Egyptian style round the walls, at the height of the top of
the door.... Underneath the shelf various long wooden pegs
projected from the wall; they were each about a foot and
a half long, and on them hung the Abyssinian manuscripts,
of which this curious library was entirely composed. The
books of Abyssinia are . . . enclosed in a case tied up
with leathern thongs; to this case is attached a strap for
the convenience of carrying the volume over the shoulders,
and by these straps the books were hung to the wooden
pegs, three or four on a peg, or more if the books were
small; their usual size was that of a small, very thick
quarto. The appearance of the room, fitted up in this style,
together with the presence of long staves, such as the
monks of all the Oriental churches lean upon at the time of
prayer, resembled less a library than a barrack or guardroom,
where the soldiers had hung their knapsacks and
cartridge boxes against the wall." The few old Irish
satchels remaining are black with age, and the characteristic
decoration of diagonal lines and interlaced markings is
nearly worn away. Two of them are preserved in England
and Ireland: those of the Book of Armagh, in Trinity
College, Dublin, and of the Irish Missal in Corpus Christi
College, Oxford. The wallet at Oxford looks much like
a modern schoolboy's satchel; leather straps are fixed to
it, by which it was slung round the neck. The Armagh
wallet is made of one piece of leather, folded to form a case a
foot long, a little more than a foot broad, and two and a half
inches thick. The Book of Armagh does not fit it properly.
Interlaced work and zoomorphs decorate the leather. Remains
of rough straps are still attached to the sides.