as rivaling in interest and importance any "book of travels" of this
century. The name of Abyssinia was scarcely more than a recollection,
connected with the adventurous ramblings of Bruce, for the romantic
purpose of discovering the source of the Nile. His narrative had also been
wholly profitless--attracting public curiosity in a remarkable degree at
he time, no direct foundation of European intercourse was laid, and no
movement of European traffic followed. But giving Bruce all the credit,
which was so long denied him, for fidelity to fact, and for the spirit of
bold adventure which he exhibited in penetrating a land of violence and
barbarism, the mission of Major Harris at once establishes its object on
more substantial grounds. It is not a private adventure, but a public act,
rendered natural by the circumstances of British neighbourhood, and
important for the opening of Abyssinia and central Africa to the greatest
civilizer which the world has ever seen--the commerce of England. There
are still obvious difficulties of transit, between the coast and the
capital, by the ordinary route. But if the navigation of the Gochob, or
the route from Tajura, should once be secured, the trade will have
commenced, which in the course of a few years will change the face of
Abyssinia; limit, if not extinguish, that disgrace of human nature--the
slave trade; and, if not reform, at least enlighten, the clouded
Christianity of the people.

As the author was commissioned, not merely as a discoverer, but a
diplomatist, it is to be presumed that on many interesting points he
writes under the restraints of diplomatic reserve. But he has told us
enough to excite our strong interest in the beauty, the fertility, and the
capabilities of the country which he describes; and more than enough to
show, that it is almost a British duty to give the aid of our science, our
inventions, and our principles, to a monarch and a people evidently
prepared for rising in the scale of nations.