BOOK VII. (continued 5)

I found the king had not been well, and had taken warm water to vomit, a remedy I advised him sometimes to make use of, not choosing to venture on all occasions to give him medicines, and he was then quiet. I therefore went to Ras Michael, who was alone, and seemingly much chagrined. He interrogated me strictly as to what passed between me and Gusho. I told him the discourse about Woodage Asahel's death, and about Fasil; then about the sick family I had seen, the offer of money, the fish, &c. The same I repeated when I went back to the king, but nothing about our meeting at Gondar. I begged, however, as he still complained a little of his head, that he would see nobody that night, but lie down and compose himself, allowing me to wait in the secretary's apartment till he should awake. I thought he embraced this proposal willingly, Ozoro Esther having had a long conference with him the night before. I do not imagine the state of the realm had much share in their conversation. After he was laid down, I went and found Azage Kyrillos, and with him the beautiful daughter of Tecla Mariam, who was just dressed to go to Ozoro Esther's. She said she would either take me along with her to Ozoro Esther's, or stay, and the king would send us supper at her father's. I excused myself from either, on account of the king's indisposition, and my business with her father, who, guessing by my countenance I had something material to communicate, sent her on her visit, and so we were left alone.

As he was a man with whom I had always lived in the most confidential friendship, and knew the same subsisted between him and the king, I made no scruple to tell him, word for word, what I had heard from Gusho, and Engedan's servant. He said, without any seeming surprise, Why, we are all worn out, but state all this to the king. Soon after, came in the slave who had the charge of the king's bed-chamber, and told the secretary that the king found himself well, only wanted to know what he should drink. I ordered him some water, with some ripe tamarinds, a liquor he usually took in time of Lent. See him and advise him yourself, says the secretary. I accordingly went in, and told the king the whole story. He seemed to be in great agitation, repeating frequently, "O God! O God! O Guebra Menfus Kedus[14]!"—"Who is this Guebra Menfus Kedus?" said I afterwards to Tecla Mariam, who in his heart believed in him no more than I did. "Why, answered he gravely, he is a great saint, who never ate or drank from his mother's womb till his death, said mass at Jerusalem every day, and came home at night in form of a stork."—"But a bad regimen his, said I, for such violent exercise."—"That is not all, says Tecla Mariam, he fought with the devil once in Tigrè, and threw him over the rock Amba Salam, and killed him."—"I wish you joy, said I, this is good news indeed." All this conversation had passed in half a whisper. The king was quiet; but, hearing me say the last words, he started, and cried, "What joy, what good news, Yagoube?"—"Why, said I, Sir, it is only Tecla Mariam informing me that the devil is dead, which is good news, at least to me, who always dreaded falling into his clutches."—"Aye, says the king, the monks say so; it must have been long ago; but the saint was surely a holy man."

Though the king was violently agitated, yet he neither said that he did or did not understand what was meant by Gusho and Engedan, but only ordered me home immediately, saying, "As you value your life, open not your mouth to man or woman, nor seem to take particular care about any thing, more than you did before; trust all in the hands of the Virgin Mary, and Guebra Menfus Kedus."

I needed no incitement to go to my tent, where I went immediately to bed. I cannot say but I had a ray of hope that Providence had begun the means which were to extricate me out of the difficulties of my present situation, better and sooner than I had before imagined; I therefore fell soon into a profound sleep, satisfied that I should be quickly called if any thing ailed the king. The lights were now all put out, and, except the cry of the guards going their rounds, very little noise in the camp, considering the vast number of people it contained. I was in a profound sleep when Francisco, a Greek servant of the Ras, a brave and veteran soldier, but given a little to drink, came bawling into my tent, "It is madness to sleep at this time."—"I am sure, said I, very calmly, I should be mad if I was not to sleep. Why, when would you have me to take my rest? and what is the matter?"—"Get up, cries he, quickly, for we shall all be cut to pieces in a minute."—"Then hang me, said I, if I don't lie still, for if I have no longer to live, it is not worth while to dress."—"Fasil (continued he) has surprised the camp, and gives no quarter."—"Fasil! said I, impossible: but go to the guard commanded by Laeca Mariam, and if he has a horse ready saddled bring him to me."

On this Francisco catched up a lance and shield that were in my tent, for fear of danger in the way, and ran off. In a minute he returned to ask the word. "Googue, said I, is the parole, (it signifies Owl.) A curse upon his father, says, he, (meaning the owl's father), and a curse upon their fathers who gave such unlucky words for the parole at night; no wonder misfortunes happen," says he, in Greek; he then returned to the guard under Laeca Mariam. In the mean time, surveying the camp around, I could not help doubting the truth of this alarm; for not a soul was stirring about Kefla Yasous's tent, and the light scarcely burning. On the other hand, however, there seemed several in the tent of the Ras, and people moving about it, though the Tigrè guard around were quiet, who, I knew well, would have been alarmed by the motion of a mouse.

There was, however, still a light, and an unusual noise in the upper end of the camp to the N. E. Francisco now returned from the king's tent, and, without my speaking to him, said, in a great passion, "Those black fellows are all become mad; you don't keep them in any sort of order." "Has Laeca Mariam got ready a horse for me, said I; where is he?"—"When I delivered your orders, replied Francisco, to have a horse ready for you, he said there were fifty, but did not suppose you intended galloping to-night." Francisco continued, "I told him Fasil was in the camp; at which he laughed outright, said I was drunk, and wondered you had given me the parole with a curse upon its father; a great catch this word, to be sure, it will make me rich." "I am afraid, said I, friend, Laeca Mariam hath stated the truth; at least I never heard of an army cut to pieces so very quietly as ours is." While I was speaking, the flambeaux at the Ras's tent were all suddenly lighted, which was likewise done by Kefla Yasous, all the general officers, and lastly from the king's tent. This is a kind of torch, or flambeau, used by the janizary Aga, at Cairo and Constantinople, when he patroles the streets; in the night-time it is lighted, but the fire does not appear till you whirl it three or four times round your head, and then it bursts out into a bright flame. Michael had sixteen always on the guard, ever since the attempt upon his life by the Guragué. In a moment all the camp was lighted, and the people awakened, whilst, as nobody knew the reason, the tumult increased. Francisco, with great exultation, upon seeing the Ras's torches lighted, cried, "See who is drunk now; where are your jokes? this will be a fine night, and nobody is armed." "Sir, said I, you saw Laeca Mariam and his guard armed; so is every other guard in the camp as much as ever; and you may thank God you have my servant's lance and shield, so you are armed. I may drink coffee, though I very much fear there may be some embroil on foot, of which you may be yourself part of the occasion. Go, however, to the Ras's tent, and ask if he has any orders for me."

In short, we soon after found that the cause of all this disturbance was, that some part of Tesfos's men had come to the back of the camp and attempted to recover the mules which had been taken from them; and they had succeeded in part, when they were discovered, pursued, and some of the mules retaken. At the sight of armed men running up and down the hill, an alarm spread that nobody knew the occasion of, till the Ras caused the mule-keeper to be bastinado'd in the morning. That day, the 26th, we received advice, that the Edjow Galla, and some other horse of the same district, had massacred all the people they met on their way to and from Gondar, and that a body of troops had marched into the town, which threatened to set it on fire if any more provisions were sent to the camp.

We were now without food or water; a great council was therefore held, in which it was agreed to decamp the 28th in the night, and return to Gondar on the 29th, in the morning. A present of fresh provisions had been sent to Ras Michael, and, in one of the baskets, a number of torches. A message was also delivered from Gusho, "That as he was informed the Ras intended travelling in the night, that therefore he had sent him store of torches, lest he should mistake his way to Gondar by having burnt all he had by him in the last night's alarm about Fasil." He declared, moreover, in name of all the Confederates, that it was their resolution not to molest him in his march; that the whole kingdom was in alliance with them to save the effusion of blood, now absolutely unnecessary, and to meet and treat with him at Gondar.

Upon receipt of this message, with the torches, the Ras flew into a most furious passion. He called for Kefla Yasous and Guebra Mascal, and sharply upbraided them with having betrayed him to his enemies. He gave orders to the troops to refresh themselves, for he was that day resolved to try the fortune of another battle. To this, however, it was replied by all the principal officers, That the army was starving, therefore a refreshment at this time was out of the question, and that fighting was as much so; for Gusho, having sent to the Abuna and to the King, had solemnly excommunicated his whole army if any harm was offered to them in person or baggage, if they marched directly back to Gondar that night, as they had of their own accord before intended; and that the army was resolved, therefore, as one man, to return; and, if the Ras did not agree to it, there was great fear they would disband in the night, and leave him in the hands of the enemy, without terms. The Ras was now obliged to make a virtue of necessity; and it was given in orders, that the army should be ready to decamp at eight in the evening, but nobody should strike their tent before that hour on pain of death. The old general was ashamed to be seen for the first time flying before his enemies.

