next fupply. But above all, the great flaughter made of cattle upon-the march of the army, the beads of burden which die under carriage and ill treatment, the number of men that perifh by difeafe and by the fword, whofe carcafes are never buried by this barbarous and unclean people, compofe fuch a quantity, and variety of carrion, that it brings together ac one time a multitude of birds of prey, it would feem there was not fuch a number in the whole earth. Thefe follow the camp, and abide by it; indeed, they feem another camp round it, for, befides thofe that ventured among the tents, I have feen the fields covered on every fide as far as the eyes could reach, and the branches of the trees ready to break .under .the pref-lure of their weight.
This unclean multitude remain together in perfect peace till the rains become conftant and heavy; which deprive them of their food by forcing the hunters and armies to retire home. Nor are other circumflances wanting equally obvious, which account for the great number of birds that live on infects. The fly, of which we have already fpoken to often, reigns in great fwarms from May to September on the plains, and in all the low country down to the fands of Atbara. Thefe are attended by a multitude of enemies, fome of whom feck them for food; others feem to perfe-cute them from hatred, or for fport, from the multitude they fcatter upon the ground, without further care concerning
ing them. Money is the principal food of all ranks of people in Abyflinia, and confequently a multitude of bees are produced everywhere. Part of thefe are kept in large cages, or baikets, hung upon the trees; others attach .them-* felves to the branches, others build nefts in the foft wood of the trees, efpccially the Bohabab, whofe large and fragrant flower furnifhes them with a honey which it flrongly perfumes. The honey generally borrows its colour from the flowers and herbs from whence it is gathered. AtDix-an we were furprifed to fee the honey red like blood, and nothing can have an appearance more difgufting than this, when mixed with melted butter. There are bees which build in the earth, whofe honey is nearly black, as has been obferved by the jefuit Jerome Lobo, I willingly place this truth to his credit, the only one, I think, I can find in his natural hiftory, a fmall atonement for the multitude of falsehoods this vain and idle romancer has told on every oOcaflon. Nor are the granivorous birds fewer in number or worfe provided for ; all the trees and fhrubs in Abyflinia bear flowers, and confequently feeds, berries, or fruit, of fome kind or other; food for all or fome particular fpecies of birds. Every tree and bu(h carries thefe likewife in all ftages of ripenefs, in all fcalbns of the year.
This is, however, not to be underftood as meaning that any tree produces in the fame part, fruit or flowers more than once a-year; but the time of each part's bearing is very particularly diftributed. The well fide of every tree is the firft that bloftbms, there its fruit proceeds in all ftages of ripenefs till it fallsvto the ground. It is fucceed-ed by the fouth, which undergoes the fame procefs. From this it croifes the tree, and the north is next in fruit; laft
2 of:
of all comes the eaft, which produces flowers and fruit till the beginning of the rainy feafon. In the end of April new leaves pufh off the old ones without leaving the tree at any time bare, fo that every tree in Abyflinia appears to be an evergreen. The laft I faw in flower was the coffee-tree at Emfras the 20th of April 1770: from this time till the rains begin, and all the feafon of them, the trees get fully into leaf, and the harvcfl, which is generally in thefe months throughout Abyflinia, fupplies the deficiency of the feed upon bullies and trees. All the leaves of the trees in Abyflinia arc very highly varnifhed, and of a tough leather like texture, which enables them to fupport the con-ftant and violent rains under which they are produced.
This provilion made for granivorous birds, in itfelf fo ample, is doubled by another extraordinary regulation. The country being divided by a ridge of mountains, a line drawn along the top of thefe divides the feafons likewife ; fo that thofe birds to whom any one food is neceffary become birds of paffage, and,by a fhort migration,find the fame feafons, and the fame food, on the one fide, which the rains and change of weather had deprived them of on the other.
There is no great plenty of water-fowd in Abyflinia, efpccially of the web-footed kind. I never remember to have feen one of thefe that are not common in moil parts of Europe. Vaft variety of ftorks cover the plains in May, when the rains become conilant. The large indigenous birds that relide conllantly on the high mountains of hamen and Taranta, have moft of them an extraordinary proviiion made againft the wet and the weather; each feather is a tube, from the pores of which ifluc a very fine dull
or powder, in fuch abundance as to ftain the hand upon graiping them. I his I mall prefently mention in the defcription/ of one of thefe birds, the golden eagle of bamak mon. In-looking at this duil through a very ftrong magnifying power, I thought I difcerned it to be in form of a number of fine feathers.
Though all the deep and graffy bogs have fnipes in them, I never once faw a woodcock : fwallows there are of many kinds, unknown in Europe; thofe that are common in Europe appear in paffage at the very feafon when they take their flight from thence. We faw the greateft part of them in the illand of Mafuah where they lighted and tarried two days, and thenproceeded with moon light nights to the fouth-welt. But I once faw in the country of the Baharnagafh, in the province of Tigre, the blue forked-tailed fwallow, which builds in the windows in England, making his neft out of feafon, when he fhould have been upon his migration ; this I have already taken notice of in my journey from Mafuah to Gondar.
There are few owls in Abyflinia ; but thofe arc of an immenfe fize and beauty. The crow is marked white and black nearly in equal portions. There is one kind of raven ; he, too, of a large fize, his feathers black intermixed with brown ; his beak tipt with white, and a figure like a cup or chalice of white feathers on his occiput, or hinder part of his head. I never faw either fparrow, magpie, or bat in Abyffinia. Pigeons are there in great numbers, and of many varieties j fome of them very excellent for eating. I fhall hereafter defcribe one of them whofe name is Waalia. All the pigeons but one fort are birds of pallagc, that one lives
in
in the caves of houfes or holes in the walls, and this is not eaten, but accounted unclean for a very whimfical reafon ; they fay it has claws like a falcon, and is a mixture from that bird. The fame fort of imagination is that of the Turks, who fay, that the Turkey, from the tuft of black hair that is upon his breaft, partakes of the nature of the hog. This pigeon's feet are indeed large, but very different information from that of the falcon.
There are no geefe in Abyilinia, wild or tame, excepting what is called the Golden Goofe, Goofe of the Nile, or Goofe of the Cape, common in all the South of Africa: thefe build their nefts upon trees, and when not in water, generally fit upon them.
I have already fpoken of fifties, and have entered very fparingly into their hiftory. Thefe, and other marine productions of the Arabian Gulf, or even the fmall fharc that I have painted and collected, would occupy many large volumes to exhibit and defcribe, and would coft, in the engraving, a much larger fum than J have any profpect of ever being able to afford.
:NISSEIU
LotuLtri fu/>////tU /hi rr''/py. tw t'A'ofa/i.um Ik to .
ATP END IX.
NISSER, or GOLDEN EAGLE.
1HAVE ventured from his colour to call this bird the Golden Eagle, by way of diftinclion, as its Ethiopic name, Nifler, is only a generic one, and imports no more than the Englilh name, Eagle. He is called by the vulgar Abou Duch'n, or Father Long Beard, which we may imagine was given him from the tuft of hair he has below his beak.
1 suppose him to be not only the largefl of the eagle kind, but furely one of the largeil birds that flies. From wing to wing he was 8 feet 4 inches. From the tip of his tail to the point of his beak when dead, 4 feet 7 inches. He weighed 22 pounds, was very full of flelfi. He feemed remarkably fhort in the legs, being only four inches from the joining of the foot to where the leg joins the thigh, and from the joint of the thigh to the johiing of his body 6 Vol, V. Y inches.
inches. The thicknefs of his thigh was little lefs than 4. inches; it was extremely mufcular, and covered with flefh. His middle claw was about 2 inches and a half long, not very fharp at the point, but extremely ftrong. From the root of the bill, to the point, was 3 inches and a quarter, and one inch and three quarters in breadth at the root. A forked brufh of ftrong hair, divided at the point into two, proceeded from the cavity of his lower jaw at the beginning of his throat. He had the fmalleft eye I ever remember to have feen in a large bird, the aperture being fcarcely half an inch. The crown of his head was bare or bald, fo was-the front where the bill and fcull joined.
This noble bird was not an object of any chace or pur-fuit, nor flood in need of any ftratagem to bring him within our reach. Upon the higheft top of the mountain La-malmon, while my fervants were refrefhing themfelves from that toilfome rugged afcent,and enjoying the pleafure of a moft. delightful climate, eating their dinner in the outer air with feveral large dilhes of boiled goats flefh before them, this enemy, as he turned out to be to them, appeared Suddenly ; he did not ftoop rapidly from a height, but came flying flowly along the ground, and fat down clofe to the meat within the ring the men had made round it, A great fhout, or rather cry of diftrefs, called me to the place. I faw the eagle ftand for a minute as if to recollect himfelf, while the fervants ran for their lances and fhields. I walked up as nearly to him as I had time to do. His attention was fully fixed upon the flefh. ] faw him put his foot into the pan where was a large piece in water prepared for boiftvg, but finding the fmart which he had
not
not expected, he withdrew it, and forfook the pic ce which he held.
There were two large pieces, a leg and a fhoulder, lying upon a wooden platter, into thefe he miffed both his claws, and carried them off, but I thought he looked willfully at the large piece which remained in the warm water. Away he went flowly along the ground as he had come. The face of the cliff over which criminals are thrown took him from our fight. The Mahometans that drove the affes, who had, as we have already obferved in the courfe of the journey, fuffcred from the hyaena, were much alarmed, and af. fured me of his return. My fervants, on the other hand, very unwillingly expected him, and thought he had already more than his fhare.
As I had myfelf a defire of more intimate acquaintance with him, I loaded a rifle-gun with ball, and fat down clofe to the platter by the meat. It was not many minutes before he came, and a prodigious fhout was raifed by my attend-ants,Heis coming,he is coming,enough to have difcouraged a lefs courageous animaL Whether he was not quite fo hungry as at the fir ft vifit, or fufptcted Something from my appearance, I know not, but he made a fmall turn, and fat down about ten yards from me, the pan with the meat being between me and him. As the field was clear before me, and I did not know but his next move might bring him oppofite to fome of my people, and fo that he might actually get the reft of the meat and make off, I fhot him with the ball through the middle of his body about two inches below the wing, fo that he lay down upon the grafs without a finglc flutter.   Upon laying hold of his monftrous carcafe, I was
Y 2 not
153 APPENDIX,
»oc a little furpriied at feeing (my hands covered and-tinged with yellow powder or dull. Upon turning him upon hii belly, and examining the feathers of his back, they produced a brown dud, the colour of the feathers there. This dull was not in fmall quantities, for, upon ftrikrng his bread, the yellow powder flew in fully, greater quantity than from a hair-dreffer's powderpufE The feathers of the belly and breaft, which were of a gold colour, did not appear to have any thing extraordinary hi their formation, but the largcfeathersin the moulder and wings feemed apparently to be fine tubes,which upon:• prelTure fcattered this dufl upon the finer part of the fea* ther, but this was brown, the colour of the feathers of the back. Upon the fide of the wing, the ribs, or hard part of the feather, feemed to be bare as if worn, or, I rather think, were renewing themfelves, having before failed in their func^ tion.
What is the reafon of this extraordinary provifion ofna* lure is not in my power to -determine. As it is an unufual one, it is probably meant for a defence againfl the climate in favour of thofe birds which live in thofe almofl inaccef-fible heights of a country, doomed, even in its lower parts,, to feveral months of exceflive rain. The pigeons we faw upon Lamalmon, had not this dull in their feathers, nor. had the quails ; from which I guefs thefe to be flrangers, or birds of paflage, that had no need of this provifion, created for the wants of the indigenous, fuch as this eagle is, for. he is unknown in the low country. That fame day I fhot a heron, in nothing different from ours, only that he was. fnialler, who had upon his breaft and back a blue powder, in full as great quantity as that of the eagle.
BL ACICv
APPENDIX- I53.
BLACK EAGLE,
THIS beautiful bird was the fir ft fubjecl: that fufTered the lofs of liberty, after the king and whole army had vindicated theirs, had palTcd the Nile iri circtimftances fcarcely within the bounds of credibility, had efcaped all the deep-laid fchemes of Fafil, and by a train of accidents almoft miraculous, palled triumphantly on before him aft ter the battle of Limjour, having joined Kefla Yafous, advanced and encamped at Dingleber the 28th of May 1770.'
This bird, who from the noblenefs of his kind was ap* politely enough thought to be a type of the king, fell by a fate, in which he ftill more refembied him, overpowered by the ftrength and number of a fpecies of bird:, in cha* racier infinitely below him. It has been repeatedly ob^ ferved in the courfe of my narrative, that an inconceivable
number*
number of birds and beads of prey, efpecially the former, follow an AbylTinian army pace by pace, from the firft day of its march till its return, increafing always in prodigious proportion the more it advances into the country. An army there leaves nothing living behind, not the veftige of habitation, but the fire and the fword reduces everything to a wildcrnefs and folitude.
The beafts and birds unmolefted have the country to themfelves, and increafe beyond all pofliblc conception. The flovenly manner of this favage people, who after a battle neither bury friends nor enemies, the quantity of beafts of burden that die perpetually under the load of baggage, and variety of milmanagement, the quantity of offal and half-eaten carcafes of cows, goats, and fheep, which they confume in their march for their fuftenance, all furnilh a ftock of carrion fufheient to occafion contagious diftempers, were there not fuch a prodigious number of voracious attendants, who confume them almoft before .putrefaction. In their voracious ftomachs lies the grave of the braveft foldier, uniefs very high birth or office, or very extraordinary affection in their attendants, procure them a more decent, though more uncommon fate, a fepulchre in a neighbouring church-yard. There is no giving the reader any idea of their number, uniefs by comparing them to the fand of the fea. While the army is in motion they are a black canopy, which extend over it for leagues. When encamped, the ground is difcolourcd with them beyond the fight of the eye, all the trees arc loaded with them. I need not fay that thefe are all carrion birds, fuch as the vulture, kite, and raven, that is a fpecies to which nature has refu-i fed
fed both the inclination and the power of feeding- upon living fubj eels.
By what accident this fmall eagle, who was not a carrion bird, came among thefe cowardly and unclean feeders, is more than I can fay ; but it met the fate very common to thofe who alTort with bad company, and thofe of fcnti-ments and manners inferior to their own. One of thefe, a kite, vulture, or raven, I know not which, ftruck the poor eagle down to the ground juft before the door of the king's tent, and hurt him fo violently, that he had fcarcely ltrength to flutter under the canopy where the king was fitting; pages and officers of the bed-chamber foon feized him. It was not long before they made the application that the king was to be dethroned by a fubj eel, and Fafil was in everybody's mouth. The omen was of the kind too un-pleafant to be dwelt upon ; the fenlible people of the attendants hurried it awray, and it of courfe came to me with all the circumftances of the accident, the moral of that tale, and twenty prophecies that we.-j current to confirm it. I confefs my own weaknefs; at firit it made a ftrong impref-fion upon me. In the moment the paflage of Shakeipeare came into my mind,
•---" On Tucfday laft,
" A falcon tow'ring in his pride of place,
41 Was by a moufing owl hawk'd at and kill'd."
And this recollection occupied my mind fo forcibly, that I flood for a moment fpecchlefs, and as it were rivetted to the ground.   This behaviour, unufual in me, who ufed always
to
te laugh at their prefages, and prophecies, was obferved by the page that brought me the bird, and was reported to the king; and though he did not fpeak of it that time, yet fome days after, when I was taking my leave of him, on his retreat from Gondar to Tigre, he mentioned it to me faid we were miftaken, for the omen referred to PowulTen* of Begemder, and not to Waragna Fafil.
ArTER fketching his genteel and noble manner while alive, our unfortunate prifoner found his death by the needle, was put out of light, and carried to Gondar, where the drawing was finifhed. He was altogether of a dark brown, or chefhut, leading to black. The whole length, from the extremity of the tail to the nofe, was two feet four inches. The breadth, from wing to wing, four feet fix inches. He was very lean, and weighed fomething lefs than five pounds. The fourth feather of his wing after the three largeft, was white. The leathers of the lower fide of his tail were of a bluilh brown, checkered with white, and thofe of the upper fide of the tail were black and white alternately. His thighs were thick-covered with feathers, and fo were his legs, down to the joiningof the foot. His feet were yellow, with ftrong black claws. The infide of his wings was white, with a mixture of brown. His leg, from the joining of the foot, was three inches. His beak, from the point to where-thefeathers reached, was two inches arid a quart* The length of his creft from the head to the longeit feather, five inches. The eye was black, with a call of fue colour in it, the iris yellow, and the whole eye exceedingly beautiful. He feemed wonderfully tame, or rather iluggiih, but whether that was from his nature or o misfcr-
misfortune I cannot be a judge, never having feen another.
