son. They distinguish them by the name of Days of Adoration." When the sun does not shine or appear on the adoration-day, an

immense fire is erected, around which the ceremonies are performed with equal devotion and care."

"A

ture.

"The Grand Lake, to my astonishment, I found destitute of water. It was formerly the bed of the river; but, being abandoned by it from some incomprehensible cause, it is now filled with willows, makes a very extraordinary appearance, which is considerably heightened by an island standing in the centre, ornamented with trees. The island and trees stand so much above the willows growing in the bed of the lake, that the character of the lake and island are as conspicuous as if the one still received the contents of the river, and the other was actually surrounded by water. The willows mark all the limits of the old flood; discover all the aucient insinuosities and heads of the banks, and shew the figure, extent, and height of the island to the most minute perfection. Before the morning fog was dissipated, I was witness of a very fine phenomenon. The willows not being higher than the surface of the former water, perhaps not so high, retains the fog in

the original channel, giving it the exact resemblance of the New River, and making it doubtful what course to take.

"The entry to "The Grand "Lake" is now a sand-bar, in which are firmly fixed trees, beams, stumps; and logs, and the sortie is in like manner choked up and covered with willows and shrubs. It is several miles in circumference, and three directly across

"Below the Grand Lake, and after passing several islands clothed with cotton-wood, I found the river perfectly straight for a stretch of thirteen miles, and of a very majestic appearance. At the extremity is an island worn to the compass of a few acres, by the constant attrition of the current against both its sides. It is ornamented by about a dozen trees. The time cannot be far remote when this little interesting miniature will be obliterated from the face of the earth, and sink under the surface of the water which it once embellished with so much grace and picturesque beauty. Throughout this great water, this Father of Floods, as the Indians calls it, in some places, islands are seen sinking into annihilation, and in others they are exhibited through all the stages of their rise, expanse, verdure, and formation. Of the three hundred islands in the Mississippi, fifty have been created by nature since its first discovery by

M. La

M. La Salle, and others are forming in a manner as perceptible as any work can be to the eyes. The system pursued is simply this: when the river is in a low state, the sand-bars take up and retain the trees, logs, roots, branches, and shrubs, which float continnally down the current. Among these, the water deposits a quantity of mud, in which seeds wafted by the wind, and plants conveyed by the stream, germinate and assist in binding the infant soil. Succeeding years perform the same operations with similar effects, till the bars assume the rank of islands, aud grow to several hundred acres extent. The river then contains islands of two distinct kinds, and formed from different intentions, and in a widely different manner. The first I have just described, and the second owe their origin to the udden convulsions which rent upon the bed of the river, and left insulated spots every here and there standing, or else to their being separated from the main land by a division of currents which often occur, to force a passage through the land, and thereby form islands, and effect their own union. The meanest observer can distinguish the one description of islands from the other, Those that proceed from the gradual deposit of foreign matter on sandbars, have a deep mould, composed of river sediment and decayed vegetable substances, which seldom produce wood of any other growth than cotton, aspen, poplar, and willows; whereas those which have been suddenly rent from the main land, or separated from it by the continued action of the water, or successive inundations, have a fine soil over a stiff blue clay, and are richly clothed with forest timber of the greatest magnitude and most valuable character; these latter islands are sensi

bly wasting away while the others are increasing in extent.

"A few miles below the little island, at the sortie of the long reach, I passed a cypress-bend of sixteen miles sweep. Such is the disposition of the river to find a passage through some portion of it, that my boat had to be worked the whole way to keep her from dragging along the shore. It is the most laborious piece of navigation I have yet experienced on the river. Weary with excess of toil, I had to put to under a willow bank before the day was quite expired, as I durst not cross the mouth of a bayeau, the vortex of which I heard roaring at no great distance, till we were all refreshed and restored. Having moored the boat in security, taken a repast, and guarded ourselves as well as we could against the attack of musquitoes, bugs, ants, spiders, and flies, we lay down to rest soon after subset, and fell into a sound refreshing sleep. I had enjoyed it for two or three hours, when I was started up by the most lamentable cries that ever assailed the human ear. The men and I instantly assembled on the roof of the boat, to distinguish whence the accents came, and to afford assistance if in our power. But they issued from so many directions, and expressed such a variety and number of persons afflicted with the deepest grief, that our reason and judgment were dissipated in wild conjecture, and we remained ignorant of the wretched sufferers, and of the dreadful cause of their complaint. It could not be Indians affecting distress, to seduce us on shore, and there be put to death it could not be the crew of wrecked boats weeping and wailing their forlorn fate! repeatedly we demanded of each other what if then could be? We hearkened. At times the cries

