I presented my female friends with a few small strings of blue and gold coloured beads, which are the kind most preferred by the Christian inhabitants of Shoa. Of these beads they construct the more superior kind of “martab,” the particular symbol of their faith; which, of some material or other, they invariably wear. It sometimes consists merely of a white or blue thread, tied around the throat, but those in most general use are made of dark blue silk, imported by the merchants of Giddem and of Hurrah. This colour, once universally worn, is not insisted upon at the present day, for although it still continues to be considered the most orthodox, the white and yellow coloured threads of beads have become very fashionable of late. The custom of wearing coloured “martabs” bears some reference, I believe, to a personal distinction between the Christian and Islam faiths, established by some former Negoos; for red head dresses of cotton cloth, and long red gowns, are invariably the “outward and visible” sign of the profession of Islamism, among the women of Efat, and other Mahomedan provinces, as the blue martab is of the Christian population. It was nine o’clock before we were fairly started, but we soon lost sight of the palace hill, with its crest of thatched roofs appearing above the bristling stockade; and of its red flanks dotted with squatting noblemen and courtiers, who in clean white tobes sat enjoying the fresh air and the genial influence of a morning sun. Walderheros ran by the side of my mule, poising upon his head the skin bag which contained my bed. When, however, the view of Angolahlah was shut out by the projecting shoulder of a low ridge, along the base of which our road lay, his burden was transferred to the crupper of my saddle, and relieving me of my carabine, the respectful bearing of a servant was changed for the familiarity of a tutor, and one long lesson in Amharic again occupied the way. We reached Ankobar late in the afternoon, and as I was completely worn out, and the mule was tired also, I agreed to the proposal of Walderheros that we should stay for the night at the house of a married sister of his, the husband of whom was the “ullica,” or the superior of those slaves of the Negoos, whose duty it is to cut and carry wood for the use of the royal residences. The house was very conveniently situated at the junction of the lower road, around the base of the ridge of Ankobar, with the steep ascending one that leads to the town on its summit. Walderheros found his sister at home, with a fat slave-girl, Mahriam, as her attendant and companion. Musculo, the husband, was absent upon some duty, but he appeared in the course of the afternoon, and all endeavoured to make me as comfortable as they could.