BOOK VII.

RETURN FROM THE SOURCE OF THE NILE TO GONDAR—TRANSACTIONS THERE—BATTLE OF SERBRAXOS, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES—THE AUTHOR PREPARES TO LEAVE ABYSSINIA.

CHAP. I Return from the Source of the Nile by Maitsha—Come to the House of Welled Amlac—Reception there—Pass the Nile at Delakus—Arrive at Gondar.

It was on the 10th of November 1770 we left Geesh in our return to Gondar, and passed the Abay, as before, under the church of Saint Michael Sacala. We descended the hill through the wood, crossed the river Davola, and that night halted at a few huts, called Dembea, on the north-east side of the entrance of a valley.

On the 11th we continued our journey in our former road, till we arrived at the church of Abbo; we then turned to the right, our course N. by E. and at three quarters past nine rested under the mountain on the right of the valley; our road lay still through Goutto, but the country here is neither so well inhabited nor so pleasant as the west side of the Nile. At eleven, going N. N. E. we passed the church of Tzion, about an eight part of a mile distant to E. N. E.; we here have a distinct view of the valley thro' which runs the Jemma, deep, wide, and full of trees, which continue up the sides of the mountains Amid Amid. At a quarter past eleven we passed a small stream coming from the west, and at twelve another very dangerous river called Utchmi, the ford of which is in the midst of two cataracts, and the stream very rapid; after passing this river, we entered a narrow road in the midst of brush-wood, pleasant and agreeable, and full of a kind of foxes[1] of a bright gold colour. At three quarters past one we halted at the house of Shalaka Welled Amlac, with whom I was well acquainted at Gondar; his house is called Welled Abea Abbo, from a church of Abbo about an eight part of a mile distant.

I have deferred, till the present occasion, the introducing of this remarkable character to my reader, that I might not trouble him to go back to past transactions that are not of consequence enough to interrupt the thread of my narrative. Soon after I had seen part of the royal family, that had been infected with the small-pox, happily recovered, and was settled at Koscam in a house of my own, formerly belonging to Basha Eusebius, my friend Ayto Aylo recommended to my care a man from Maitsha, with two servants, one of whom, with his master, had been taken ill of the intermitting fever. As I was supplied plentifully with every necessary by the Iteghé, the only inconvenience that I suffered by this was, that of bringing a stranger and a disease into my family. But as I was in a strange country, and every day stood in need of the assistance of the people in it, it was necessary that I should do my part, and make myself as useful as possible when the opportunity came in my way. I therefore submitted, and according to Ayto Aylo's desire, received my two patients with the best grace possible; and the rather, as I was told that he was one of the most powerful, resolute, and best-attended robbers in all Maitsha; that he lay directly in my way to the source of the Nile; and that, under his protection, I might bid defiance to Woodage Asahel, considered as the great obstacle to my making that journey.

The servant was a poor, timid wretch, exceedingly afraid of dying. He adhered strictly to his regimen, and was very soon recovered. It was not so with Welled Amlac; he had, as I said, another servant, who never, that I saw, came within the door; but as often as I was out attending my other patients, or with the Iteghé, which was great part of the morning, he stole a visit to his master, and brought him as much raw meat, hydromel, and spirits, as, more than once, threw him into a fever and violent delirium. Luckily I was early informed of this by the servant that was recovered, and who did not doubt but this was to end in his master's death, as it very probably might have done; but, by the interposition of Ayto Aylo and the Iteghé, we got the unworthy subject banished to Maitsha, so that Welled Amlac remained attended by the servant who had been sick with him, and was to be trusted.

Not to trouble the reader with uninteresting particulars, Shalaka Welled Amlac at last recovered after several weeks illness. When he first came to my house he was but very indifferently cloathed, which, in a sick man, was a thing not to be remarked. As he had no change of raiment, his cloaths naturally grew worse during the time he staid with me; and, indeed, he was a very beggarly sight when his disease had entirely left him. One evening, when I was remarking that he could not go home without kissing the ground before the Iteghé, he said, Surely not, and he was ready to go whenever I should think proper to bring him his cloaths. I understood at first from this, that he might have brought some change of cloaths, and delivered them into my servant's custody; but, upon farther explanation, I found he had not a rag but those upon his back; and he told me plainly, that he had much rather stay in my house all his life, than be so disgraced before the world, as to leave it after so long a stay, without my first having cloathed him from head to foot; asking me, with much confidence, What signifies your curing me, if you turn me out of your house like a beggar?

I still thought there was something of jest in this; and meeting Ayto Aylo that day at Koscam, I told him, laughing, of the conversation that had passed, and was answered gravely, "There is no doubt, you must cloath him; to be sure it is the custom." "And his servant, too?" said I. "Certainly, his servant too; and if he had ten servants that ate and drank in your house, you most cloath them all." "I think, said I, Ayto Aylo, a physician at this rate had much better let his patients die than recover them at his own expence." "Yagoube, says Aylo, I see this is not a custom in your country, but it is invariably one in this: it is not so among the lower set of people; but if you will pass here as a man of some degree of consequence, you cannot avoid this without making Welled Amlac your enemy: the man is opulent; it is not for the value of the cloaths, but he thinks his importance among his neighbours is measured by the respect shewn him by people afar off; never fear, he will make you some kind of return, and for the cloaths I shall pay for them." "By no means, said I, my good friend; I think the anecdote and custom is so curious that it is worth the price of the cloaths; and I beg that you would believe, that, intending to go through Maitsha, I consider it as a piece of friendship in you to have brought me under this obligation." "And so it is, says he: I knew you would think so; you are a cool dispassionate man, and walk by advice, and do not break through the customs of the country, and this reconciles even bad men to you every day, and so much the longer shall you be in safety."

The reader will not doubt that I immediately fulfilled my obligation to Welled Amlac, who received his cloaths, a girdle, and a pair of sandals, in all to the amount of about two guineas, with the same indifference as if he had been buying them for ready money. He then asked for his servant's cloaths, which were ready for him. He only said he thought they were too good, and hinted as if he should take them for his own use when he went to Maitsha. I then carried him new-dressed to the Iteghé, who gave him strict injunctions to take care of me if ever I should come into his hands. He after went home with Ayto Aylo, nor did I ever know what was become of him till now, when we arrived at his house at Welled Abea Abbo, unless from some words that fell in discourse from Fasil at Bamba.

Shalaka Welled Amlac was, however, from home, but his wife, mother, and sisters, received us kindly, knowing us by report; and, without waiting for our landlord, a cow was instantly slaughtered.

The venerable mistress of this worthy family, Welled Amlac's mother, was a very stout, chearful woman, and bore no signs of infirmity or old age: his wife was, on the contrary, as arrant a hag as ever acted the part on the stage; very active, however, and civil, and speaking very tolerable Amharic. His two sisters, about sixteen or seventeen, were really handsome; but Fasil's wife, who was there, was the most beautiful and graceful of them all; she seemed not to be past eighteen, tall, thin, and of a very agreeable carriage and manners. The features of her face were very regular; she had fine eyes, mouth, and teeth, and dark-brown complexion; at first sight a cast of melancholy seemed to hang upon her countenance, but this soon vanished, and she became very courteous, chearful, and most conversible of the whole, or at least seemed to wish to be so; for, unfortunately, she spoke not a word of any language but Galla, though she understood a little Amharic; our conversation did not fail to give great entertainment to the whole family, and for her part, she laughed beyond all measure.

The two sisters had been out helping my servants in disposing the baggage; but when they had pitched my tent, and were about to lay the mattress for sleeping on, the eldest of these interrupted them, and not being able to make herself understood by the Greeks, she took it up and threw it out of the tent-door, whilst no abuse or opprobrious names were spared by my servants; one of whom came to tell me her impudence, and that if they understood her, she said I was to sleep with her this night, and they believed we were got into a house of thieves and murderers. To this I answered by a sharp reproof, desiring them to conform to every thing the family ordered them. I saw the fair nymph was in a violent passion; she told her tale to the matrons with great energy, and a volubility of tongue past imagination, and they all laughed. Fasil's wife called me to sit by her, and began to instruct me, drolly enough, as they do children, but of what she said I had not the smallest guess. I endeavoured always to repeat her last words, and this occasioned another vehement laugh, in which I joined as heartily as any, to keep up the joke, for the benefit of the company, as long as possible.

Immediately after this Welled Amlac arrived, and brought us the disagreeable news, that it was impossible to proceed to the ford of the Abay, as two of the neighbouring Shums were at variance about their respective districts, and in a day or two would decide it by blows. The faces of all our companions fell at these news; but as I knew the man, it gave me little trouble, as I supposed the meaning to be, that, if we made it worth while, he would accompany us himself, and in that case we should pass without fear; at any rate, I well knew that, after the obligations I had laid him under at Gondar, he could not, consistent with the received usages of the country, if it was but for his own reputation's sake, fail in receiving me in the very best manner in his power, and entertaining me to the utmost all the time I was in his house.

