Greek church. On the Emperor's first request, Caleb fent orders to Abreha, Governor of Yemen, to march to the affiftance of Aretas, the fon of him who was burnt, and who was then collecting troops. Strengthened by this reinforcement, the young foldier did not think proper to delay the revenging his father's death, till the arrival of the Emperor; but having come up with Phineas, who was ferrying his troops over an arm of the sea, he entirely routed them, and obliged their prince, for fear of being taken, to fwim with his horse to the nearest fhore. It was not long before the Emperor had croffed the Red Sea with his army; nor had Phineas loft any time in collecting his scattered forces to oppose him. A bat tle was the consequence, in which the fortune of Caleb again prevailed.

Neither of the Jewish kingdoms were deftroyed by the victories of Caleb, or Abreha, nor the fubfequent conquest of the Perfians. In the Neged, or north part of Arabia, they con tinued not only after the appearance of Mahomet, but till after the Hegira. The Arabian manufcripts fay pofitively, that this Abreha, who affisted Aretas, was Governor of Arabia Felix, or Yemen.

In the Greek church a most shameful prostitution of manners prevailed, as alfo innumerable herefies, which were firft received as true tenets of their religion, but were foon after perfecuted in a most uncharitable manner, as being erro neous. Their lies, their legends, their faints and miracles, and, above all, the abandoned behaviour of the priesthood, had brought their characters in Arabia almoft as low as that of the detefted Jew, and, had they been confidered in their true light, they had been still lower. The dictates of nature in the heart of the honest Pagan, conftantly employed in long, lonely, and dangerous voyages, awakened him often to reflect who that Providence was that invifibly governed him, fupplied his wants, and often mercifully faved him from the deftruation into which his own ignorance or rashness were leading him. Poifoned by no fyftem, perverted by no prejudice, he wished to know and adore his Benefactor, with purity and fimplicity of heart, free from these fopperies and follies with which ignorant priests and monks had disguised his worship. Poffeffed of charity, fteady in his duty to his parents, full of veneration for his fuperiors, attentive and

merciful.

merciful even to his beasts; in a word, containing in his heart the principles of the first religion, which God had inculcated in the heart of Noah, the Arab was already prepared to embrace a much more perfect one than what Christianity, at that time disfigured by folly and fuperftition, appeared to him to be.

Mahomet, of the tribe of Beni Koreish (at whose instigation is uncertain) took upon-himself to be the apostle of a new religion, pretending to have, for his only object, the worhip of the true God. Oftenfibly full of the morality of the Arab, of patience and felf-denial, fuperior even to what is made necessary to salvation by the gospel, his religion, at the bottom, was but a fyftem of blafphemy and falsehood, corruption and injuftice. Mahomet and his tribe were most profoundly ignorant. There was not among them but one man that could write, and it was not doubted he was to be Mahomet's fecretary, but unfortunately Mahomet could not read his writing. The story of the angel who brought him leaves of the Koran is well known, and fo is all the rest of the fable. The wiser part of his own relations, indeed, laughed at the impudence of his pretending to have a communication with angels. Having, however, gained, as his apostles, fome of the best foldiers of the tribe of Beni Koreish, and perfifting with great uniformity in all his measures, he established a new religion upon the ruins of idolatry and Sabaism, in the very temple of Mecca.

Mahomet enjoined nothing fevere, and the frequent prayers and washings with water which he directed, were gratifications to a fedentary people in a very hot country. The lightness of this yoke, therefore, recommended it rapidly to thofe who were disgusted with long fasting, penances, and pilgrimages. The poifon of this false, yet not severe religion, spread itself from that fountain to all the trading nations: Indiá, Ethiopia, Africa, all Afia, fuddenly embraced it; and every caravan carried into the bofom of its country people not more attached to trade, than zealous to preach and propagate their new faith.

The Arabs begun very soon to study letters, and came to be very partial to their own language; Mahomet himself fo much fo, that he held out his Koran, for its elegance alone, as a greater miracle than that of raifing the dead. This was not univerfally allowed at that time, as there were even then compofitions fuppofed to equal, if not to furpass it. The

The Arabs were a people who lived in a country for the most part desert; their dwellings were tents; their principal occupation feeding and breeding cattle; and they mar ried with their own family. The language therefore of fuch a people must be very poor: there is no variety of images in their whole country. They were always bad poets, as their works will testify; and if, contrary to the general rule, the language of Arabia Deserta became a copious one, it must have been by the mixture of so many nations meeting and trading at Mecca. It muft, at the fame time, have been the most corrupt, where there was the greatest concourse of ftrangers, and this was certainly among the Beni Koreish at the Caba..