RACHAMAH.
npHIS bird is met with in fome places in the fouth of Syria and in Barbary, but is no where fo frequent as in Egypt and about Cairo. It is called, by the Europeans, Poule de Faraone, the hen or bird of Pharaoh, It is a vulture of the lcfTer kind, not being much larger than our rook or crow, though, by the length of its wings, and the erect manner in which it carries its head, it appears confiderably larger. In Egypt and all over Barbary it is called Rachamah, and yet it has been very much doubted what bird this was, as v/ell as what was the origin of that name. Some of the Arabs will have it derived from Archam, which fignilies variegated, or of different colours. It has been anfwercd, that this is not the derivation, as archam in Arabic figni-fics variegated, or of more colours than two or three blended Vol. V. Z together,
together, whereas this is in its feathers only black and white, feparate from one another, and cannot be called variegated. But I mull here obferve, that this is by no means a proper interpretation of the Arabic word. Among many examples I could give, I fhall adduce but one. There is a particular kind of fheep in Arabia Felix, whofe head and part of the neck are black, and the red of the beaft white; it is chiefly found between Mocha and the btraits of Babelmandeb. This in Arabic is called Rachama, for no other reafon but becaufe it is marked black and white, which are precifely the two colours which diftinguifh the bird before us.
But 1 ftill am induced to believe the origin of this bird's name has an older and more claflical derivation than that which we have juft fpoken of. We know from Horus Apollo, in his book upon Hieroglyphics, that the Rachma, or fhe-vulture, was facred to Ifis, and that its feathers adorned the ftatue of that goddefs.   He fays it was the emblem of parental affection, and that the Egyptians, about to write an affectionate mother, painted a fhe-vulture.   He fays further, that this female vulture, having hatched its young ones, continues with them one hundred and twenty days, providing them with all neccflaries ; and, when the flock of food fails them, fhe tears off the flefhy part of her thigh, and feeds them with that and the blood which flows from the wound.   Rachama, then, is good Hebrew, it is from Rcchem, female love, or attachment, from an origin which it cannot have in men.   In this fenfe we fee it ufed with great propriety in the firft book of Kings *,
in
* Chap. iii. ver. 26.
APPFNDIX. 165
in Ifaiah*, and in Lamenranons f, and it feems particularly to mean what the Egyptians made it a hieroglyphic of in very ancient ages, and before the time of Mofes, maternal affection towards their progeny. No mention is here made of the male Rachama, nor was he celebrated for any particular quality.
From this filence, or negative perfonage in him, arofe a fable that there was no male in this fpecies. Horus /\pollo J, after naming this bird always in the feminine gender, tells us roundly, that there is no male of the kind, but that the female conceives from the fouth wind. Plutarch §, Am-mianus ||, and all the Greeks, fay the fame thing; and Tzetzes 1f, after having repeated the fame flory at large, tells us that he took it all from the Egyptians, fo there feems to be little doubt either of the origin or meaning of the name.
The fathers in the firft ages, after the c^eath of Chrift, feem to have been wonderfully preffed in point of argument before they could have recourfe to a fable like this to vindicate the pofiibility of the Virgin Mary's conception without human means. Tertullian^Orginesj, Bazil=, and Am-brofius ++,are all wild enough to found upon this ridiculous argument, and little was wanting for fome of thefe
Z 2 learned
* Chap. xlix. ver. 15. % Hieroglyph, lib. 5 cap. u.
I! Lib. xvii. * In Valentin, cap. 10. -- In hcxaem homil. 8.
f Chap. iv. ver. 10. § Plut. In qucfl-. Rom. quefl. 93. f Chi!. 12. hifr. 439.
4 Lib i. Contra Celfum. ++ In hcxaem, page 2^.
learned ones to land this fable upon Mofes, who probably knew it as a vulgar error before his time, but was very far from paying any regard to it; on the contrary, it is with the utmoit propriety and prccilion, that, fpcaking to the people, he calk it Rachama in the feminine, becaufe he was then giving them a lift of birds forbidden to be ate *, among which he felccted the female vulture, as that was beft known, and the great object of idolatry and fuperfti-tion; and the male, and all the lefTer abominations of that fpecies, he included together in the word that followed Ms kind ; though the Englifh tranflator, by calling the female vulture him, has introduced an impropriety that there was not the lcaft foundation for. That Mofes was not the author of or believer in this Egyptian fable, is plain from a vcrfe in Exodus, where, at another time, he fpeaks of this bird as a male, and calls him Racham, and not Rachama.
w - * " v ' * 1f\      * t    *   ■ r
It will not be improper that I here take notice, that the Englifh tranflator, by hisjignorance of language, has loft all the beauty and even the fenfe of the Hebrew original. He makes God fay, Ye have feen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myfelf t"- Now, if the cxpreflion had been really Eagle, the w bid would have been Nifr, and would have fignified nothing; but,in placeof eagle, God fays Vulture, the emblem of maternal affection and maternal tendernefs towards his children, which has a particular connection with,u brought you-unto myfelf," fo that the paflage will run thus, Say to the
children*
Dent. chap, xiv, v«r.. 13.
■f Exod, chap. xix. ver. 4,.
APPENDIX, 167
children of Ifrael, See how I have punifhed the Egyptians, while I bore you up on the wings of the Rachama, that is, of parental tendernefs and affection, and brought you home to myfelf. It is our part to be thankful that the truths of Holy Scripture arc preferved to us entire, but ftill it is a rational regret that great part of the beauty of the original is loft.
Notwithstanding all thathas been faid, this bird has been miftaken nearly by all the interpreters Hebrews, Syrians, and Samaritans; the Greeks, from imaginations of their own, have thought it to be the pelican, the ftork, the fwan, and the merops. Bochart, after a variety of gueffes, acknowledges his own ignorance, and excufes it by laying equal blame upon others. Hitherto, fays he, we have not been able to condefcend upon what bird this was, becaufe thofe that have wrote concerning it were as ignorant in the natural hiftory of things as they were fkilful in the interpretation of words*
The point of the beak of this bird is black, very fharp and ftrong for about three quarters of an inch, it is then covered by a yellow, flefhy membrane, which clothes it as it were both above and below, as likewife the forepart of the head and throat, and ends in a fharp point before, nearly oppofite to where the neck joins the breaft ; this membrane is wrinkled, and has a few hairs growing thinly fcattered upon the lower part of it. It has large, open noftrils, and prodigious large ears, which are not covered by any feathers whatever. The botly is' perfect white from the middle of the head, where it joins the yellow membrane, down to the tail.   The large feathers of its wing
arc-
arc black; they are fix in number. The lefTer feathers are three, of an iron-grey, lighter towards the middle, and thefe are covered with three others leflerftill, but of the fame form, of an iron rufty colour ; thofe feathers that cover the large wing-feathers are at the top for about an inch and a quarter of an iron-grey, but the bottom is pure white. The rail is broad and thick above, and draws to a point at the bottom. It is not compofed of large feathers, and is not half an inch longer than the point of its wings. Its thighs are cloathed with a foft down-like feather, as far as the joint. Its legs are of a dirty white, inclining to flefh colour, rough, with fmall tubercules which are foft and flefhy. It has three toes before, and one behind; the middle of thefe is confiderably the longeft; they are armed with black claws, rather ftrong than pointed, or much crooked. It has no voice that ever I heard, generally goes fingle, and oftener fits and walks upon the ground than upon trees. It delights in the mofl putrid and flinking kind of carrion, has itfelf a very ftrong fmell, and putrifies very fpecdily.
It is a very great breach of order, or police, to kill any one. of thefe birds near Cairo. But as there are few of its fpecies in Egypt, and its name is the fame all over Africa and Arabia, it feems to me flrange that the Arabian or pie-brew writers fhould have found fo much difficulty in dif-covering what was the bird. It lays but two eggs, and builds its nefl in the mofl defert parts of the country. More of its hiflory or manners I do not know. rIhe books are full of fanciful florics concerning it, which the inftructed reader at firfl fight will know to be but fable.
* ERKOOM
E   R   K   O   O M.
IT would appear that this bird is part of a large tribe, the greateit variety in which lies in his. beak and horn. The horn he wears fometimes upon the beak, and fometimes-upon the forehead above the root of the beak. Thefe are the only parrs that appear in collections. I gave to the cabinet of the king of France the firft bird of this kind feen entire, and I have here exhibited the firft figure and defcription of it that ever was feen in natural hiftory, drawn from the life. In the eaft part of Abyflinia it is called Abba Gumba, in the language of Tigre; on the weftern fide of the Tacazze it is called Erkoom; the firft of its names is appare rly from the groaning noife it makes, the fecond has no fignification in any language that I know.
At Ras el Feel, in my return through Sennaar, I made this drawing from a very entire bird, but flightly wound-
ed;;
ed; it was in that country called Teir el Naciba, the bird of deftiny. This bird, or the kind of it, is by naturaliils called the Indian crow, or raven ; for what reafon it is thus clafTcd is more than I can tell. The reader will fee, when I delcribe his particular parts, whether they agree with thofe of the raven or not. There is one charact.eriftic of the raven which he certainly has, he walks, and does not hop or jump in the manner that many others of that kind do ; but then he, at times, runs with very great velocity, and, in running, very much rcfembles the turkey, or buflard, when his head is turned from you.
The colour of the eye of this bird is of a dark brown, or rather reddifti call; but darker ftill as it approaches the pupil; he has very large cye-lafhcs, both upper and lower, but efpccially his upper.    From the point of the beak to the extremity of the tail is 3 feet 10 inches ; the breadth from one point of the wing to the other extended, is 6 feet, and the length 22 inches.   The length of the neck 10 inches7 and its thicknefs 3 inches and a half; the length of the beak meafuring the opening near the head flraight to the point, 10 inches; and from the point of the beak to the root of the horn 7 inches and >ths.   The whole length of the horn is 3 inches and a half.    The length of the horn from the foot to the extremity where it joins the beak, is 4 inches.    The thicknefs of the beak in front of the opening is one inch and frchs.   The thicknefs of the horn in front is one inch and |ths. The horn in height, taken from the upper part of the point to the beak, 2 inches,   The length of the thighs 7 inches, and that of tl ' legs 6 inches and £ths. The thicknefs in profile 7 lines, and in front 4 lines and a half.  It has three toes before and one behind, but they are not very ftrong, nor feem-
2 ingly
ingly made to tear up carcafes. The length of the foot to the hinder toe is one inch 6 lines, the innermoft is one inch 7 lines, the middle 2 inches 2 lines, and the lafl outer one 2 inches one line.
This bird is all of a black, or rather black mixed with foot-colour; the large feathers of the wing are ten in number, milk-white both without and within. The tip of his wings reaches very nearly to his tail; his beak and head meafured together are 11 inches and a half, and his head 3 inches and a quarter. At his neck he has thofe protuberances like the Turkey-cock, which are light-blue, but turn red upon his being chafed, or in the time the hen is laying.
I have feen the Erkoom with eighteen young ones; it runs upon the ground much more willingly than it Hies, but when it is ,raifed, flies both ftrong and far. It has a rank, fmell, and is faid to live in Abyflinia upon dead car-cafes. I never faw it approach any of thefe ; and what convinces me this is untrue, is, that I never faw one of them follow the army, where there was always a general afTembly of all the birds of prey in Abyilinia.
It was very eafy to fee what was its food, by its place of rendezvous, which was in the fields of tcft, upon the tops of which are always a number of green beetles, thefe he flrips oif by drawing the (talk through his beak, and which operation wears his hcak fo that it appears to be ferrated, and, often as I had occafion to open this bird, I never found in him any thing but the green fcarabeus, or beetle. He has a putrid or flinking fmell, which I fuppofe is the reafon he has been imagined to feedflupon carrion.
Vol. V. A a The
The Erkoom builds in large, thick trees, always, if he: can, near churches j has a covered'net! like that of a magpie, but four times as large as the eagle's. It places its neft firm upon the trunk, without endeavouring to make k high from the ground ; the entry is always on the eall fide. It would feem that the Indian crow of Bomitis is of this kind: it is difficult, however, of belief, that his natural food is nutmegs ; for there feems nothing in his ftruetaire or inclination, which is walking on the ground, that is nc> ceiTary or convenient for taking fuch food.
A B O U HANNES,
THE ancient and true name of this bird feems to be loft; The prefent one is fancifully given from observation of a circumftance of its ceconomy ; tranflated, it fignifies, Fa*, ther John, and the reafon is, that it appears on St John's dayr the precife time when firft the frefh water of the tropical rains is known in Egypt to have mixed with the Nile, and to
a have
() K/A.
>o// . / (///{/sr. j
liave made it lighter, fweeter, and more exhaleable in dew, that is in the beginning of the feafon of the tropical rains, when all water-fowl, that are birds of paflage, refort to Ethiopia in great numbers.
As I have obferved this bird has loll its name, fo in the hiftory of Egypt and Ethiopia we have loft a bird, once very remarkable, of which now nothing remains but the name, this is the Ibis, to which divine honours were paid, whofe bodies were embalmed and prcferved with the fame care as thofe of men. There ftill remain many repofitorics full of them in Egypt, and appear everywhere in collections in the hands of the curious. Though the manner that thefe birds are prepared, and cauftic ingredients, with which the body is injected, have greatly altered the confiftency of their parts, and the colour of their plumage, yet it is from thefe, viewed and compared deliberately, and at leifure, that I am convinced the Abou .Hanncs is neither more nor lefs ihan the Ibis.
Several authors, treating of this bird, have involved it in more than Egyptian darknefs. They have firft faid it was a ftork, then the hcematopus, or red-lcggcd heron ; they then fay its colour is of a fine fhining black, its beak and legs of a deep red. Some have laid it was from it that men learned the way to adminifter clyfters, others, that it conceived at the beak, and even laid eggs that way, and that its flefh is fweet and red like that of a lalmon. All thefe and many more are fables. We know from Plutarch, that in the plumage, it is black and white like the pclargus. And the mummy pits, by furniihing part of the bird itfelf, confirm us in the opinion.
A a 2 The
The Abou Hanncs has a beak fhapcd like that of a curlew, two-thirds of which is ftraight, and the remaining third crooked ; the upper part of a green, horny fubftance, and the lower black. From the occiput to where it joins the beak is four inches and a half. Its leg, from the lower joint of the thigh to the foot, is fix inches, the bone round and ftrong, according to the remark of Cicero, and from the lower joint of the thigh, to where it joins the body, is live inches and a half. The height of the body as it Hands, from the fole of its foot to the middle of the back, is nineteen inches. The aperture of the eye is one inch. Its feet and legs are black ; has three toes before, armed with fharp, ftraieht claws : it has a toe alfo behind. Its head is brown, and the fame colour reaches down to the back, or where the back joins with the neck. Its throat is white, fo are its breaft, back, and thighs. The largeft feathers of its wings are a deep black for thirteen inches from the* tail, and from the extremity of the tail, fix inches up the back is black likewife.
Now the meafures of the beak, the tibia, the thigh-bone, . and the fcull, compared with the molt perfect of the embalmed birds taken from the mummy pits, do agree in every thing as exactly as can be expected. The length of the beak in my drawing feems to exceed that of the embalmed bird, but I will not be pofitive ; this fmall error is not in the de-fign, though the white feathers are fcorched in the embalmed birds, yet there is no difficulty in perceiving the colour diflinetly ; there is lefs in diflinguifhing the black upon the wings and above its rump. The meafure of both fo exactly agree that they can fcarcely be miftaken.
The
The reafon, we are told, why this bird was held in fuch veneration in' Egypt, was the great enmity it had to fer-pents, and the ufe of freeing the country from them ; but for my own part, I muft confefs, that as I know, for certain, there are no quantity of ferpents in Egypt, as the reafon of things is that they fhould be few, fo I can never make myfelf believe they ever were in fuch abundance, as to need any particular agent to diftinguifh itfelf by dellroying them. Egypt Proper, that is the cultivated and inhabited part of it, is overflowed for five months every year by the Nile, and it is impoflible vipers can abound where there is fuch long and regular refrigerations. The viper cafts his fkin in May, and is immediately after in his renewed youth and fulnefs of vigour. All this time he would be doomed in Egypt to live under water, or hid in fome hole, and this is the time when the Ibis is in Egypt, fo that the end of his coming would be fruftratcd by the abfence of his enemy. The vipers have their abode in the fandy defert of Libya, where even dew does not fall, where the fand is continually in motion, parched with hot winds, and glowing with the fcorching rays of the fun. There the Ibis could not live ; the country is not inhabited by man, and confequently vipers there would be no nuifancc. Nay, we know thefe vipers of Libya are an article of commerce in Egypt, The Theriac is compofed of them at Venice and at Pvomc, and they are difper-fed for the ufes of medicine throughout the different parts of the world.