It was plain to be read in everybody's countenance, that this resolution was agreeable to them all. I confess, however, that I thought the measure a very dangerous one, considering how much blood the king's army had so lately spilt, and the ordinary prejudices universally adopted in that country, allowing to every individual the right of retaliation. Before I struck my tent, I called Yasine to me, and told him that Ayto Confu, being wounded and a prisoner, myself necessarily obliged to attend the king, and the event of that night's retreat unknown to any body, I thought he could do neither himself nor me any further service by staying where he was; that therefore, so long as the road to Azazo was open to him, he should march thro' Dembea, as if going to Fasil, then turn on the right behind the hills of Koscam, and make the best of his way to Ras el Feel, in which government he should maintain the strictest discipline, and be particularly careful of the intrigues of Abd el Jeleel, the former governor, whose application I should defeat if I had any interest, or if the king remained, both which I thought very improbable. I annexed, moreover, this condition, that on his part he should be active and unwearied in procuring information concerning the properest way of my attempting to reach Sennaar; I enjoined him also to be very circumstantial in all the advices which he sent to me at Gondar; that they should be written in Arabic, and sent directly to me by my black servant Soliman, who was with him, and told him that I myself should join him as soon as possible. Yasine, with tears in his eyes, protested against leaving me in the dangerous situation of that night; he said we should be all cut to pieces as soon as we were in the plain, and that there was not a man of the troops under him who would not rather die with me, than abandon me to be murdered by the hands of these faithless Christian dogs, who never were to be bound by oath or promise. He said, it would be incomparably safer, as they were all under my command, that I should put myself at their head, and continue my march to Ras el Feel, where, if I was once arrived, Ayto Confu's troops, being behind me at Tcherkin, (that is, between me and Gondar), I might, at my own leisure, solicit a safe conduct to Sennaar.

I confess this proposal at first struck me as extremely feasible; but reflecting on my solemn promise to the king, not to leave him without his direct permission, that Gusho had assured me of safety if I kept close to his person, that it would be a breach of trust to leave my Greek servant unprovided at Gondar, and that forsaking my instruments would have the effect of making my return through the desert imperfect,—I rejected this proposal, and dismissed Yasine, with orders to adhere inviolably to the instructions I had given him.

As for the king himself, his countenance was not changed, nor did he say to me one word that day in confidence, whether he did or did not intend to return to Gondar.

As no body knew what conditions were made, or whether any were really made at all, fear kept the common soldiers under obedience till it was night. The first who began to file off, it being near dark, were the women, who carried the mills, jars, and the heavy burdens; these were in great numbers. Soon after, the soldiers were in motion, and the Ras and the King's tents were struck just as it was night; darkness freed the whole army from obedience to orders, and a confusion, never to be forgot or described, presently followed, every body making the best of their way to get safe down the hill. At first setting out I kept close by the king; but, without treading upon, or riding over a number of people, I could not keep my place. I was now, for the first time, on one of the strong black horses that came last from Sennaar, given me by the king, and he was so impatient and fretful at being pressed on by the crowd of men and beasts, that there was no keeping him within any sort of bounds. The descent of the hill had become very slippery, and men, horses, and mules were rolling promiscuously over one another.

I resolved to try for myself some other way that might be less thronged. I went to the place where Woodage Asahel descended when he was shot by Sebastos; but the ground there was more uneven, and fully as much crowded. I then crossed the road to the eastward, where the Ras's tent stood, and where Kefla Yasous's two nephews had gone round to dislodge Ayto Tesfos: there was a considerable number of people even here, but it was not a croud, and they were mostly women. I determined to attempt it, and got into a small slanting road, which I hoped would conduct me to the bed of the torrent; but I found, upon going half way down the hill, that, in place of a road, it had been a hollow made by a torrent, which ended on a precipice, and below, and on each side of this, the hill was exceedingly steep, the small distance I could see.

In Abyssinia, the camp-ovens for making their bread are in form of two tea-saucers joined bottom to bottom, and are something less than three feet in diameter, being made of a light, beautiful potter's ware, which, although red when first made, turns to a glossy black colour after being greased with butter. This being placed upright, a fire of charcoal is put under the bottom-part; the bread, made like pancakes, is pasted all within the side of the upper cavity, or bowl, over which is laid a cover of the same form or shape. It is in form of a broad wheel, and a woman carries one of these upon her back for baking bread in the camp. It happened that, just as I was deliberating whether to proceed or return, a woman had rolled one of these down the hill on purpose, or let it fall by chance: whichever was the case, it came bounding, and just past behind my horse. Whether it touched him or not I cannot tell; but it determined him, without further deliberation, to spurn all controul of his rider. On the first leap that he made it was with the utmost difficulty I avoided going over his head: I will not pretend to say what followed. I was deprived of all sense or reflection, till stumbling often, and sliding down upon his haunches oftener, I found myself at the bottom of the hill, perfectly stupified with fear, but safe and sound in body, though my saddle was lying upon the horse's neck.

Soon after, I saw a fire lighted on the top of the hill above where Ras Michael's tent stood, and I did not doubt but that it was the work of some traitor, as a signal to the rebels that we were now in the plain in the greatest confusion. I made all haste therefore to go round and join the king, passed Deg-Ohha incumbered with carcases of men and beasts, from which, as well as from the bottom of the hill, a terrible stench arose, which must soon have forced us out of the camp if we had not resolved, of our own accord, to remove. A little further in the opening to the river Mariam, I found myself in the middle of about twenty persons, three or four of whom were upon mules, in long clean white clothes, as if in peace, the rest apparently soldiers; this was Engedan's brother, Aylo, whom I was passing without recollecting him, when he cried, Where do you come from, Yagoube? this is not a night for white men like you to be alone; come with me, and I will carry you to your friend Engedan. My horse, replied I, found a new way for itself down the hill, and I confess I would rather be alone than with so much company: our colour by this light seems to be pretty much the same. Remember me to Engedan. I am seeking to join the king.

Immediately after, I got into the crowd: though they were now in the plain, they still kept in a line close to the foot of the mountain, as in fear of the enemy's horse. I passed on at as brisk a walk as my horse could go; nor was I so tender of those who were before me in the plain as I had been on the side of the hill. Among those that were still in the crowd, that had not got yet down the hill, I heard the Abuna's servant saying they had lost their mules, and denouncing excommunication and curses against those who had stolen his baggage. I could not refrain from a fit of laughter at the stupidity of that priest, to think any man of such a nation would pay attention to his anathemas in such a scene. Soon after, however, I overtook the Abuna himself, with Ozoro Altash. He asked me in Arabic, and in a very mournful tone of voice, what I thought they were going to do? I answered, in the same language, "Pray for them, father, for they know not what to do." Ozoro Altash now told me the king was a great way before them, with Ras Michael, and advised me to stay and accompany her. As she spoke this confidently, and it was part of the advice Gusho had given me if I missed the king, I was deliberating what course I should pursue, when a great noise of horse and men was heard on the side of the plain, and presently the Abuna and Ozoro Altash were surrounded by a large body of horsemen, whose cries and language I did not understand, and whom therefore I took for Galla. As I found my horse strong and willing, and being alone, and unincumbered with baggage, I thought it was better to keep free, and not trust to who these strangers might be. I therefore got out of the line of the troops towards the plain, spurred my horse, and arrived at the body of cavalry where the king was.

As I had a white turban upon my head, (having shaved the fore part of it after the blow I had received from the stone) I was employed taking this off before I presented myself to the king, when somebody said out loud, Ozoro Esther is taken prisoner. Ras Michael answered, That is impossible; Ozoro Esther is here. It is Ozoro Altash and the Abuna, said I, from behind; I came just now from them. By whom are they taken? says the king. By the Galla, I believe, answered I; at least by men whose language I did not understand, though indeed I took no time to consider, but they are close in our rear, and I suppose they will be here presently. Here! says the Ras, what will they do here? It must be Powussen, and the troops of Lasta, to recover his mother-in-law, that she may not go to Gondar; and it is the Tcheratz Agow language that Yagoube has taken for Galla. It is so, says another horseman; the people of Lasta have carried her off, but without hurting any body. This I thought a good sign, and that they were under orders, for a bloodier or more cruel race was not in the army, the Galla not excepted; and they had met with their desserts, and had suffered considerably in the course of this short campaign.

