Their funeral ceremonies were peculiar and remark able. The body, after being salted, was put into a hol low statue, resembling the deceased ; and the statue was placed in a niche, on a pillar erected for the purpose. These statues were made of gold, silver, or earthen ware, according to the circumstances of the deceased. The body was kept for a year in the houses of the near est relations; who, during that time, offered sacrifices and first fruits to their departed friend. When the year had expired, the niche was fixed in a place. set apart for that purpose near the town.
In war, the Ethiopians made use of bows and arrows, darts, lances, and several other weapons, which they managed with great strength and address. Their ar rows were very short, pointed with sharp stont s instead of iron, and dipped the virus of or some other poison so powerful, that the wounds 'a hick they inflicted were followed by instant death. Tic it bows were four cubits long ; and to bend them requited a degree of strength which no other nation could exert. Like the Parthians, they retreated fighting; and, whilst retiring at full speed, discharged volleys of arrows with the utmost dexterity and effect. Such were some of the customs by which those Ethiopians w ere distin guished who lived in the capital, and who inhabited the island of Meroe, and that part or Ethiopia which was adjacent to Egypt. There w ere many other Ethiopian nations, some of which cultivated the tracts on each side of the Nile, and the islands with which it is interspersed ; others inhabited the provinces bordering on Arabia; and others dwelt nearer the centre of Africa. All these people had the negro features ; flat noses, black skins, and woolly hair. They were savage and ferocious in their appearance, brutal in their customs and manners. They are now known by the name of Shankala; and still retain their primitive rudeness and barbarity.
The inhabitants of the country above itleroe made re markable distinctions among their gods. Some they supposed to be of an eternal, incorruptible nature, as the sun, flit: moon, and the universe ; others, horn of met'. had acquired divine honours by their virtues, and their benefactions to mankind. But there were sonic Ethio pians who believed in no gods ; and, when the sun rose. they fled into their marshes, execrating him as then cruelest enemy. These people differed likewise Iron, other nations in their manner of honouring the (lead Some thought it the most honourable burial to throw their bodies into the river: others placed them iu in their houses, that their children might be roused, by the sight or their ancestors, to virtuous and that the more advanced in life might retain their deceased friends in their memory and affection. To swear with their hand laid upon a dead body, was their most sacred and inviolable oath. Their monarchies were, in general, elective ; and their ideas of the quali ties requisite in a sovereign, exhibit, in a most striking light, the simplicity of these barbarous tribes. Some them conferred the crown on most handsome man of the nation ; thinking it proper, that dignity and a fine person, in their estimation the best gifts of heaven, should always be united. Others preferred, es their sovereign, the most vigilant shepherd, from a reasonable persuasion, that he would prove likewise the most faith ful guardian of his people. In some districts, the richest
was exalted to the throne, because he had the most am ple means of doing good to his subjects ; while tithe", thought the strongest most untitled to royal power, inas much as he was ablest to defend them from their ene mies.
Modern Abyssinia was scarcely known to Europeans till it was discovered by the Portuguese towards the end of the fifteenth century. lit.fore that time, indeed, a few individuals had occasionally gone to that country from Italy ; but the information which they communicated concerning it was so vague and obscure, that even it situation was unknown. An embassy from the king of Portugal arrived in .Abyssinia in the year 152o. Covil Ian, who had been delegated several years before as ambassador from the same court, was, according to the usual policy of the Al,yssinians towards strangers, de taintd in the country, though treated with the utmost kindness and respect. His knowledge of Abyssinia must, of course, have been extensive. Ile was still alive when his countryman, Roderigo de Lima, came to Shoe with his suite ; and Francisco Alvarez, one of the chaplains to Roderigo's embassy, who, besides residing six years in this kingdom, possessed the additional ad vantage of Covillan's information, gave the first regular account of Abyssinia. Mr Bruce, who certainly had op portunities of observation at least equal to those of Al varez, has questioned the authenticity of his narrative. But the truth is, as :dr Bruce himself has conjectured, that several fabrications were published in Al•arez's name, by persons who had probably net er travelled out of their own country. Damian tiorz tells us, that he had seen a journal written by Alt arez, very different from that which had been given to the public ; and the writer of this article has been favoured with the sight of extracts from the original manuscript, taken by a lady, highly respectable for her rank and accomplishments, while residing in Portugal, whi•b, in every thing essen tial, coincide with the narrative of Bruce. In the reign of Yasous I. a mission to Abyss'nia was concerted by Louis XIV. of France. The introduction of the mission aries was facilitated by a dangerous scorbutic disorder, which had attacked Yasous and his son, for which they ished to have the advice of a European physician. Through the influence of the French consul at Cairo, this honour was conferred on Charles Poncet, a French chemist and apothecary, whom father Brevedento, a pious and intelligent jesuit, attended as his servant. Ponect arrived at Gondar on the 21st of July, 1699, and,'having completely succeeded in curing his royal patients, set out on the following summer on his return for Europe, by the way of Masuah, and, arriving in safety, published a distinct and copious account of his journey. The ac counts of the jesuits and Portuguese, with Mr Bruce's Travels, arc the only sources of our information respect ing Abyssinia. To this latter gentleman, whom, not withstanding the vexatious cavils of ignorance and pre judice, we scruple not to pronounce one of the most deserving of modern travellers, the world is indebted, not only for a clear and comprehensive view of the geo graphy of that extensive empire, but for an interesting detail of its history, institutions, and manners.