Now, in this light, the Ibis could not live among them, nor would he be of benefit even if he could; but as wc. have it from a number of credible hiftorians that the Ibis was plentiful in Egypt, that vipers, at leaft, in fome part of
i it,
it, were fo frequent as to be a nuifance, and that we know as furcly two other things, that neither the vipers are a nuifance, nor is the Ibis in Egypt at this day, we muft look for fome change in the ceconomy ,of the country which can account for this.
We know in a mariner not to doubt, that in ancient times Egypt was inhabited, and extended to the edges of the Li-* byan Defert; nay, in fome places, confiderably into it; large lakes were dug in this country by their firft kings, and thefe, filled in the time of the Nile's inundation, continued im-menfe refervotrs, which were let out by degrees to water the plantations and pleafure-ground that had been created by man, in what was formerly a defert. Nothing in fact was wanting but water, and thefe large lakes fupplied this want abundantly, by furnifhing water of the pureft and moll perfect kind : in the neighbourhood of thefe artificial plantations, there can be no doubt the viper muft be a nuifance. Being indigenous in this his domieil, it is not probable he would quit it eafily, and any deficiency of them in number would not have failed to be fupplied from the deferts in the neighbourhood. The prodigious pools of ftagnant water would bring the Ibis thither, and place him near his enemy, and after man had once difcerned his ufe, gratitude would ioon lead him to reward him.
But after, When thefe i mm en fe lakes, and the conduits leading to them, were neglected, and the works ruined which conducted thefe artificial inundations, and covered the deferts of Libya with verdure ; when war and tyranny, and every fort of bad government, made people fly from ithe country, or live prccarioufty and infecurc in it, all this
temporary
temporary paradtfe vanifhed: the land was. (tfgrflowed more; the finds of the defert-refumed their ancient If there were no inhabitants in the country, no pOpls of wai for the Ibis, nor was the viper a nuifance. The Ibis retired to his native country Ethiopia,, in the lower part of which, that is, in a hot country full of pools of ftagiiant. watetf, he remains, and there 1 found him. i
It is probable in Egypt lie had increafed greatly by the quantity of food and good entertainment he had. Upon thefe failing, he probably died and wore out of Egypt ; and in the proportion in which he was at firft created, which feerns to have been aflender one, he remained in his native Ethiopia, for his emigration and increafe in Egypt was merely accidental. This, I apprehend, is the truecaufe why the Ibis is now no longer known in Egypt ; but I am latislkd to reftore him to natural hiftory, with at lcafl a probable conjecture, why he is now unknown in thofe very regions where once he was worfhipped as a god. His figure appears frequently upon the obelifks among the hieroglyphics, and further confirms my conjecture that this is the bird.
The Count de Buffon has published the bird, which he calls the white * Ibis of Egypt, the half of his head crimfon, with a ftrong beak of a gold colour, liker to that of a toucan, and long, purple, weak legs, and a thick neck ; in fhort, having none of the characters of the bird it is intended to reprefent.
The
* Bwffon, Plan, Enhm. 389,
The reader may be aflured there is no fuch Ibis in Egypt; none ever appeared from the catacombs but what were black and white, as hiftorians have defcribed *, fo that this is fo difguifed by the drawing and colouring as not to be known, or elfe it came from fome other country than
Eg}?*-.
M  0  R  0 C.
T HAVE already faid in the introduction which immedi-A ately precedes the hiftory of birds, that among thofe that live upon infects there are fome that attach themfelves to flies in general, and others that feem to live upon bees alone : Of this laft fort is the bird now before us. I never faw him in the low country where the fly is, nor indeed anywhere but in the countries where honey is chiefly produced as revenue, fuch as the country of the Agow, Goutto, and in BelcfTen.
He
f Vide Plutarch de Ifide,
A w< A vi / hM/// if. Am :*>y ?/pyt > A// < ■' A', tfiihst w d 'ib.
He feems to purfue the bees for vengeance or diverfion as well as for food, as h& leaves a quantity of them fcat-tered dead upon the ground without feeking further after them, and this paftime he unweariedly purfues without interruption all the day long; for the Abyflinians do not look fo near, or confider things fo much in detail, as to imagine all the wafte which he commits can make any difference in their revenue.
His name is Maroc, or Moroc, I fuppofe from Mar, honey, though I never heard he was further concerned in the honey than destroying the bees. In fhape and fize he feems to be a cuckoo, but differs from him in other refpects. He is drawn here of his natural fize, and in all refpects fo minutely attended to, that I fcarcely believe there is a feather amifling.
The opening of his mouth is very wide when forced open, reaching nearly to under his eyes. The infide of his mouth and throat are yellow, his tongue fharp-pointed. It can be drawn to almoft half its length out of its mouth beyond the point of its beak, and is very flexible. Its head and neck are brown, without mixture. It has a number of exceeding fmall hairs, fcarcely vifible at the root of his beak. His eye-brows are black likewife-. His beak is pointed, and very little crooked ; the pupil of his eye is black, furround-ed with an iris of a dufky dull red. The fore part of his neck is light-yellow, darker on each fide than in the middle,, where it is partly white; the yellow on each fide reaches near the fhoulder, or round part of the wing; from this his whole breaft and belly is of a dirty white to under the tail; from this, too, his feathers begin to be tipt gently with
Vol. V. '13 b white,
white, as are all thofe that cover the outfide of his wing; but the white here is clear, and the fize increafes with the breadth and length of the feathers.   The large feathers of his wing are eight in number, the fecond in fize are fix. The tail confifls of twelve feathers; the longer! three are in the middle, they are clofely placed together, and the tail is of an equal breadth from top to bottom, and the end of the feathers tipt with white.   Its thighs are covered with feathers of the fame colour as the belly, which reach more than half way down his leg; his legs and feet are black, marked diflincTly with fcales.   He has two toes before and one behind, each of which have a fharp and crooked claw. I never faw his neft; but in flying, and while fitting, he perfectly refembles the cuckoo. I never heard, nor could I learn from any others, that he had any voice or fong.   He makes a fharp, mapping noife, as often as he catches the bees, which is plainly from clofing his beak.
Jerome Lobo, whom I have often mentioned, defcribes-this bird, and attributes to him a peculiar inftinct, or faculty of difcovcring honey ; he fays, when this bird has difcovered any honey he repairs to the high-way, and when he fees a traveller, he claps with his wings, lings, and by a variety of actions invites him to follow him, and flying, from tree to tree before him, flops where the honey is difcovered to be, and there he begins to fing mofl mclodi-oufly.
The ingenious Dr Sparman could not omit an opportunity of building a flory upon fo fair a foundation. He too gives an account of a cuckoo in fize and fhape refembling a fparrow, and then gives a long defcription of it in Latin,
i from
from which it mould not refemble a fparrow. This he calls Cuculus Indicator *. It feems it has a partition treaty at once both with men and foxes, not a very ordinary afTocia-tion.
To thefe two partners he makes his meaning equally known by the alluring found, as he calls it, of Tcherf Tcherr, which we may imagine, in the Hottentot language of birds, may fignify Honey; but it does not fing, it feems, fo melodiouily as Jerome Lobo's bird.   I cannot for my own part conceive, in a country where fo many thoufand hives of bees are, that there was any ufe for giving to a bird a peculiar inflinct. or faculty of difcovering honey, when, at the fame time, nature had denied him the-power of availing himfelf of any advantage from the discovery, for man feems in this cafe to be made for the fcr-vice of the Moroc, which is very different from the common ordinary courfe of things ; man certainly needs him not, for on every tree and on every hillock he may fee plenty of combs at his own deliberate difpofal. I cannot then but think, with all fubmiflion to thefe natural philofophers, that the whole of this is an improbable fiction, nor did I ever hear a fmgle perfon in Abyflinia fuggcfl, that either this, or any other bird, had fuch a property.   Sparman fays it was not known to any inhabitant of the Cape, no more than that of the Moroc was in Abyflinia; it was a fecret of nature, hid from all but thefe two great men, and I mofl willingly leave it among the catalogue of their particular difcover-ies.
lib 2 I have
* Sparimn's voynge, vol. ii. p. 192.
I have only to add, that though Dr Sparman and hid learned affociates, that feed upon the crumbs from other people's tables, may call this bird a cuckoo, dill I hope he will not infill upon correcting my miftake, as, in the article of the fennec, by ignorantly tacking to it fome idle fable of his own, that he may name it CuculUs Indicator,
SHEREGRIG.
THIS bird is one of thofe called Rollicr in French, and" Rollier in Englifh, without either nation being able to fay what is its fignification in either language. In the French it is the name of a tribe, always as ill delineated as it is defcribed, becaufe fcarce ever feen by thofe that either defcribe, or delineate it; in Latin it is called Merops. Its true name, in its native country, is Sheregrig, and by this name
g it
Z/m&m /W/>///A</ BtcT/f^ffia.by£Jb&&utm X i!>.
if is known in Syria, and Arabia, and in the low country of Abyilinia, on the borders of Sennaar, wherever there are meadows, or long grafs, interfperfed with lofty or fluidy trees.
There arc two different kinds of this bird in Syria con* fiderably varying in colours, the brown of the back being confiderably darker in that of the Syriac, and the blue much deeper, chiefly on its wings; the back of the head likewife brown, with very little pale-blue throughout any part of it, and wanting the two long feathers in the tail. It is a fly-catcher, or bee-eater, of which thefe long feathers are the mark. It is laid by Dr Shaw, and writers-that have defcribed it, to be of the fize of a jay, to which indeed the Syrian bird approaches hut this before us feems the lead of his kind, and weighs half an ounce more than a blackbird. It is confequently true, as Dr Shaw fays, that it has a fmallcr bill than a jay, becaufe the bird itfelf is fmaller, neither is there any difproportion in the length of its legs. Shaw lUys, it is called. Shagarag, which he imagines, by a tranfmutation of letters, to be the fame with Sharakrak of the Talmudius, or Shakarak of the Arabian authors, and is derived from fharak, to fhriek or fquall.
But all this learning is very much rnifplaced; for from the brightnefs of the colour, it is derived from a word wfhich fignif.es to Jbi/ie, Its belly and infide of its wings are of a moll beautiful pale blue. The fhoulder, or top of its wings, a dark blue. The middle of the wing is traverfed by a band of light blue ; the extremity of the wing, and the largefl feathers, are of a dark blue. The two feathers of its
tail*
tail, where broad, are of a light blue, but the long fharp iingle ones are of a dark blue, like the tips of the wings. Its bill is ftrong and well made, and has a pencil of hairs as whifkers. Round where the beak joins the head, the feathers are white; the eye black, and well proportioned, fur-rounded by a light flame-coloured iris. The back is of a very light brown inclining to cream colour, and of a cafl of red. The feet are nefh-coloured and fcaly, has three toes before and one behind, each with a fharp claw.
Notwithstanding what has been faid as to the derivation of its name, I never heard it fcream or make any fort of noife. It has nothing of the actions of either the magpie or the jay, Buxtorf interprets the fheregrig by mcrops the bee-eater, and in fo .doing he is right, when he applies it to this bird, but then he errs in miftaking another bird for it, called Sirens, a fly-catcher, very common in theLevant, which appear in great numbers, making a fhrill, fqualing noife in the heat of the day; and of thefe 1 have feen, and de-figned manydifferent forts, fome very beautiful, but they fly in flocks, which the fheregrig does not; he attaches himfelf equally to fwarms of bees and flies, which he finds in the woods upon the trees, or in holes in the ground among the high grafs. Of thefe there arc great fwarms of different kinds in the low part of Abyflinia.
The Count de Buffon has publifhed two figures of this bird, one from a fpecimen I gave him from Abyilinia *, the other from one fluffed, which he received from Senegal f,
fo
* IJafTcn, plan, cnlum. 626.
f Buffon, plan, cnlum. 326-.
lb that we know the bird pofTefTes the whole breadth of Africa nearly on a parallel. I may be allowed to fay, that, when 1 gave him mine, I did not expect he would fo far have anticipated my publication as to have exhibited it as a part of the king's cabinet till he had heard my idea of it, and what further I could relate of its hiftory more than he had learned from feeing the feathers of it only. When I faw the draught, it put me in mind of the witty poem of Martial : A man had ftole fome of his verfes, but read them fo ill, that the poet could not undcrftand them well enough to know they were his own—
Sed male dum recltas inciplt ejfc tuum.
The bird is fo ill-defigned that it may pafs for a different fpecies. It is too fhort in the body; too thick; its neck too fhort and thick; its legs, the pupil and iris of the eye, of a wrong colour; its tail affectedly fpread. Thefe are the confequences of drawing from fluffed fubjects. The brown upon the back is too dark, the light-blue too pale, too much white upon the fide of its head. Thefe are the confequences of having a bad painter ; and the reader, by comparing my figure with thofe drawn by Martinet in huffon, may eafily perceive how very little chance he has to form a true idea of any of thefe birds, if the difference is as great between his other drawings and the original, as between my drawing and his. De Seve would have given it a jufter picture.
WAALI A.
W A A L I A.
HIS pigeon, called Waalia, frequents the low parts of
A Abyffmia, where it perchesupon the higheft trees, and fits quietly in the fhade during the heat of the day, fo that it is difficult to difcover it, uniefs it has been feen to alight. They likewife fly extremely high, in great flocks, and for the mofl part affect a fpecies of the beech-tree, upon the mail or fruit of which they feem chiefly to live for food. They are rarely feen in the mountainous part of the country uniefs in their pallage, for in the beginning of the rainy feafon, in the Kolla, they emigrate to the fouth and S. W. In this direction they are feen flying for days together. It is fuppofed the high country, even in the fair feafon, is too cold for them ; and their feeking another habitation towards the Atlantic Ocean, where it is warm, and where the rains do not fall fo copioufly in that feafon as they do in the Kolla in Abyflinia, makes this conjecture ftill more probable*
They
/on./,>n /'//A/i/Al/ /),;■'/•?'/pi'o. A//,■'. A', 'A/A.>; w Xb■
They perch for moft part upon the tops of trees, beyond the fphere of the action of Abyftinian powder; but they fit fo clofe together that I have fometimes fhot fix or more at the difcharge of a fingle barrel. The reft immediately plunge down almoft to touch you, apparently ignorant whence fo unaccuftomed a found comes; there, if you are a good markfman, and alert, you have another chance, though but a fhort one, for they immediately tower to an immoderate height, and never alight in fight uniefs they are wounded. They are exceedingly fat, and by far the beft of all pigeons; when they fall from a height, without life, upon their back, I have known the flefh on each fide of their brcaft-bone feparated by the concuflion, and the fat upon their rump bruifed like the pulp of an orange.
Although this is undoubtedly a pigeon, the Abyffinians do not cat it; nay, after it is dead they will not touch it, for fear of defiling themfelves, any more than they would do a dead horfe. The waalia is lefs than the common blue pigeon, but larger than the turtle-dove. Its whole back, and fome of the fhort feathers of its wings, are of a beautiful unvarniflicd green, lighter and livelier than an olive. Its head and neck are of a deader green, with ftill lefs luftre. Its beak is of a bluifh white, with large notlrils; the eye black, with an iris of dark orange. The pinion, or top of its wing, is a beautiful pompadour. The large feathers of the wing are black; the outer edge of the wing narrowly marked with white ; the tail a pale, dirty blue ; below the tail it is fpotted with brown and white. Its thighs are white, with fmall fpots of brown ; its belly a lively yellow". Its legs and feet are a yellowifh brown. Its feet fti onger and larger than is generally found in this kind of bird. I
Vol, V. C c never
never beard it coo, or make any noife. I killed this, and many others, in our road to Tcherkin. In M. de BulTon's collection I fee a bird refembling this^ coming from the weft of Africa, as I remember; but his birds in general are fo very ill-drawn, and his coloured ones fo fhamefully daubed^ that nothing.certain can be.founded ,upon refem^ blancc.
TSALTSALYA, or FLY.