The whole road was now as smooth as a carpet; and we had scarce done speaking when Ras Michael's mule fell flat on the ground, and threw him upon his face in a small puddle of water. He was quickly lifted up unhurt, and set upon his mule again. We passed the Mogetch, and at about 200 yards from the bridge, upon ground equally plain as the former, the mule fell again, and threw the Ras another time in the dirt, on which a general murmur and groan was heard from all his attendants, for every body interpreted this as an omen that his power and fortune were gone from him for ever. Another mule was speedily brought, but he refused to mount it, and we passed on by the Mahometan town, and up to Confu's house, by Aylo Meidan. I could not, however, help reflecting how justly the Ras was now punished for the murder of the singers in that very spot, when he returned from Mariam-Ohha and entered Gondar. The king went directly to the palace, the Ras to his own house, and, by the secretary's advice, I went with him to that of the Abuna, where I left my Greek servants with my gold chain, and some trifles I wanted to preserve, together with my instruments. I then dressed myself in the habit of peace, and returned to the palace, where, remembering the advice of Gusho, I resolved to expect my fate with the king. Upon seeing me with the fore part of my head shaven, and remembering the cause, as his first mark of favour he ordered me to cover my head, a thing otherwise not permitted in the king's presence to any of his household.

The king's servants brought me a bull's hide for my bed; and although many a night I have wanted rest upon less dangerous occasions, I scarcely ever slept more soundly, till I heard the cracking of the whips of the Serach Massery, about five o'clock in the morning of the 29th. He performs this function much louder than a French postilion upon finishing a post, it being the signal for the king to rise. There was, indeed, no occasion for this custom, now there was no court, nor judgment of causes civil or criminal. The palace was quite deserted; even the king's slaves, of both sexes, (fearing to be carried off to Begemder and Amhara) had hid themselves among the monks, and in the houses of private friends, so that the king was left with very few attendants.

CHAP. X. Rebel Army invests Gondar—King's Troops deliver up their Arms—The Murderers of Joas assassinated—Gusho made Ras—Ras Michael carried away Prisoner by Powussen—Iteghé's return to Koscam—Fasil arrives at Gondar—King acknowledged by all Parties—Bad Conduct of Gusho—Obliged to fly, but is taken and put in Irons.

About eight o'clock in the morning of the 29th of May, the day immediately following the night of our retreat, came Gusho's Fit-Auraris, and marked out the camp for his master between the Mahometan town and the church of Ledeta, on the very spot where Michael had encamped after his late return from Tigrè; Coque Abou Barea from Ledeta to Koscam; Aylo and Ayabdar on the other side of the Kahha, in a line passing by Kedus Raphael, the Abuna's house at the foot of the mountain, above Debra Berhan; Ayto Tesfos in the valley below, by the side of the Angrab; on the road from Woggora to Gondar, and all along the Angrab, till it joined the Kahha, and Kasmati Gusho's camp, were Powussen and the rest of the confederate army; so that by nine o'clock the town was completely invested, as if a wall had been built round it. The water being all in possession of the enemy, centinels were by them placed along the banks of each river, with orders to suffer every townsman to fill single jars, such as one man or woman could carry, and to break any supernumerary jars, that might be brought by way of securing a larger provision[15]. All the people of consequence who had property in and about Gondar, who had fled to Fasil and to the provinces, from fear of Ras Michael when he returned from Tigrè, had gone back upon Gusho's word, each man to his house; Gondar was full of men in arms. In Gusho's and Ayabdar's army, and depending on them, was the property of all Gondar. Ras Woodage, Gusho's father, and brother to Ayabdar, had been Ras in Yasous' time, till he died, universally beloved and regretted; Ayto Engedan and Aylo, sons of Kasmati Eshté, (by a sister of king Yasous) had the property of near one half of the town. Though Engedan was prisoner, and Aylo had married Ras Michael's daughter, they were, by interest and inclination, united to Gusho, and had served Michael only through fear, from attachment to the king, so that Gusho and Ayabdar were the only citizens in whom the inhabitants of Gondar confided. Powussen, and the rest, were looked upon as free-booters in their inclinations, at least by the townsmen; very little better than Michael, or his troops of Tigrè.

From the moment the town was invested, and indeed in the field, before Gusho had taken the lead, and though neither Ayabdar nor Powussen were his friends, all Gondar was at his command; and in it an army infinitely superior in number and riches, now they had got such a chieftain, to all the Confederates put together, and Michael's army added to them. Gusho, a man of great understanding, born and bred in Gondar, knew this perfectly well, and that he alone was looked up to as the father of his country. He knew, moreover, that he could not ruin Michael so effectually as to lodge him safely in Gondar, amidst a multitude of enemies, and blockade him there before he had time for resources. He therefore detached Ayto Tesfos, the very day he arrived before the town, after Darien, Basha of Belessin, whom Ras Michael had sent before him into Woggora to effect a passage through that province into Tigrè by fair means, promises, and presents. Tesfos came up with Darien before he had time to enter upon his commission, and, having beaten and taken him prisoner, raised all Woggora in arms against Michael, so that not a man could longer pass between Tigrè and Gondar.

No person from the rebel army had yet entered Gondar. The king's secretary, Azage Kyrillos, a relation of Gusho, had gone to his camp the day of his arrival. The same day the kettle-drums were brought to the brink of Kahha, and a proclamation made. That all soldiers of the province of Tigrè, or who had bore arms under Ras Michael, should, on the morrow before mid-day, bring their arms, offensive and defensive, and deliver them on a spot fixed upon near the church of Ledeta, to commissaries appointed for the purpose of receiving them; with further intimation to the inhabitants of Gondar, That any arms found in any house in that town, after noon of the day of proclamation, should subject the owner of such house and arms to death, and the house, or houses, to be razed to their foundation.

The first of the Tigrè troops who set this example was Guebra Mascal; he carried down to the place appointed, and surrendered, about 6000 musquets, belonging to the Ras and his family; all the rest of the principal officers followed, for the inhabitants of Gondar were willing inquisitors, so that the whole arms were delivered before the hour appointed, and locked up in the church of Ledeta, under a strong guard both without and within the church. The Tigrè soldiers, after surrendering their arms, were not suffered to depart, but a space was assigned between Gusho's tent and the town, where they were disposed that night, and centinels placed upon them, that they might not disperse. This indeed was needless; for they were every day surrounded with troops and enemies, so that all their wealth remained with their landlords in Gondar, which home they were not suffered again to enter, a measure which greatly added to Gusho's popularity in the town. A great number of flour sacks were brought down to Gusho's camp, and many mules, loaded therewith, were delivered to the disarmed army, sufficient to carry them by speedy marches to their own country, for which they had orders to set out the next morning.

Kefla Yasous alone, with about 400 men, had shut himself up in the church of Debra Berhan, where there was water, and he had carried in sufficient provisions for several days. He refused therefore to surrender upon the general summons; on which Powussen, who was encamped immediately below him, sent an officer to require him to submit, which he not only peremptorily refused, but told the officer, that, unless he instantly retired, he would give orders to fire upon him, as he had a treaty with Gusho, and, till that was ratified by Gusho himself, he would not surrender, nor suffer any other person to approach his post; at any rate, that he did not intend to surrender to a man of Powussen's low birth, however high his present post had raised him, which he no longer acknowledged, being the mere gift of Michael, one complaint against whom was that of levelling and confounding the nobility with their inferiors.

Gusho accordingly sent an officer, a man of great character, and a relation of the king, with a confirmation of his promise; whereupon Kefla Yasous surrendered, and sent down his soldiers, with what arms he pleased, to Gusho's camp, carrying the rest privately to his own house, to which he retired that very evening. Kefla Yasous was much beloved by the inhabitants of Gondar, though a Tigran, and perhaps in neither party was there a man so universally esteemed. He had done the townsmen often great service, having always stood between Michael and them in those moments of wrath and vengeance when no one else dared to speak; and, in particular, he had saved the town from burning that morning the Ras had retired with the king to Tigrè, when warned, as he said, by an apparition of Michael the archangel, or more probably of the devil, to put the inhabitants of Gondar to the sword, and set the city on fire; a measure that was supported by Nebrit Tecla, and several other leading men among the Tigrans. If the devil can speak true, here surely was one example of it, Gondar that very day had proved fatal to the Ras; and Kefla Yasous himself told me, long after Michael was gone, and all was peace, that having visited him that very evening he left Debra Berhan, Michael had privately upbraided him with having prevented his burning the town, and told him, that his guardian spirit, Saint Michael the archangel, or the devil, or whatever we may please to call it, had left him, and never appeared to him again since he had passed the river Tacazzé on his return to Gondar; and to this he attributed his present misfortunes.

All the king's arms were surrendered with the rest, and Kefla Yasous was the only man that remained unsubdued, a distinction due to his superlative merit, and preserved to him by his enemies themselves in the very heat of conquest.

As for the Ras, he had continued in the house belonging to his office, visited only by some private friends, but had sent Ozoro Esther to the Iteghé's at Koscam, as soon as he entered Gondar. He ate, drank, and slept as usual, and reasoned upon the event that had happened with great equanimity and seeming indifference. There was no appearance of guards set upon him; but every motion and look were privately, but strictly watched. The next day, when he heard how ill his disarmed men were treated by the populace, when they were dismissed to Tigrè, he burst into tears, and cried out in great agony, Had I died before this I had been happy. He played no more at drafts, by which game formerly he pretended to divine the issue of every affair of consequence, but gave his draft-board and men to a private friend; at the same time renouncing his pretended divinations, as deceitful and sinful, by the confidence he had placed in them.

