A voyage to Abyssinia, and travels into the interior of that country, executed under the orders of the British government, in the years 1809 and 1810; in which are included, an account of the Portugese settlements on the east coast of Africa, visited in the course of the voyage; and a concise narrative of late events in Arabia Felix. And some particulars respecting the aboriginal African tribes, extending from Mosambique to the borders of Egypt; together with vocabularies of their respective languages / Illustrated with a map of Abyssinia, numerous engravings, and charts. By Henry Salt.

  • Salt, Henry, 1780-1827.
Date:
1814
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A voyage to Abyssinia, and travels into the interior of that country, executed under the orders of the British government, in the years 1809 and 1810; in which are included, an account of the Portugese settlements on the east coast of Africa, visited in the course of the voyage; and a concise narrative of late events in Arabia Felix. And some particulars respecting the aboriginal African tribes, extending from Mosambique to the borders of Egypt; together with vocabularies of their respective languages / Illustrated with a map of Abyssinia, numerous engravings, and charts. By Henry Salt. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    as well as the tail coverts are of a blueish green. The tail is forked ; the ouier feather being one inch longer than those in the middle, and mea¬ suring full three inches long : the tail above is blue or greenish, according to the light, the shafts of the feathers being of a dark chesnut colour, the middle feathers plain coloured, and the outer partaking of the same tinge, with the tips and margin of the interior web dusky: an indistinct sort of dusky bar crosses the ends of the other feathers, but on the fifth pair is hardly visible, except on the inner web ; while all except the middle and outer pair of feathers are tipped with white, which becomes deeper on the inner web. The space beneath the tail is dusky ; the bar and tips of the outer feathers being darker, and the tips of the rest whitish. The wing is nearly of the same colour with the body, but inclines a little more to chesnut on the quills; the outer margins of the primaries have a shade of blue, their tips are dusky, and the inner edges of a chesnut colour ; on the secondaries and tertials the chesnut colour encroaches also upon the outer web, is margined with green, and deeply tipped with dusky, which be¬ comes pale at the extreme tip. The space below the ridge of the wing is green, and the rest of the feathers are of a chesnut colour, w ith dusky tips : the first quill being scarcely an inch and an half long, and the third, which is longest, measuring three inches. The scapular feathers and those nearest the back have a considerable tinge of blue. The legs are weak and dusky, appearing to have been of a reddish tinge. No. 26, Certliia Tacazze. Splendid Creeper. It is impossible by any words to describe the splendid effect of the colours in this bird ; the whole head, neck, and breast, the upper part of the belly, the back and rump, the upper coverts and bend of the wing, present a glowr of metallic lustre that cannot be surpassed by any other even of this brilliant family; the head, neck, and breast, are principally of a golden green colour, mingled with a considerable share ofthe rich coppery purplish gloss that adorns the other parts; the wrings are dusky, edged outwardly with deep blue; the quills plain dusky; while the lower part ofthe belly, the vent, legs, and clawrs, are black. The tail would be rounded in shape, w ere it not for the two middle feathers which exceed the rest in length by nearly two inches, and it is of a blue black colour, with the edges, for about