THE infect which we have here before us is a proof how fallacious it is to judge by appearances. If we confider its fmall fize, its weaknefs, want of variety or beauty, nothing in the creation is more contemptible and infig-nificam. Yet palling from thefe to his hiftory, and to the account of his powers^ we muft confefs the very great injuftice we do him from want of confideration. We
are
arc obliged, with the greateft furprife, to acknowledge, that •thofe huge animals, the elephant,the rhinoceros, the lion and •the tiger, inhabiting the fame woods, are ftill vaftly his inferiors, and that the appearance of this fmall infect, nay, his very found, though he is not feen, occafions more trepidation, movement, and diforder, both in the human and hrute creation, than would whole herds of thefe monftrous animals collected together, though their number was in a tenfold,proportion greater than it really is,
The necefllty of keeping my narrative clear and intelligible as I proceeded, has made me anticipate the principal -particularities relating to this infect.   His operations are too materially interwoven with the hiftory of this country, .to be left apart as an epifode.   The reader will find the* -defcription of its manners in that part of my hiftory which treats of the Shepherds, and in feveral places throughout the narrative he will meet with accounts of the confequences of its wonderful influence.   Providence, from the beginning it would feem, had fixed its habitation to one fpecics of foil, being a black fat earth, extraordinary fruitful; and fmall and inconfiderable as it was, it feems from the firft: to have given a law to the fettlemcnt of the country. It prohibited abfolutely thofe inhabitants of the fat earth, called Mazaga, domiciled in caves and mountains, from enjoying the help or labour of any beafts of carriage.   It deprived them of their flefh and milk for food, and gave rife to another nation, whofe manners were juft the rcverfe of the firft.   Thefe were the Shepherds, leading a wandering
C c 2 life,
* Vol. i. book 2. p. 388.
life, and preserving thefe immenfe herds of cattle by conducting them into the fands beyond the limits of the black earth, and bringing them back again when the danger from this infect was over.
We cannot read the hiftory of the plagues which God brought upon Pharaoh by the hands of Mofes, without flopping a moment to confider a fingularity, a very principal one, which attended this plague of the fly. It was not till this time, and by means of this infect, that God faid, he would fcparate his people from the Egyptians. And it would feem, that then a law was given to them, that fixed the limits of their habitation. It is well known, as I have repeatedly laid, that the land of Gofhen, or-Geflien, the pof-feflion of the Ifraelitcs, was a land of pafture, which was not tilled or fown, becaufe it was not overflowed by the Nile. But the land overflowed by the Nile was the black earth of the valley of Egypt, and it was here that God confined the flies; for he fays, it fhall be a fign of this fcparation of the people, which he had then made,, that not one fly ihould be feen in the land or pafture ground, the land of Gofhen, and this kind of foil has ever iince been the refuge of all cattle emigrating from the black earth to the lower part of Atbara. Ifaiah, indeed, fays, that the fly fhall be in all the defert places, and confequently the fands; yet this was a particular difpenfation of providence, to anfwer a fpecial end, the defolation of Egypt, and was not a repeal of the general law, but a confirmation of it ; it was an exception, for a particular purpofe, and a limited time..
I have
t
I have already faid fo much of this infect, that it would be tiring my reader's patience to repeat any thing concerning him. 1 fhall therefore content myfelf, by giving a very accurate defign of him, only obferving, that, for diftinctnefs fake, I have magnified him fomething above twice the natural fize. He has no fling, though he feems to me to be rather of the bee kind; but his motion is more rapid and hidden than that of the bee, and refembles that of the gad-fly in England. There is fomething particular in the found, or buzzing of this infect. It is a jarring noife, together with a humming ; which induces me to believe it proceeds, at leafl in parr, from a vibration made with the three hairs at his fnout.
The Chaldee veriion is content with calling this animal fimply Zebub, which fignifies the fly in general, as we ex-prefs it in Englifh. The Arabs call it Zimb in their tranf-lation, which has the fame general fignification. The Ethi-opic tranflation calls it Tfaltfalya, which is the true name of this particular fly in Geez, and was the fame in Hebrew.
The Greeks have called this fpecies of fly Cynomya, which fignifies the dog-fly, in imitation of which, thofe, I fuppofe, of the church of Alexandria, that, after the coming of Frumentius, were correcting the Greek copy, and making it conformable to the Septuagint, have called this fly Tfaltfalya Kelb, to anfwer the word Cynomya, which is dog-fly. But this at firft fight is a corruption, apparently the language of flrangers, and is not Ethiopic. It is the fame as if we were to couple the two nominative fubflantivcs Canis and iVIufca, to tranflate Cynomya. Canis is indeed a dog, and Mufca is a fly, but thefe two words together, as I have now wrote them, could never be brought to fignify dog-fly. It is
i the
■the fame in the Ethiopic, where Tfaltfalya alone ■■fignifies dbg-fly, without the addition of any other word whatever. What is the derivation of this is doubtful, becaufe there are feveral words, both in the Ethiopic and Hebrew, that are exceedingly appofite and probable. Salal, in the Hebrew, fi nifics to buzz, or to hum, and, as it were, alludes to the noife with which this animal terrifies the cattle: and 1 fait-falya feems to come from thi3, by only doubling the radicals. t'Tfalalou, in Amharic, fignifies to pierce with violence ; from this is derived Tfalatie, the name of a javelin with a round point, made to enter the rings of a coat of mail, which, by its flructure, is impervious to the round cutting points of the ordinary lance or javelin. In the book of job * this feems to mean a trident, or fifhing-fpear, and is vaguely enough tranflatcd Habergeon in the Englifh copy. I do not know that this infect, however remarkable for its activity and numbers, has.ever before been defcribed delineated.
EL
* Ch»j>. xli. ver. .a 6.
EL   AD D A
THERE is no genus of quadrupeds that I have known in-the eaft fo very numerous: as that of the lizard, or of which there are fo many varieties. The eaftern, or defert parts of Syria, bordering upon Arabia Deferta, which ftilh have moifture fuflicient, abound with them beyond a pof-fibility of counting them. I am pofitive that 1 can fay,, without exaggeration, that the number I faw one day in the great court of the Temple of the Sun at Baalbec amounted to many thoufands ; the ground, the walls and ftones of the ruined buildings, were covered with them, and the various colours of wkkh they confided made a very extraordinary appearance, glittering under the fun, in which they lay ileeping, or balking. It was in vain, in a place fo full of wonders as Baalbec, to think of f pen ding time in deligning lizards. I contented, myfelf with collecting and prefer-ving thofe I could catch entire, many of which have pe-
2 rilhed
rimed by the accidents of the journey, though fome of very great beauty have efcaped, and are in my collection in great preservation.
As I went eaflward towards the defert, the number of this animal decreafed, I fuppofe, from a fcarcity of water; for example, at Palmyra, tho' there were ruins of ancient buildings, and a great folitude, as at Baalbec, the lizards were few, all of the colour of the ground, without beauty or variety, and feemingly degenerated in point of fize.
The Arabian natural ills and phyfician s were better acquainted with the different fpecies of this animal than any philofphers have been fince, and in all probability than any llrangers will ever be; they lived among them, and had an opportunity of difcovering their manners and every detail of their private ceconomy. Happy if fucceeding the Greeks in thefe Itudics, they had not too frequently left obfervation to deviate into fable; the field, too, which thefe various fpecics inhabit is a very extenfive one, and comprehends all Afia and Africa, that is, great portion of the old world, every part of which is, from various caufes, more inacceflible at this day, than after-the Arabian conqueft. It is from the Arabian books then that we are to fludy with attention the defcriprions given of the animals of the country. But very great difficulties occur in the courfe of thefe difquifitions. The books that contain them arc Hill extant, and all the animals likewife cxill as before; but, unfortunately, the Hebrew, the Syriac, and the Arabic, are languages very ambiguous and equivocal, and are in terms too loofe and vague lor modern accuracy and precife defcription, and cfpecially fo in that of colours; befides, that unbounded liberty of tranf-
pofuion
pofition of letters, and fyllables of words, in which the writers of thofe languages have indulged themfelves, from notions of elegance, feem to require, not only a very fkilful and attentive, but alfo a judicious and fober-minded reader, that does not run away with whimfical, or firft conceptions, but weighs the character of his author, the common idioms of language which he ufes, and opportunities of information that he had concerning the fubjects upon which he wrote, in preference to others that may have treated the fame, but who differ from them in facts.
The fmall lizard here defcribed is a native of Atbara beyond the rains, in that fituation where we have faid the illand and city of Meroe formerly were.   It feemed alfo to be well known by the different black inhabitants that came from the weftvvard by the great caravan which crofted the defert north of the Niger, and is called the Caravan of Sudan, of which I have often fpoken, as being the only barbarians who feem to pay the leaft attention to any articles of natural hiftory.   Thefe bring to Cairo, and to Mecca, multitudes of green paroquets, monkeys, weafels, mice, lizards, and fer-pents, for the diverfion and curiofity of the men of note' in Arabia, or of the Beys and the women of the great at Cairo. This lizard is called El Adda,  it burrows in the fand, and performs this operation fo quickly, that it is out of fight in aninftant, and appears rather to have found a hole, than to have made one, yet it comes out often in the heat of the day, and bafks itfelf in the fun ; and if not very much frightened, will take refuge behind ftones, or in the withered, ragged roots U die abfinthium, dried in the fun to nearly its own colour.
Vol. V. D d Almost
Almost the whole of this large tribe of lizards is, by the Arabians, defcribed as poifonous. Experiment has detected the falfehood of this, in very many fpecies ; the fame idea has led them to attribute to them medicinal virtues in the fame proportion, and, I am apt to believe, with nearly as little reafon ; at lead, though the books prefcribing them are in everybody's hands, the remedy is not now made ufe of in the places where thofe books were wrote ; and this affords a ftrong proof that the medicine was never very efficacious.
The El Adda is one of the few which the Arabs in all times have believed to be free of poifonous qualities, and yet to have all the medicinal virtues that they have fo a-bundantly lavifhed upon the more noxious fpecies. It has been reputed to be a cure for that moft terrible of all dif-eafes,the Elephantiafis; yet this diftemper is not, that I know, in the hotter parts of Africa, and certainly this lizard is not an inhabitant of the higher or colder parts of Abyffmia, which we may call exclufively the domicil of the elephantiafis. It is likewife thought to be efficacious in cleanfing the fkin of the body, or face, from cutaneous eruptions, of which the inhabitants of this part of Africa are much more afraid than they are of the plague ; it is alfo ufed againft films, and fuffufions on the eyes. I never did try the effect of any of thefe, but give their hiftory folely upon the au* thority of the Arabian authors,
I have drawn it here of its natural fize, which is 6± inches. Though its legs are very long, it does not make ufe of them to ftand upright, but creeps with its belly almoft clofe to the ground.   It runs, however, with very great ve*
3 locity.
locity. It is very long from its fhoulder to its nofe, being nearly two inches. Its body is round, having fcarce any ilatnefs in its belly. Its tail too is perfectly round, having no flatncfs in its lower part. It is exceedingly (harp-pointed, and very eafily broke, yet 1 have feen feverals where the part broke off has been renewed fo as Scarcely to be difcernible. It is the fame length, 23- inches, between the point of the tail and the joint of the hinder leg, as was between the nofe and the fhoulder of the foreleg. Its forehead from the occiput is flat, its fhape conical, not pointed, but rounded at the end in the fhape of fome fhovels or fpades. The head is darker than the body, the occiput darker ftill ; its face is covered with fine black lines, which crofs one another at right angles like a net. Its eyes are fmall, defended with a number of ftrong black hairs for eye-lafhes. Its upper jaw is longer, and projects confidcr-ably over the under; both its jaws have a number of fhort, fine, but very feeble teeth, and when holding it in my hand, though it ftruggled violently to get loofe, it never attempted to make ufe of its teeth ; indeed it feems to turn its neck with great difficulty. Its ears are large, open, and nearly round. Its body is a light-yellow, bordering on a ftraw-colour, crofTcd with eight bands of black, almoft equally diftant, except the two next the tail. All thefe decreafe both in breadth and length from the middle towards each extremity of the animal. The fcales are largeft along the back, they are very clofe, though the divifions are fufficient-ly apparent. Their furface is very polifhed, and feems as if varniihed over. Its legs from the fhoulder to the middle toe are nearly an inch and three quarters long; its feet are compofed of five toes, the extremity of each is armed with
D d 2 a brown
a brown claw of no great ftrength, whofe end is tipt with black.
I have heard fome of the common people call this lizard Dhab: This we are to look upon as an inftance of ignorance in the vulgar, rather than the opinion of a naturalift well informed j for the Dhab is a fpecies perfectly well known to be different from this, and is frequently met with in the deferts which furround Cairo.
CERASTES, or HORNED VIPER..
THERE is no article of natural hiftory the ancients have dwelt on more than that of the viper, whether poctsr phyficians, or hiftorians. All have enlarged upon the particular fizes, colours, and qualities, yet the knowledge of their manners is but little extended. Almoft every author that has treated of them, if he hath advanced fome truths which he has left flenderlyeftablifhed by proof or experiment, byway of
"% compenfation
7*
eompenfation, hath added as many falfehoods fo ftrongly aliened, that they have occafioned more doubt than the others have brought of light, certainty, and conviction.
Lucan, in Cato's march through the defert of the Cyren-aicum in fearch of Juba, gives fuch a catalogue of thefe venomous animals, that we cannot wonder, as he infmuates, that great part of the Roman army was dcftroyed by them; yet I will not fcruple to aver this is mere fable. I have travelled acrofs the Cyrenaicum in all its directions, and never faw but one fpecies of viper, which was the Ceraftes, or Horned Viper, now before us. Neither did I ever fee any of the fnake kind that could be miftaken for the viper. I apprehend the fnake cannot fubfift without water, as the Ce-raftes, from the places in which he is found, feems aflured-ly to do. Indeed thofe that Lucan fpeaks of muft have been all vipers, becaufe the mention of every one of their names is followed by the death of a man.
There are no ferpents of any kind in Upper Abyilinia that ever I faw, and no remarkable varieties even in Low, excepting the large fnake called the Boa, which is often above twenty feet in length, and as thick as an ordinary man's thigh. He is a beaft of prey, feeds upon, antelopes, and the deer kind, which having no canine teeth, confequently no poifon, he fwallows whole, after having broken all its bones in pieces, and drawn it into a length to be more eafdy mattered. His chief refidence is by the grafty pools of rivers that are ftagnant. Notwithstanding which, we hear of the Monk Gregory telling M Ludolf, that ferpents were fo frequent in Abyflinia, that every man carried with him a flick bent in a particular manner, for the more com-
modiouflv
modioufly killing thefe creatures, and this M. Ludolf recommends as a difcovcry. And Jerome Lobo, among the reft of his fables, has fome on this fubjecl likewife. A cold and rainy country can never be a habitation for vipers. We fee, on the contrary, that their favourite choice are deferts and burning fand, without verdure, and without any moifture whatever.
The very learned, though too credulous, Profper Alpinus, fays, that many have afTurcd him, that near the lakes contiguous to thefources of theNilcthere is a number of bafilifcs, about a palm in length, and the thicknefs of a middle fin-get , that they have two large fcales,which they ufe as wings, andcrefts and combs upon their head, from which they are called Bafilifci or Reguli, that is, crowned, rreftcd, or kingly fetpents ; and he fays that no perfonn ca approach thefe lakes without being deftroyed by thefe crcfted fnakes.
With all fubmiflion to this naturalift's relation, I fhould imagine he could not have heard the defcription of thefe lakes from many travellers, if all thofe that approached them were killed by the bafilifcs. I fhall only anfwer for this, that having examined the lake Gooderoo, thofe of Court Ohha, and Tzana, the only lakes near the fources of the Nile, I never yet faw one ferpent there, whether crowned or uncrowned, nor did I ever hear of any, and therefore believe this account as fabulous as that of the Acontia and other animals he fpeaks of in this whole chapter* The bafi-lifc is a fpecies of ferpent, frequently made mention of in
fcripture,
* Profp, Alpin. lib. iv. cap. 4.
APPENDIX.
20-1
fcripture, though never defcribed, farther than that he cannot be charmed fo as to do no hurt, nor trained fo as to delight in mufic; which all travellers who have been in Egypt know is exceedingly poffible, and frequently feen. " For, behold, I will fend batilifcs among you, faith the fcripture, which will not be charmed, and they lhall bite you, faith the Lordf". Andf "Thouihalt treaduponthelionand bafilifc||&c.
I shall mention one name more, under which the Ce-rafles goes, becaufe it is equivocal, and has been mifunder-flood in fcripture, that is Tfeboa, which name is given it in the Hebrew, from its different colours and fpots. And hence the Greeks § have called it by the name of Hyama, becaufe it is of the fame reddifh colour, marked with black fpots as that quadruped is. And the fame fable is ap^-plied to the ferpent and quadruped, that they change their fex yearly.
