carry me to Geesh, and shew me those sources, Fasil shall do it upon my request, without fee or reward, and without excuse or evasion.” They all laughed at the easiness of the request; all declared that this was nothing, and wished to do ten times as much. The king said, “Tell Fasil I do give the village of Geesh, and those fountains he is so fond of, to Yagoube and his posterity for ever, never to appear under another’s name in the deftar, and never to be taken from him, or exchanged, either in peace or war. Do you swear this to him in the name of your master.” Upon which they took the two fore fingers of my right hand, and, one after the other, laid the two fore fingers of their right hand across them, then kissed them; a form of swearing used there, at least among those that call themselves Christians. And as Azage Kyrillos, the king’s secretary and historian, was then present, the king ordered him to enter the gift in the deftar, or revenue-book, where the taxes and revenue of the king’s lands are registered. “I will write it, says the old man, in letters of gold, and, poor as I am, will give him a village four times better than either Geesh or Tangouri, if he will take a wife and stay amongst us, at least till my eyes are closed.” It will be easily guessed this rendered the conversation a chearful one. Fasil’s servants retired to set out the next day, gratified to their utmost wish, and, as soon as the king was in bed, I went to my apartment likewise. But very different thoughts were then occupying Michael and his officers. They could not trust Fasil, and, besides, he could do them no service; the rain was set in, and he was gone home; the western part of the kingdom was ready to rise upon them; Woggora, to the north, immediately in his way, was all in arms, and impatient to revenge the severities they had suffered when Michael first marched to Gondar. The Tacazzé, which separates Tigrè from Woggora, and runs at the foot of the high mountains of Samen, was one of the largest and most rapid rivers in Abyssinia, and, though not the first to overflow, was, when swelled to its height, impassable by horse or foot, rolling down prodigious stones and trees with its current. Dangerous as the passage was, however, there was no safety but in attempting it: Michael, therefore, and every soldier with him, were of opinion that, if they must perish, they should rather meet death in the river, on the confines of their own country, than fall alive into the hands of their enemies in Amhara. For this, preparation had been making night and day, since Ras Michael entered Gondar, and probably before it.