Satisfied that I understood him, he put on the most chearful countenance: another cow was killed, great plenty of hydromel produced, and he prepared to regale us as sumptuously as possible, after the manner of the country. We were there, as often before, obliged to overcome our repugnance to eating raw flesh. Shalaka Welled Amlac set us the example, entertained us with the stories of his hunting elephants, and feats in the last wars, mostly roguish ones. The room where we were (which was indeed large, and contained himself, mother, wife, sisters, his horses, mules, and servants, night and day) was all hung round with the trunks of these elephants, which he had brought from the neighbouring Kolla, near Guesgué, and killed with his own hands, for he was one of the boldest and best horsemen in Abyssinia, and perfectly master of his arms.

This Polyphemus's feast being finished, the horn of hydromel went briskly about. Welled Amlac's eldest sister, whose name was Melectanea, took a particular charge of me, and I began to find the necessity of retiring and going to bed while I was able. Here the former story came over again; the invariable custom of all Maitsha and the country of the Galla, of establishing a relationship by sleeping with a near of kin, was enlarged upon; and, as the young lady herself was present, and presented every horn of drink during this polite dispute concerning her person, I do not know whether it will not be thought a greater breach of delicacy to have refused than to have complied:—

Fye upon the conscious muse, says lord Orrery; and fye, too, say I:—a man of honour and gallantry should not permit himself such a hint as this, though the Red Sea was between him and his mistress.

It was impossible to sleep; the whole night was one continued storm of thunder, rain, and lightning; the morning was clearer, and my people very urgent to go away; but I had still to settle with Zor Woldo, who had been kept by his mistress, Fasil's wife, notwithstanding his master's orders, till he had told her the whole circumstances of our expedition, and made her laugh heartily at the oddity of our sentiments and customs. This she repaid to him by plentiful horns of mead and bouza, as also large collops of raw meat, which made him a very eloquent historian; whether or no he was a faithful one, I cannot possibly judge.

After having settled with him to his perfect satisfaction, and cancelled entirely the memory of some disagreeable things passed, he consigned us very solemnly to Ayto Aylo's servant, in presence of Welled Amlac, and had taken his leave, when a very fine white cow was brought to the door of the tent from Fasil's wife, who insisted, as a friend of her husband, that I would stay that day for her sake; and I should either learn her my language, or she would teach me Galla. The party was accepted as soon as offered; the morning was fresh and cool, nor had last night's libation any way disordered my stomach. Strates himself, though afraid of Welled Amlac, and exceedingly exasperated at the impudent behaviour, as he called it, of Melectanea, was, however, a little pacified at the approach of the white cow. Brother, says he to Michael, we have nothing to do with people's manners as long as they are civil to us: as to this house, there is no doubt but the men are robbers and murderers, and their women wh—es; but if they use us well while we are now here, and we are so lucky as to get to Gondar alive, let the devil take me if ever I seek again to be at Welled Abea Abbo. It was agreed to relax that day, and dedicate it to herborizing, as also to the satisfying the curiosity of our female friends, by answering all their questions; and thus the forenoon passed as agreeable as possible.

Welled Amlac, a great hunter, had gone with me early to a neighbouring thicket on horseback, armed with lances in search of venison, though we certainly did not want provisions. We in a few minutes raised two bohur, a large animal of the deer kind, and each pursued his beast; mine had not run 400 yards before I overtook him, and pierced him with my pike; and the same would have happened probably to the other, had not Welled Amlac's horse put his fore-feet into a fox's hole, which threw him and his rider headlong to the ground; he was not, however, hurt, but rose very gravely, and desired me to return; it being a rule among these people, never to persist when any thing unfortunate falls out in the beginning of a day.

Our company was now increased by our former landlord at Goutto, where we were obliged to Woldo's stratagem for discovering the cow that was hid. We sat down chearfully to dinner. Welled Amlac's fall had not spoiled his appetite; I think he ate equal to four ordinary men. I, for the most part, ate the venison, which was made into an excellent dish, only too much stuffed with all kind of spices. Fasil's wife alone seemed to have a very poor appetite, notwithstanding her violent fits of laughter, and outward appearance of chearfulness. A melancholy gloom returned upon her beautiful face, that seemed to indicate a mind not at ease. She was of a noble family of Galla, which had conquered and settled in the low country of Narea. I wondered that Fasil her husband had not carried her to Gondar. She said her husband had twenty other wives besides her, but took none of them to Gondar; which was a place of war, where it was the custom to marry the wives of their enemies that they had forced to fly, Fasil will be married therefore to Michael's wife, Ozoro Esther. I could not help being startled at this declaration, remembering that I was here losing my time, and forgetting my word of returning as soon as possible; but we had, for many months, lived in such constant alarms, that it was absolutely as needful to seize the moment in which we could repose our mind, as to give rest to the body.

In the afternoon we distributed our presents among the ladies. Fasil's wife was not forgot; and the beautiful Melectanea was covered with beads, handkerchiefs, and ribbands of all colours. Fasil's wife, on my first request, gave me a lock of her fine hair from the root, which has ever since, and at this day does suspend a plummet of an ounce and half at the index of my three-feet quadrant.

The next morning, the 13th of November, having settled our account with our host, we set out from the hospitable house of Shalaka Welled Amlac, after having engaged, by promises to the ladies, that we should pay them soon another visit. Our landlord accompanied us in person to the ford, and by this, and his readiness to shew us what he thought worthy of our curiosity, and by his care in ascertaining for us the distances and situations of places, he gave us a certain proof he was well contented, and therefore that we had nothing to fear.

We had both nights heard the noise of cataracts, and we thought it might be of the Nile, as we were in fact but five miles from the second small cataract at Kerr, which lay W. S. W. of us. We were informed, however, in the morning, that it was the sound of falls in the river Jemma, near whose banks this house is situated. We set out at eight o'clock, the hills of Aroossi bearing north; and at half past eight we came to the ford of the Jemma, which is strong, rugged, and uneven.

The Jemma here comes from the east; its banks are most beautifully shaded with acacia and other trees, growing as on the west of the Nile, that is, the trunks or stems of the trees at a distance, but the tops touching each other, and spreading broad. Though growing to no height, these woods are full of game of different kinds, mostly unknown in Europe. The bohur is here in great numbers; also the Buffalo, though not so frequent. Whoever sees Richmond hill has an idea of the banks of the Jemma, and the country east of it, with all that addition that an eastern and happier climate can give it; for the rains had now ceased, and every hill was in flower; the sun indeed was hot, but a constant and fresh breeze prevented its being felt near the river. The heat in this country ceases, in the warmest day, the moment we pass from the sun to the shade: we have none of these hot winds or violent reflections which we had suffered in Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, and both the coasts of the Red Sea.

There are two cataracts lower than this ford of the Jemma, the first about 300 yards below the ford, and another larger, something about half a mile; it is not, however, more than seven or eight feet high, perhaps about ninety feet broad, and the sheet of water is not entire, but is interrupted in many places. It falls, however, into a magnificent bason above 400 yards square, and very deep, in which are large fish in great plenty, but no crocodiles; nor indeed are there any seen, as I have heard above the third cataract, nor considerably below, when, after having made the tour of Gojam, it again turns northward towards its sources. The Gomari, however, often comes to the mouth of the Jemma, especially when the first rains fall; the crocodile seems to require a warmer climate.

After having satisfied our curiosity as to the Jemma, I began to reproach those that were with me about the panic which they felt the night before; these were, a Greek of Gondar, Strates, and three others, my servants, whom I brought from Cairo. "You see, said I, what danger there is; Welled Amlac is with us upon a mule, without a lance or shield, and only two naked servants with him; did not I tell you what was the meaning of the news?" Though this was spoken in a language of which it was impossible Amlac could know a syllable, yet he presently apprehended in part what I would say. "I see, says he, you believe what I told you last night to be false, and invented only to get from you a present: but you shall see; and if this day we do not meet Welled Aragawi and his soldiers, you are then in the right; it is as you imagine."—"You do me wrong, said I, and have not understood me, for how should you. Those white people believe too well all you told them, and are only apprehensive of your not being able to defend us, being without arms and followers. All I said was, that where you were, armed or unarmed, there was no danger."—"True, says he, you are now in Maitsha, and not in my country, which is Goutto; you are now in the worst country in all Abyssinia, where the brother kills his brother for a loaf of bread, of which he has no need: you are in a country of Pagans, or dogs, Galla, and worse than Galla; if ever you meet an old man here, he is a stranger; all that are natives die by the lance young; and yet, though these two chieftains I mentioned fight to-day, unarmed as I am, (as you well said) you are in no danger while I am with you. These people of Maitsha, shut up between the Jemma, the Nile, and the lake, have no where but from the Agows to get what they want; they come to the same market with us here in Goutto; the fords of the Jemma, they know, are in my hands; and did they offer an injury to a friend of mine, were it but to whistle as he passed them, they know I am not gentle; though not a Galla, they are sensible, one day or other, I should call them to account, though it were in the bed-chamber of their master Fasil."

