While the king was at Kahha, keeping the festival of the Epiphany, he received a very extraordinary visit from Amha Yasous, son of the governor of Shoa, offering his personal service and assistance to the king, and brought with him, as a present, 500 ounces of gold, and a thousand excellent horsemen ready equipt at all points. Upon his being presented to the king, two young noblemen were instructed to be ready to lay hold of him by the arms, and prevent his throwing himself upon the ground if he intended so to do. The king was seated upon the throne, very richly dressed in brocade, a very fine muslin web wrapt loosely about him, so as to hang in plaits, and in some parts show, and in some conceal, the flowers of the cloth of gold of which his waistcoat was composed. His hair was loose, combed out at its full length, and falling about his head in every direction, and a fork, like a skewer, made of a rhinoceros horn, with a gold button or head upon it, stuck thro' his hair near his temples; he was all perfumed with rose water, and two people stood on the opposite sides of the tent, each of them with a silver bottle full of it. Amha Yasous with his thousand horse presented himself before the door of the tent, and rode on till he was compleatly in it; he then descended as in a great hurry or surprise, and ran forward, stooping, to the foot of the throne, inclining his body lower and lower as he approached; and, just before the act of prostration, he was seized by Tecla Mariam and Guebra Menfus Kedus, and prevented from kissing the ground; the king held his hand uncovered, but not extended, that is, as if he did not intend or expect that he should kiss it. Amha Yasous, after the struggle was over about the prostration, suddenly seized the king's hand and kissed it, with some resistance on the part of the king, who, when he had kissed the back of his hand, turned the palm likewise; a great mark of familiarity and confidence in this country. There was a small stool, about half a foot from the ground, covered with a Persian carpet. Amha Yasous attempted to speak standing, but was not suffered, but constrained by the two noblemen to sit down on the little stool; they then deluged him so with rose-water, that I do believe he never in his life was so wet with rain. After some general questions the tent was cleared. All this ceremonial was premeditated and studied; the etiquette could not have been more punctually and uniformly observed in any court of Europe, and would have just signified what it did here.