sunk

sunk into the feeble plants of expiring infancy, and again gradually rose into the full and melancholy swell of an adult tortured by fiends destitute of mercy and humanity. The lamentations turn by turn touched every string capable to vibrate excess of misery, and denoted the variety of sorrow incident to individuals from the loss of health, friends, fortune, and relatives. Above all, they denoted calamity in the act of supplicating relief in the strong language of sobs, sighs, and tears, and modes of inexpressible anguish and length. What were we to judge of such proceedings? How were we to act? No assistance could be afforded to distress so unknown, and so diffuse. To fly the place was impossible, and to remain in it as tremendous as death. To attempt to sleep still more absurd. We walked on the roof of the boat till the cries multiplied and increased in a manner at once to shock the senses and deafen the ears. This violent outcry was followed by plunges in the water and a rustling among the trees, which at length explained the objects of our dismay and apprehension. They were a host of alligators. We discovered them plainly, swimming along-side the boat, and running along the shore, where they uttered the piercing cries and heart-rending moans which originally excited my attention and terror. Having given up all thoughts of rest, I prepared arms, and watched for a favourable purpose of killing one of the creatures. It soon presented itself. A large animal, attracted by the scent of the Living objects in the boat, swam repeatedly round it, as if searching for means of access, and had the audacity to raise his head considerably above the water, in order to make his observations more true. At that

propitious juncture we all three fired in the direction of his under jaw and throat. He made an immediate flounce in the water, roared as loud as thunder, and rushed ashore directly below my boat. He there expired in dreadful agony, as could be understood from hideous bellowings and the violence with which he beat himself against the banks. After his monstrous death, the noise of the other animals ceased, and I heard none but very low and plaintive cries issuing from several voices in deep distress; so low, that they with difficulty reached the ear, and so plaintive, that they could not but reach the heart. The dawn disclosed the cause of this lamentation, which never ceased throughoutt the night. On going on shore, I found the alligator I had killed attended by sixteen or seventeen young ones, who were solicitously engaged about the dead body, running over and around it in great agitation, and whining and moaning," because they discovered it without animation, and destitute of all symp- toms of life. Though somewhat affected by such a spectacle, I ordered the men to assist and to secure me, if possible, some of the young ones, and convey them into my boat.

We succeeded in taking three. They are about two feet long each, and have beautiful blue eyes with an expression extremely soft and sensible. The mother, for it seems it is a female we killed, is nineteen feet in length, counting the head, which is three feet long, and five feet in circumference. The jaws, which extend the whole length of the head, are furnished with two large conical tusks as white as ivory. The upper jaw only moves. The scales are as hard as iron. The shape is that of a lizard.

"Speaking

Speaking generally, and from the best authority, the alligators of the Mississippi are from twelve to twenty-four feet in length; their bodies are covered with horny plates or scales, which are impenetrable to a rifle ball, except about their heads, and just behind their fore legs, where they are vulnerable. The head of a full-grown alligator is more than three feet long. The eyes are small, and the whole head in the water appears at a distance like a piece of rotten floating wood. The upper jaw only moves, and this they raise so as to form a right angle with the lower one. They open their mouths while they lie basking in the sun, on the banks of rivers and creeks, and when filled with all manner of insects, they suddenly let fall their upper-jaw with surprising noise, and thus secure their prey. The tusks, which are not covered by any skin or lips, give the animal a frightful appearance. In the spring, which is their season for breeding, they make a most hideous and terrifying roar, resembling the sound of distant thunder.

