is usually dressed in blue; the complexion of the figures
is a brownish red, and those in my possession have a curious cast of the
eyes, which gives them a very cunning look. St John, in a MS. which I
have now before me, is represented with woolly hair, and has two marks
or gashes on each side of his face, in accordance with the Abyssinian or
Galla custom of cutting through the skin of the face, breast, and arms,
so as to leave an indelible mark. This is done in youth, and is said to
preserve the patient from several diseases. The colours are mixed up
with the yolk of an egg, and the numerous mistakes and slips of the
brush are corrected by a wipe from a wet finger or thumb, which is
generally kept ready in the artist's mouth during the operation; and it
is lucky if he does not give it a bite in the agony of composition, when
with an unsteady hand the eye of some famous saint is smeared all over
the nose by an unfortunate swerve of the nibbled reed.

It is not often, however, that the arts of drawing and painting are thus
ruthlessly mangled on the pages of their books, and notwithstanding the
disadvantages under which the writers labour, some of these manuscripts
are beautifully written, and are worthy of being compared with the best
specimens of calligraphy in any language. I have a MS. containing the
book of Enoch, and several books of the Old Testament, which is
remarkable for the perfection of its writing, the straightness of the
lines, and the equal size and form of the characters throughout:
probably many years were required to finish it. The binding is of wooden
boards, not sawn or planed, but chopped apparently out of a tree or a
block of hard wood, a task of patience and difficulty which gives
evidence of the enthusiasm and goodwill which have been displayed in the
production of a work, in toiling upon which the pious man in the
simplicity of his heart doubtless considered that he was labouring for
the honour of the church, _ad majorem Dei gloriam_. It was this feeling
which in the middle ages produced all those glorious works of art which
are the admiration of modern times, and its total absence now is deeply
to be deplored in our own country.

Having satiated my curiosity as to the Abyssinian monks and their
curious library, I returned to my own room, where I was presently joined
by the abbot and his companion, who came for the promised bottle of
rosoglio, which they now required the more to keep up their spi