Some philofophers, from particular fyflem, have judged from a certain difpofition of this animal's fcales, that it is what they term, Coluber, while others, from fome arrangement of the fcales of its tail, will have it to be what they call Boa. I enter not into the difpute, it is here as faithfully reprcfented as the fize will permit, only I fhall obferve that,
uniefs
f Jerem. chap. viii. ver. 17. $ Pfalm ix. ver. 13.
|j It is to be obferved here, it is the Greek text that calls it Bafilifc. The Hebrew fo* the molt part calls it Tfepha, which are a fpecies of ferpents real and known. Our Eng-Jiih tranflaiion, very improperly, renders it Cockatrice j a fabulous animal, that never drd exilt. I (hall only further obferve, that the bafilifc, in fcripture, would feem to be a fnake, not a viper, as there are frequent mention made of their eggs, as in Ifaiah, chap. lix. yer. 5. wherea^ it is known to be the charactcriftic of the viper to bring forth living young. $. Elian* Hill. Jib. 1. cap. 25.   Horia. hieroglyph, lib. ii, chap, .65,.
uniefs Boa means fomething more than I know it does, the name is ill cliofen when applied to any fpecics of poifonous ferpents, becaufe it is already the proper name of the large fnake, juft mentioned, that is not viviparous, and has no poifon. Pliny and Galen fay, that the young vipers are fo fierce as to become parricides, and deftroy their mother upon their birth. But this is furely one of the ill-grounded fancies thefe authors have adopted. The Ceraftes is mentioned by name in Lucan, and without warranting the feparate exiftence of any of the reft, I can fee feveral that are but the Ceraftes under another term. The thebanus ophites, the ammodytes, the torrida dipfas, and the prefter *, all of them are but this viper defcribed from the form of its parts, or its colours. Cato muft have been marching in the night when he met this army of ferpents. The Ceraftes hides itfelf all day in holes in the fand, where it lives in contiguous and fimilar houfes to thofe of the jerboa, and I have already faid, that I never but once found any animal in this viper's belly, but one jerboa in a gravid female ceraftesi
I kept two of thefe laft-mentioned creatures in a glafs jar, fuch as is ufed for keeping fweetmeats, for two years, without having given them any food ; they did not fleep, that I obferved, in winter, but call their Ikins the laft days of April.
The Ceraftes moves with great rapidity, and in all directions, forward, backward, and fideways. When he inclines to furprife any one who is too far from him, he .creeps with
his
* Lucan. lib. i*.
his fide towards the perfon, and his head averted, till judging his diftancc, he turns round, fprings upon him, and fallens upon the part nea$ to him; for it is not true what is laid, that the i :craftcs does not leap or fpring. I faw one of them at Cairo, in the houfe of Julian and Rofa, crawl up the fide of a box, in which there were many, and there lye dill as if hiding himfelf, till one of the people who brought them to us came near him, and .though in a very d if advantageous poflure, flicking as it were perpendicular to the fide of the box, he leaped near the diftance of three feet, and faliened between the man's forefinger and thumb, fo as to bring the blood. The fellow fliewed no figns of either ■pain or fear, and we kept him with us full four hours, without his applying any fort of remedy, or his feeming inclined to do fo.
To make myfelf afTured that the animal was in its perfect flate, I made the man hold him by the neck fo as to force him to open his mouth, and lacerate the thigh of a pelican, a bird I had tamed, as big as a fwan. The bird died in about 13 minutes, though it was apparently affected in 50 feconds; and we cannot think this was a fair trial, becaufe a very few minutes before, it had bit the man, and fo discharged part of its virus, and it was made to fcratch the pelican by force, without any irritation or action of its own.
The Ceraftes inhabits the greateft part of the eaftern continent, efpccially the defert fandy parts of it. It abounds in Syria, in the three Arabias, and in Africa. I never faw fo many of them as in the Cyrenaicum, where the Jerboa is frequent in proportion,   Jfie is a great lover of heat; for tho'
Vol. V. Ee the
204 AFPENDI r.
the fun was burning hot all day, when we made a fire at night, by digging a hole, and burning wood to charcoal ia it, for dreliing our victuals, it was feldom.we had fewer than half a dozen of thefe vipers, who burnt themfelves to death approaching the embers..
I apprehend this to be the afpic which Cleopatra em-ployed to procure her death.   Alexandria, plentifully fup-i " plied by water, muft then have had fruit of all kinds in its
gardens. The bafkets of figs muft have come from thence, and the afpic, or Ceraftes, that was hid in them, from the adjoining defert, where there are plenty to this day ; for to the weft ward in £gypc, where the Nile overflows, there is ne fort of ferpent whatever that I ever faw \ nor, as 1 have before faid, is there any other of the mortal kind that I know in thofe parts of. Africa adjoining to Egypt, excepting the. Ceraftes.
It fhould feem very natural for any one, who, from motives of diftrefs, has refolved to put a period to his exiftence, efpccially women and weak perfons unaccuftom-ed to handle arms, to fcek the gentleft method to free themfelves from that load of life now become infup-portable. This, however, has not always been the cafe with the ancients. Aria, Petus's wife, ftabbed herfelf with a dagger, to fet her huiband an example to die, with this memorable allurance, after giving herfelf the blow, " Petus,it 44 is not painful*-! Porcia, the wife of Brutus, died by the barbarous, and not obvious way of perifhing, by fwallowing fire ; the violent agitation of fpirits prevailing over the momentary difference in the fuifering. It is not to be doubted but that a womanjiiigh-ljpirited like Clcopatra,was alfo above
a. the
the momentary differences in feeling ; and had the way in ♦which fhe died not been ordinary and ufual, flic certainly would not have applied herfelf to the invention of a new one. We are therefore to look upon her dying by the bite of the Ceraftes, as only following the manner of death which {he had feen commonly adopted by thofe who were intended to die without torment,
Galen fpcaking of the Afpic in the great city of Alexandria, fays, I have feen how fpeedily they (the afpics) occa-fioned death. Whenever any perfon is condemned to die whom they with to end quickly and without torment, they put the viper to his breaft, and fullering him there to creep a little, the man is prefently killed. Paufanias fpeaks of particular ferpents that were to be found in Arabia among the baifam trees, feveral of which I procured both alive and dead, when I brought the tree from Beder Hunein ; but they were ftill the fame fpecies of ferpent, only lome from fex, and fome from want of age, had not the horns, though in every other refpec*fc they could hot be miftaken. Ibn Sina, called by Europeans Avicenna, has defcribed this animal very exactly ; he fays it is frequent in bhem (that is the country about and fouth of Damafcus) and alfo in Egypt; and he makes a very good obfervation on their manners; that they do not go or walk ftraight, but move by contracting themieives. But in the latter part of his defcription he feems not to have known the ferpent he is fpeaking of, becaufe he fays its bite is cured in the fame manner as that of the viper and Ceraftes, by which it is implied, that the animal he was defcribing was not a Ceraftes, and the Ceraftes is not a viper, both which aiTertions are falfe.
E e 2 Tii«
The general fize of the Ceraftes, from the extremity of its fnout to the end of its tail, is from 13 to 14 inches. Its head is triangular, very flat, but higher near where it joins the neck than towards the nofe. The length of its head, from the point of the nofe to the joining of the neck, is 4-|ths of an inch, and the breadth -9Tths. Between its horns is ,Vths. The opening of its mouth, or rictus oris ,Vths. Its horns in length TVths. Its large canine teeth fomething more than r,-ths and -V, Its neck at the joining of the h id T4fths. The body where thickeft M-ths. Its tail at the joining* of the body r2jths and The tip of the tail -.Vth. I he length of the tail one inch and TVths. The aperture of the eye Tvths, but this varies apparently according to the imr prcflion of light.
* " *
The Ceraftes has fixteen fmall immoveable teeth, and in
the upper jaw two canine teeth, hollow, crooked inward, and of a remarkable fine polifh, white in colour, inclining to blucifh. Near one fourth of the bottom is llrongly fixed in the upper jaw, and folds back like a clafp knife, the point iiu lining inwards, and the greateft part of the tooth is covered with a green foft membrane, not drawn tight, but as it were wrinkled over it. Immediately above this is a flit along the back of the tooth, which ends nearly in the middle of it, where the tooth curves inwardly. From this aperture 1 apprehend that it (beds its poifon, not from the point, where with the beft glailes I never could perceive an aperture, fo that the tooth is not a tube, but hollow only half way ; the point being for making the incifion, and by its preflTurc occafioning the venom in the bag at the bottom of the fang to rife in the tooth, and fpiil itfelf through the Hit into the wound.
By
APFENDIX, 207
By this flat pofition of the tooth along the jaw, and its being defended by the membrane, it eats in perfect fafety ; for the tooth cannot prefs the bag of poifon at the root while it lies in this pofition, nor can it rife in the tube to fpill itfelf, nor can the tooth make any wound fo as to receive it, but the animal is fuppofed to eat but feldom, or only when it is with young.
The viper has but one row of teeth, none but the canine are noxious. The poifon is very copious for fo fmall a creature, it is fully as large as a drop of laudanum dropt from a vial by a careful hand. Viewed through a glafs, it appears not perfectly tranfparent or pellucid. I mould imagine it hath other refervoirs than the bag under the tooth, for I compelled it to fcratch eighteen pigeons upon the thigh as quick as poiTible, and they all died nearly in the fame interval of time ; but I confefs the danger attending the difleetion of the head of this creature made me fo cautious, that any observation I mould make upon thefe parts would be lefs to be depended upon.
People have doubted whether or not this yellow liquor is the poifon, and the reafon has been, that animal who had tailed it did not die as when bitten, but this reaion docs not hold in modern phyiics. We know why the ia-liva of a mad dog has been given to animals and lias not affected them ; and a German phyfician was bold enough to difhil the pus, or putrid matter, flowing from the ulcer of a perfon infected by the plague, and taile it afterward* without bad confequcnccs ; fo that it is dear the poilon has no activity, till through fome fore or wound it is admitted into circulation.   Again, the tooth itfelf, divcflccl < f
3 that
<tha't poifon, has as little effect. The viper deprived of his canine teeth, an operation very eafily performed, bites without any fatal confequenec with the others; and many in-■flanccs there have been of mad dogs having bitpeople cloath-ed in coarfe woollen fluff, which had fo far cleaned the teeth of the faliva in palling through it, as not to have left the fmalleft.inflammation after,the wound.
T -forbear to fatigue the reader by longer infilling upon this fubject, A long dhTertation would remain upon the incantation of ferpents. There is -no doubr of its reality. The fcTipmres arc full of it. All that <have been in Egypt have feen as many different inftances as they chofe. Some have doubted that it was a trick, and.that the animals fo handled had been lirfl trained, and then difarmed of their power ofhurting; and fond of the difcovery, they have relied -themfelves upon it, without experiment, in the face of all antiquity. But 1 will not hefitatc to aver, that I have feen at Cairo (and this may be feen daily without trouble or expence) a man who came from above the catacombs, where the pits of the mummy birds are kept, who has taken a Ceraiks-with his naked hand from a number of others lying at the bottom of the tub, has put it upon his bare head, covered k with the common red cap he wear*, then taken it oat, put it in his breaft, and tied it about his neck like a necklace; after which it has been applied to a hen, and bit it, which has died in a few minutes; and, to complete the experiment, the man has taken it by the neck, and beginning at his tail, has ate it as one would do a carrot or a ltock of celery, without any feeming repugnance.
We
We know from hiftory, that wiiere any country has been remarkably-in felled with ferpents, rhetc the people have been fcreened by this fecret. The BfylU and iVlaimarides of old undoubtedly were defended in this manner,,
Ad Riorum cantusjmtis Jacttere Cerajla.
Sil. Ital. lib, hi.
To leave ancient hiftory, lean myfelf vouch, that all the black people in the kingdom of Senaaar, whether Funge or Nuba, are perfectly armed againft the bite of either fcorpion or viper. They take the Ceraftes in their hands at all times, put them in their bofoms, and throw them to one. another as children do apples or balls, without having lrritatedthcm, by this ufage fo much as to. bite. The Arabs have not this fecret naturally, but from their infancy they acquire an exemption from the mortal confcquenccs attending the bite of thefe animals, by chawing a certain root, and walhing themfelves (it is not anointing) with an infufion of certain plants in water...
One day when' Iwas with the brother of Shekh Adelaa,, prime miniller of Sennaar, a Have of his brought a Ceraftes which lie had juft then taken out of a hole, and was ufing it with every fort of familiarity. I told him my fufpicion that the teeth had been drawn, hut he allured me they were not, as did his mafter Kittou, who took it from him, wound it round his arm, and at my defirc ordered the fervant to carry it home with me. I took a chicken by the neck, and made it flutter before him;, his feeming indifference left him, and he bit it with great figns of anger, the chicken died almoft immediately ; I fay his feeming indifference
t
mm appendix.
Terence, for i conftantly obferved, that however lively the viper was before, upon being feized by any of thefe barbarians he feemed as if taken with iicknefs and fecblencfs, frequently fhut his eyes, and .never turned his mouth towards the arm of the perfon that held him. i aiked Kittou how they came to be exempted from this mifchief ? he faid, ■they were born fo, and fo faid the grave and refpectable men among them. Many of the lighter and lower fort talked of enchantments by words and by writing, but they all knew how to prepare any perfon by medicine, which were decoctions of herbs and roots.
i have feen many thus armed for a feafon do pretty much the fame feats as thofe that poiTcfled the exemption naturally, the drugs were given me, and I feveral times armed myfelf, as i thought, refolved to try the experiment, but my heart always failed me when i came to the trial; becaufe among thefe wretched people it was a pretence they might very probably have fheltered themfelves under, that I was a Chriitian, that therefore it had no effeft upon me. i have ftill remaining by me a fmall quantity of this root, but never had an opportunity of trying the experiment.
The reader will attend to the horn which is placed over the eye in the manner 1 have given the figure of it, it is fluted, and has four divifions. He will likewife obferve the tooth as viewed through a glafs. He may fuppofe the black rcprcfents a painter's pallet, for the eafier difcerning the white tooth, which could not otherwife appear diftinctly upon the white paper.
BINNY.
APPENDIX, tit
B   I   N   N Y.
ALTHOUGH the fifli we find in the eaft are generally more diftinguilhed for their beauty and variety of colours, or for their uncouth forms, rather than for the goodnefs of the fifh itfelf, this before us appears to be an ex* ception ; though it is not without Angularities, yet its form and colour are very fimplc, and, for the elegance of its tafte, may vie with any fifh caught in any river which runs either into the Mediterranean or Ocean, Whether it is the Latus, or the Oxyrinchus of antkjuity, both fifties of the Nile, fo famous that divine honours were paid them, by large cities, nomcs, or diftricts iituated upon that river, is what I am not naturalift enough to difcover. Such as it is, in all its parts, I have placed it before the reader faithfully.
Vol. X\ f f By
By the difproportion in the length cf its jaws, I fhould imagine this to be a fifh of prey, though a circumflancc concerning the bait with which it is taken feems to contradict this. The fifh from which this drawing was made weighed 32 pounds Englifh, but is often caught of 70 pounds and upwards, as 1 have been told by the filhcrmcn, for I never faw one larger than the one I am now defcrib-ing. The largefl of this kind are caught about Rofetto and the mouth of the river, but they are very numerous, higher up as far as Syene and the firft cataract. This was caught at Achmim, the ancient Panopolis, and the manner in which this is performed is very uncommon and ingenious, and by the few trials that I faw is alfo very fuccefsful.
They take a cruantity of oil, clay,'flour, and honey, with llraw, and fome other thing that makes it flick together, they knead or tread it with their feet till it is perfectly mixed. They then take two handfuls of dates, and break them into fmall pieces about the bignefs of the point of the finger, and flick them in different parts of this mixture, which begins now to have fuch confiflency as to adhere perfectly together, and appears in form like a Chefhire cheefc. In the heart of this cake they put feven or eight hooks, with dates upon them, and a ftring'of flrong whipcord to each. The fifherman then takes this large mafs of pafle, and putting it upon a goat's fkin blown with wind, rides behind it out into the middle of the flream ; there he drops it in the dcepefl part of the river, then cautioufly holding the ends of each of the firings flack, fo as not to pull the dates and the hooks out of the heart of the composition, he gets again afhore upon his fkin a little below where he had funk the folid mafs.