"Your master, Welled Amlac, with your leave," said I. "Yes, mine too, said he, by force, but he never shall be my master by inclination, after murdering Kasmati Eshté. He calls me his brother, and believes me his friend. You saw one of his wives, whom he leaves at my house, last night, but I hope still to see him and his Galla slaughtered as the cow in my house was yesterday." "I am surprised, said I, your house was spared, and that Ras Michael did not burn it in either of his passages through Maitsha."—"In 1769, replied he, I was not with Fasil at Fagitta, and the Ras passed the Nile above this far beyond the Kelti; after which I returned with him to Gondar. In Ginbot[2], Fasil informed us that Amhara and Begemder were come over to him. When then all Maitsha joined Fasil, I went with my people to meet Michael at Derdera, as I knew he must pass the Nile here opposite to Abbo, and Begemder and Amhara would then be behind him, or else try to cross at Delakus, which was then swollen with rain, and unfordable: but apprehensive lest, marching still higher up along the Nile to find a ford, he might burn my house in his way, I myself joined him the night before he knew of Powussen's revolt, and he had it then in contemplation to burn Samseen. The next morning was that of his retreat, and he chose me to accompany him across the Nile, still considering me as his friend, and therefore, perhaps, he would have done no harm to my house."—"So it was you, said I, that led us that day into that cursed clay-hole, which you call a ford, where so many people and beasts were maimed and lost?"—He replied, "It was Fasil's spies that first persuaded him to pass there, or at Kerr. I kept him to the place where you passed; you would have all perished at Kerr. This, to be sure, was not a good ford, nor passable at all except in summer, unless by swimming; but so many men crossing had made it still worse; besides, do you remember what a storm it was?—what a night of rain? O Lady Mariam, always a virgin, said I, while they struggled in the mud and clay. O holy Abba Guebra Menfus Kedus, who never ate or drank from his mother's womb till his death, will you not open the earth, that all this accursed multitude may descend alive into hell, like Dathan and Abiram?"—A kind and charitable prayer!—"I thank you for it, Welled Amlac, said I; first, for carrying us to that charitable ford, where, with one of the strongest and ablest horses in the world, I had nearly perished:—and, secondly, for your pious wish, to dispose of us out of the regions of rain and cold into so warm quarters in company with Dathan and Abiram!"

"I did not know you was there, says he; I heard you had staid at Gondar in order to bring up the black horse. I saw a white person[3] with the Ras, indeed, who had a good hanjar and gun, but his mule was weak, and he himself seemed sick. As I returned I could have carried him off in the night, but I said, perhaps it is the brother of Yagoube, my friend and physician; he is white like him, and for your sake I left him. I was much with you white people in the time of Kasmati Eshté."—"And pray, said I, what did you after we passed the Abay?"—"After I saw that devil Ras Michael over, said Welled Amlac, I returned under pretence of assisting Kefla Yasous there, and, being joined by all my people, we fell upon the stragglers wherever we found them. You know what a day of rain it was; we took 17 guns, 12 horses, and about 200 mules and asses laden, and so returned home, leaving the rest to Fasil, who, if he had been a man, should have cut you all to pieces the day after."—"And what did you, said I, with these stragglers whom you met and robbed; did you kill them?"—"We always kill them, answered Amlac; we spare none; we never do a man an injury, and leave him alive to revenge it upon us after; but it was really the same; they were all sick and weak, and the hyæna would have finished them in the morning, so it was just saving them so much suffering to kill them outright the night before; and I assure you, Yagoube, whatever you may think, I did not do it out of malice."—From this conversation one may sufficiently guess what sort of a man Welled Amlac was, and what were his ideas of mercy.

We passed the church of Kedus Michael at half after nine, on the road to our right. At nine and three quarters our course was N. by W. and, at a quarter after ten, we passed the Coga, a large river. At three quarters past ten our course was north. We passed the church of Abbo a quarter of a mile on our right. The country, after we had crossed the Jemma, was much less beautiful than before. At twelve our course was N. by W. and at half past twelve the church of Mariam Net, 200 yards to the left; and here we forded the small river Amlac-Ohha. Every step of this ground put us in mind of our disastrous campaign in May; and we were now passing directly in the tract of the ever-memorable retreat of Kefla Yasous and the rear of the army. At a quarter after one we halted at a small village of low houses, as it were in bent grass, where, for the first time, we saw flocks of goats lying on the tops of the houses for fear of wild beasts.

"You shall see, says Welled Amlac, whether I am telling truth or not; this is the house of Welled Aragawi; if he is here at home, then I have deceived you." We saw a number of women laden with jars of bouza and hydromel, and asked where they were going. They said to their master at Delakus, who waited there to prevent Welleta Michael of Degwassa from passing the river. Our Greeks on this began to relapse into their panic, and to wish we were again at Welled Abea Abbo. At three quarters past one we continued our journey to the north, and passed a river, called Amlac-Ohha, larger than the former: it comes from the east, and, half a mile further, receives the other stream already mentioned. The sun was now burning hot. At three o'clock we halted a quarter of an hour; and, beginning to descend gently, an hour after this we came to the banks of the Abay. Here we saw the two combatants, Welleta Michael and Welled Aragawi, exactly opposite to each other, the first on the west the other on the east side; they had settled all their differences, and each had killed several kine for themselves and friends, which was all the blood shed that day.

The Nile is here a considerable river; its breadth at this time full three quarters of an English mile; the current is very gentle; where deep you scarce can perceive it flow; it comes from W. by S. and W. S. W. and at the ford runs east and west. The banks on the east side were very high and steep; and on the west, at the first entrance, the bottom is soft and bad, the water four feet and a half deep, but above another foot, which we sink in clay. I cried to Welled Amlac, while he was leading my mule across, that he should not pray to his saint that never eats, as at the passage of the Jemma in May. He only answered lowly to me, Do you think these thieves would have let you pass if I was not with you? My answer was, Welleta Michael would not have seen me wronged; I saved his life, he and every body knows it.

We gained with difficulty the middle of the river, where the bottom was firm, and there we rested a little. Whilst we were wading near the other side, we found foul ground, but the water was shallow, and the banks low and easy to ascend. The river side, as far as we could see, is bare and destitute of wood of any kind, only bordered with thistles and high grass, and the water tinged deep with red earth, of which its banks are composed. This passage is called Delakus, and is passable from the end of October to the middle of May. Immediately on the top of the hill ascending from the river is the small town of Delakus, which gives this ford its name; it extends from N. E. to N. N. E. and is more considerable in appearance than is the generality of these small towns or villages in Abyssinia, because inhabited by Mahometans only, a trading, frugal, intelligent, and industrious people.

Our conductor, Welled Amlac, again put us in mind of the service he had rendered us, and we were not unmindful of him. He had been received with very great respect by the eastern body of combatants, and it is incredible with what expedition he swallowed near a pound of raw flesh cut from the buttocks of the animal yet alive. After some horns of hydromel, he had passed to the other side, where he was received with still more affection, if possible, by Welleta Michael, and there he began again to eat the raw meat with an appetite as keen as if he had fasted for whole days; he then consigned us to Ayto Welleta Michael, his friend and mine, who furnished us with a servant to conduct us on our way, while he himself remained that night at the ford among the combatants. He advised us to advance as far as possible, for all that country was destroyed by a malignant fever which laid all waste beyond Delakus.

We left the ford at a quarter past five in the evening, and, pursuing our journey north, we passed the small town of Delakus, continuing along the hill among little spots of brush-wood and small fields of corn intermixed. At half past six passed the river Avola. At half past seven crossed another swift-running stream, clear and shallow, but full of slippery stones. At three quarters after seven we alighted at Googue, a considerable village, and, as it was now night, we could go no farther; we had already several times mistaken our way, and lost each other in the dark, being often also mired in a small plain before we passed the last river; but our guide had heard the orders of his master, and pushed on briskly.

We found the people of Googue the most savage and unhospitable we had yet met with. Upon no account would they suffer us to enter their houses, and we were obliged to remain without, the greatest part of the night. At last they carried us to a house of good appearance, but refused absolutely to give us meat for ourselves or horses; and, as we had not force, we were obliged to be content. It had rained violently in the evening, and we were all wet. We contented ourselves with lighting a large fire in the middle of the house, which we kept burning all night, as well for guard, as for drying ourselves, though we little knew at the time that it was probably the only means of saving our lives; for in the morning we found the whole village sick of the fever, and two families had died out of the house where these people had put us: for my own part, upon hearing this I was more affrighted than for Welled Aragawi and all his robbers. Though weary and wet, I had slept on the ground near the fire six whole hours; and, tho' really well, I could not during the day persuade myself there was not some symptom of fever upon me. My first precaution was to infuse a dose of bark into a glass of aquavitæ, a large horn of which we had with us; we then burnt frankincense and myrrh in abundance, and fumigated ourselves, as practised at Masuah and in Arabia. Early in the morning we repeated our dose of bark and fumigation. Whether the bark prevented the disease or not, the aquavitæ certainly strengthened the spirits, and was a medicine to the imagination.