The king behaved with the greatest firmness and composure; he was indeed graver than usual, and talked less, but was not at all dejected. Scarce any body came near him the first day, or even the second, excepting the priests, some of the judges, and old inhabitants of the town, who had taken no part. Some of the priests and monks, as is their custom, used certain liberties, and mixed a considerable degree of impertinence in their conversations, hinting it as doubtful, whether he would remain on the throne, and mentioning it, as on the part of the people, that he had imbibed from Michael a propensity towards cruelty and bloodshed, what some months ago no man in Gondar dared to have surmised for his life. These he only answered with a very severe look, but said nothing. One of these speeches being reported to Gusho, not as a complaint from the king, but through a by-stander who heard it, that nobleman ordered the offender (a priest of Erba Tensa, a church in Woggora) to be stript naked to his waist, and whipt with thongs three times round Aylo Meidan, till his back was bloody, for this violation of the majesty of the sovereign: and this example, which met with the public approbation of all parties, the clergy only excepted, very much lessened that insolence which the king's misfortunes had excited.

He had ate nothing the first day but a small piece of wheat-loaf, dividing the rest among the few servants that attended him, who had all fared better than he, among their friends in town, though they did not own it. The second day began in the same stile, and lasted till noon, without any appearance of provisions. After the surrendry of the arms, however, came great plenty, both from the town and the camp, and so continued ever after; but he ate very sparingly, though he had generally a very good appetite; and ordered the residue to be given to his servants, or the poor about the gates of the palace, many of whom, he said, must starve by the long stay of so large an army. He seemed to be totally forgotten. About three o'clock of the second day came his secretary from Gusho, staid about an hour, and returned immediately; but what had passed I did not hear, at least at that time. There was no alteration in his looks or behaviour. He went early to bed, and had not yet changed the cloaths in which he came from the camp.

The next day the unfortunate troops of Tigrè, loaded with curses and opprobrious language, pelted with stones and dirt, and a few way-laid and slain for private injuries, were conducted up the hill above Debra Berhan, on the road through Woggora to Tigrè, by a guard of horse from Gusho's camp, who protected them with great humanity as far as they were able; but it was out of the power of any force but that of an army to protect them from the enraged populace, over whom they had tyrannised so many years. Arrived at the river Angrab, in the rear of Powussen's army, they were consigned to him, and he delivered them to Ayto Tesfos, who was to escort them across the Tacazzé. Many of the mob, however, continued to pursue them even farther; but these were all to a man disarmed, and stript naked, on their return to Gondar, by Tesfos and Powussen's soldiers, who justly judged, that in the like situation they would themselves have met with no better treatment.

While every rank of people was intent upon this spectacle, a body of Galla, belonging to Maitsha, stole privately into the town, and plundered several houses: they came next into the king's palace, and into the presence-chamber, where he was sitting alone in an alcove, whilst, just by his side, but out of sight, and without the alcove, I and two of his servants were sitting on the floor. This room, in the time of Yasous and the Iteghé, (the days of luxury and splendour of the Abyssinian court), had been magnificently hung with mirrors, brought at great expence from Venice, by way of Arabia and the Red Sea; these were very neatly fixed in copper-gilt frames by some Greek filligrane-workers from Cairo; but the mirrors were now mostly broken by various accidents, especially when the palace was set on fire, in Joas's time, upon Michael's coming from the campaign of Begemder. These savages, though they certainly saw the king at the other end of the room, attached themselves to the glass nearest the door, which was a large oblong one, and after they had made many grimaces, and a variety of antics before it, one of them struck it just in the middle with the butt-end of his lance, and broke it to shivers, which fell tinkling on the floor. Some of these pieces they took up, but in the end they were mostly reduced to powder with the repeated strokes of their lances. There were three glasses in the alcove where the king sat, as also one in the wings on each side without the alcove; under the king's right hand we three were sitting, and the Galla were engaged with a mirror near the door, at the other end of the room, on the left side, so that there was but one glass more to break before they arrived at those in the alcove where the king was sitting.

I was in great fear of the consequences, as they were about thirteen or fourteen in number; nor did we know how many more of their companions might be below, or in the town, or of what party they were, nor whether resistance on our part was lawful. We three had no arms but a short knife at our girdle, nor had the king any, so that we were in the greatest fear that, if their humour of breaking the glasses had continued when they came near the king, he would strike one of them, and we should be all massacred: We all three therefore got up and stood before the king, who made a gentle motion with his hand, as if to say, "Stay a little, or, have patience." At this instant, Tensa Christos, (a man of considerable authority in Gondar, who was understood by Gusho to be trusted with the care of the town, though he had no name or post, for there was yet no form of government settled,) hearing the Galla had plundered houses, and gone into the palace, followed them as fast as possible, with about a hundred stout young men belonging to Gondar, well-armed. The Galla soon saw there was a more serious occupation awaiting them, and ran out to the great hall of the king's chamber, called Aderasha, when one of these soldiers of Gondar shut the door of the room where the king sat. The Galla at first made a shew of resistance; but two of them being very much wounded, and seeing themselves in a house where they did not know their way, and all assistance from their comrades impossible, they surrendered their arms; they then were tied two and two, and sent in this manner down to Gusho's camp, who immediately ordered two of them to be hanged, and the rest to be whipt and dismissed.

Tensa Christos, after having done this good service, came into the room to the king, and kissed the ground in the usual manner before him. The king immediately ordered him to rise, gave him his hands to kiss, and then permitted him to withdraw, without having said one word in his commendation for having delivered him from so great a danger. That same day, a little after noon, a party of soldiers was sent into the town, who apprehended Shalaka Becro and his son; Nebrit Tecla, and his two sons; two sons of Lika Netcho a priest, and another man, whose name I have forgot, in all eight persons, natives of the province of Tigrè, dependants and servants of Ras Michael, and murderers of the late king Joas. These being brought to the market-place, were delivered into the hands of the Edjow Galla, formerly Joas's guard. Becro and his son were hewn to pieces with knives; Nebrit Tecla's sons, the eldest first, and then the youngest, were thrust through with lances; and their father being then brought to them where they lay, and desired to say if he knew who they were, and answering in the negative, he was immediately cut to pieces, as were the others, with great circumstances of cruelty, and their mangled bodies thrown about the streets. These were all the executions which followed this great and sudden revolution; a proof of very exemplary moderation in the conquerors, considering the number of people concerned in the parricide first, and the consequential rebellion after. Lika Netcho, in particular, fully as guilty as his sons, was nevertheless spared, because he had married one of the king's relations.

As yet none of the chiefs of the rebels had entered Gondar. Messages had passed, but not frequently, between the king and Gusho; fewer still between him and Powussen; as for the rest, they seemed to take no lead at all.

On the 1st of June, Gusho and Powussen came both to the house of the Ras, where they interrogated him very roughly as to all his past conduct. Till the execution of Joas's murderers, he had constantly dressed himself in his very best apparel, with all the insignia of command. As soon as this was told him, he cloathed himself plainly, and constantly in white, with a cowl of the same colour on his head, like the monks, a sign he had retired from the world. It seemed as if this was done through a fondness for life, for by that act he devoted the remainder of his days to obscurity and penitence. Nothing remarkable happened at this interview, at least as far as was known. From thence Gusho and Powussen went to the king's palace, where they did homage, and took the oaths of allegiance.

It was there resolved that Gusho should be Ras, and the other places were all disposed of. From this time forward the king began to have a shew of government, no party having testified any sort of discontent with him; on the contrary, each of the rebel chiefs now waited upon him separately, and had long conferences with him; but, what bade fairest to re-establish his authority entirely was, the dissentions that evidently reigned among the leaders of the rebels themselves, whom we, however, shall no longer consider as such, not because their treason had prospered, but because they were now returned to their duty. It was strongly suspected that a treaty was on foot between Gusho and Michael, by which the latter, in consideration of a large sum, was to put the former again in possession of the province of Tigrè; others again said, that Kefla Yasous, at Ras Michael's desire, was to be made governor of Tigrè, and to have a large sum of gold, which Michael was supposed to have concealed there, and which he was to remit to Gusho, whilst he and Michael were to understand each other about the government of the province.

Be that as it may, Powussen, on the 4th of June, without any previous notice given to Gusho, marched into Gondar with a thousand horse, and, without further ceremony, ordered Ras Michael to be placed upon a mule, and, joining the rest of his army, who had all struck their tents, marched away so suddenly to Begemder, that Ozoro Esther, then residing at the queen her mother's house at Koscam, had scarcely time to send her old husband a fresh mule, and some supply of necessary provisions. All the rest of the troops decamped immediately after, the rains beginning now to be pretty constant, and the soldiers desirous to be at home. Some of the great men, indeed, remained at Gondar, such as Ayabdar, Engedan, and others, who had views of preferment. Gusho took possession of the Ras's house and office; the king's officers and servants returned to the palace; the places of those that had fallen in battle were filled, and the whole town began to resume an appearance of peace, which every one who considered feared would be of a very short duration.

