much attention, and had prepared for our reception the house of Aboo Yusuph, where we consequently took up our abode; another habitation having been set apart for Ayto Debib and the Ras's people.
The weather at this time became extremely oppressive, and the air very unwholesome, owing to the putrid stench which arose, at low water, from the beach, where all the filth of the town is accumulated. These circumstances, together with the sudden changes of climate we had undergone, added to the anxiety that I felt at the situation in which we were placed by the absence of the ship, brought on a violent fever, which rendered me incapable of any exertion. The most powerful remedies were immediately applied, which fortunately succeeded in removing the disease; but it left me so weak and reduced, that I felt assured I should have fallen a sacrifice to it, had I continued longer on that dreadful spot. Fortunately, a dow belonging to Currum-Chund soon afterwards came into the harbour, which was immediately hired for our conveyance: and to this occurrence, together with the kind and uniform attention of Mr. Smith, who had gone up with me into the country, I consider myself indebted for my life. On the 4th of June I was carried on board: and on the 5th, after having remunerated all my Abyssinian attendants, and taken leave of Ayto Debib, we set sail. As I had a particular opportunity of observing the good qualities which this young man possessed, I shall here give a short sketch of his llfe, as I consider that it affords a favourable specimen of the Abyssinian character.
Debib was the son of a chief on the coast, commanding a small district called Bùr, and early in life, in one of the Ras's excursions, he was taken prisoner. His manners, even when a boy, were so engaging, that he was taken much notice of by the Ras, and put with several other young prisoners (a general policy, for which the Ras deserves much credit) under the care of a learned priest to be educated.[1] At the period of my first arrival in Abyssinia, he had reached the sixteenth year of his age; had
- ↑ The discipline under which these young men were kept was strict, not to say severe, the whip on many occasions not being spared.