The people, who saw the eagerness and confidence with which we swallowed this medicine, flocked about us demanding assistance. I confess I was so exasperated with their treatment of us, and especially that of lodging us in the infected house, that I constantly refused them their request, leaving them a prey to their distemper, to teach them another time more hospitality to strangers.

This fever prevailed in Abyssinia in all low grounds and plains, in the neighbourhood of all rivers which run in valleys; it is really a malignant tertian, which, however, has so many forms and modes of intermission that it is impossible for one not of the Faculty to describe it. It is not in all places equally dangerous, but on the banks and neighbourhood of the Tacazzé it is particularly fatal. The valley where that river runs is very low and sultry, being full of large trees. In Kuara, too, it is very mortal; in Belessen and Dembea less so; in Walkayt it is dangerous; but not so much in Tzegadè, Kolla, Woggora, and Waldubba. It does not prevail in high grounds or mountains, or in places much exposed to the air. This fever is called Nedad, or burning; it begins always with a shivering and headache, a heavy eye, and inclination to vomit; a violent heat follows, which leaves little intermission, and ends generally in death the third or fifth day. In the last stage of the distemper the belly swells to an enormous size, or sometimes immediately after death, and the body within an instant smells most insupportably; to prevent which they bury the corpse immediately after the breath is out, and often within the hour. The face has a remarkable yellow appearance, with a blackish cast, as in the last stage of a dropsy or the atrophy. This fever begins immediately with the sun-shine, after the first rains, that is, while there are intervals of rain and sun-shine: it ceases upon the earth being thoroughly soaked in July and August, and begins again in September; but now, at the beginning of November, it finally ceases everywhere.

The country about Googue is both fertile and pleasant, all laid out in wheat, and the grain good. They were now in the midst of their harvest, but there were some places, to which the water could be conducted, where the corn was just appearing out of the ground. From Googue we have an extensive view of the lake Tzana, whilst the mountains of Begemder and Karoota, that is, all the ridge along Foggora, appear distinctly enough, but they are sunk low, and near the horizon.

On the 14th, at three quarters past seven in the morning, we left the inhospitable village Googue; our road lay N. by W. up a small hill. At half past eight we crossed the village of Azzadari, in which runs a small river, then almost stagnant, of the same name. At three quarters after eight, the church of Turcon Abbo, being a quarter of a mile to our right. At three quarters after nine we passed the river Avolai, coming from N. W. and which, with all the other streams above mentioned, fall into the lake: from this begins Degwassa. At half past ten we rested half an hour. At eleven continued our journey N. by W. and, at half after eleven, entered again into the great road of Buré, by Kelti. All the country from Googue is bare, unpleasant, unwholesome, and ill watered. Those few streams it has are now standing in pools, and are probably stagnant in January and February. The people, too, are more miserable than in any other part of Maitsha and Goutto.

As we are now leaving Maitsha, it will be the place to say something concerning it in particular. Maitsha is either proper, or what is called so by extension. Maitsha Proper is bounded on the west by the Nile, on the south by the river Jemma, dividing it from Goutto; and, on the other side of Amid Amid, by the province of Damot; on the south by Gojam; on the east and north by the Abay or Nile, and the lake: this is Maitsha proper; but by extension it comprehends a large tract on the west side of the Nile, which begins by Sankraber on the north, and is bounded by the Agows on the west, comprehending Atcheffer and Aroossi to the banks of the Nile. This is the Maitsha of the books, but is not properly so.

Maitsha is governed by ninety-nine Shums, and is an appendage of the office of Betwudet, to whom it pays two thousand ounces of gold. The people are originally of those Galla west of the Abay. Yasous the Great, when at war with that people, who, in many preceding reigns, had laid waste the provinces of Gojam and Damot, and especially Agow, when he passed the Abay found these people at variance among themselves; and the king, who was everywhere victorious, being joined by the weakest, advanced to Narea, and, on his return, transplanted these Galla into Maitsha, placing part of them along the Nile to guard the passes. His successors at different times followed his example; part they settled in Maitsha, and part along the banks of the Nile in Damot and Gojam, where being converted to Christianity, at least to such Christianity as is professed in Abyssinia, they have increased exceedingly, and amounted, at least before the war in 1768, to 15,000 men, of whom about 4000 are horsemen.

The capital of Maitsha is Ibaba. There is here a house or small castle belonging to the king. The town is one of the largest in Abyssinia, little inferior to Gondar in size or riches, and has a market every day; this is governed by an officer called Ibaba Azage, whose employment is worth 600 ounces of gold, and is generally conferred upon the principal person of Maitsha, to keep him firm in his allegiance, as there is a very considerable territory depends upon this office. The country round Ibaba is the most pleasant and fertile, not of Maitsha only, but of all Abyssinia, especially that part called Kollela, between Ibaba and Gojam, where the principal Ozoros have all houses and possessions, called Goult or Fiefs, which they have received from their respective ancestors when kings.

Though Maitsha be peculiarly the appendage of Betwudet, and governed by him, yet it has a particular political government of its own. The ninety-nine Shums, who are each a distinct family of Galla, chuse a king, like the Pagan Galla, every seventh year, with all the ceremonies anciently observed while they were Pagans; and these governors have much more influence over them than the King or Betwudet; so have they (in my time at least) been in a constant rebellion, and that has much lessened their numbers, which will not now amount to above 10,000 men, Ras Michael having every where destroyed their houses, and carried into slavery their wives and children, who have been sold to the Mahometan merchants, and transported to Masuah, and from thence to Arabia.

At twelve o'clock, Guesgué was to the right, three or four, perhaps more miles; and the very rugged mountain Cafercla, broken and full of precipices, on our right, at about 12 miles distance; they rise from Kolla. Guesgué, which, though the language and race be Agow, is not comprehended in the government of that country, but generally goes with Kuara. At a quarter past one we arrived at the house of Ayto Welleta Michael, at Degwassa, after entering into a country something more pleasant and cultivated than the former. The village of Degwassa is but small; it had also been burnt in the late war; it is pleasantly situated on a hill south of the lake, about 3 miles distance, and is surrounded with large wanzey-trees; we were but ill-received at this village, notwithstanding the promises of the master of it at the passage of the Abay, and we found these people scarcely more hospitable than at Googue. This village is a little out of the road, to the right. We had travelled this day five hours and a half, or little more than ten miles.

On the 15th of November, from Degwassa we entered Gonzala, immediately bordering upon it: heavy rain prevented our setting out till noon. Gonzala is full of villages, and belongs to the queen-mother. At a quarter after one we passed a large marsh, in the midst of which runs a small river which here falls into the lake. We rested here half an hour; and, at three quarters past one, we entered the great road which we had passed to the left in going to Degwassa. At two o'clock we came still to a distincter view of the lake, as also where the river enters and goes out; it appears here to enter at S. W. and go out at N. E. and is distant about eight or nine miles. At three quarters past two, we arrived at Dingleber, having this day travelled only two hours and a half, or five miles.

On the 16th we left Dingleber at seven o'clock in the morning; it was very hot; and, a little before we came to Mescalaxos, in a stripe of land, or peninsula, which runs out into the lake, we halted a short time under the shade of some acacia-trees. Here we saw plenty of water-fowl, and several gomaris. A small river crosses the road here, and falls into the lake: and, at one o'clock in the afternoon, we continued our journey, and overtook a troop of Agows, who were going to Gondar, laden with honey, butter, and untanned hides. They had with them also about 800 head of cattle. These people accustomed to the road (though heavily laden) go long journies: they had at this time 50 miles to make by nine o'clock in the morning of the 18th, and it was now the 16th, past one o'clock.

A Shower overtook us soon after passing Mescalaxos, and forced us to take refuge in some small huts near the lake, called Goja, where we remained. The inhabitants of this and the neighbouring villages speak Falasha, the language anciently of all Dembea, which, as has been already observed, in most of the plain country, has now given place to Amharic. Here we saw two gomari come out of the lake and enter the corn, but speedily, upon the dogs of the villages attacking them, they ran and plunged into the water; we could not have a distinct view of them, nor time enough to design them, but they were very different from any draught we had ever seen of them. The head seemed to me to resemble that of a hog more than of a horse. We had this day travelled six hours and a half, or about thirteen miles.

