our country. The blacks here are not ugly like those of the
kingdoms I have spoken of, but have better features, and are not
without wit and delicacy; their apprehension is quick, and their
judgment sound. The heat of the sun, however it may contribute to
their colour, is not the only reason of it; there is some
peculiarity in the temper and constitution of their bodies, since
the same men, transported into cooler climates, produce children
very near as black as themselves.

They have here two harvests in the year, which is a sufficient
recompense for the small produce of each; one harvest they have in
the winter, which lasts through the months of July, August, and
September, the other in the spring; their trees are always green,
and it is the fault of the inhabitants that they produce so little
fruit, the soil being well adapted to all sorts, especially those
that come from the Indies. They have in the greatest plenty
raisins, peaches, sour pomegranates, and sugarcanes, and some figs.
Most of these are ripe about Lent, which the Abyssins keep with
great strictness.

After the vegetable products of this country, it seems not improper
to mention the animals which are found in it, of which here are as
great numbers, of as many different species, as in any country in
the world: it is infested with lions of many kinds, among which are
many of that which is called the lion royal. I cannot help giving
the reader on this occasion a relation of a fact which I was an eye-
witness of. A lion having taken his haunt near the place where I
lived, killed all the oxen and cows, and did a great deal of other
mischief, of which I heard new complaints every day. A servant of
mine having taken a resolution to free the country from this