Page:A voyage to Abyssinia (Salt).djvu/312

 These observations place Chelicut farther to the westward than I have ventured to remove it, on account of Mr. Bruce's longitude of Gondar and the result of several sets of bearings taken in my different journies; in consequence of which, I have been induced to take a medium between the bearings and the lunars for the map.

Before we left Chelicut, I purchased from a nephew of the Ras a small Abyssinian mare, which was considered as one of the best in the country; having been brought as a present to the Ras from the province of Gojam near the sources of the Nile. I was afterwards fortunate enough to bring this animal safe to England; and as I had become a good deal attached to it from having daily fed it with my own hand during a long and precarious voyage, I felt anxious with respect to its future treatment: I therefore took the liberty of offering it to his Royal Highness, the Prince Regent, who was graciously pleased to accept it; and it has since, as I understand, enjoyed the pleasure of roaming at large in the park at Hampton Court.

At ten o'clock, on the 5th of May, we set out on our journey, and were accompanied for a few miles by the Prince Kasimaj Yasous and some other acquaintance we had made at Chelicut, who had expressed a strong desire to pay us this last compliment. Among these was a very ingenious man, who held the office of chief painter to the Ras. Considering the very slender means of improvement which the country afforded, it appeared to me surprising, how far he had advanced in his art, for, as he himself remarked, "I am like a man blindfolded: I go on muddling in the dark, until I produce something, but under such circumstances, it is not likely to prove very good." All classes of people in Abyssinia, it may be observed, are fond of pictures; the inner walls of their churches being filled with them, and every chief considering himself fortunate, if he can get one painted on the wall of his principal room. As I felt desirous of bringing home a specimen of Abyssinian art, I engaged the person above mentioned to paint me one of his best pictures during my stay at Chelicut, which he completed in about