GONDAR, the capital city of Abyssinia, is situated in 12° 34' 30" North Latitude, and 37° 33' East Longitude from Greenwich. It is placed upon a hill of considerable height, the top of which is nearly plain, and which is sur rounded on every side by a deep valley. The river Kahha, which comes from the Mountain of the Sun, runs through the valley on the south side of the town, and the river Angrab, falling from Woggora, surrounds it on the north and north-east. These two rivers unite their waters at the bottom of the hill, about a quarter of a mile south of the city. The houses of Gondar are constructed chiefly of clay, and the roofs are of a conical form, covered with thatch. The principal public building is the palace, at the west end of the town, which is said to have been built in the time of Facilidas, by masons from India, and by such Abyssinians as had been instructed in architecture by the Jesuits. It had been originally a square building, four stories high, and flanked with square towers; but bating been burnt at different times, great part of it was in ruins during Mr Bruce's residence in Abyssinia. Some of the apartments, however, still exhibited proofs of their ancient magnificence. In one chamber the walls had been cover ed with plates of ivory, stained with stars of various colours ; and in another the skirting was finished with ivory, four feet from the ground ; and over it were arrang ed, around the room, three rows of Venetian mirrors, fixed in frames of copper, while the roof was formed of split painted cane, disposed in Mosaic figures, in the gayest style. There was still ample lodging in its two lowest
floors, and the audience chamber alone was above 120 feet in length. Successive sovereigns have built apartments by the side of the original edifice, which are formed of clay, and according to the fashion of the country ; but the whole structure, and these contiguous buildings, are sur rounded with a substantial stone wall, 30 feet high, and the four sides of which are above an English mile and a half in circumference. There are battlements upon the outer wall, but no appearance of embrazures for cannon ; and a parapet roof between the outer and inner wall forms a gallery, by which a person can go along_ the whole, and look into the street. In times of peace, Gondar contains above 10,000 families, or 50,000 souls. One of its prin cipal manufactures is a kind of coarse carpet made of the wool of the sheep and hair of the goat dyed red or light blue. See Bruce's Travels in Abyssinia, vols. iv. and v. 8vo ; Valentia's Travels, vol. ii. and Salt's Travels. (q)