Page:A voyage to Abyssinia (Salt).djvu/331

 with me into Abyssinia; arwê still signifying "fera" or "bestia in genere," a coincidence so uncommon, that it appears to me very satisfactorily to prove, that the language spoken at the court of Axum in the time of Cosmas was Geez.

The remarks made by Cosmas on this subject, and the deductions they lead to, are likewise of considerable importance, from their tending to give a more correct notion of the pronunciation of those particular Greek letters, employed in spelling these words, than we before possessed; as the Abyssinian language, from its peculiar formation, (every sound being exactly expressed in the writing,) is not liable to the same corruption which has attended the Greek. It will be seen by a reference to "Montfaucon's Nova Collectio Patrum," whence I have extracted the passage, that the Latin translator mistook the "" for a word expressing "aut," and therefore supposed and  to be two different names, applied to the same animal; a mistake that almost any commentator might have fallen into, who had not been previously aware of its connection with the Geez language. It is also singular that Ludolf, to whom this animal was mentioned by Gregory, should not have discovered that it was the rhinoceros; on the contrary, he supposed it to have been the of the Arabs, or "unicorn, said to be a species of goat of extraordinary swiftness," a conjecture in which he was most certainly mistaken.

Before we had completed our labour of copying the characters, the chief of the district, Nebrid Isgére Barea, made his appearance, with a large party of his followers, riding hastily over the plain: and, in consequence of his urgent request, we consented to alter our previous intention, and return to Axum, where we remained with him the rest of the day. He treated us with the kindest hospitality, and introduced us to his family, consisting of his wife and one daughter. The retired manners and modest behaviour of the latter, confirmed me strongly in the opinion, that the females in Abyssinia are generally well educated, and, before marriage, very superior in character to those of maturer years, who, after marriage, have been accustomed to mingle with greater freedom in