The alligator is an oviparous animal their nests, which are commonly built on the margin of some lake, creek, or river, at the distance of from fifteen to twenty yards from high water, are in the form of an obtuse cone, about four feet high, and from four to five in diameter at their basis. They are constructed with a sort of mortar, blended with grass and herbage. First they lay a floor of this composition, on which they deposit a layer of eggs; and upon this a stratum of their mortar, seven or eight inches thick, then another layer of eggs; and in this manner one stratum upon another, nearly to the top of the nest. They lay from one hundred to two hundred eggs in a nest.

These are hatched by the beat of the sun, assisted by the fermentation of the vegetable mortar in which they are deposited. The female carefully watches her own nest of eggs till they are all hatched. She then takes her brood under her care, and leads them about the shores as a hen does her chickens, and is equally courageous in defending them in time of danger. When she hes basking on the warın banks with her brood around her, the young ones may be heard whining and crying in the manner of young infants. The old feed on the young alligators till they get so large that they cannot make a prey of them; so that, fortunately, but few of the brood survive the age of a year. They are fond of the flesh of dogs and hogs, which they devour whenever they have an opportunity. Their principal food is fish. They retire into their dens, which they form by burrowing far into the ground, commencing under water and working upwards, and there remain in a torpid state during the winter. The carrion-vulture also destroys multitudes of alligators, which would otherwise render the country uninhabitable.

"Much has been said of the crocodile lacrime, or deceitful tears. Returned to my boat and departed, I

carefully watched to discover whether the melancholy cries of my young alligators were accompanied with tears. I can assert they are not-nor does any moisture whatever fill the eye, though the plaints are piteous to the most distressing degree. Food appeases their distress. When they lament aloud I give them the entrails and livers of fowls, which they are most fond of, and they immediately cease. They are very vicious; they at times make a sudden snap at my fingers, and once

bit the leg of my dog, since which time he keeps at a good distance from them. Perhaps he sets an example which I ought to imitate;

but I am determined to rear them up, and bring them with me to England."

YA

ASOUS TALLACK, (the Great) subdued Lasta, and obliged it to pay 1000 ounces of gold per annum in tribute. It contiuued to pay till the war between Mariam Barea and Râs Michael, when each pretending to it, it became independent, and continues so at this present day, April, 1770.

"Harar is four days journey from Shoa, and seven from Aussa. It is farther inland, and a plain country. The chief has the title of Emir; and is frequently at war with Amha Yasous in Shoa, who is independent. The people are all Mahometans, called Turks by the Abyssinians.

"Gold is found in the Shangalla's country in small lumps, is by them put into quills, and carried to Damot fair. This, at least, was the ancient custom when these barbarians sold their gold as necessity required. Since that time they have got scales and weights, and know, in general, the value. The Agows are the purchasers, and adulterate it with silver; one ounce to ten of gold, which gives it a very pale colour.

"N. B. This observation is sufficiently confirmed by the colour of those links that still remain of the honorary gold chain conferred on Mr. Bruce by the king of Abyssinia. These links are of a paler hue than a common guinea, rather coarsely made, and unpolished. Gold chains, alled in Habbesh sunsulé, are a

mark of dignity bestowed by the sovereign on the most meritorious persons in his army. It is usual to give a splen lid suit of clothes at the same time, an Egyptian and Persian custom; vide Genesis, xli. 42. and Esther, viii. 15.

Wechne, in Blessen, is about 34 or 35 miles, a long day's journey from Emfras. There is paid, to maintain the royal family on the mountain, 250 ounces of gold, and 730 cloths (this means webs of cotton cloth called shuma). This is an old establishment. None are permitted to go up but the women carrying water. There was formerly a cistern, but it is now ruins, and useless. There are near 300 persons there; and all the exiles are allowed to marry. Bacuffa escaped by help of his sister.

"Extreme unction is unknown in Abyssinia; that is, the anointing with oil. However, when a person is attacked with sickness, which threatens death, he often puts on a monk's hood, as a token that, in case of recovery, he will abandon the world, and then receives the last sacrament, or rather he does so before putting it on; and it is generally the custom to distribute all his moveables to the churches, which the priests appropriate. These are traces of extreme unction. The great men often renounce the hood, and return to their former life.

"N. B.