On the 17th, at a quarter past seven, we left Goja. At one o'clock we halted at Sar Ohha, after a journey of five hours and a half, or about eleven miles; and on the 18th, at half past six, left Sar Ohha. At three quarters past seven we passed the river Talti, and at half past eleven halted at Abba Abram, near the church, under a large sassa-tree. At one, continued our journey, and at a quarter past two arrived at Kemona.

On the 19th of November, at seven in the morning, we left Kemona, and going constantly without stopping by Chergué and Azazo, I sent my servants and baggage on to Abba Samuel at Gondar, where they arrived at one o'clock afternoon, and finished our long-projected expedition, or journey, to the fountains of the Nile, having, in our return home, made as it were the chord of the arch of our former journey, or about ninety-three miles, with which we found our points, as settled by observation, did very nearly agree.

Two things chiefly occupied my mind, and prevented me from accompanying my servants and baggage into Gondar. The first was my desire of instantly knowing the state of Ozoro Esther's health: the second was, to avoid Fasil, till I knew a little more about Ras Michael and the king. Taking one servant along with me, I left my people at Azazo, and turning to the left, up a very craggy, steep mountain, I made the utmost diligence I could till I arrived at the gate of Koscam, near two o'clock, without having met any one from Fasil, who was encamped opposite to Gondar, on the Kahha, on the side of the hill, so that I had passed obliquely behind him. He had, however, seen or heard of the arrival of my servants at Gondar, and had sent for me to wait upon him in his camp; and, when he was informed I had gone forward to Koscam, it was said he had uttered some words of discontent.

I went straight to the Iteghé's apartment, but was not admitted, as she was at her devotions. In crossing one of the courts, however, I met a slave of Ozoro Esther, who, instead of answering the question I put to her, gave a loud shriek, and went to inform her mistress. I found that princess greatly recovered, as her anxiety about Fasil had ceased. She had admitted him to an audience, and he had communicated to her the engagement he was under to her husband, as also the conduct he intended to pursue in order to keep Gusho and Powussen from taking any effectual measures which might frustrate, or at least delay, the restoration of the king and arrival of Ras Michael.

CHAP. II. Fasil's insidious Behaviour—Arrival at Gondar—King passes the Taccazzé—Iteghé and Socinios fly from Gondar.

I shall now resume the history of Abyssinia itself, so far as I was concerned in it, or had an opportunity of knowing, and this I shall follow as closely as possible, till I begin my return home through those dreary and hitherto-unknown deserts of Sennaar, though not the most entertaining, yet by far the most dangerous and most difficult part of the voyage.

It was about the 20th of October that Woodage Asahel came with a strong body of horse into the neighbourhood of Gondar, and cut off all communication between the capital and those provinces to the southward of it. This occasioned a temporary famine, as his troops plundered all those they met on the road carrying provisions to the market. At first he refused to tell what his real errand was; but, a few days after, having passed the low country of Dembea, he took post at Dingleber, on the road to Maitsha and the country of the Agows, and then he declared his only intention in coming was to join Fasil, then marching to Gondar at the head of a large army; nor was the cause of that great army, nor the reason of Fasil's coming, so sufficiently known as to free any party entirely from their apprehensions.

Sanuda, who filled the office of Ras, and the rest of that party, endeavoured to determine Asahel to enter Gondar, and pay his homage to Socinios, now king; not doubting but his example would have the effect of making others do the like, and that so by degrees they might collect troops enough to make Michael respect them, so far at least as to defer for a season his march from Tigrè. They prevailed, indeed, so far as to engage Asahel to enter Gondar on the 28th of October, the day that we left it; so, by a few hours, and his taking a low road that he might plunder the villages in Dembea, we missed a meeting of the most dangerous and most disagreeable kind. After having made his usual parade, and passed his cavalry in review before Socinios, he had his public audience, where he said he came charged by Fasil to declare that he was ready to set out for Gondar, and bring with him that part of the revenue due to the king from the provinces he commanded, provided he had a man of sufficient trust to leave in his stead at home; that therefore he prayed the king to appoint him Woodage Asahel to command in the provinces of Damot, Maitsha, and Agow, in his absence.

After the many promises and engagements Fasil had made and broken, without ever assigning the smallest reason, it may be doubted whether Socinios believed this fair tale implicitly; but his present intention being to gain Woodage, it little signified whether it was strictly true or not; he therefore received it as true. Fasil's request was granted to the full; and this robber, twenty times a rebel, bred up in woods and deserts, in exercise of every crime, was appointed to a command the third in the kingdom for rank, power, and riches; and, what was never before seen, the king went out of his palace to Deppabye, the public market-place, to see the circle of gold, called the Ras Werk, put upon his head; this, with the white and blue mantle, invests him with the dignity of Kasmati, or lieutenant-general of the king, in the province given him.

A low man, such as Asahel was, could not resist the caresses of his sovereign; he was entirely gained; and, in return, made privately to Socinios, and a few confidants, a communication of all he knew, which their natural imprudence, and private previous engagements, afterwards made public. The substance of this confidence was, that peace had been made and sworn to, in the most solemn manner, both by Michael and Fasil; that they were to restore the king, Tecla Haimanout; that they were, by their joint means, to effect, if possible, the ruin of Gusho and Powussen, governors of Begemder and Amhara; Fasil was to enjoy the post of Ras and Betwuder, and to dispose of the government of Begemder and Amhara to his friends; Ras Michael was to content himself with the province of Tigrè, as he then enjoyed it, and advance no further than the river Tacazzé, where he was to deliver the king to Fasil, and return to his province. Sanuda was, in the mean time, to appear as Ras by the connivance of Fasil and Michael; and, if he saw the people of the Iteghé's party resolved upon electing a king, he was to take care to choose such a one as would soon prove himself incapable of reigning, but fill the vacancy in the mean time, and prevent the election from falling upon a worthier candidate from the mountain of Wechné. Fasil, on his part, undertook by promises and proposals, and occasionally by the approach of his army, to frighten and confuse the Iteghé, and prevent a good understanding taking place between her, Gusho, and Powussen. The last article of this treaty was, that no more should be said of Joas the late king's murderer, but all that transaction was to be buried in eternal oblivion. This peace, Asahel had said, was made by the mediation of Welleta Selassé, nephew of Ras Michael, whom we have often mentioned as having been taken prisoner by Fasil at the battle of Limjour.

This discovery, dangerous as it might have been in other times and circumstances, from the weakness of the present government, had no consequences hurtful to any concerned in it. Sanuda, who was not present when Asahel revealed the secret, affected to laugh at it as an improbable fiction; and though this whole scheme of treachery was confirmed part by part, yet it was so deeply laid, and so well supported, that, even when discovered, it could not be prevented, till, step by step, it was carried into execution.

Fasil was encamped at Bamba, as we have already mentioned; he had discharged all those savage Galla that he had brought from the other side of the Nile. As soon as he had heard in how favourable a manner Woodage Asahel had been received, he decamped, taking with him 400 horse and 600 foot, all chosen men, from Maitsha and Damot, and with these he advanced, by forced marches, to Gondar, where he arrived the 2d of November, to the surprise of the whole town and court, for he had already so often promised, and so often broken his word, that nobody pretended to guess more about him till they actually saw him arrived. That same evening he waited on the queen, where he made a short visit; he paid a still shorter to the king, and no business passed at either of these meetings.

The king, Socinios, was now more than ever confirmed in the belief of Asahel's information, because, notwithstanding that Fasil knew perfectly his necessities, and that for seven years he had not paid a farthing to the revenue, he still had not brought either payment, or present of any sort; and, instead of coming with a large army to give battle to Ras Michael, he arrived as in peace with scarce a body guard; and, what seemed to put the matter beyond all doubt, the very night of his arrival, upon coming from his audience, he set Welleta Selassé at liberty, and sent him to Tigrè to his uncle Ras Michael, loaded with many presents, and with every mark of respect. There were, however, about Socinios some people of wisdom enough to counsel him to take no notice of this behaviour of Fasil, which seemed to favour strongly of defiance; and he was wise enough for a short time to follow their advice. As he had, by fair means, gained Woodage Asahel, he thought he might, by pursuing the same conduct, succeed with Fasil also.

In the morning, therefore, of the 3d of November, without attempting further discussion, proclamation was made that Fasil was Ras and Betwudet, governor of Damot, Maitsha, and Agow, and had the disposal of all places under the king throughout the empire; declaring also, that all appointments that had been made by the Iteghé or himself, in Fasil's absence, were null and void, to be again filled up by Fasil only. Socinios, however, soon found that he had a different spirit to manage than that of Woodage Asahel. Fasil took him at his word, accepted of the appointment, began immediately to exercise his power, and the very first day he gave the post of Cantiba, that is, governor of Dembea, to Ayto Engedan, nephew to the queen-mother, and son to Kasmati Eshté, whom he himself had deposed, murdered, and succeeded in the government of Damot and Maitsha; and Selassé Barea, brother to Ayto Aylo, he made Palambaras. These appointments just planted the king in the difficulty that was intended; for the places had been given to Kasmati Sanuda, as a recompence for resigning the posts of Ras and Betwudet, which were now conferred upon Fasil; and Sanuda, whom Socinios believed his only friend, and the person that raised him to the throne, was now left destitute of all employment whatever, by an act of seeming ingratitude flowing from the king alone.

