At Aliu Amba we met numbers of Christian Abyssinians, and were taken to the house of the Governor, also a Christian, but who was absent in attendance upon the King. Every civility was paid to us, and numerous were the inquiries made after Lieut. Barker, who, it appears, had taken up his residence in this town some months previous to his return journey. I was glad to be able to say that I had had a personal interview with him, for I could see, that to be the “Woodage Kapitan,” friend of the Captain, as he was called in Shoa, was a great recommendation; and although a lengthened levee, with a crowd of people whose language you cannot understand, is a terrible bore, still smiling faces, and a friendly welcome, in a strange country, from whatever cause, does the traveller’s heart good, and encourages him to proceed on his undertaking. We halted for nearly two hours at Aliu Amba, not being able to get away before, as a sheep had been killed, and our servants were determined to take advantage of the hospitality of the townspeople. When their hunger was satisfied, they brought us our mules, for which we had been asking some time in vain, as Mr. Scott and I were anxious to breakfast, if we could, at Ankobar with Dr. Roth, and Mr. Bernatz the artist to the Embassy, A large concourse of the principal people of the town accompanied us across the market-place to the edge of their little table hill, from whence they watched us until shut out from view by the sinuosity of the narrow road, which occupied the summit of a ledge separating the slopes of two small rivulets, running in opposite directions around the hill of Aliu Amba, to join each other in the valley in front. We now rode between two delightful natural hedge rows of a low thorny bush with dark green leaves, and-bearing clusters of a black sweet berry; over which trailed in most luxuriant profusion a very sweet scented jasmine; and pushing its way through this mass of vegetation, high above all, flowered the common hedge rose of England. Its well-remembered delicately blushing hue, so unexpectedly greeting me here, elicited a feeling that, with but a little more ardent sensitiveness in my nature, would have thrown me on my knees before it, as Linnæus is said to have knelt to the flowering furze, on first witnessing its brilliant blossoms in England.