A few days after the army of Begemder had left Gondar, Powussen sent the usurper Socinios, loaded with irons, from Agar Salam, a small town in Begemder, where he had been kept prisoner. He was brought before the king in the same equipage he arrived, and being interrogated who he was, answered with great boldness, that he was Socinios, son to king Yasous, son of Bacussa; that he had not sought to be made king, but was forced by the Iteghé and Sanuda; this every one knew to be true. Soon after his mother was examined; but denying now what she had formerly sworn, that she ever had any intimate connection with the late king Yasous, Socinios was sentenced to death; but being in his manners, figure, and conversation perfectly despicable, the king directed he should serve as a slave in his kitchen, whence he was taken, some time afterwards, and hanged for theft.

On the 21st of June, the Iteghé arrived from Gojam, and all the people of Gondar flocked to see her without the town. Gusho had met her at Tedda; and, at the same time that he welcomed her, told her, as from the king, that it was his orders that neither Palambaras Mammo, nor Likaba Beecho, were to enter the town with her. This she considered as a very high affront, and the work of Gusho, not the king's orders. She upbraided Gusho with avarice, pride, and malice, declared him a greater tyrant than Michael, without his capacity, forbidding him to appear any more before her, and with great difficulty could be prevailed to go on to Koscam instead of returning to Gojam. It is impossible to conceive the enthusiasm with which the sight of the old queen inspired all sorts of people. Gusho had no troops, the king as few, being left even without a servant in his palace. Then was the season for mischief, had not Fasil been hovering with his army, without declaring his approbation or disapprobation of any thing that had been done, or was doing.

About the end of June he came at once to Abba Samuel, without announcing himself before hand, according to his usual custom, and he paid his first visit to the Iteghé, then a short one to the king, where I saw him: he was very facetious with me, and pretended I had promised him my horse when I returned from Maitsha, which I excused, by observing the horse was out of town. Well, well, says he, that shall not save you; tell me where he is and I will send for him, and give you the best mule in the army in exchange, and take my chance of recovering him wherever he is. With all my heart, replied I; you will find him perhaps in the valley of Serbraxos, at the foot of the hill, opposite to the south ford of the river Mariam. He laughed heartily at this, shook me by the hand at parting, saying, Well, well, for all this you shall not want your mule.

The king was exceedingly pleased at what had passed, and said, "I wish you would tell me, Yagoube, how you reconcile all these people to you. It is a secret which will be of much more importance to me than to you. There is Gusho now, for example, so proud of his present fortune, that he scarcely will say a civil word to me; and Fasil has brought me a list of his own servants, whom he wants to make mine without asking my leave, (Adera Tacca Georgis, whom he named to be Fit-Auraris to the king, as he had done formerly when he wanted to quarrel with Socinios, Gubena to be Cantiba, and some others), yet he never sees you come into the room but he begins immediately joking and pleasant conversation."

After these appointments, which were not disputed with him, though otherwise very much against the king's inclination, Fasil retired with his army to Maitsha.

In the mean time, Gusho set every thing to sale, content with the money the offices produced, and what he could squeeze from people who had crimes, real or alledged, to compound for. He did not perceive that steps were taking by his enemies which would soon deprive him of all the advantages he enjoyed. Instead of attending to this, he amused himself with mortifying the Iteghé, whose daughter, Welleta Israel, he had formerly married, but who had long left him by the persuasion of her mother. He thought it was an affront to his dignity that the king had pardoned Likaba Beecho, and Palambaras Mammo, the very day after he had forbid them to enter the town; and, what was still stronger, that the king, without his consent, had sent an invitation to the Iteghé to return to Gondar, and govern, as his mother, to the extent she did in the time of Joas; he resolved therefore to attempt the creating a misunderstanding between the king and queen, a matter not very difficult in itself to bring about.

Gusho had confiscated, in the name of the king, all the queen's villages, which made her believe that this offer of the king to bring her to Gondar was an insidious one. In order to make the breach the wider, he had also prevailed upon the king's mother to come to Gondar, and insist with her son to be crowned, and take the title and state of Iteghé. The king was prevailed upon to gratify his mother, under pretence that the Iteghé had refused to come upon his invitation; but this, as it was a pretence only, so it was expressly a violation of the law of the land, which permits but one Iteghé, and never allows the nomination of a new one while the former is in life, however distant a relation she may be to the then reigning king. In consequence of this new coronation, two large villages, Tshemmera and Tocussa, which belonged to the Iteghé as appendages of her royalty, of course devolved upon the king's own mother, newly crowned, who sending her people to take possession, the inhabitants not only refused to admit her officers, but forcibly drove them away, declaring they would acknowledge no other mistress but their old one, to whom they were bound by the laws of the land.

If Gusho, in this manner, dealt hardly with the queen, his behaviour to the king was neither more just nor generous: he had not only failed to advance any gold for the king's subsistence, but had intercepted that part of his revenue which he knew was ready to be paid him, and in the hands of others of his subjects. A stated daily allowance was, indeed, delivered to the king in kind for the maintenance of his household, but even this was smaller than had been settled by Ras Michael; besides which, 120 jars of honey, being one day sent the king from Damot, and at the same time 1000 cotton coats from Walkayt, both these were seized upon by Gusho, without any part being offered to the king, who thereupon determined to break with him, as did the Iteghé from the former provocation.

Ayabdar, never reconciled to him before the battle of Serbraxos, had fresh reason of difference with him from an unequal distribution of Ras Michael's effects, while Engedan, who had been promised the province of Kuara, and whom the king very much favoured, solicited that post in vain, unless he would advance a thousand ounces of gold, which he positively refused to do. The king fomented all these complaints by sending a person of consequence to Powussen, who advised him to arrest Gusho immediately, and promised, if resistance was made, to be at Gondar in three days. Engedan and Ayabdar were trusted with the execution of this, but as Gusho was beloved by the people of Gondar, the secret was not so well kept but that it came to his ears.

On the 16th of July, (the feast of Saint Michael) Gusho pretended he had made a vow to visit the church of that Saint at Azazo, and accordingly, early in the morning, he set out for that village, attended with thirty horse and fifty musqueteers; but no sooner had he passed the church than his real intention appeared, and he was pursued by Gubeno, Cantiba of Dembea; Ayto Adigo, Palambaras; and Ayto Engedan. Gubeno alone, being hearty in the cause, came up with him first, as they had passed the river Derma, when Gusho, seeing Gubeno's troops close behind him, turned quickly upon them, repassed the river, and, having killed two of the foremost with his own hand, and repelled the rest, he returned across the river, and faced about upon the banks of it. Upon the other troops coming up, he called to Engedan, putting him in mind how lately he had been in his hands, and advising them all to return to Gondar, and tell the king he should again be with him in fifteen days.

A council was thereupon held, and as it was plain, from the countenance of the man, that he was resolved to resist to the utmost, none of the leaders then present thought themselves warranted to risk the death of a person so noble, and so powerfully related, especially in an obscure skirmish, such as was then likely to happen, the motives for which were not publicly known; they accordingly all returned to Gondar, leaving the Ras to pursue his way, who being now advanced as far as Degwassa, and thinking himself out of all danger, was suddenly surrounded by Aclog, governor of a little district there, and even from him he would have escaped by his own courage and exertion, had not his horse sunk in miry ground whence he could not recover him. After receiving these news, the king sent his Fit-Auraris, Adera Tacca Georgis, and Ayto Engedan, with a number of troops, to bring Gusho to town, when he returned a miserable figure, with his head shaven: he was cloathed in black, and was confined that same day (the first of August) a close prisoner, and in irons, in a high, damp, uninhabited tower of the king's house, without being pitied by either party.

It was now the season of the year when this country used to overflow with milk and honey; because, being in all the low part of it covered with rain, the horsemen and soldiers, who used to obstruct the roads, were all retired to quarters, and the peasants, bringing provisions to the market, passed the high grounds in safety; all sorts of people, profiting by the plenty which this occasioned, indulged themselves to the greatest excess in every sort of pleasure to which their respective appetites led them. The rains had fallen, indeed, as usual, but had not, however, stopped the march of the armies, and if not a famine, at least a scarcity of provisions in Gondar, had been the consequence; not a word was heard, indeed, of Ras Michael, whether he was alive or dead, but his familiar spirits seemed to preside in the air, and pour down mischief.

CHAP. XI. The Author obtains Liberty to return Home—Takes Leave of the Iteghé at Koscam—Last Interview with the Monks.