The next day Fasil, pursuing the same line of conduct, appointed Adera Tacca Georgis, a creature of his own, Fit-Auraris to the king. None of these preferments Socinios could be brought to comply with; so that when these noblemen came to do homage for their respective places, Socinios absolutely refused to receive them, or displace Kasmati Sanuda. This involved the king in still greater difficulties, for he thereby broke his word with Fasil, who had done nothing more than Socinios gave him authority to do. On the other hand, Selassé Barea was brother to Ayto Aylo, the queen's greatest counsellor and confident; equal to his brother both in wisdom, integrity, and riches, and in the favour of the people, but much more ambitious and desirous of governing, consequently more dangerous when disobliged.

Socinios, who did not believe that Sanuda was treacherously urging him to his ruin, continued obstinate in rejecting Fasil's appointment, and all fell immediately into confusion. Troops flocked in from every quarter, as upon a signal given. Ayto Engedan, in discontent, with a thousand men sat down near Gondar on the river Mogetch; his brother Aylo, at Emfras, about 15 miles further, with double that number; Ayto Confu, his cousin-german, with about 600 horse, lay above Koscam for the protection of Ozoro Esther, his mother, and the Iteghé his grandmother—all were in arms, though upon the defensive.

In this situation of things I arrived at Gondar on the 19th of November, but could not see the queen, who had retired into her apartment under pretence of devotion, but rather from disgust and melancholy, at seeing that every thing, however the contrary might be intended, seemed to conspire to bring about the return of Ras Michael, the event in the world she dreaded most. I found with Ozoro Esther the Acab Saat, Abba Salama, who, as we have already observed, had excommunicated her uncle Kasmati Eshté, and afterwards contrived his murder, and had also had a very principal share in that of Joas himself. It was he that Fasil said had sent to him to desire that I might not be allowed to proceed to the head of the Nile, and that from no other reason but a hatred to me as a Frank. We bowed to each other as two not very great friends, and he immediately began a very dry, ill-natured, admonitory discourse, addressed, for the greatest part, to Ozoro Esther, explaining to her the mischief of suffering Franks to remain at liberty in the country and meddle in affairs. I interrupted him by a laugh, and by saying, If it is me, father, you mean by the word Frank, I have, without your advice, gone where I intended, and returned in safety; and as for your country, I will give you a very handsome present to put me safely out of it, in any direction you please, to-morrow—the sooner the better.

At this instant Ayto Confu came into his mother's apartment, caught the last words which I had said, and asked of me, in a very angry tone of voice, Who is he that wishes you out of the country?—"I do, sincerely and heartily, said I, for one; but what you last heard was in consequence of a friendly piece of advice that Abba Salama here has been giving me."—"Father, father, says Confu, turning to him very sternly, do you not think the measure of your good deeds is yet near full? Do you not see this place, Kasmati Eshté's house, surrounded by the troops of my father Michael, and do you still think yourself in safety, when you have so lately excommunicated both the King and Ras? Look you, says he, turning to his mother, what dogs the people of this country are; that Pagan there, who calls himself a Christian, did charitably recommend it to Fasil to rob or murder Yagoube, a stranger offending nobody, when he got him among his Galla in Damot: this did not succeed. He then persuaded Woodage Asahel to send a party of robbers from Samseen to intercept him in Maitsha. Coque Abou Barea himself told me it was at that infidel's desire that he sent Welleta Selassè of Guesgué with a party to cut him off, who missed him narrowly at Degwassa; and all this for what? I shall swear they should not have found ten ounces of gold upon him, except Fasil's present, and that they dared not touch."—"But God, said Ozoro Esther, saw the integrity of his heart, and that his hands were clean; and that is not the case with the men in this country."—"And therefore, said Confu, he made Fasil his friend and protector. Woodage Asahel's party fell in with an officer of Welleta Yasous, who cut them all to pieces while robbing some Agows." Then rising up from the place where he was sitting at his mother's feet, with a raised voice, and countenance full of fury, turning to Abba Salama, he said, "And I, too, am now nobody; a boy! a child! a mockery to three such Pagan infidels as you, Fasil, and Abou Barea, because Ras Michael is away!"—Says the Acab Saat, with great composure, or without any seeming anger, "You are excommunicated, Confu; you are excommunicated if you say I am Infidel or Pagan: I am a Christian priest."—"A priest of the devil, says Confu, in a great passion—wine and women, gluttony, lying, and drunkenness—these are your gods! Away! says he, putting his hand to his knife: by Saint Michael I swear, ten days shall not pass before I teach both Coque Abou Barea and you your duty. Come, Yagoube, come and see my horses; when I have put a good man upon each of them we shall together hunt your enemies to Sennaar." He swang hastily out of the door, and I after him, and left Abba Salama dying with fear, as Ozoro Esther told me afterwards, saying only to her, as he went out, Remember I did not excommunicate him.

I left Confu with his horses and men; and, though it was now late, I went to the camp to pay my compliments to Fasil. Having no arms, I was very much molested both in going and coming, under various pretences; I was afterwards kept waiting about half an hour in the camp without seeing him; he only sent me a message that he would see me on the morrow. However, we met several friends we had seen at Bamba, and from them we learned at length what we shortly had heard from Ayto Confu, that Woodage Asahel had sent a party to intercept and rob us; and it was that party which was called the five Agows, who had passed Fasil's army the night after we left Kelti[4]. They told us that the Lamb said they were Agows, not to alarm us, but that he knew very well who they were, and what was their errand; and that, the night after he left us, he got upon their track by information from three country men whom they had robbed of some honey, surrounded them, and, in the morning, had attacked them west of Geesh, and, though inferior in number, had slain and wounded the whole party as dexterously as he had promised to us at our last interview.

I sent a small present to our friend the Lamb, in token of gratitude to him, and delivered it to three people, that I might be sure one of them would not steal it, and took Fasil's guarantee to see it delivered; but this was upon a following day. I resolved to remain at Koscam in the house the Iteghé had given me, as it was easy to see things were drawing to a crisis, which would inevitably end in blood.

It was not till the 23d of November I first saw the Iteghé. She sent for me early in the morning, and had a large breakfast prepared: Ayto Confu and Ayto Engedan were there; she looked very much worn out and indisposed. When I came first into her presence, I kneeled, with my forehead to the ground. She put on a very serious countenance, and, without desiring me to rise, said gravely to her people about her, "There, says she, see that madman, who in times like these, when we the natives of the country are not safe in our own houses, rashly, against all advice, runs out into the fields to be hunted like a wild beast by every robber, of which this country is full."

She then made me a sign to rise, which I did, and kissed her hand. "Madam, said I, if I did this, it was in consequence of the good lessons your majesty deigned to give me."—"Me! says she, with surprise, was it I that advised you, at such a time as this, to put yourself in the way of men like Coque Abou Barea, and Woodage Asahel, to be ill-used, robbed, and probably murdered?"—"No, said I, Madam, you certainly never did give me such advice; but you must own that every day I have heard you say, when you was threatened by a multitude of powerful enemies, that you was not afraid, you was in God's hands, and not in theirs. Now, Madam, Providence has hitherto protected you: I have, in humble imitation of you, had the same Christian confidence, and I have succeeded. I knew I was in God's hands, and therefore valued not the bad intentions of all the robbers in Abyssinia."—"Madam, says Ayto Confu, is not Guesgué yours? does it pay you any thing?"

"It was mine, says the queen, while any thing was mine; but Michael took it and gave it to Coque Abou Barea, and since, it has paid me nothing. Fasil has sent for him about the affair of Yagoube, as he says, and has ordered him to come in the same manner that he himself is come in private; but forbid him to bring his army with him, in order that no means of relief may be possible to this devoted country." Large tears flowed down her venerable face at saying these words, and shewed the deep-rooted fear in her heart, that Michael's coming was decreed without possibility of prevention. "I wonder, says Ayto Engedan, laughing, to divert her, if Coque Abou Barea is the same good Christian that you and Yagoube are; if he is not, nothing else will save him from the hands of Confu and me; for we both want horses and mules for our men, and he has good ones, and arms too, that belonged to my father."—"And both of you, says the queen, are as bad men as either Woodage Asahel or Coque Abou Barea." At this moment the arrival of Fasil was announced, and we were all turned out, and went to breakfast. I saw him afterwards going out of the palace. He saluted me slightly, and seemed much pre-occupied in mind. He only desired me to come to Gondar next morning, and he would speak to me about Coque Abou Barea; but this the Iteghé refused to permit me to do, so I remained at Koscam.

