Page:A voyage to Abyssinia (Salt).djvu/197

 March 4.—At the break of day the well known sound of the Baharnegash's voice calling his family to prayers excited my attention, when I immediately arose and joined his party. At this moment, the interval of four years, which had elapsed since my former visit, appeared like a mere dream.—The prayers which he recited consisted of the same words, were pronounced in the same tone and were offered up with the same fervour of devotion which I had before so often listened to with delight: and, when the ceremony was concluded, the good old man delivered out his orders for the day with a patriarchal simplicity and dignity of manner that was really affecting to contemplate. With this impression, still warm on my mind, we ascended one of the hills in the neighbourhood, and, from the top of it, beheld a scene that, as one of my companions remarked, was alone a sufficient recompense for the trouble of passing Taranta. A thousand different shaped hills were presented to the view, which bore the appearance of having been dropped on an irregular plain; and the different shades and depths which the varied aspect of these hills presented, as the sun emerged from the horizon, rendered the scene truly magnificent.

From this point the following set of bearings was taken with a theodolite:

I have before given a view of the town of Dixan in my larger publication, and no great changes appeared to have taken place since the time that it was sketched,