Since the queen came again to Koscam, I had passed a great part of my time there, but my health declining every day, I had obtained, with great difficulty, liberty from her to attempt my return home. The king, too, after a hundred exceptions and provisos, had at length been brought to give an unwilling consent. I had seen also Metical Aga's servant, who, upon finding Ras Michael was disgraced, would not stay, but hasted back, and would fain have prevailed upon me to return with him thro' Tigrè into Arabia. But besides that I was determined to attempt completing my journey through Sennaar and the desert, I by no means liked the risk of passing again through Masuah, to experience a second time the brutal manners of the Naybe and garrison of that place.

Captain Thomas Price, of the Lion of Bombay, had been obliged, by his business with the government of Mecca, to continue at Jidda till the season after I went from thence to Abyssinia. I had already heard once from him, and now a second time. He informed me my countrymen had been in the greatest pain for me; that several reports had been current, both at Jidda and Mocha, of my having been assassinated; sometimes it was said by the Naybe of Masuah; sometimes that it had happened at Gondar; by others at Sennaar, in my return home. Captain Price wrote me in this last letter, that, thinking I must be distressed for want of money, he had left orders with Ibrahim Seraff, the English broker at Jidda, to advance me 1000 crowns, desiring my draft to be sent to Ibrahim, directed to him or his brother at Bombay, and to make it payable to a gentleman of that name who lived in Smithfield. I cannot omit mentioning these instances of the philanthropy and generosity of Mr Price, to whom I bore no relation, and who was but a common acquaintance, whom I had acquired among my countrymen during my stay at Jidda. The only title I had to this consideration was, that he thought I was probably in distress, and that as it was in his power alone to relieve me, this in itself, to a noble mind, constituted a sufficient obligation. I do not believe Captain Price was able to read a word of Latin, so that sentiment in Terence, "Homo sum, nihil humani mihi alienum esse puto," was as much an original in Mr Price's breast as if it had never before been uttered.

I told Metical Aga's servant the bad news I had got from Sennaar, and he agreed perfectly with the contents, adding, that the journey was not practicable; he declared they were so inhuman and so barbarous a race, that he would not attempt the journey, Mahometan as he was, for half the Indies. I begged him to say no more on that head, but to procure from his master, Metical Aga at Mecca, a letter to any man of consequence he knew at Sennaar.

My resolution being therefore taken, and leave obtained, this will be now the place to resume the account of my finances. I have already gone so far as to mention three hundred pounds which I had occasionally borrowed from a Greek whose name was Petros. This man was originally a native of the island of Rhodes, which he must have left early, for he was not at this time much past thirty; he had been by trade a shoemaker. For what reason he left his own country I know not, but he was of a very pleasing figure and address, though very timid. Joas and the Iteghé very much distinguished him, and the king had made him Azeleffa el Camisha, which answers precisely to groom of the stole, or first lord of the bed-chamber in England. Being pliant, civil, and artful, and always well-dressed, he had gained the good graces of the whole court; he was also rich, as the king was generous, and his perquisites not inconsiderable.

After the campaign of Mariam Barea, when the dwarf was shot who was standing before Ras Michael, and the palace set on fire in the fray which followed, the crown, which was under Petros's charge, was melted; the gold, indeed, that it consisted of, was afterwards found, but there was said to have been on the top of it a pearl, or jewel, of immense price and size, larger than a pigeon's egg; and this, whatever it was, had disappeared, being in all probability consumed by the fire. Ras Michael, on the contrary, believed that it had been taken out by Petros with a view to sell it, and for this reason he had constantly refused him liberty to leave Abyssinia, and had kept him always in fear that some day or other he would strip him of all that he had saved. While Michael was besieging the mountain Haramat, Petros beseeched me to take L.300 of him, and give him my first, second, and third bill of exchange upon Messrs Julian and Rosa, my correspondents at Cairo, payable a month after sight, to the Maronite Bishop of Mount Sinai, after which he set out for his own country, in formâ pauperis, and thereby escaped the rapacity of both Ras Michael and the Naybe of Masuah. As for the bill, it came duly to hand, and was paid to the bishop, who would very fain have received for each of the duplicates, and was near being bastinado'd for insisting upon this before the Bey at Cairo.

A Bill drawn from Gondar is a very great curiosity when arrived in London; it should be now upon the file in the shop of my very worthy and honourable friends the Messrs Drummond and Company at Charing-Cross. It was the only piece of writing of any kind which found its way to its intended destination, though many had been written by me on different occasions which presented for Arabia; so that I will recommend to all travellers, for the future, to tack bills of exchange to their letters of greatest consequence, as a sure method of preventing their miscarriage.

I had made a shew, and with some degree of ostentation, of sending my gold chain to Cairo by the hands of Metical Aga's servant, declaring always that it was the only piece of Abyssinian gold I should carry out of the country, which I was to leave, both in fact and appearance, a pauper. Mules are the only beasts for carriage commonly used in Abyssinia, though bulls and cows, of a particular kind, are bought for the purpose by carriers, merchants, and such like, in that country, especially near the mines or quarries of salt; they are very slow, however, and capable of no great burden, though very easily maintained. I had abundance of mules of my own for carrying my instruments and baggage, and the king and Iteghé furnished me with others for my own riding. I had, besides, two favourite horses, which I intended to attempt to carry home, foolishly enough; for though I thought in my own mind that I was sufficiently informed of, and prepared for all sorts of hardships, I had not foreseen the hundredth part of the difficulties and dangers that were then awaiting me.

On the 6th of August messengers came from Fasil, and the day after from Powussen, Begemder, Gojam, Damot, and Maitsha, which provinces, by their deputies, desired that Gusho might be set at liberty. This the king agreed to, but upon condition that the Ras should instantly pay him 1000 ounces of gold, and 500 musquets, which, on the other side, was as positively refused. Upon this Gusho was put into close confinement, and heavier irons than before: and, what was the most unjust, his two sons, who had left their own country to assist their father in distress, were confined in chains with him. All these violent measures were attributed to Ayabdar, Billetana Gueta Tecla, Guebra Mascal, and Basha Hezekias, officers connected with Ras Michael, whom the king had permitted to return from Tigrè, and very much confided in their councils.

On the other hand, Adera Tacca Georgis, (the king's Fit-Auraris) and Guebra Welleta Yasous, principal people in Maitsha, and whom Fasil had put about the king, desired leave to retire to their own country, from which it is probable they will never again return to Gondar, unless as enemies.

Although the king still obstinately insisted that the Ras should pay him his thousand ounces of gold, and five hundred musquets, as a price for his being set at liberty, this was refused by Gusho, in terms that shewed he was not now, as formerly, afraid of the king's power. On the other hand, the king proclaimed Kefla Yasous governor of the province of Tigrè, with the same extent of command as Ras Michael had enjoyed it; and he was already there, and had taken upon him the government of that province. At the same time the king superseded Gusho, and deprived him of his province of Amhara, which was given to his nephew Ayto Adigo, son of Palambaras Durrie, a man of very great interest and property in the province; after which he immediately left Gondar, and took his way thro' Begemder; but at the very entrance into Amhara, he was defeated by a son of Gusho who was expecting him; his troops were dispersed, and his brother, Ayto Aderesson, (the man who lost Gusho's horse at the battle of Tedda) wounded and taken prisoner.

There remained no longer any doubt that, as soon as the rains were over, the former scenes of bloodshed and confusion were to be acted over again; for, by appointing Kefla Yasous to the government of Tigrè, and Ayto Adigo to that of Amhara, and the peaceable passage given to this young nobleman through Begemder, in order to supplant his uncle Gusho, by the great confidence shewn by the king in the old officers and relations of Ras Michael, now at Gondar, and the dismission of Fasil's friends, (Adera Tacca Georgis and Confu Adam) the most ample confession possible was made, that the king had again thrown himself into the arms of the province of Tigrè and Begemder united, to which Amhara was to be added, by keeping Gusho prisoner, till such time as his nephew Adigo could gain entire possession.

To counterpoise this, a messenger arrived from Fasil, demanding privately of the king, that Gusho should be set at liberty, and return to his province of Amhara; that Lika Netcho, one of the murderers of Joas, (who had been spared, as being married to a relation of the king) should be immediately put to death, and that all the officers belonging to Ras Michael, then at court, should be banished for ever to Tigrè, their native country. The king returned a positive refusal, not qualified in any shape whatever.

A disagreement now happened, which, more than all the rest, was interesting, and disturbed me in particular. Positive information was brought to the Iteghé, and, I believe, very authentic, that the king, weary of the many councils held at Koscam by the servants and deputies of the several parties, in the queen's presence, (to which he was not called) had determined to give up the palace of Koscam, in which it was thought there were great riches, to be plundered by his soldiers. As the death of the queen by her confinement in some distant desert and unwholesome convent, must have probably been the consequence of success on one part, so an immediate revolution, and the death of the king, was certainly to follow the miscarriage on the other, that is, should he be defeated in, or after making the attempt.

