[87]Hormuzd Rassam, “British Mission to King Theodore,” vol. i. p. 315.
[88]Father Lobo reached Abyssinia in 1624.
[89]Father Lobo, who landed on the east coast of Africa, had never heard of the White Nile—this is made evident by his discourse upon the Abai—and believed the head-waters of the Blue Nile to be the origin of the whole river.
[90]In the map reproduced in this volume, the course of the Abai through Lake Tsana is marked by arrows. Its current can be quite plainly distinguished, as Father Lobo says, from the surrounding water. The circumstance was remarked by Dr. Stecker.
[92]Stern mentions “a solid stone bridge of seven arches—one of the few monuments left by the Portuguese,” which in his time spanned the Reb. He called the stream Erib (“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 169). Both he and Dufton crossed that river by this bridge. In all probability it was constructed by the artificers who built the arch over the Abai. I do not know whether the Reb bridge is still standing. We forded the stream, as has been said, and were not aware at the time that it had ever been bridged.
[93]The bulbous roots here mentioned are probably those of the “red-hot poker” plant, which grows abundantly in damp places in the higher regions of Abyssinia.
[94]“Travels to discover the Sources of the Nile in the years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773,” by James Bruce of Kinnaird, Esq., F.R.S.
[95]“Life of Bruce,” by Major F. P. Head, pp. 276-278.