1 When
When arrived on the fhore, he carefully fcparates the ends of the firings, and ties them, without ftraining, each to a palm branch made fail on fhore, to the end of every one of which hangs a fmall bell. He then goes and feeds his cattle, digs ditches, or lies down and fleeps as his bufi-nefs calls him. The oil refills the water for fome time, at laft the cake begins to diflblve, pieces fall off, the broken dates dipped in the honey flow down the flream, and the large fiih below catch ravenoufly at them as they pafs. The fifh follow thefe pieces up the flream, gathering them as they go along till they get to the cake at laft, when altogether, as many as are aflembled, fall voracioufly to fcek the dates buried in the compofition ; each fifh that finds a date fwallows it, together with an iron hook, and feeling himfelf fad, makes off as fpeedily as poflible ; the confe-quence is, endeavouring to cfcape from the line by which he is faflened, he pulls the palm branch, and rings the bell faflened to it,
The fiflicrman runs immediately to the bell, and finding thereby the particular line, hauls his pi ifoner in, but does not kill him; the hook being large, it generally catches him by the upper jaw, which is confiderablv longer than the under. He then pulls him out of the water, and puts a ftrong iron ring through his jaw, ties a few yards of cord to it, and fallens him to the fhore, fo he does with the reft. Very rarely one hook is found empty. Thofe that want fifh at Girgc, a large town oppofite, or at Achmim itfelf, come thither as to a fifh-marker, and every man takes the quantity he wants, buying them alive. Fifh when dead do not keep here, which makes that precaution neceflary. We bought two, which fully dined our whole boat's crew ;
E f z the
the fifherman had then ten or twelve faflened to the fhore, all of which he pulled out and fliewed us,
I apprehend that formerly this method of fifhing was oftencr practifcd, and better known than it is now, for I have feen, in feveral fifhing towns, a tree, in which there was a fifh with a ring through its nofe, and befide it a bell. I likewife imagine that this is the fifh which Mr Norden fays the Kennoufs caught at Syene, and which he calls a Carp ; but as 1 have already obferved, flreams are not the haunt of leather-mouthed, or fucking fifh, as is the carp, but rather of fuch as arc powerfully furniflied with fins, as this is, to ftrugglc with, and traverfe the current in all its directions. I believe the carp to be a fifh of northern climates ; I have never even feen them in thefe* they are certainly not in Ethiopia whence the Nile comes ; their name, Cyprinus, feem to indicate they belong to Greece. They are found in the iflancl of Cyprus, but whether exclufively from the refl of the iilands is what I cannot determine.
This fifh has two fins upon its back ; the firft has a fharp fhort thorn before it, and is compofed of feven longer onesr fharp pointed, but much weaker in fhape, rcfembling the latine fail of a boat. The one behind it is compofed of eleven fmall pliable bonesr but not armed with any defence. The belly has two fins, made of pliable, unarmed bones likewife, and on its fide near the gills it has two others of the fame kind. The tail is forked into two fharp thin narrow divifions, that below are confiderably fhorter than a-bove. Below its throat is a parcel of long bones hanging down like a beard, which grow longer as they approach the tail,, the laft being the largeft of all.
Thb
The whole body of this fifh is covered with filver fcales much refembling filver fpanglcs, they lie clofe together. There is no variety of colour upon the whole fifh excepting a fhade of red upon the end of the nofe, which is fat and flefhy. His eye is large and black, with a broad iris of white ftained with yellow. It has a number of fmall teeth very fharp and clofely fet, nature has probably given him this quantity of fins to fave him from the crocodile, whom by his fize he feems deftined to feed.
GARETTA, or SEA-TORTOISE.
AMONG the natural productions of the Red Sea, which either have been or are at prefent articles of commerce, I fhall jufl fpeak a little of that fpecies of the Teftudo or Tortoife, called the Caretta or Hawk's.bill. It is greatly inferior in fize to theWefl Indian or American fea-tortoife. The extreme-length of the fhell of this was 3 feet 7 inches, and
which-
2 i 6
APPENDIX.
which was cdcemcd a large one.   Simple as it is, I not know one good figure  of it.    This which I have fuhmitted to the reader may be depended upon for its exact-nefs, otherwife the animal is well known, and has often been defcribed.
Its back is covered like the red of other turtles, with a bony fubftance, and this again is covered by lamina, or fcales of a thin transparent texture, variegated with dark brown ftrcaks, difpofed in each fcale as radii proceeding from a centre. The outer rows of the great fcales are irregular pentagons. The row that runs down the middle between thefe are regular hexagons, and round the whole circumference the large fcales are inclofcd by a kind of quadrangular frame firmly united; the broadeft and larger! of thefe fcales being nearcfl the tail. The lowed of all, as it were in the centre of the lowed part of the figure, is notched, the centre of this divifion anfwering* to a line drawn through the middle of the oval, and the head or occiput.
Tins fifh lays a multitude of eggs. Some have faid that thefe are laid among dones, contrary to the practice of the large fea-turtle, which lays them upon fand. All I can fay to this is, that I have feen them but fcldom, and always upon fand, but never among dones. The fifh itfelf is a very dry and coarfe food, very different from that delicate fpecics which comes from the Wed Indies, if the difference does not lie a great deal in the cookery. At the time that I ate of this animal, I was going to view the junction of the Indian Ocean without the Straits of Babelmandeb, and the wind fetting in contrary,
APPEND i X
21 f
miry, wc were in great fear of not being able to return, as the reader will have feen in our voyage- Particularly, I did not obferve any of the green fat, fo well known to our epicures, nor indeed any fat at all. When roafted, it tailed to me much like old veal new killed. It is only an inhabitant of the mouth of the Gulf. They feldom come up the length of Mocha; when they do, they are few in number, are probably fick, and not able to bear the agitation of the waves from the fouth-weflers.
The Egyptians dealt largely with Rome in this elegant article of commerce. Pliny tells us, the cutting them for finecring or inlaying, was liril pra<5lifed by Carvilios Pollio, from which we would prefume that the Romans were ignorant of the Arabian and Egyptian art of fcparating the lamina by fire, placed in the infide of the lTiell when the meat is taken out; for thefe fcales, though they appear perfectly diftincT and fcparate, do yet adhere, and oftcner break than fplit where the mark of fcparation may be feen diftinct. Martial * fays, that beds were inlaid with it. Juvenalf, and Apuleius, in his tenth Book mentions that the Indian bed was all over fhining with tortoife-fheli in the outfidc, and fwelling with Huffing of down within. The im-menfe ufe made of it in Rome may be gueflcd by what we learn from Vellcius Paterculus f, who fays, that when Alexandria was taken by Julius Qefar, the magazines, or warehouses, were fo full of this article, that he propofed to have made it the principal ornament of his triumph, as he did
ivory
* Mart, lib. xii. and l.xvii. epig,      f Juv- fat- t v<^- Pat. lib. ii. cajj. $$t
*
ivory afterwards when triumphing for having happily 2i* nifhed the Afi ican war.
Th is, too, in more modern times, was a great article in the trade to China, and I have always been exceedingly fur-pi ifed, iince near the whole of the Arabian Gulf is comprehended in the charter of the Eaft India Company, that they do not make an experiment of lifliing both pearls and tortoifes; the former of which, fo long abandoned, muft now be in great plenty and excellence, and a few fifhers put on board each fhip trading to Jidda, might furely find very lucrative employment with a long-boat or pinnace, at the time the veflels were felling their cargo in the port, and while bufied in this gainful occupation, the coafts of the Tied Sea might be fully explored.
Or
V
L/id'/i Puhkthed Dec.rrV''jVoJ:r &HoMntm Jh €*
Of PEARLS.
npHE fhips which navigated the Red Sea brought gold * and fdver from Ophir and Tarfhifh; they brought myrrh, frankincenfe, and ivory, from Saba, and various kinds of fpices from the continent of Afia, acrofs the Indian ocean. If we judge by the little notice taken of them in very ancient times, the trcafures which lay nearer home, in their own feas, and upon their own mores, wrere very little fought after, or fpoken of, in the days when the navigation of the Arabian gulf was at its height.   We are not, however, to believe that the pearl fifhery, even in thofe days, was totally neglected; but foreign trade was grown to fuch a magnitude, and its value fo immenfe, that we are not to be furprifed, that articles that were only a matter of ornament and luxury, or of domcftic ufe, and did not enter into the medium of Vol. V. G g commerce,
commerce, were little fpoken of, however clofely followed: and well underftood.
We gather from fcripture, the only hiftory of thefe early-times to be depended upon, that precious ftones were imported from the fouthern coaft of Africa* This trade, however great it might be, is mentioned but ftightly, and as it were accidentally, being abforbed in the very great articles of commerce then fpoken of. In the fame manner we read, of the beauty and excellence of pearls curforily introduced, often by allufions and comparifons throughout the {acred books, but always in a manner which fufficiently fhews the great intrinlic eftimation in which they were held.
Pearls are found in all the four quarters of the World, but in no degree of excellence, excepting in the eaft of Africa and in Afia. They are in every part of the Red Sea, they are in the Indian Ocean, in that low part of the coaft of Arabia Felix called the Baherein, which joins to the Gulf of Perfia. There are banks where they are found about Gombron to the eaftward of that Gulf, or in the flat coaft there ; and in the feas which wafh the ifland of Ceylon^ many have been found of the greateft beauty and price ; and for number, they are nowhere fo plentiful as in the Baherein, between the coaft of Arabia Felix and the ifland of Or-mus, whence they are tranfportcd to Aleppo, then fent to Leghorn, and circulated through Europe, and this above all others is the market for feed pearls.
The oyfter is currently reported to be the fpecics of fifh where this precious gueft is lodged, and many a weary
% fearch
fearch and inquiry I have made after thefe oyfters in the Red Sea, defpairing always to fee a pearl, till we had firft found an oyfter. The fact, however, turned out to be, that there are no fuch fifh as oyfters in the Arabian Gulf, and though our fuccefs in finding pearls was fmall, yet we got from the natives of the coaft a fufficient number as well as information, to put it beyond doubt to what fifh this beautiful and extraordinary production belonged.
Pearls are produced only in fhclls that are bivalves, that is, which have an upper and lower fhell clofing by a hinge in a manner little differing from the oyfter. It is commonly faid by the fifhermen, that all bivalves in the Red Sea have pearls of fome kind in them. This is a very rude and large view of the matter, for though it is true that fome ex-crefcences, or fecretions, of the nature of pearls, may be found in the bifter, and the large bivalves with which this fea abounds, yet it is well known to all converfant in thefe matters, that many of the pearl iheli itfelf (f fhall not call it an oyfter, for it is not one) are found without any pearl or likenefs of pearl in them ; being, I fuppofe, not yet arrived to that age when the extravafation of that juice which forms the peacl^happens.
There are three fhell fifh in the Red Sea which regularly are fought after as containing pearly Thefiritis a mufTel, and this is of the rareft kind, whether they are now failed in number, or whether they were at any former time frequent, is now unknown. They are chiefly found in the north end of the Gulf, and on the Egyptian fide. The only part I have ever feen them was abour CofTeir, and to the northward of it, where I muft obferve there was an ancient
G g 2 port,
port, called Myos Hormos, which commentators have called the Port of the Moufe, when they fhould have tranflated it, the Harbour of the MufTel. This fifh contains often pearls of great beauty for luftre and fhape, but feldom of a white or clear water, Pliny relates this to be the cafe in the Italian feas, and alfo in the Thracian Bofphorus, where he ob-ferves they are more frequent..
The fecond fort of fhell which generally contains the* pearl is called Pinna. It is broad and femicircular at the top, and decreafcs till it turns fharp at the lower end, where is the hinge. It is rough and figured on the outfide, of a beautiful red colour, exceedingly fragil, and fometimes three feet long. In the infide it is cloathed with a mofl beautiful lining called Nacre, or mother-of-pearl, white, tinged with an elegant blulh of red. Of this mofl delicate complexion is the pearl found in this fifh, fo that it feems to confirm the fentimcnts of M, Rcamur on the formation of pearls, that they are formed of that glutinous fluid which is the firfl origin of the fhell, that it forms the pearl of the fame colour and water that is communicated to it from that part of the fhell with which it is more immediately in contact, and which is generally obferved in the pinna to be higher in colour as it approaches the broadefl, which is the reddefl end.
TJroN the matured consideration, I can have no doubt that the pearl found in this fhell is the penim or peninim rather, for it is always fpoken of in the plural, to which al-lufion has been often made in fcripture. And this derived from its rednefs is the true reafon of its name. On the contrary, the word pinna has been idly imagined to be de-
i rived
rived from penna, a feather, as being broad and round at the top, and ending at a point, or like a quill below. The Englifh translation of the fcripture; erroneous and innacu-rate in many thing* more material, tramlates this peninim by rubies *, without any foundation or authority, but becaufe they are both red, as are bricks and tiles, and many other things of bafe and vile materials The Greeks have tranflated it literally pina, or pinna, and the fhell they call Pmnicus ; and many places occur inStrabo, Elian, Ptolemy, and Theophraftus, which are mentioned famous for this fpecies of pearl I fhould imagine alfo, that by Solomon faying it is the moft precious of all productions, he means, that this fpecies of pearl was the mofl valued, or the beft known in Judea. For though we learn from Pliny that the excellency of pearls was their whitcnefs, yet we know the pearls of ayellowifh call are thofe cfleemed in India to this day, as the peninim, or reddifh pearl was in Judea in the days of Solomon..
The third fort of pearl-bearing fhell is what I fuppofe has been called the Oyfler; for the two fhells I have already fpoken of furely bear no fort of likenefs to that fhell-fifh, nor can this, though mofl approaching to it, be faid any way to refemble it, as the reader will judge by a very accurate drawing given of it, now before him,,
BOO HART
Sec Proverbs, chap, xxxi, verfe 10. But in Job, where all the variety of precious ftones arc mentioned, the'uanflaior is forced, as it were unwillingly, to re&dcf Puiinim pearls, as he ought indeed to have done in mary other places where y; occurs. Job, chap, xxviii. Vrfe 18.
Bochart fays thcfc arc called Darra, or Dora in Arabic, which feems to be the general word for all pearls in fcripture, whereas the peninim is one in particular. In the Red Sea, where it holds the full rank among pearls, it is called Lule fmgle, or* Lulu el Berber, i. e. the pearl of Beiber, Barabra, or Bcja, the country of the Shepherds^ which we have already fpoken of at large, extending from th? northern tropic, Ibuthward, to the country of the Shan-galla Oi Troglodytes. Androflhenes fays, the ancient name of thefe pearls was Berberis, which he believes to be an Indian word, and fo it is, underllanding, as the ancients did, India to mean the country I have already mentioned between tJie tropics.
The character of this pearl is extreme whitenefs, and even in this whitenefs Pliny juftly fays there are fhades or differences. To continue to ufe his words, the clearefl of thefe are found in the Red Sea, but thofe in India have the colour of the flakes, or diviiions of the lapis fpecularis. The mofl excellent are thofe like a lblution of alum, limpid, milky like, and even with a certain almoft imperceptible call of a fiery colour. Theophraflus fays, that thefe pearls are transparent, as indeed the foregoing defcription of Pliny would lead us to imagine ; but it is not fo, and if they were, it is apprehended they would lofe all their beauty and value, and approach too much to glafs.
It has been erronenoufly faid, that pearl fhells grow upon rocks, and again, that they arc caught by nets. This
is
* Bochart reads this Lata falfely, mistaking the vowel point a for «, hut there is no fuch WQtd in Arabic.
is certainly a contradiction, as nobody would employ nets to gather liih from among rocks. On the contrary, all kind* of pearl are found: in the deepefl, ftilleft water, and (ohHi bottom. The parts of molt of them are too fine to bear the agitation of the fea among rocks. Their manners and cGConomy are little known, but, as far as I have obferved, they are all {tuck in the mud upright by an extremity, the mufTel by one end, the pinna by the fmall fharp point, and the berberi, or lule,by the hinge or fquare part which projects from the round.
In fhallow and clear fir earns I have feen fmall furrows or tracts, upon the fandy bottom, by which you could trace the mufTel, from its laft ftation, and thefe not ftraight, but deviating into traverfcs and triangles, like the courfe of a lhip in a contrary wind laid down upon a map, the tract of the mufTel probably in purfuit of food. The general belief is, that the mufTel is conftantly flationary in a ftate of repofe, and cannot transfer itfelf from place to place. This is a vulgar prejudice, and one of thofe facts that are miftaken for want of fufiicicnt pains, or opportunity, to make more critical'observation. Others finding the firft opinion a falfe one, and that they are endowed with power of changing place like other animals, have, upon the fame foundation, gone into the contrary extreme, fo far as to attribute fwiftnefs to them, a property furely inconfiftent with their being fixed to rocks. Pliny and Solinus fay, that the muf-fel have leaders, and go in flocks, and that their leader is endowed with great cunning, to protect himfelf and his flock from the fifhers, and when he is taken, the others fall an eafy prey. This however I think we are to look upon as a-fable, borne of the moft accurate obfervers having difcovered!
vercd the motion of the mufTel, which is indeed wonderful* and that they lie in beds, which is not at all fo, have added the reft to make their hiitory complete.