The war that had distracted all Arabia, first between the Greeks and Perfians, then between Mahomet and the Arabs, in fupport of his divine miffion, had very much hurt the trade carried on by univerfal confent at the Temple of Mecca. Caravans, when they dared venture out, were surprised upon every road by the partifans of one fide or the other. Both merchants and trade had taken their departure to the fouthward, and established themselves south of the Arabian Gulf, in places which had been the markets for commerce, and the rendezvous of merchants. The conqueft of the Abyffinian territories in Arabia forced all thofe that yet remained to take refuge on the African fide, in the little districts which now, grew into consideration. The Governor of Yemen, (or Najashi) converted now to the faith of Mahomet, retired to the African fide of the Gulf. His government, long ago, having been shaken to the very foundation by the Arabian war, was at laft totally destroyed..

After. Omar had fubdued Egypt, he destroyed the valuable library at Alexandria ; but his fucceffors thought very differ.. ently from him in the article of profane learning. Greek books of all kinds (especially those of geometry, aftronomy, and medicine,) were searched for every where and translated. ́ Sciences flourished; and were encouraged. Trade at the fame time kept pace, and increased with knowledge. Geography and aftronomy were every where diligently studied, and folidly applied to make the voyages of men from place to place fafe and expeditious.

In one family of the Jews, an independent sovereignty had always been preferved on the mountain of Samen, and the royal

royal refidence was upon a high pointed rock, called the Jews Rock: feveral other inacceffible mountains ferved as: natural fortreffes for this people, now grown very confider able by frequent acceffions of strength from Palestine and Arabia, whence the Jews had been expelled. Gideon and Judith were then king and queen of the Jews, and their daughter Judith (whom, in Amhara, they call Esther, and fometimes Saat, i. e. fire) was a woman of great beauty, and talents for intrigue; had been married to the governor of a fmall district called Bugna, in the neighbourhood of Lasta, both which countries were likewise much infected with Judaism.

Judith had made fo strong a party, that she refolved to attempt the fubversion of the Christian religion, and, with it, the fucceflion in the line of Solomon. The children of the

royal family were at this time, in virtue of the old law, confined on the almost inacceffible mountain of Damo in Tigrè. The short reign, fudden and unexpected death of the late king Azior, and the defolation and contagion which an epidemical disease had spread both in court and capital, the weak ftate of Del Naad who was to fucceed Azior, and was an infant; all these circumstances together, impreffed Judith with an idea that now was the time to place her family upon the throne, and establish her religion by extirpating the race of Solomon. Accordingly, the furprised the rock Damo, and flew the whole princes there, to the number, it is faid, of 400. Some nobles of Amhara, upon the first news of the catastrophe at Damo, conveyed the infant king Del Naad, now the only remaining prince of his race, into the powerful and loyal province of Shoa, and by this means the royal family was preserved to be again refiored. Judith took poffeffion of the throne in defiance of the law of the queen of Saba, by this the first interruption of the fucceffion in the line of Solomon; and, contrary to what might have been expected from the violent means she had used to acquire the crown, the not only enjoyed it herself during a long reign of 40 years, but tranfmitted it also to five of her posterity.

After a great number of years, the line of Solomon was again-reftored in the defcendants of Del Naad, who, as we have seen, had escaped from the maffacre of Damo under Judith. Content with poffeffing the loyal province of Shoa, they continued their royal refidence there, without having made one attempt, as far as history tells us, towards recovering their ancient kingdom. TRAVELS

TRAVELS

TO DISCOVER THE

SOURCE OF THE NILE.

BOOK III.

ANNALS OF ABYSSINIA.

CONTAINING THE HISTORY OF THE ABYSSINIANS, FROM THE RESTORATION OF THE LINE OF SOLOMON

TO THE DEATH OF SOCINIOS.

ICON AMLA C.

FROM 1268 TO 1283.

CON AMLAC is the name by which we know this first

ICON

prince of the race of Solomon, who, after a long exile his family had fuffered by the treafon of Judith, is now restored to his dominions. His name fignifies, "Let him be made our fovereign," and is apparently that which he took upon his acceffion to the throne; and his name of baptifm, and byename, or popular name given him, are both therefore loft. He was a wife and prudent prince.

IGBA