Chapter XV: Letter XIII: Cairo, the 14th August, 1843

I regret to say that I received such uncomfortable accounts of the state of Frey’s health, soon after our arrival in Cairo, that Abeken and Bonomi at length determined to go to our camp, and to bring him in a litter which they took with them, from the Labyrinth to Zani on the Nile, and thence by water to this place. As soon as Dr. Pruner had seen him, he pronounced that the only advisable course was to let him immediately return to Europe. The liver complaint, under which he was found to be suffering, is incurable in Egypt, and as it had already made great progress, he left us yesterday at mid-day. May the climate of home soon restore our friend’s strength, who is both amiable and full of talent, and is a great loss to us all.

A few days ago, I purchased some Ethiopian Manuscripts for the Library at Berlin, from a Basque, Domingo Lorda, who has lived a long time in Abyssinia, and accompanied D’Abadie on several journeys. He bought them, probably, for a small sum, in a convent situated on the island of Thâna, near Gorata, one day’s journey from the sources of the Blue Nile, whose inhabitants were brought to a state of great distress by locusts. The one contains the history of Abyssinia, from Solomon to Christ, and is said to come from Axum, and to be between five and six hundred years old. This first part of the Abyssinian history, called KEBRE NEGEST, “the Fame of the Kings,” is said to be far more rare than the second, TARIK NEGEST, “the History of the Kings;” but this manuscript also contains at the end a list of the Ethiopian kings since the time of Christ. The largest manuscript, adorned with many great pictures in the Byzantine style, and by what I learn about it from Lieder, almost unique in its kind, contains chiefly the histories of saints. The third contains the still valid _Canones_ of the Church, complete. I hope that it will be an acceptable purchase for our Library.[26]

The purchases for our journey are also now completed; a convenient boat is hired, which will save us from the great difficulties of a land journey, since this, more especially during the impending season of inundation, could scarcely be accomplished.