Page:A voyage to Abyssinia (Salt).djvu/279

 those ordinarily used by the Abyssinians; an instance of intrepidity that I can very well believe him to have shewn, from the little that I saw of his general character. His features were completely Roman: and there was a manliness in his walk, an openness in his manner, and a contempt of all artifice displayed in his conduct, strongly indicative of a brave man. Even the very horse on which he rode, seemed to partake, in a certain degree, of the same spirit which animated his master, and would not, as I understood, let any one else mount upon his back.

At the house of this chief we spent one of the most agreeable days I ever recollect passing, in a company not indeed the most polished, but where so much genuine character, native worth, and real independence were displayed, that it made ample amends for the absence of more refined conversation and manners. Towards evening, the view of the mountains of Samen became exceedingly magnificent, and I sat for a long time watching the gradual descent of the sun behind the stupendous forms which these grand masses exhibited, feeling a melancholy sensation of awe stealing over my mind, that I shall not venture to describe; though in this place I cannot help observing, that, if ever I for a moment felt, that the frailty of human nature stood excused in offering up its adoration to this glorious luminary, it was when I witnessed its setting behind the mountains of Samen.

On the 8th of April we left Agora, at an early hour, and proceeded westward, about three miles, when, having arrived in one of the most picturesque scenes that can be imagined, among some rude rocks, rising by the side of the river Arequa, we left our mules in a place of security, and gave up the morning to the pursuit of the various species of game which abounded in the neighbourhood, consisting of Guinea-fowl, partridges, and deer of various kinds, of which we killed more than sufficient to supply the whole party with food for the day. The river Arequa appears, from the width of its bed, and the body of water which occasionally comes down in the rainy season, to be larger than any other existing between the coast and the Tacazze. It is said to rise at a place called Assa, about ten miles only from Antálo, whence it runs nearly in a north-west direction, through the