Fasil, although he did not deny that he had made peace with Ras Michael, yet, to quiet the minds of the people, always solemnly protested, that, so far from coming to Gondar, he never would consent to his crossing the Tacazzé; and this had, with most people, the desired effect; for all Gondar loved Tecla Haimanout as much as they detested Socinios; but the bloodshed, and cruelty that would certainly attend Michael's coming, made them wish for any government that would free them from the terror of that event. On the other hand, Socinios, though now perfectly persuaded of Fasil's motives, had not deserted his own cause; he had sent Woodage Asahel, fortified with all his authority, into Maitsha, in order to raise a commotion there; ordered it to be proclaimed to the whole body of Galla in that province, that if they would come to Gondar, and prevent the arrival of Ras Michael, and bring their Bouco (or sceptre) along with them, they should have the election of their own governor, and not pay any thing to the king for seven years to come; and, besides, he had ordered Powussen of Begemder to endeavour, by a forced march, to surprise Fasil, then at Gondar, attended by a few troops. Mean time, he dissembled the best he could; but, as he had very shrewd people to deal with, it was more than probable his secret was early discovered.

Every hand being now armed, and all measures taken, as far as human foresight could reach, it was impossible to defer any longer the coming to blows in some part or other. On the 23d, at night, advice was received from Adera Tacca Georgis, an officer of Fasil in Maitsha, that he had attacked Woodage Asahel, who had collected a number of troops, and was endeavouring to raise commotions; and, after an obstinate combat, he had defeated him, and slain or wounded most of his followers: that Asahel himself, wounded twice with a lance, had, by the goodness of his horse, escaped, and joined Powussen in Begemder.

These news occasioned Fasil to throw off the mask: he now publicly avowed it was his intention to restore Tecla Haimanout to the throne, and that, rather than fail in it, he would replace Ras Michael in all his posts and dignities. He said that Socinios was created for mockery only; and publicly asserted, that he was not son of Yasous, but of one Mercurius, a private man at Degwassa; and indeed he bore not, in his features or carriage, any resemblance to the royal family from which he pretended to be descended.

Socinios now saw that he was from henceforward to look upon Fasil as an enemy. Orders were accordingly given to shut the gates of the palace, and to station a number of troops in the different courts and avenues leading to the king's apartment. No person was to be admitted to the king without examination. The drums were beat, and constant guard kept; and three hundred Mahometans taken into his service as musketeers; a measure that gave great offence.

Fasil had taken up his residence in the house which belonged to the office of Ras, at the other end of the town; and, to shew his contempt for the king, was very slightly guarded, his army remaining encamped under the palace. One thing at this time seemed particularly remarkable; a drum was heard to beat in the house where Fasil was; whereas it is an invariable rule, that no drum is suffered to beat in the capital any where but in the house where the king resides. It was said that king Yasous, second son to the Iteghé, or queen-mother, and father to Joas, had left two sons by a slave of the queen; indeed he had so many by low people, that very little care was taken of them, not even that of sending them to the mountain Wechné. One of these, after the murder of Joas, had appeared in Gojam, resolved to try his fortune; but he was apprehended by the governor of that province, sent to Gondar, and then to Wechnè. It was said the other was with Fasil, in Gondar; that the drum that then beat in Fasil's house announced his speedy intention of making him king: all was confusion within the palace, but the Ras kept up a strict police in the town.

It was then towards the end of November, when, by mediation of the Abuna, the Queen, and the Itcheguè, peace was unexpectedly made between Socinios and Fasil; the latter swearing allegiance to Socinios as to his only sovereign, and the Abuna pronouncing excommunication upon either of them which should become the enemy of the other. What was the intention of this farce I never yet could learn; for the very next day Fasil deprived Gusho and Powussen of their governments of Amhara and Begemder, which was an express proof that his intention still was to restore Tecla Haimanout. The doors of the king's palace were again immediately shut, and signs of hostilities commenced as before.

I was dining with Ozoro Esther, when a messenger arrived from Coque Abou Barea, with a complaint to the queen that he was on his march to Gondar, to pay his allegiance to Socinios, and bring him the tribute of his province, when he received a message from Fasil to return the greatest part of his troops; but that, desiring to be as useful as possible in preventing the coming of Michael, he so far disobeyed that order as to bring with him a considerable body of the best of his soldiers, sending the rest home under the conduct of Welleta Selassé; but that on the 26th, early in the morning, he had been surprised by Confu and Engedan, who, without any cause alledged, had killed and dispersed all his troops, and taken from them all the horses and mules they could lay their hands on: that they after followed Welleta Selassé, and had come up with him unawares, just as he entered Guesgué, had defeated him, and that Ayto Engedan, in the beginning of the fight, had slain him with his own hand, by wounding him in the throat with a lance when stretching out his hand to parley; after which, they had set fire to nine villages in Guesgué, and given the plunder to their soldiers.

In the mean time Powussen had not disregarded the request of Socinios. He had attempted to surprise Fasil, but could not pass Aylo, who was at Emfras, without falling upon him first, which he did, dispersing his troops with little resistance. Upon the first intelligence of this, Fasil proclaimed Tecla Haimanout king; and, striking his tents, sat down at Abba Samuel, a collection of villages about two miles from Gondar, inviting all people, that would escape the vengeance of Ras Michael, to come and join him, and leave Gondar. From this he retreated near to Dingleber, on the side of the lake, and intercepted all provisions coming to Gondar, which occasioned a very great famine, and many poor people died.

Hitherto I had no intercourse with Socinios, never having been in his presence, but when the Galla, the murderer of Joas, was tried; nor had I any reason to think he knew me, or cared for me more than any Greek that was in Gondar; but I had a good friend at court, who waked when I slept, and did not suffer me to pass unknown; this was the Acab Saat, Salama, who had instigated the king, on the 5th of December, in one of his drunken fits, to set out from the palace in the night, attended by a number of banditti, mostly Mahometans, to plunder several houses; he slew one man, as it was said, with his own hand: among these devoted houses mine happened to be one, but I was then happily at Koscam. The next was Metical Aga's, one of whose servants escaped into a church-yard, the other being slain. The leader of this unworthy mob was Confu, brother to Guebra Mehedin. Every thing that could be carried away was stolen or broken; among which was a reflecting telescope, a barometer, and thermometer; a great many papers and sketches of drawings, first torn, then burnt by Confu's own hand, with many curses and threats against me.

The next day, about nine o'clock, I had a message to come to the palace, where I went, and was immediately admitted. Socinios was sitting, his eyes half closed, red as scarlet with last night's debauch; he was apparently at that moment much in liquor; his mouth full of tobacco, squirting his spittle out of his mouth to a very great distance; with this he had so covered the floor, that it was with very great difficulty I could chuse a clean place to kneel and make my obeisance. He was dressed like the late king, but, in every thing else, how unlike! my mind was filled with horror and detestation, to see the throne on which he sat so unworthily occupied. I regarded him as I advanced with the most perfect contempt: Hamlet's lines described him exactly:—

It requires something of innate royalty to personate a king.

When I got up and stood before him, he seemed to be rather disconcerted, and not prepared to say any thing to me. There were few people there besides servants, most men of consideration having left Gondar, and gone with Fasil. After two or three squirts through his teeth, and a whisper from his brother Chremation, whom I had never before seen—"Wherefore is it, says he, that you who are a great man, do not attend the palace? you were constantly with Tecla Haimanout, the exile, or usurper, in peace and war: you used to ride with him, and divert him with your tricks on horseback, and, I believe, ate and drank with him. Where is all that money you got from Ras el Feel, of which province, I am told, you are still governor, though you conceal it? How dare you keep Yasine in that government, and not allow Abd el Jelleel, who is my slave, appointed to enter and govern that province?" I waited patiently till he had said all he had to say, and made a slight inclination of the head. I answered, "I am no great man, even in my own country; one proof of this is my being here in yours. I arrived in the time of the late king, and I was recommended to him by his friends in Arabia. You are perfectly well-informed as to the great kindness he did all along shew me, but this was entirely from his goodness, and no merit of mine. I never did eat or drink with him; it was an honour I could not have been capable of aspiring to. Custom has established the contrary; and for me, I saw no pleasure or temptation to transgress this custom, though it had been in my option, as it was not. I have, for the most part, seen him eat and drink; an honour I enjoyed in common with his confidential servants, as being an officer of his household. The gold you mention, which I have several times got from the late King and Ras el Feel, I constantly spent for his service, and for my own honour. But at present I am neither governor of Ras el Feel, nor have I any post under heaven, nor do I desire it. Yasine, I suppose, holds his from Ayto Confu his superior, who holds it from the king by order of Ras Michael, but of this I know nothing. As for tricks on horseback, I know not what you mean. I have for many years been in constant practice of horsemanship among the Arabs. Mine, too, is a country of horsemen; and I profess to have attained to a degree not common, the management both of the lance and of fire-arms; but I am no buffoon, to shew tricks. The profession of arms is my birth-right derived from my ancestors, and with these, at his desire, I have often diverted the king, as an amusement worthy of him, and by no means below me."—"The king! says he in a violent passion, and who then am I? a slave! Do you know, with a stamp of my foot I can order you to be hewn to pieces in an instant. You are a Frank, a dog, a liar, and a slave! Why did you tell the Iteghé that your house was robbed of 50 ounces of gold? Any other king but myself would order your eyes to be pulled out in a moment, and your carcase to be thrown to the dogs."