It is obferved that pearls are always the moft beautiful in thofe places of the fea where a quantity of frefh water falls. Thus in the Red Sea they were always moft eftccmed that were filhed from Suakem fouthward, that is in thofe parts xorrefponding to the country anciently called Berberia, and Azamia, from reafons before given ; on the Arabian coaft, near the ifland Camaran, where there is abundance of frefh water; and the ifland of Foofht, laid down in my map, where there are fprings; there I purchafed one I had the pleafure to fee taken out of the fhell.   It has been faid that the fifh of thefe fhelis are good, which is an error; they were the only fhell-fifh in the Red Sea I found not eatable. I never faw any pearl fhelis on either fide fouthward of the parallel of Mocha in Arabia Felix.   As it is a fifh that delights in re-pofe, I imagine it avoids this part of the gulf, as lying open to the Indian Ocean, and agitated by variable winds.
In that part of my narrative where I fpeak of my return through the Defert of Nubia, and the fhelis found there, I have likewife mentioned the mufTel found in the fait fprings that appear in various parts of that defert. Thefe likewife travel far from home, and arc fome times furprifed by the ceafing of the rains, at a greater diftancc from their beds than they have ftrength and moiiture to carry them. In many of 'thefe fhelis I have found thofe kind of excrefcen-<::cs which we may call Pearls, all of them ill-formed, foul, ;md of a bad colour, but of the fame confluence, and lodged
- hi
in the fame part of the body as thofe in the fea. The mufTel, too, is in every refped limilar, I think larger, the outer fkin or covering of it is of a vivid green. Upon removing this, which is the epidermis, what next appears is a beautiful pink, without glofs, and feemingly of a calcareous nature. Below this, the mother-of-pearl, which is undermoft, is a white without luftre, partaking much of the blue, and very little of the red, and this is all the difference I obferved between it and the pearl-bearing mufTel in the Red Sea; but even this latter I always found in ftill water, foft bottom, and far from flony or rocky ground. None of thefe pearl mufTels, either in the Red Sea or the defert, have any appearance of being fpinners, as they are generally defcribed to be.
I have faid that the Baherein has been cfleemcd the place whence the greateft quantity of pearls are brought. I would be underftood to mean, that this has been the reputed greateft regular market from antiquity to the prcfent time. But Americus, in his fecond navigation, fays, that he found an unknown people of that continent, who fold him above 54 pound weight for 40 ducats*. And Peter the Martyr fays, that Tunacca, one of the kings of that country, feeing the great defire the Spaniards had for pearls, and the value they fet upon them, fent fome of his own people in fearch of them, who returning the fourth day, brought with them 12 pounds of pearls, each pound 8 ounces. If this is the cafe, America furcly excells both Africa and Afla in the quantity of this article.
Vol. V. II h The
* The Spaniards have no gold ducats, fo this nuift have been filver, value about a Mown* £0 that the fura-total was L, 10 Sterling;.
The value of pearls depends upon fize, regularity of form, (for roundnefs is not always requifite) weight, fmooth-nefs, colour, and the different fliades of that colour. Suetonius fays, that Catfar gave to Servilia, Marcus Brutus's mother, a pearl worth about L.50,000 of our money. And Cleopatra, after vaunting to her lover, Mark Antony, that flic would give him a flipper which fhould cofl two hundred and fifty-thou fand pounds, for this purpofe diffoived one of the pearls which flie carried in her ears, which a-mounted to that price, and drank it. The other, it is faid, was carried afterwards to Rome by Auguftus Csefar, fawn in two, and put in the ears of Venus Genetrix.
The price of pearls has been always variable. Pliny feems to have over-rated them much, when he fays they are the moft valuable and excellent of all precious ftones. He muft probably have had thofe juft mentioned in his view, for otherwife they cannot bear comparifon with diamonds, amcthyfts, rubies, or fapphires.
It has been obferved to me by the pearl fifhers in the eafl, that when the fhell is fmooth and perfect, there they have no expectation of a pearl, but are lure to find them when the fhell has begun to be diftorted and deformed. From this it would feem, as the fifh turned older, the vef-fels confining the juice for forming the fhell, and keeping it in its vigour, grew weak and ruptured ; and thence, from this juice accumulating in the fifh, the pearl was formed, and tiie fhell brought to decay, perfectly in the manner, as I have before faid, fuppofed by M. Reamur.
In
)
In Scotland, efpccially to the northward, in all rivers running from lakes, there ate found muffels that have pearls of more than ordinary merit, though fehlom of large fize. I have purcluifed many hundred?, all lately tjie wearing of real pearls coming into fafhion, thofe of Scotland have in-creafed in price greatly beyond their value, and fuperior often to the price of oriental ones when bought in the eafL The reafon of this is a demand from London, where they are actually employed in work, and fold as oriental. But the excellency of all glafs or paile manufactory, it is likely, will keep the price of this article, and the demand for it within bounds, when every lady has it in her power to wear in her cars, for the price of fixpence, a pearl as beautiful in colour, more elegant in form, lighter and caficr to carry, and as much bigger as flic plcafes, than thofe famous ones of Cleopatra and Scrvilia. I fhall only further obferve, that the fame remark on the fhell holds in Scotland as in the eafl. The fmooth and perfect: mufTel fhell rarely produces a pearl, the crooked and diflorted fhell fcldom wants one.
I shall here mention a very elegant fort of manufactory, with which I cannot pofitively fay the ancients were acquainted, which is finecring, or inlaying with the infide of the fhell called mother-of pearl, known to the dealers in trinkets all over Europe, and in particular brought to great perfection at Jerufalem. That of Peninim, though the mofl beautiful, is too fragil and thin to be employed in large pieces. It is the nacre, or morher-of-pcarl taken from the Lulu elBerberi, or what is called Abyflinian oyfler, principally ufed in thofe fine works. Great quantities of this fhell are brought daily from the Red Sea to Jerufalem. Of thefe all
the
the fine\vorks,the crucifixes, the wafer-boxes, and the beads, are made, which are fent to the Spaniih dominions in the new world, and produce a return incomparably greater than the ftaple of the greateft manufactory in the old.
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I    N    D EX
ABYSSINIA divided into provinces, vol. iii. p. 248 Abyilinians, lift of their kings, i. 480
-cuiloms, iii. 262
--maimer of marrying, iii. 306
-manner of baptifm, iii. 324
--mode of adminiflering the facra-
ment of the fuppcr, iii. 334 '
---religion, iii. 313
-military force, iii. 308
-practife circumcifion, iii. 341
--books, i. 493
-when converted to Chriftianity,
i. 504
Abreha makes war with the Arabians, i. 512 Abuna, law to bring him from Cairo, i. 534 Adel.m, character, iv. 439
-i--cavalry, beauty of, iv. 437.
-promifes the author protection, iv.
441
Adowa, town, iii. 119
Agagecrs, account of them, iv. 298
Agows, i. 401
Alexander attempts to difcover the fource
of the Nile, iii. 607 Alexandria, i. 10
Algiers,the author made conful there, Introd. 6.
All Bey, account of him, i. 28.
Alphonlo Mendes, patriarch, enters Abyflinia, ii. 349
--violent conduct, ii. 355
Vol. V. Id
-baniihed from Abyflinia, ii. 402
Alvarez, account of his journal, ii. r.70
-his account of Abyflinian baptifm,
iii. 227
Amda Sion, his licentious conduct, ii. 6
-attacks Adel, ii. 15
---defeats the Moors, ii. 16
-kings of Haden, andFatigar,ii. 22
--the king of Adel, ii. 30
-fdences the   murmurs of hig
army, ii. 41
--1- defeats the rebels, ii. 43
Amhara, account of, i. 401. and iii. 254
Amlac, Icon, reftored to the kingdom, ii. 2
Arabia, its climate and productions, i. 373
Aroofll, iii. 572
Afhkoko, app. 139
Axum, capital of Tigre, iii. 129.
--when and by whom built, i. 37S
-Chronicle, i. 398
a
Baalbec, defcription of, Introd. 58 B.ibclmandeb, account of, i. 311, 314 B-.eda Mariam  banifhes his   brothers to
Wechne, ii. 80
- his character, ii. 90
Bacilf&j character, ii. 595
-annals of his reign imperfect, ii. 596
--Angular accidents of his life, ii. 59 jf
598
Baharnagafh, i. 483
Baleflan,
Bale flan, balm, or baHiuBj vol. i. p. 374
—■---dcfcriptioTi or it, Appcn. 16
Banjn, buttle of, iii. 374
Begemcter, province of Abyflinia, iii. 253
Beja, i. 86
Bengnzi, Introd. 43
Beni Koreifh, i. jn
Bermudes made patriarch of Abyflinia, ii. 16*9 ■--makes fubmiiiion of Abyflinia to
the fee of Rome, ii. 170 --procures afliftance for Abyflinia,
ii* 1 78
-—--- violent conduct, ii. r 95
■■--leaves Abyilinia, ii. 198
Beyla, Shekh of, fends a moullah to Teawa in favour of the author, iv. 385
-author's friendly reception there, iv. 411
>-defcription of, iv. 414,
Bintiy, appen. 211 Booted Lynx, appen. 146
c.
Cairo, government, i. 24
Cambyfes,. his expedition into Africa, i. 450
Camera obfeura, defcription of one ufed by
the author, Tntrod. 8 Candace, queen, i. r>°5 Cauja, defcription of, i. 43 Carina, or fea-tortoife, app. 215 Carnac, and Luxor, ruins there, i. 13, 1 39 Carthage, ruins of, Introd. 21 CafaT, his defire to know the fource of the
Kile, iii. 612 Ceraftv;-, or horned viper, Appen. 19S. Chendi, iv. 529 Chiggre, valley, it. r>59 Chnttophcr Father, account of him, Introd.
18
___procures letters for the author to Abyi'i'ia, i. 35
Qhriftopher de Gama, his gallant behaviour, u. 186
---death, ii. 187
Claudius, profperous beginning of his reign*
ii. 17;.
- defeats the Moors, ii. 191
- flain by Nur, ii. 203
Kleopatra encourages trade, i. 4*7 Conttanrin.j, Introd. 26 Coflcir, defcription of, i. 189 Covillan Peter, his character, ii. 104
■--fent to Abyflinia, ii. 106
■- fends dii patches to Portugal^
ii. 108
Cufh peoples Abyflinia, i. 376
Cuflo, or Bankcfia Abyflinica, Appen* 73
Cyrus, his expedition* u 449
D.
Dahalac, ifland, i. 348
Damot, province of Abyflinia, iii. 257.
-maflacre there,'; i. 526
Dancali, kingdom, ii. 82 Darius, his expedition, i. 454 David III. defeats the Moors, ii. 137
-dilireflcs his Portuguefe allies, ii...
136
—-— attacked and tlefeated by the Moors,
ii. 161
-diftreflesof the king, ii. 163
•-.-fortitude, ii. 166
David IV. aflembles the clergy, ii. 577
—-1-puts to death the Catholic priefls,
ii. 580
---calls a fecondmeetingof the clergy^
u. 5S8
--infultedby them, ii. 589
punilhes them, ii. 590
--f-i-poifoned, ii. .5 91.
Defan, cape, i. 443
Dcmbca, province, iii. 258
Dendera, ruins, i. 103
Denghel Sertza, defeats the Moors, ii. 228
Denghel i
Denghel Sertza defeats theTurks, vol. ii. p. 233
---------his death and character, ii. 2 35
Diodorus Siculus, his account of Meroe, iv-542
Dixan, to>vn, iii. 85 Dugga, ruins, Introd. 2 3
E.
Eagle, Golden, appen. 155
-Black, appen. 159
Egyptians, cuftoras of, iii. 290
Egypt, not the gift of the Nile, iii. 672
El Adda, app. 193
Elephant, manner of hunting him defcribed,
iv. 296 Enoch, book of, i. 4^7 EjD.letcf.app. 36 Ergett Y'Dimmo, app. 34 Ergett el Krone, app. 35 Erkoom, app. 1.69
Efther, Ozoro, marries Michael, ii. 699
_--her cruelty to the murderers of
Mariam Barea, ii. 700 Ethiopia, that word ill applied, has rendered
the fcripture obfeure, i. 405 to 410 Eudoxus, his firft: voyage, i. 4^5
-fecond voyage, i. 4^6
_i-fails round Africa, i. 467
Excifion practifed by the Abyflinians, Hi. 34 7
E.
Fac.ilidas, his prudent conduct, ii. .74
--defeats the reb 1 Serca C vrilto;;, ii.
336
—,----— banifhes the Catholic , ii. 402
--1— lils death jindcharacr, ii. 418
Talafha or Jews, their langua-<■, i. 404
---— account of tjhem. i. 40-4
Farefc, or Bauhinia Acuminata, Appe 57 •Fafil Waragna, made governor of Damot, ii.
67.3
---quarrels with Ras Michael, u.
697
-defeated by him, ii. 705
----defeated at Fagitta, ii. 714
--defeated at Limjour, iii. 400
-:— makes peace with die king*
iii. 466
--author's interview with him
in his camp, iii. 510 --'— gives the author leave to vifit
the ibnrces of the Nile, iii. 530 -■--■ his artful conduct with Soci-
nios, iv. 35 ---<--declares for TeclaHaimanout,
iv. 43
Fatima, queen, furrenders to the Abyftiniansj it- 3°3
-prudent conduftwithSccinios, ii. 305
Fennec, Appen. 128 Fa :iana, account of, Introd. 33 Fidele, the Shekh of Teawa his chara£fcer, iv. 352
--the author's firft interview with hJmj
iv. 357
-his deceitful conduct, iv. -/>?.
Fit-Auraris, account of that olficer, iii. 400 Fly, tfaltfalya* zimb, or cynomyia, i. 388
-its wonderful effect, i. j88j 389
-4T.cr.tion made of it by Ilaiah, app. 390
Foofhtj iftand, i 329 Fu-ge, iv. 45'
-------fh\u-h e'v.-racier, iv. 459
Frumentiu9 converts Abyilinia to Chritth-
nity, *i. 5«--9 •Furlhcut, i. 114
G.
■G a fats, account of them, i. 402 Gngued:,. Appen. 52
Gi.Jla, account of that nation,   402. ii. 21 &
Gawi
1 i 2
Gawa, ruins, vol. i. p. 96 Geelh, province conferred on the author, iii. 472
Gee/a, Pyramids, i. 4t
--—1 not the ancient Memphis, i. 59
Geez language of the ihepherds, i. 42 t, 5
Gerri, iii. 667 iv. 517
Gibbertls, account of them, ii. 9
Gingiro, kingdom, i. 320
Gir Gir, or Gelhe el Aube, appen. 47
Gojam, province of Abyflinia, vii. 256
Gondar account of it, iii. 380
Goog, village, iv. 20
Guangoul, defcription of him, iv. 99
Gurague, their mode of ftealing, iv. 14S
Gufho, his character, ii. 700
---confpires againft Michael, iii. 375
-deceives Faiil, iii. 465,
--marches to Gondar, iii. $8 1
—-----author's  interview with him, iii.
482
,---defeated at Serbraxos, iv. 144
----1— oilers the king terms of peace, iv.
146
-----refufed, iv. 151
-the author's fecond interview with
him, iv. 204
-his army invents Gondar, iv. 229
--— forces Michael's army to iurree.der,
iv. 231
-created Ras, iv* 240
-his bad conduct, iv. 244
--flies from Gondar, iv. 246
-taken and put in irons, iv. 247
--releafed, iv. z6o
H.
[Iabefli, meaning of that word, i. 397 Halouan, ifland of the Nile, i. 71 ll.iiino's periplus explained, ii. 552 --—— vindicated, ii. 564
Henry king of Portugal, his ardour for pro.
moting fcience, ii. 95
-attempts a paflage round Africa, ii. 96
--fends an embafly to Abyflinia, ii. 103
Herodotus, paflage of his explained, ii. 562
-account of the Nile's rife, iii. 685-
Hieroglyphics founded on obfervation of the
dog ftar, i. 41 2
-abfurd opiruonconcerningthena,.
i. 415
Hor-Cacamoot, account of that place, iv. 324 Hyaena, defcription of, appen. 107 Hybeer, iv. 536
I.
Jahaleen Arabs, iv. 456 J.mni, his kind reception of the author, iii-120
Jemma river, beauty of, iv. 1 2
Jerboa, defcription of, appen. 1 2 t
Jidda defcription of, i. 265
India, account'of its climate and productions
»■ 371
Indian trade origin of it, i. 373
-fluctuating ftate, i. 4 4 7
-hurt by the expedition of the Per-
flans, i. .448 ---loft in the time of the Romans, i.
