The grain measure used in Abyssinia is the ardeb, which contains lo measures called madega, each equal to 12 ounces Cairo weight. An ardeb of grain costs -; denims or 2 patakas ; an ardeb of teff the same ; 6 or 8 ardeb of tocusso are equivalent to an ounce, or 10 derims, of gold.
Comparing the natural advantages of this country with the ancient date of its empire, we might reasona bly expect to find it possessed of extensive commerce, and of all those acts and manufactures which commerce leads in its train. Vet such has been the paralyzing in fluence of its government, that its commerce is limited by the shores of the Arabian Gulf, its manufactures are contemptible, and the useful and elegant arts are here almost totally unknown. The use of the plant merjom bey, a species of solanum, and of the juice of the kol quail tree, enables them to tan hides in great perfection. Coarse cotton cloth is the staple manufacture of the country ; but so completely are they ignorant of the art of dyeing, though possessed of all the necessary mate rials, that yellow, produced from the plant suf, is the only colour which they have. To procure a blue border for their cotton cloths, they unravel the threads of the blue cloth of Surat, and then weave them again into their own webs. Their earthen ware is tolerable ; but though Cosmo de :Medici, among other artisans, sent manufac turers of glass to the king, they were unable to impart to the rude inhabitants the knowledge of these valuable arts.
Nor has their progress in architecture been at all more considerable. Their houses are very mean, constructed chiefly of clay, and thatched in the form of cones. The salubrity of elevated situations, and the inconveniences attending the inundation of the rivers during the rains, have induced them to build many of their towns and vil lages on the mountains. The houses are separated by hedges of unfailing verdure, which, being intermixed at regular intervals with fruit-trees and flowers, at once give beauty to the scene, and salubrity to the air.
Gondar, the present metropolis, stands on the summit of a mountain of considerable height. In times of peace, it contains about ten thousand families ; and, as the houses consist of only one story, it must occupy a p\'odi gious extent of ground. At the west end of the town stands the royal palace, formerly a structure of consi derable consequence. It was a square building, four fitorieS high, flanked with square towers, and commanded from the top a magnificent iew of all the country south ward to the lake of Tzana. It was built by masons from India, in the reign of F'acilidas, about the middle of the seventeenth century ; and by such Abyssinians as had been instructed in architecture by the Jesuits, without adopting their creed, and continued in the country alter the expulsion of the Portuguese. Great part of it is now in ruins, having at different times been burnt ; and suc cessive princes have added to it apartments built of clay, after the fashion of the country. The palace, and all the buildings connected with it are surrounded by a substantial stone wall, about thirty feet high, the four sides of which are about an English mile and a half in length.
Koscam, the palace of the Iteghe, is situated on the south side of the Debra Tzai, or Mountain of the Sun. It consists of a square tower of three stories, with a flat parapet roof or terrace, and battlements around it. It is encompassed by a high outer wall, above a mile in circumference. Within this enclosure, there is a church built, says Mr Bruce, by the present lteghe, and account ed the richest in Abyssinia. The large crosses carried in procession are of gold, and their kettle drums of silver. Plates of gold, likewise, cover the altar, all the gifts of the munificent patroness. Behind the palace, and farther up the hill, are the houses of people of quality, relations of the lteghe herself.
.ixum, once the capital of Abyssinia, is distinguished by extensive ruins. In one square, apparently the cen tre of the town, there are forty obelisks of granite ; none of which, however, have any hiCroglyphics. Of those which are still standing, there is one larger than the rest ; but two have fallen which appear the largest of all. On the top of that which is standing, there is a pa tera, in the Grecian taste, exceedingly well carved; be low, there is the figure of a door-bolt and lock, as if to represent an entrance through the obelisk into some building behind. Upon the face of the obelisk, there is a great deal of carving in a Gothic taste, like metopes, triglyphs, and guttx, disposed rudely, and without or der. Towards the south, there is a road cut in a moun tain of red marble, having on the left a parapet wall, about five feet high, solid, and of the same materials. In this wall, there are hewn, at equal distances, solid pedestals, which still retain the marks of the colossal statues of Syrins, the Latrator Anubis, or Dog-star. One hundred and thirty-three of these pedestals are still in their places ; but only two figures of the Dog remain, much mutilated, and in a taste plainly Egyptian. Of a superb temple, which once graced this capital, the only remains are two magnificent flights of steps, com posed of granite, several hundred feet long, and still in their original position. Below these steps, there are three small square enclosures, in the middle of one of which is the stone, upon which the king sits when he is crowned ; and below it, where he naturally places his feet, there is a large oblong slab of freestone, bearing an inscription, which, though much defaced, Mr Bruce has ventured to restore. It is The foundation, rise, and desertion of this city, is one of the obscurest parts of Abyssinian history. Its ruins, however, sufficiently prove it to have been the work of Egyptian artists, and it was probably founded by one of the Ptolemies. There are few other towns in Abyssinia, nor are these of any importance. I ne only buildings (.1 consequence, which it contains, are the works of fo reigners ; nor have these specimens of architecture in any degree improved the taste or skill of the inha bitants.