What he said was true; bad kings have most executioners. I was not, however, dismayed; I was in my own mind, stranger and alone, superior to such a beast upon a throne. "The Iteghé, said I, is at present at Koscam, and will inform you if I told her of any gold that was stolen from me, except a gold-mounted knife which the late king gave me at Dingleber the day after the battle of Limjour, and which was accidentally left in my house, as I had not worn it since he went to Tigrè." He squirted at this moment an arch of tobacco-spittle towards me, whether on purpose or not I do not know. I felt myself very much moved; it narrowly missed me. At this instant an old man, of a noble appearance, who sat in a corner of the room next him, got up, and, in a firm tone of voice, said, "I can bear this no longer; we shall become a proverb, and the hatred of all mankind. What have you to do with Yagoube, or why did you send for him? he was favoured by the late king, but not more than I have seen Greeks or Armenians in all the late reigns; and yet these very people confess, in their own country, they are not worthy of being his servants. He is a friend, not only to the king, but to us all: the whole people love him. As for myself, I never spoke to him twice before; when he might have gone to Tigrè with Michael his friend, he staid at Gondar with us: so you, of all others, have least reason to complain of him, since he has preferred you to the Ras, tho' you have given him nothing. As for riding, I wish Yagoube had just rode with you as much as with Tecla Haimanout, and you spent as much time with him as your predecessor did; last night's disgrace would not then have fallen upon us, at least would have been confined to the limits of your own kingdom; you would have neither disobliged Fasil nor the Iteghé; and, when the day of trial is at hand, you would have been better able to answer it, than, by going on at this rate, there is any appearance you will be." This person, I understood afterwards, was Ras Sanuda, nephew to the Iteghé, and son of Ras Welled de l'Oul; he had been banished to Kuara in the late king's time, so I had no opportunity of knowing him.

All the time of this harangue Socinios's eyes were mostly shut, and his mouth open, and slavering tobacco; he was rolling from side to side scarcely preserving his equilibrium. When Sanuda stopt, he began with an air of drollery, "You are very angry to-day, Baba." And turning to me, said, "Tomorrow, see you bring me that horse which Yasine sent you to Koscam; and bring me Yasine himself, or you will hear of it; slave and Frank as you are, enemy to Mary the virgin, bring me the horse!" Sanuda took me by the hand, saying in a whisper, "Don't fear him, I am here; but go home; next time you come here you will have horses enough along with you." He, too, seemed in liquor; and, making me a sign to withdraw, I left the king and his minister together with great willingness, and returned to Koscam to the Iteghé, to whom I told what had passed, and who ordered me to stay near Ozoro Esther, as in her service, and go no more to the palace.

At this time certain intelligence was received that Ras Michael was arrived in Lasta with Guigarr, Shum, or chief of the clan called Waag, once a mortal enemy to Michael, though now at peace with him, and serving him as his conductor. Through his country is the only passage from Tigrè to Begemder and Belessen, and many armies have perished by endeavouring to force it. Michael and the king now passed under the protection of Guigarr, notwithstanding Powussen had many parties among the other clans that wished to prevent him. On the 15th of December he forded the Tacazzè, and turned a little to the left, as if he intended to pass through the middle of Begemder, though he had really no such design, but only to bring Powussen to an engagement. Seeing this was not likely, and only tended to waste time, he pursued his journey straight towards Gondar, not in his usual way, burning and destroying, but quietly, correcting abuses, and regulating the police of the country through which he passed, for he was yet in fear.

The news of his having passed the Tacazzé determined Socinios and the Iteghé to fly; and they set out accordingly. Socinios directed his flight, first towards Begemder, but, the next day, turned to the right, through Dembea, and joined the queen at Azazo, where great altercations and disputes followed between them. The queen had engaged the Abuna to attend her, and that prelate had consented, upon receiving fifteen mules and thirty ounces of gold, which were paid accordingly: But when the queen sent, the morning of her departure, to put the Abuna in mind of his promise, his servants stoned the Iteghé's messenger, without suffering him to approach the house, but they kept the mules and the gold. The queen continued her flight to Degwassa, near the lake Tzana, and sent all that was valuable that she had brought with her, into the island of Dek.

Ayto Engedan and Confu were at hand at the head of large parties scouring the country, at once protecting the Iteghé, and securing as many of those of Socinios's people as were thought worthy of punishment. Sanuda, too, was in arms; and, throwing off the mask, was now acting under the immediate direction of Ras Michael, and had apprehended many of those noblemen of Tigrè who had revolted against the Ras, particularly Guebra Denghel, married to Ras Michael's granddaughter, descended from one of the noblest houses in the province, and a man particularly distinguished for generosity, openness, and affability of manners; and Sebaat Laab and Kefla Mariam, men of great consideration in Michael's province. Confu and Sanuda having joined, entered Gondar, and took possession of the king's house, and put a stop to these excesses and robberies which had become very frequent since the Iteghé's flight.

One day, while I was sitting at Koscam, Yasine entered the court before the house, and, coming into the room, fell down and kissed the ground before me, after the manner they salute their superior. He told me he came from Ayto Confu, who ordered him to do homage to me as usual for the province of Ras el Feel, and that I was to come to him directly, and go out to meet the king, for several of his people were already arrived at Gondar. I sent him back to Ayto Confu with my respectful thanks, declined accepting of any office till I should see the king; and, as he himself had named the place to be Mariam Ohha, I thought it was my duty to stay till he came there.

In the mean time the unfortunate Socinios continued his flight, in company with the queen, till they came to the borders of Kuara, her native country. Those who made Socinios a king had never made him a friend. It was here suggested, that his presence would infallibly occasion a pursuit which might endanger the queen, her country, and all her friends. Upon this it was resolved to abandon the unworthy Socinios to the soldiers, who stript him naked, giving him only a rag to cover him, and a good horse, and with these they dismissed him to seek his fortune.

After a short stay in Kuara, the queen turned to the left towards Burè. All Maitsha assembled to escort her to Fasil, while he led her through Damot to the frontiers of Gojam, where she was received in triumph by her daughter Ozoro Welleta Israel, and Ayto her grandson, to whom half of that province belonged, and with them she rested at last in safety, after a long and anxious journey.

On the 21st of December a message came to me from Ozoro Esther, desiring I would attend her son Confu to meet the king, as his Fit-Auraris had marked out the camp at Mariam-Ohha; observing, that I had a very indifferent knife or dagger in my girdle, (that which I had received from the king being stolen, when my house was plundered) with her own hands she made me a present of a magnificent one, mounted with gold which she had chosen with that intention, and laid upon the seat beside her. She told me she had already sent to acquaint her husband, Ras Michael, how much she had been obliged to me in his absence, both for my attention to her and her eldest son, who had been several times sick since his departure, and that I might expect to receive a kind reception.

CHAP. III. The Author joins the Army at Mariam-Ohha—Reception there—Universal Terror on the Approach of the Army—Several great Men of the Rebels apprehended and executed—Great Hardness of the King's Heart.

Having still some doubt about the propriety of going to Mariam-Ohha, till the king had taken post there, I appointed with Ayto Confu to meet him next morning, the 22d, in the plain below the church of Abbo, where is the pass called Semma Confu, the dangerous path, from its being always a place where banditti resort to rob passengers in unsettled times.

In my way through the town, though the day had scarce dawned, numbers of the king's servants, that had come from Tigrè, flocked about me with great demonstrations of joy; and, by the time I got into the plain below Abbo, I had already collected a strong party both of horse and foot. This was not my intention; I had set out unarmed, attended only by two Abyssinian servants on horseback, but without lance or shield, and in this manner I intended to present myself to the king as one of the suite of Ayto Confu: but all my endeavours were in vain; and I saw that, making the best of my way, and profiting of the early time of the morning, was the only method left to avoid increasing my retinue. I must own the good disposition of these people to me, and the degree of favour they reported me to be in, and, above all, Ozoro Esther's assurances had given me great comfort; for several people of no authority, indeed, had prophesied that Ras Michael would be much offended at my having thrown a carpet over the body of Joas, and at my not having gone to Tigrè with him.