"I did not know you was there, says he; I heard you had staid at Gondar in order to bring up the black horse. I saw a white person[3] with the Ras, indeed, who had a good hanjar and gun, but his mule was weak, and he himself seemed sick. As I returned I could have carried him off in the night, but I said, perhaps it is the brother of Yagoube, my friend and physician; he is white like him, and for your sake I left him. I was much with you white people in the time of Kasmati Eshté."--"And pray, said I, what did you after we passed the Abay?"--"After I saw that devil Ras Michael over, said Welled Amlac, I returned under pretence of assisting Kefla Yasous there, and, being joined by all my people, we fell upon the stragglers wherever we found them. You know what a day of rain it was; we took 17 guns, 12 horses, and about 200 mules and asses laden, and so returned home, leaving the rest to Fasil, who, if he had been a man, should have cut you all to pieces the day after."--"And what did you, said I, with these stragglers whom you met and robbed; did you kill them?"--"We always kill them, answered Amlac; we spare none; we never do a man an injury, and leave him alive to revenge it upon us after; but it was really the same; they were all sick and weak, and the hyæna would have finished them in the morning, so it was just saving them so much suffering to kill them outright the night before; and I assure you, Yagoube, whatever you may think, I did not do it out of malice."--From this conversation one may sufficiently guess what sort of a man Welled Amlac was, and what were his ideas of mercy. We passed the church of Kedus Michael at half after nine, on the road to our right. At nine and three quarters our course was N. by W. and, at a quarter after ten, we passed the Coga, a large river. At three quarters past ten our course was north. We passed the church of Abbo a quarter of a mile on our right. The country, after we had crossed the Jemma, was much less beautiful than before. At twelve our course was N. by W. and at half past twelve the church of Mariam Net, 200 yards to the left; and here we forded the small river Amlac-Ohha. Every step of this ground put us in mind of our disastrous campaign in May; and we were now passing directly in the tract of the ever-memorable retreat of Kefla Yasous and the rear of the army. At a quarter after one we halted at a small village of low houses, as it were in bent grass, where, for the first time, we saw flocks of goats lying on the tops of the houses for fear of wild beasts.