Geesh, however, though not farther distant from these than 600 yards, is not in sight of the sources of the Nile. The country, upon the same plane with the fountains, terminates in a cliff about 300 yards deep down to the plain of Assoa, which flat country continues in the same subaltern degree of elevation, till it meets the Nile again about seventy miles southward, after it has made the circuit of the provinces of Gojam and Damot. This cliff seems purposely fashioned into many shelves or stages, each of which is occupied by a cluster of houses seldom above eight or ten in number; some above, some below, some along the side of each other, but chiefly occupying the space, or two-thirds of the middle of the cliff, that is, none of them nearer to the top of the cliff, nor to the plain of Assoa below, than a distance equal to that proportion of the whole. The reason of choosing this situation is the fear of the Galla, who have often invaded that part of Abyssinia, and have even exterminated some clans of Agows entirely.
In the middle of this cliff, in a direction straight north towards the fountains, is a prodigious cave, whether the work of nature or of art, I cannot determine; in it are many bye-paths, so that it is very difficult for a stranger to extricate himself; it is a natural labyrinth, large enough to contain the inhabitants of the village, and their cattle; there are likewise two or three lesser ones, which I did not see; in this large one, I tired myself part of several days, endeavouring to reach as far northward as possible, but the air, when I had advanced something above one hundred yards, seemed to threaten to extinguish my candle by its dampness; and the people were besides not at all disposed to gratify my curiosity farther, after assuring me that there was nothing at the end more remarkable than I then saw, which I have reason to believe was the case.
The face of this cliff, which fronts to the south, has a most picturesque appearance from the plain of Assoa below, parts of the houses at every stage appearing, through the thickets of trees and bushes with which the whole face of the cliff is thickly covered; impenetrable fences of the very worst kind of thorn, hide the mouths of the caverns above mentioned, even from sight; there is no other communication with the houses either from above or below, but by narrow-winding sheep-paths, which through these thorns are very difficult to be discerned, for all are allowed to be overgrown with the utmost wildness, as a part of their defence; lofty and large trees (most of them of the thorny kind) tower high up above the edge of the cliff, and seem to be a fence against people falling down into the plain; these are all at their proper season covered with flowers of different sorts and colours, so are the bushes below on the face of the cliff: every thorn in Abyssinia indeed bears a beautiful flower; a small atonement for the evils they occasion.
From the edge of the cliff of Geesh above where the village is situated, the ground slopes with a very easy descent due north, and lands you at the edge of a triangular marsh above eighty-six yards broad, in the line of the fountains, and two hundred and eighty-six yards two feet from the edge of the cliff above the house of the priest of the river, where I resided: this triangle, supposing it a right one, will measure one hundred and ninety-six yards in its length, or in the perpendicular; I mean it did so on the 6th of November 1770; doubtless, like other marshes, in the middle of the dry season, and of the rains, it will vary its dimensions. I suppose that this perpendicular represents the north of the marsh, and immediately from the brink of it the ground rises in a rather steep bank, and forms a round hill not a hundred yards high, upon the top of which is placed the church of St Michael Geesh; I did not measure this distance, but am sure it is very little less than five hundred yards from the church to the middle fountain. On the east the ground descends likewise with a very easy tho’ perceptible slope from the large village of Sacala, which gives its name to that territory; it is distant six miles from the source, but, to sight, seems scarcely to be two.
I shall suppose the sharp point of the triangle composed of the hypothenuse and the perpendicular, to point like the needle of a compass to Sacala, and the line of the hypothenuse to represent the south side of the marsh near the village Geesh. The base, or line, uniting the west end of the hypothenuse, and forming the right angle with the other side, I suppose to be the edge of the marsh formed by the bottom of the mountain of Geesh, and from this west side of it rises this high and beautiful mountain, quite detached from others, like a pyramid, which it resembles in its elegant and regular form. It is about 4870 feet high measured in the slope; for near one half way the ascent is very easy and gradual. The base being of a remarkable breadth, it then becomes exceedingly steep, but all the way covered with good earth, producing fine grass and clover, interspersed with wild flowers.
Upon the rock in the middle of this plain, the Agows used to pile up the bones of the beasts killed in sacrifice, mixing them with billets of wood, after which they set them on fire. This is now discontinued, or rather transferred to another place near the church, as they are at present indulged in the full enjoyment of their idolatrous rites, both under Fasil and Michael.
In the middle of this marsh (that is about forty yards from each side of it) and something less from the bottom of the mountain of Geesh, arises a hillock of a circular form, about three feet from the surface of the marsh itself, though apparently founded much deeper in it. The diameter of this is something short of twelve feet, it is surrounded by a shallow trench, which collects the water and voids it eastward; it is firmly built with sod or earthen turf, brought from the sides, and constantly kept in repair, and this is the altar upon which all their religious ceremonies are performed. In the middle of this altar is a hole, obviously made, or at least enlarged by the hand of man. It is kept clear of grass, or other aquatic plants, and the water in it is perfectly pure and limpid, but has no ebullition or motion of any kind discernible upon its surface. This mouth, or opening of the source, is some parts of an inch less than three feet diameter, and the water stood at that time the 5th of November, about two inches from the lip or brim, nor did it either increase or diminish during all the time of my stay at Geesh though we made plentiful use of it.
Upon putting down the shaft of my lance at six feet four inches, I found a very feeble resistance, as if from weak rushes or grass, and about six inches deeper I found my lance had entered into soft earth, but met with no stones or gravel; this was confirmed by another experiment, made on the 9th with a heavy plummet and line besmeared with soap, the bottom of which brought up at the above depth only black earth, such as the marsh itself and its sides are composed of.
Ten feet distant from the first of these springs, a little to the west of south, is the second fountain, about eleven inches in diameter, but this is eight feet, three inches deep. And about twenty feet distant from the first, to the S. S. W. is the third source, its mouth being something more than two feet large, and it is five feet eight inches deep. Both these last fountains stand in the middle of small altars, made, like the former, of firm sod, but neither of them above three feet diameter, and having a foot of less elevation than the first. The altar in this third source seemed almost dissolved by the water, which in both flood nearly up to the brim; at the foot of each appeared a clear and brisk running rill; these uniting joined the water in the trench of the first altar, and then proceeded directly out, I suppose, at the point of the triangle, pointing eastward, in a quantity that would have filled a pipe of about two inches diameter.
The water from these fountains is very light and good, and perfectly tasteless; it was at this time most intensely cold, though exposed to the mid-day sun without shelter, there being no trees nor bushes nearer it than the cliff of Geesh on its south side, and the trees that surround Saint Michael Geesh on the north, which, according to the custom of Abyssinia, is, like other churches, planted in the midst of a grove.