A sporting trip through Abyssinia : a narrative of a nine months' journey from the plains of the Hawash to the snows of Simien, with a description of the game, from elephant to ibex, and notes on the manners and customs of the natives . ntof all Ethiopia, and his name is so popular that numerousemperors and chieftains have been christened after me now revert to the description of the churchwhich occasioned this long digression. The steep,grassy slope, scattered with the debris of a ruinedvillage, was crowned by a still massive outer wall,nearly 600 feet in circumference and 15 feet hig
A sporting trip through Abyssinia : a narrative of a nine months' journey from the plains of the Hawash to the snows of Simien, with a description of the game, from elephant to ibex, and notes on the manners and customs of the natives . ntof all Ethiopia, and his name is so popular that numerousemperors and chieftains have been christened after me now revert to the description of the churchwhich occasioned this long digression. The steep,grassy slope, scattered with the debris of a ruinedvillage, was crowned by a still massive outer wall,nearly 600 feet in circumference and 15 feet high, fromwhich three towers stood out prominently. In the centreof this enclosure rose the church, built in two tiers, theHoly of Holies rising like a citadel within a fortress. A RUINED CHURCH 297 In fact the whole place had far more the appearanceof a fort than any church I had ever seen, and no doubtin the old days the strife of battle had often ragedround its walls, for it was here that the people left theirtreasures in the keeping of the priests, and doubtlessmore than once made their last stand against an the same ridge, but further to the east, lay the littlevillage of Azzazo, the path which led up the hill passing. The Watch-Tower of the Emperor Fasildas. between it and the church. At the top two priests andseveral of the villagers met me and took me over tothe church. As this was the finest example of the usualAbyssinian style of church architecture which I saw inall my journey, some account of it may be was built by the Emperor Fasildas, who had acountry seat close by, about the year 1645. Althoughit had seen many changes of fortune, it was not till theDervishes laid waste all this part of the country, twelveyears ago, that it was sacked and burnt. The entrance-gate was in a square tower, measuring 15 feet each 298 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap, xxvi way ; beyond this we came upon a large, untidy court,overgrown with jungle and weeds. In
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1902
