Note 145 — JOURNAL.
Reading edition
“King John issued an edict that if any of his subjects were found smoking they should lose hand and foot. General Gordon in his notes on Abyssinia in 1879, said: ‘I write in haste, but I will sum up my impression of Abyssinia. The king is rapidly growing mad. He cuts off the noses of those who take snuff, and the lips of those who smoke. The king is hated more than Theodore was. Cruel to a degree, he does not, however, take life. He cuts off the feet and hands of people who offend him. He puts out their eyes by pouring hot tallow into their ears. No one can travel without the king’s order if he is a foreigner. You can buy nothing without his order; no one will shelter you without his order—in fact no more complete despotism could exist.’