Troops, headed by Engedan, Ayto Confu, and by Mammo, and all the Iteghé's relations, now crowded into Koscam, into which great plenty of provisions was also carried. The wall was high and strong, the gates lately put into good repair, the tower, or castle, within in perfect good order; the Iteghé had not surrendered her fire-arms, and all the inhabitants around, especially the poorer sort, were firmly attached to her, as in times of distress and famine her charity afforded them a constant refuge.

Since the Iteghé had returned, I always lived at Koscam by her own desire, as her health was very precarious since her residence in Gojam. This suited my intention of withdrawing privately, and therefore, not to multiply the number of leave-takings, I had seen Gusho but once, and that for a moment, and Ayabdar not at all, so that my whole attendance was now between the king and queen. The king had denied publicly his intention of plundering Koscam, but in a manner not at all satisfactory to the Iteghé; I ventured therefore to mention it to him one day when he was alone, on which he said, "I would not do it for your sake, Yagoube, were there no other reason; but my mother (meaning the Iteghé) is ill-advised, and worse informed."

On the 13th of October, Powussen, with a very considerable army, and without any previous intimation, arrived at Koscam, his head-quarters all the last campaign. He continued there till the 22d of the same month, and then decamped, passing by Gondar, without entering it; he came to Ras Gusho's house, under the hill of Koscam, where he had several interviews with the king and Iteghé, to what purport was never known; but it probably was to endeavour some reconcilement between the king and queen, and this was effected a few days afterwards (at least in appearance) by Ayabdar, and some of the great men at Gondar, after which Powussen returned to Begemder. For my part, I neither desired nor obtained an interview; I saw that the storm was ready to break, and I was taking the most speedy and effectual way to be out of the sphere of its action.

On the 12th of November, all Gondar was struck with a panic at the news brought in by the peasants from the country, flying for refuge to the capital, destitute of every thing, and thankful only they had escaped with life. Fasil had marched with a considerable army from Ibaba, and advanced to Dingleber in peace, when he left the main body, under the conduct of Welleta Yasous, and all his baggage, considering that place as the limits of his government. He marched from this, without taking for himself two changes of raiment, at the head of 700 horse, the most wild and desperate banditti that ever were introduced into any unfortunate country. With these he burnt every village and every church between Dingleber and Sar-Ohha, murdered every male, without distinction of priest or layman; killed every woman past the age of child-bearing, and gave the others as slaves to the wild Pagan Galla whom he had with him. In short, he just indulged that body of men in the same enormities that they themselves exercise in the inroads they make into countries unhappy enough to be their neighbours in time of war. The whole country of Degwassa, the district which Aclog commanded, was totally destroyed; men, women, and children, were entirely extirpated, without distinction of age or sex; the houses all razed to the ground, and the country about it left as desolate as after the deluge. The villages belonging to the king were as severely treated; an universal cry was heard from every part, but no one dared to suggest any means of help; parties were so entirely mixed and confounded, that no one could safely enter into any confidence with his neighbour; but the common people, who had little to lose, began again to cry out for the return and government of Ras Michael.

Fasil, having given the king this sample of what he was capable of doing, halted at Sar-Ohha, and from thence sent a peremptory demand that Gusho should be at liberty. His messenger was a crooked, diminutive dwarf, called Dohho, of whom I have already spoken. It was a very bad sign of a treaty when such a one was the manager. He upbraided the king in terms scarcely decent, with the protection, life, and kingdom the Ras Fasil had given him, when the contrary was absolutely in his power. He asked the king if he knew who had protected him the night of the retreat from the hill of Serbraxos? and told him, in plain terms, that, being entirely void of the noble principles of gratitude himself, he had forced him, Fasil, to be wanting to the next great virtue, that of hospitality, in suffering a man of Gusho's quality to be made prisoner after arriving within the limits of his government. He concluded, by telling the king plainly, that, unless he restored Gusho to his liberty and government, without condition, he would, in three days, make Gondar, the metropolis, as desert and destitute of inhabitants as he had left the paltry district of Degwassa.

The king received all this with great composure, for he had as much fortitude, and as little fear as ever fell to the share of any man; his misfortune, however, was, that he had no resources in which he could trust; and the Tigrè officers about him, more imprudent, and fully as fearless as he, gave him the same advices they would have done had he been at the head of the army. Ras Michael was moreover gone, and Kefla Yasous was at a distance; these two were the men for planning and contriving business, and who saved others the trouble of thinking. The rest, such as Billetana Gueta Tecla, Guebra Mascal, and Basha Hezekias, were only fit to be trusted with execution, and to proceed according to the letter of the orders they might receive, and the consequences of which they could not, nor did they wish to understand. By being used, however, to constant success in executing plans maturely digested by wiser heads, they had acquired a degree of presumption which made them very dangerous counsellors to a young king, in the present case, where nothing but the greatest prudence, assisted by the manifest interposition of the hand of Heaven, (many examples of which he had already proved) could save him from perdition.

I was not present at the audience, being at Koscam, but his secretary, to whom I am indebted for every thing that passed in private, in this history, and which otherwise was beyond the reach of my knowledge, assured me the king answered these threatenings without any change of countenance or language, and in very few words: "Tell Kasmati Fasil from me, that what I am obliged to do by the rules of justice, is not to be measured either by his inclination or power to do wrong. Men have crucified their Saviour; and many kings in this country (better men than I am) have been, in various manners, slain by their deluded subjects. The race of Solomon, however, God has preserved till this day on the throne, where I am now sitting, while nothing but the memory of those who oppressed them remains loaded with the curses of mankind. I am king of this country, and have often been acknowledged as such by Kasmati Fasil. I will not give up Gusho, but at my own time, if ever; nor can he insist upon it, consistently with the duty of a subject to his sovereign." Noble words these, had he been at the head of an army to enforce them.

This message was quickly conveyed to Fasil, who was advanced to Azazo, where it met him, and he continued his march without halting till he came to Abba Samuel, about two miles from Gondar. It was on the 13th of November that his army made a shew of encamping at Abba Samuel, for there was not above six tents pitched, and next day, the 14th, by eight in the morning, a drum and trumpet, guarded by about a hundred horse, came immediately under the town to the banks of the river Kahha, where the trumpet having sounded three times, and the kettle-drum beat as often, it was proclaimed, That all manner of persons, of what degree soever, whether servants of the palace, or others, should instantly leave Gondar as they regarded their lives; and if any staid after this warning, their blood should be upon their own head. The whole town, therefore, in an instant was deserted, and very few, even of his own servants, remained with the king. I had already once partaken of a similar scene, and found it of the most disagreeable kind; Providence spared me, however, this repetition of it, as I was at Koscam, and determined to be retired there so perfectly, that I did not stir out of my apartment till night, when the gates were locked, and the guards placed.

On the 15th, the king released Ras Gusho from his confinement, who immediately went to the camp to Fasil; and next day, at night, he returned, and had an audience at the palace with the king, and again retired to sleep at Abba Samuel. On the 17th, a little before noon, Fasil came to the palace for an audience, but first took possession of every avenue leading to it; a strong guard was also placed in the anti-chamber, and the charge of the door of the king's presence-chamber was taken from the king's ordinary black servants, and given to Confu Adam, who mounted guard there with about twenty wild Galla. What further passed I did not strictly inquire, being exceedingly distressed, by the bad prospect that presented itself, and firmly resolved to take no further part. In general, however, I understood, that all was humiliation; and Fasil having announced to the king that he had given his daughter to Gusho in marriage, to him the king gave Gojam, and restored the province of Amhara. Aclog was condemned to find security for 1200 ounces of gold, which was said to be the sum Gusho had with him when taken.

The king was to restore to the Iteghé the whole of her villages that she had ever enjoyed, from the time of Bacuffa, her husband, to that present moment. To Fasil, were given Damot, Maitsha, and Agow, and to Confu Adam, Ibaba Azage; and, for the greater solemnity, the king and Fasil took a formal oath, to ratify all these articles, and to remain in friendship for ever. After which, the Abuna, in pontificals, being called to be present, pronounced a formal curse and sentence of excommunication, upon whichever of the parties should first break the vow they had taken.

No word was mentioned of Tigrè, or Kefla Yasous, or of Powussen, nor the smallest notice taken of Ras Ayabdar, who remained in his house and office, as if he had not existed. It appeared to me the party was again made by one half of the kingdom against the other; Kefla Yasous and Powussen against Fasil and Gusho; as for Ayabdar and Ayto Tesfos of Samen, these were left, contemptuously in medio, to take any side they pleased, which, indeed, was of no consequence. After this interview, Fasil never again entered the king's house, though he went often to Koscam; but I neither saw him nor sought to see him, nor did he ever inquire after me, as far as I could learn.