470
Joas confers his favour on the Galla, ii. 670
----difguits ?>Iarii!in li;<rca, i'. 673
--his army defeated, ii. 679
-------cLhr.s the protection of Michael, ii. 680
--rupture with Michael, ii. 701
-attempts to aflaflinatc him, ii. 703
-afiaflinated by Michael, ii. 706
Ifcander makes war with Adel, ii. 116
---flain by Za Saluce, ii. 118
Ifraclites, probable courfe of their journey
from Egypt, i. 230 Iteghe, her power, i. ^07
Judith
Judith maflacres the royal family, vol. i. p. 5 26
-tranfmits the crown of Abyflinia to
her pofterity, i. 527
K.
Kantuffa, defcription of, appen. 49
Kol-quail tree, appen. 41
Konfodah, i. 297
Koran, account of, i. 522
Kofcam, author's tranfactions there, iii. 211
-palace, defcription of it, iv. 271
Kuara, province of Abyflinia, iii. 259 Kuara tree, appen. 65
L.
Lalibala, his attempt to change- the courle of
the Nile, i. 529 Lamalmon, iii. 183
Languages, fpecimens of vanous, i. 401, 2 Letters, origin of, i. 420
-not given by God to Mofes, i. 421
-----altered by Mofes, i. 422.
Loheia, i. 302
M.
Maffudi, character of him, ii. 115
--defeated by Naod, ii. r23
-■---rewarded by the Turks, ii. 136
---flain, ii. 140
Mahomet pretends to be a prophet, i. 520 Mahomet Bey Abou Dahab, interview with
him, iv. 625 —-permits the Englifh to trade to
Sue/, iv. 633 Mai tin a, account of that province, iii.. 546
and iv. 2 3 Marble mountains, i. 187 Mariam Barea, aflociated with the party of
the Iteghe, ii. 671
--quarrels with Michael, ii. 674
---deprived of his government, ii.
675
--■ —    his character, ii. 676
—--remonftrates againft the king's-
conduct, ii. 677
---defeats the Galla, ii. 680
--defeated by Michael, ii. 693
---put to death by the king, m
<*95
Mafuah, ifland, iii. 1
-difeafes, iii. 33
-trade and mufic, iii. 51, 52
Menas, king, baniflies the Portugude priefb:, ii. 210
Menilek fon of Solomon, i. 480
Meroe when built, i. 378
---ifland, fituation of, iii. 644, and iv.
539
Michael Suhul, governor of Tigre, rcfufes to
obey the king's orders, ii. 649
---™, taken prifonsr, ii. 6,50
—-.—'— advances in the king's favour,
ii. 652
--,-----rcftoretl to his government,
ii. 654
-„-called by the king to defend
him againft Mariam Baiea, 31. 680
---—-—— marches to Gondar, ii. 681
---reftores order in the capital,
ii. 684.
--marches againft Mariam Barea, ii, 686
-1-defeats him, ii. 693
--rupture with the king, ii. 704
--defeats Fafll, ii. 705
-aflaflinates the king, ii. 706
--pUts Hannes II. to death, ii,
70 9\
-defeats Fafll, ii. 715
——— author's firft interview with him, iii. 217
Michael.
Michael Suhul his character, vol ii\ p. 226
—~——.—-conspiracy formed againli him,
iii- 375
---forced to leave Gondar, iii.
479
---cruelty on his return to Gondar, iv. 72, 5
--1-----impolitic conduct, iv. in
,—1--defeats Culbo and Powuflen
at Scrbraxos, iv. 144
-----retreats to Gondar, iv. 224
---made prifoiKr, nr. 240
Mocha, r    ning of th*t name, i, 442 Mohannan, the ancient Memphis, i. 54 M mtes Luna 1 ''the ancients, i. 378 Moroc, defenpti e:i of, appen. 178 Mudgid cuts offthe royal family at WeChne, ji. 109
N.
Nacueta Laab reflgns the crown of Abyilinia, i. 532
Nagafhi what, i. 524
N.tre.i, kingdom, account of, ii. 31a
Nearchus fails from India to the Perfian Guh, ;;j
----enters the Red #ea,i. 456
Nebvr iu*h>e//.ur,di;bute about his canonization, iii. 367
Nero attempts to diiccver the fource of the
Nile* Hh ft 13 Niger, caufe of its increafe, iii. 7*9
-not a brS&eH of the Nile, iii. 720
Nli ■ del 'iption of the cataratl above Syene?
3. 156
-difeovof its foyrccs, iii. 580
---- ,-. ■ tempted by the ancients, iii. 606
—— defcription of Its fourccs, iii. 634
mtmm   - COtH '      Of that ttVCr, 111. 644
----namcV, \\\ tfjj \
~- . califs 0? it! Inundation iii. 6j9
-inquiry if poflible to change its courfe,
iii. 7 i 2
-groat cataraift, iii. 425
—— memorable paflage of, iii. 448 Nilomcter, iii. 690
--changed by Omar, iii. 716
Norden's voyage, account of, iii. (. 30 Nuba, their character, iv. 4ty --religion, iv. 420
---author kindly received by them, iv.
423 Ntu'u, iii. 716
o.
Omar conquers Egypt, i!i. 689 Ombi, men-eaters, 1. 142 OpVur, voyage to, account of, i. 433 Ofiris not the fun, but the dog-ftar, i. 411 -Onftas ufurps the throne, ii. 540
---favourable to the Catholic -religion,
ii. 569 —1--depofed, ii, 572
P.
Paez Peter enters AbyiTina, ii. 244
—--converts Za Denghel, ii. 245
---builds a convent at Gorgora, ii. af<5
---converts Socinios, ii. 34 j.
--hi?death and character, ii. 344
_---hjg pretentions to difcover the
fource of the Nile confuted, iii. 6i7 Paleflinc, various nations tied from it, i. 399 Palmyra, ruins, introd. 57 Papyrus, fliipa made of it, i. 370
----defcription of it, app. 1
Fetronius Arbiter improves Egypt, ill. 65$ Polygamy, caufe of its origin, i. z8i Poncet fent to Abyilinia, ii. 467
-— account of his travels, ii. 469
—-recovers the king of Abyflinia, ii,
<i?8
Poneet
Poncet, his journal vindicated, vol. ii. p. 492 Portugal, attempts to difcover the Eaft Indies, ii. 96
—fends an embafly to Abyflinia, ii. 103
---receives an embafly from Abyflinia,
ii- 133
-fends a reinforcement to David III-
ii. 142
—-unfuccefsful iflue of the expedition,
ii. 157
--fends a fecond reinforcement to the
king of Abyflinia, ii. 181 Pox, fmall, when introduced, i. 514 Ptolemy I, encourages the Indian trade, i»
457
-II. his magnificent procefllon, 1.448
■--invades Ethiopia, i. 462
--III. .conquers Ethiopia, i. 463
R.
Rachamah, defcription of, appen. 163
Rack tree defcription of, appen. 44
Ras el Feel, the author made governor of
that province, iii. 364 Ras Sent account of, Introd. 39 Red Sea, caufe of that name, i. 237 Rhinoceros, hunting of him defcribedi iv.
29b
--- defcription of that- animal, appen.
85
Roderigo de Lima attempts to enter Abyf-
finia, iii. 628 Rofetto, \. 20
Roule M. le Noir fent to Abyflinia, ii. 501
----,— imprudent conduct at S :n-
naar, ii. 507 p-.——,-aliallinated, ii. 508
s.
Saba, queen of, i. 471
*--•---viiits jerufalem, i. 472
«—--— has a ibn to Solomon, i. 476
-- { d u nds the A by fl i n ian Monarch
i. 476
Salama Abba, J irauer of, iii rot
----cond mned ana ejt:cuted,,iv, 63
Samen, province of Abyflhua, iii. zyx
Sancaho, iv. 376
Stand, pillar;; of, iv. 553—6
Safla, append^ s j
Sennaar, author arrives there, iv. 428 ■
--character of its king, 1 v. ,30
--account of his wives, iv. 4; '
----treacherous conduit to the auth
iv. 453*.
--lift of its kings, iv. 464
----government, iv. 470
■--— forces, iv. 480
-----climate, difcafes, iv. 481
Serbraxos, lirft battle of, iv, 140
---fecond battle of, iv. 16^.
--third battle of, iv. 199
Sefoftris improves Egypt, i. s^S Shangalla, account of that nation, ii. 546
-diviflon of their country, iv. 327
Shaw, Dr. .his miibtk^ about Egypt* iii- 700 Shalaka Welled Amlac, account or him, iv. 2 --'---author's receptio at
his houfe, iv. 6 Shell-liih found in-the defert, iv. 339 Sheregrig, deiVripuon of, append. (82 Shepherds, account of that people, i. 38 *
-their various names, i. 385.
--habitation,i. 38^
—-—— fubdue Egypt i. 395
Shoa, kingvlom, iii. 255 Sid el Coom, iv. 460
Simoom, defcription of that poifonous wind,
iv. .34 I Sire, town of, iii. 1 ^2 —province of Abyiimia, iii. 252 Sittinia, queen, iv. 531, Slave-trade, its origin, i. 392 Socinios claims the crown, il. 250
-defeats his ri\al Jatfob, 259
-the Galla, 275
Socinios-.
Socinios crowned at Axum, ii. 278
---expedition againft Sennaar, ii. 298
—1----fubducs I'atima queen of the Shepherds, ii. 302
--converted to the Catholic religion,,
ii. 30S
—fends ambafiadors to Rome, ii. 309
—■-openly pro fe lies the Catholic religion, ii. 344
----bigotted conduct, ii. 552
------limits the power of the Catholics, ii-
359
—■---grants the Abyilinians full exercife
of their own religion, ii. 39^
---death and character, ii. 397
Sofala, the Ophir of the ancients, i. 438 Spaitla, Introd. 30
Strabo, his account of Meroe, iv. 544 Suez, directions how to fail there, i. 223 Sugar canes, plantations of them in Upper
Egypt, i- &i Syene, or Aflouan, i. 1 54
— affumed by Eratofthenes for meafuring an arch of the meridian, i. 160
T.
Tacazze river, iii. 156, 7
.-why called Siris, i. 3^9
Taranta, mountain, iii. 76 Tarihiih, i. 439
Tech Haimanout I. writes in favour of I)u
Roule, ii. 517
--_-quells a rebellion, ii. 530
1--------auafllnated, ii. 532
—1-II. his character, ii. 709
--the author's firft interview
with him, iii. 230
---cruelty, iv. 65
--dangerous lituation at Ser-
braxos, iv. 169 Tcherkin, iv. 2^3
Teawa, defcription of it, iv. 350 fell', appen. 76 Terfowey wells, iv. 465 •--dangerous fituation of the author
there, iv. 566 Tesfos Ayto, governor of Samcn, joins Gu-
flio, iv. 189
--his army cut off, iv. 192
Thebes when built, i. 380
-dellroyed by the Shepherds, i. 394
-----— ruins of, i. 122
- fepulchres, i. 1 25
—■-defcription of two harps found there,
i. 130
Theodorus, king, opinion about him, h. 64 Tifilis executes the regicides, ii. 534
-defeats the rebel Tigi, ii. 532
Tigre, province, iii. 251
Time, Abyilinian mannerofcomputing it, iii.
, 351 Tot, who, i. 416
Towaih Mahomet, iv. 490
-—----, flain in the defert, iv. 586
-------account of him, iv. 610
Trade-winds, i. 431
Troglodyte Cufhites, their fettlement, i. 376
-—--their progrefs, i. 383
Tunis, Introd. i. 21
Tyre, Introd. i. 59
Tzana Lake, defcription of, iii. 386
w.
Waalia, append. 186
Waldubba, monks of, iii. 177
Walkuffa, append. 67
Wanzey tree, account of, app. 54
War of the Elephant, i. jio
Wechne, royal family baniihed there, 5i. 415
WelletaGirgis, or Socinios, made king, iii. 482
---author interview with him,
.iv. d6
Welles
1  N   D  E X.
Welleta Girgis flics from Gondar, iv. 51 Welled Sidi Boogannim, tribe of Arabs, introd. 24
Woodage Afahcl, his character, iii. 421
,—-reveals FafiTs plans, iv, 32
......■     ■ ■   ' bravery, iv. 20^.
■-------(lain, iv. 20 1
Wooginoos, or Drucea Antidyfenterica, app*
Y.
Yambo, 3.247
Yaflne, his attention to the author, iv 329 T&fbus I. his expedition to Wcchne, ii, 428 ' defeats the Galla, ii. 434
——!—his fon rebels againft him, ii. 513
1--death and character, ii. 516
Yafous II. rebellion in the beginning of his reign, ii. 616
--- defeats the Arabs, ii. 632
-addicted to building, ii. 634
—1-attacks Sennaar, ii. 636
■ defeated, ii. 639
■-1— irritated at theNaybe of Mafu ah,i i. 6 4 6
-fummons Michael Suhul to Gondar, ii, 649
•-- takes him prifoner, ii. 650
■  ■— makes a fecond expedition againft Sennaar, ii. 655 Yafous Amha, prince of Shoa, iv. 93
-gives the author the annals of
Shoa, iv. 96 ---his account of the nations near
Shoa, iv. 97 v. Yafous, Ketla, difcovers Fafll's ftratagem, iii.
453 ' '
--marches to Delakus, iii. 454
-croflTes the Nile, iii. 457
Yemen once fubject to Abyflinia, i. 518
z.
Za Denghel reftored to the throne, ii, 242
-■—— converted to the Catholic faith,
ii. 245
Za Selafle rebels, ii. 247
i---defeats and flays Za Denghel, ii.
250
-defeated, ii. 257
--joins Socinios, ii. 258
--death and character, ii. 268, 9
Zngue,prince of, flam, ;i. 689
Zara Jacob, fends ambafiadors to the council
of Florence, ii. 69 - perfecutes the idolaters in
Abyflinia, H. 70 Zebee river, ii. 318 Zerah, i. 406
Zipporah, wife of Mofes, 3.406 Zumrud, Jibbcl, voyage there, i. 204
E R R A r J.
intkod. p. ix. 1. t.  for Abb^Vertot, read Abbe la Pluche.
i--p. xix. 1. 6..  for whole of it, read whole jouniey.
*ol.  i.   p. 11   1. 7* Jor plantions, read plantations*
---p. 148.1. 25. fir cr held in the defert, read or iield, in die
defert.
. .       p. 152.I. tfrfir kaoofk, read kinlk.
- p. 214.1. 21. for pafter, read after.
- p. 236. I.5. for fometitnes read fometime.
- p. 281.I. 2 -fir un unanfwerabie, read an unanfwerablc.
———— p. 284.1. 1. dele the ftar.
- p. 284.1. 5. fir may have changed, the proportion read may
have changed the proportion, --— p. 398.1. 10. dele the itar.
■- p. 444. 1. 2. Jor Babelmandeb, read Babelmandel.
vol.  ii. p. ij9- 1. <\-for from Hamazen on the 12th day, read from
Hamazen j on the 12th day. -p. 620.1.1,'for and fame lincenty, read and with the fame
iincerity.
-p. 660. 1. 2. for 1 768, read 1 769.
--p 692. 1. 27. Jor right wing, readdeft.
■       — p. 693.1. 3. for the right read the left. vol. iii. p. 1 28.1. 21. Jor eighth read eighteenth.
--—---p. 270. 1. 9. Jor touch, read touches-
--p. 340.1. 2, for blefs, read blifs.
■ p. 340.1. 2. Jor is it, read it is.
- p. 528.1. 2. for met, read meet.
--p. 723. 1. ^9-for tree, read trees.
---p. 702.1. *7>fir 2^f inches, read 26A inches.
--p. 702.1. xo.for 24r^ inches, read24A inches
vol. iv. p\ c.   1. 3. for moft, read muft. - ■ p. iC2. dele laft line.
--p. 20j. 1. 27. forTecla Mariam, read Sertza Denghel.
———— p. 206.1. 5. for Tecla Mariam, read Sertza Denghel.
--p. 277.1. 1. for king's wing, read king's right wing.
—... —_     p. 618.1. \ %,Jor Soliman, read Ilinael.
Vol-   v. p. 70. 1. 27.for bark, read root.
•— .--p. 75. 1  j 7, Jor flower, read coral.
i--p.83. 1. 15 for feeho, read iecho..
--—— p. 105.1. 24. for feem, read feems.
.-p. 129.I. zS.for difingenioufhefs, read difingenuoufuefs.
-----p. 1 32.1, 22. for iwcetifh, read Swedilh.
.......■ p..13   1, 3. Jor Qnvtt) read <2>o(n%.