On the 19th of November Fasil sent orders to the palace, that four bodies of the king's household-troops, Gimja Bet, Werk Sacala, Ambaselé, and Edjow, should immediately join him, which they did, to the number of 1200 men, all armed. These he carried, with Gusho his son-in-law, in triumph to Damot, nor was this the only instance Fasil gave of the great regard he had to his late oaths, and to the sacred character of the person that administered them; for the morning he marched off, a party of the Galla, meeting the Abuna, and a numerous retinue mounted on mules, going to the king's house, obliged them all to dismount at once, without distinction, taking their mules with them to the camp, from whence they never returned, and leaving the Abuna on foot, to find his way back to his house, at Kedus Raphael, from the top of which, as from a castle, he wisely poured out his excommunications, against an army, composed entirely of Pagans, without one Christian among them.

It is here a proper period to finish the history of Abyssinia, as I was no further present at, or informed of the public transactions which followed. My whole attention was now taken up in preparations for my return through the kingdom of Sennaar and the desert. Neither shall I take up the reader's time with a long narrative of leave-taking, or what passed between me and those illustrious personages with whom I had lived so long in the most perfect and cordial friendship. Men of little, and envious minds, would perhaps think I was composing a panegyric upon myself, from which, therefore, I most willingly refrain. But the several marks of goodness, friendship, and esteem, which I received at parting, are confined within my own breast, where they never shall be effaced, but continue to furnish me with the most agreeable reflections, since they were the fruit alone of personal merit, and of honest, steady, and upright behaviour. All who had attempted the same journey hitherto, had met with disappointment, disgrace, or death; for my part, although I underwent every sort of toil, danger, and all manner of hardship, yet these were not confined to myself. I suffered always honourably, and in common with the rest of the state; and when sun-shiny days happened, (for sun-shiny days there were, and very brilliant ones too) of these I was permitted freely to partake; and the most distinguished characters, both at court and in the army, were always ready to contribute as far as possible, to promote what they thought or saw was the object of my pursuits or entertainment.

I shall only here mention what passed at the last interview I had with the Iteghé, two days before my departure. Tensa Christos, who was one of the chief priests of Gondar, was a native of Gojam, and consequently of the low church, or a follower of Abba Eustathius, in other words, as great an enemy as possible to the Catholic, or as they will call it, the religion of the Franks. He was, however, reputed a person of great probity and sanctity of manners, and had been on all occasions rather civil and friendly to me when we met, though evidently not desirous of any intimate connections or friendship; and as I, on my part, expected little advantage from connecting myself with a man of his principles, I very willingly kept at all possible distance; that I might run no risk of disobliging him was my only aim.

This priest came often to the Iteghé's and Ayto Aylo's, with both of whom he was much in favour, and here I now happened to meet him, when I was taking my leave in the evening. I beg of you, says he, Yagoube, as a favour, to tell me, now you are immediately going away from this country, and you can answer me without fear, Are you really a Frank, or are you not? Sir, said I, I do not know what you mean by fear; I should as little decline answering you any question you have to ask had I ten years to stay, as now I am to quit this country to-morrow: I came recommended, and was well received by the king and Ras Michael: I neither taught nor preached; no man ever heard me say a word about my particular mode of worship; and as often as my duty has called me, I have never failed to attend divine service as it is established in this country. What is the ground of fear that I should have, while under the king's protection, and when I conform in every shape to the laws, religion, and customs of Abyssinia? True, says Tensa Christos, I do not say you should be alarmed; whatever your faith is I would defend you myself; the Iteghé knows I always spoke well of you, but will you gratify an old man's curiosity, in telling me whether or not you really are a Frank, Catholic, or Jesuit?

I have too great a regard, replied I, to request of a man, so truly good and virtuous as you, not to have answered you the question at whatever time you could have asked me; and I do now declare to you, by the word of a Christian, that my countrymen and I are more distant in matters of religion, from these you call Catholics, Jesuits, or Franks, than you and your Abyssinians are; and that a priest of my religion, preaching in any country subject to those Franks, would as certainly be brought to the gallows as if he had committed murder, and just as speedily as you would stone a Catholic priest preaching here in the midst of Gondar. They do precisely by us as you do by them, so they have no reason to complain. And, says he, don't you do the same to them? No, replied I; every man in our country is allowed to serve God in his own way; and as long as their teachers confine themselves to what the sacred books have told them, they can teach no ill, and therefore deserve no punishment. No religion, indeed, teaches a man evil, but, when forgetting this, they preach against government, curse the king, absolve his subjects from allegiance, or incite them to rebellion, as being lawful, the sword of the civil power cuts them off, without any blame falling upon their religion, because these things were done in contradiction to what their priests, from the scripture, should have taught them were truly the tenets of that very religion.

The Iteghé now interposed: What do you think, Tensa Christos, if Yagoube is not a priest, should he not be one? Madam, says he, I have one question more to inquire of him, and that shall be all, nor would I ask it if he was not going away to-morrow. It is an unfair one, then said I, but out with it; I cannot suffer in the opinion of good men, by answering directly a question which you put to me out of curiosity. It seems then, says he, you are not a frank, but you think your own religion a better one than theirs; you are not of our religion, however, for you say we are nearer the Catholics than you; now what objection have you to our religion, and what is your opinion of it?

As far as I am informed, said I, I think well of it; it is the ancient Greek church, under St Athanasius, successor to St Mark, in the chair of Alexandria. This being the case, you cannot have a better, as you have the religion nearest to that of the apostles, and, as I have before said, no religion teaches a man evil, much less can your religion give you such instruction, if you have not corrupted it; and if you have, it is no longer the religion of St Athanasius, or the Apostles, therefore liable to error. And now, Tensa Christos, let me ask you two questions; you are in no fear of answering, neither are you in danger, though not about to leave the country, Does your religion permit you to marry one sister, to divorce her, and marry the other, and then, keeping the aunt, to marry the niece likewise? Does St Athanasius teach you to marry one, two, or three wives, and divorce them as often as you please; to marry others, and then go back to the former again? No, replied he. Then as you do this daily, answered I, you certainly are not living in this one instance according to the religion of St Athanasius. Now I ask you, If any priest, truly a Christian, from our parts, (not a Frank, but agreeing in every thing else with you), was to preach against this, and some such like practices, frequently used in Abyssinia, could this priest live amongst you, or how would you treat him? Stone him to death, says Ayto Aylo, who was sitting by; stone him to death like a frank, or a Jesuit; he should not live a week. Yagoube is hard upon me, continued Tensa Christos, turning to the Iteghé, but I am sorry to say with truth, I fear they never would abandon the flesh-pots of Egypt, their ancient inheritance; for the teaching of any priest, however perfect his religion might be, or pure his life, or however corrupt their manners. Then Tensa Christos, said I, do not be over sure but that shedding the blood of those Franks as you call them, may be criminal in the sight of God. As their religion has so far served them, as to prevent the practice of some horrid crimes, that are common here, yours hath not yet had that effect upon you; if you do not want precept, perhaps you may want example, these Franks are very capable of shewing you this last, and your own religion instructs you to imitate them.

All this time there was not the smallest noise in the room, in which above a hundred people were present; but, as I wished this conversation to go no further, and was afraid of some question about the Virgin Mary, I got up, and, passing to the other side of the room, I stood by Tensa Christos, saying to him, And now, holy father, I have one, last favour, to ask you, which is your forgiveness, if I have at any time offended you; your blessing, now that I am immediately to depart, if I have not; and your prayers while on my long and dangerous journey, through countries of Infidels and Pagans.

A hum of applause sounded all throughout the room. The Iteghé said something, but what, I did not hear. Tensa Christos was surprised apparently at my humility, which he had not expected, and cried out, with tears in his eyes, Is it possible, Yagoube, that you believe my prayers can do you any good? I should not be a Christian, as I profess to be, Father, replied I, if I had any doubt of the effect of good men's prayers. So saying, I stooped to kiss his hand, when he laid a small iron cross upon my head, and, to my great surprise, instead of a benediction, repeated the Lord's prayer. I was afraid he would have kept me stooping till he should add the ten commandments likewise, when he concluded, "Gzier y' Baracuc," May God bless you. After which, I made my obeisance to the Iteghé, and immediately withdrew, it not being the custom, at public audience, to salute any one in the presence of the sovereign.

Twenty greasy monks, however, had placed themselves in my way as I went out, that they might have the credit of giving me the blessing likewise after Tensa Christos. As I had very little faith in the prayers of these drones, so I had some reluctance to kiss their greasy hands and sleeves; however, in running this disagreeable gauntlet, I gave them my blessing in English,—Lord send you all a halter, as he did to Abba Salama, (meaning the Acab Saat.) But they, thinking I was recommending them to the patriarch Abba Salama, pronounced at random, with great seeming devotion, their Amen;—So be it.