Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile/Volume 4/Book 7/Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
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 Tigré, flocked about me with great demonstrations of joy; and, by the time I got into the plain below Abba, 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 horse-back, 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 Tigré with him.
I passed the three heaps of stones under which lie the three monks who were stoned to death in the time of David IV.; and at the bottom of the hill whereon stands the church of Abbo, I was met by Yasine, and about 20 horse-men, having on their coats of mail, their helmets upon their heads, and their viziers down; their pikes perpendicular, with their points in the air, so that by one motion more, placing them horizontally in their rests, they were prepared to charge at a word. I asked Yasine what was the meaning of his being in that equipage in such hot weather, when there was no enemy? He replied, It was given him in orders from Ayto Confu last night; and that, with regard to an enemy, there was one that had seized the pass of Semma Confu, and obstinately refused to let us through, unless we forced them. Sure, said I, Ayto Confu knows, that heavy armed men on horseback are not fit to force passes through craggy mountains, where they may be all killed by rolling stones upon them, without their even seeing their enemy. Strange, strange, said I, (speaking to myself) that any party should be so audacious as to take post in the king's front, at six miles distance, and put themselves between him and the capital: I am sure they heartily deserve to be cut in pieces, and fo they certainly will. Where is Ayto Confu? It was answered by Yasine, That he was gone forward to the mouth of the pass to reconnoitre it, and would meet us there. We marched on accordingly, across the plain, about half a mile; but I was surprised to see all my attendants, that I had picked up by the way, laughing, excepting Yasine's men, and that none of the rest made horse, mule, or gun ready as if they were in danger; so that I began now strongly to suspect some trick on the part of Confu, as he was much given to jest and sport, being a very young man.
A little before we came to the mouth of the pass, a soldier came to us and asked who we were? and was answered, it was Yasine, Ayto Confu's servant at Ras el Feel. To which it was replied, he knew no such person. He was scarcely gone when another arrived with the same question. I began to be impatient, as the sun was then growing very hot; and answered, It was Yagoube, the white man, the king's friend and servant. I was again answered. No such person could pass there. The third time, being interrogated by one whom I knew to be Ayto Confu's servant, Yasine answered, it is Yagoube, the king's governor of Ras el Feel, with the slave Yasine, the moor, come to do the king homage, and to die for him, if he commands, in the midst of his enemies. We were answered, He is welcome: upon which the servant, going back, brought a drum, and beat it upon the rock, crying, as in a proclamation, "Yagoube is Governor of Ras el Feel, Commander of the king's black horse, Lord of Geesh, and Gentleman of the king's bed-chamber." Here this farce, the contrivance of Ayto Confu, ended. With him were many more of the king's servants, my old acquaintances, and we all sat down by a spring-well, under the shade of the rock, to a hearty breakfast prepared for us by Ozoro Esther.
After this was finished with a great deal of chearfulness, and being ready to get on horseback, we saw a man running towards us in great speed, who, upon his arrival, asked us where the king was, and if we were his Fit-Auraris? To this we made him no answer; but, laying hold of him, obliged him to declare his errand. He said that he was a servant of Negadé Ras Mahomet, of Dara, who had apprehended Ayto Confu, brother of Guebra Mehedin, of whom I have spoken at large, (never for any good) and that he had brought him along with him. This miscreant, whom we had found out to be the principal ador and persuader of the robbery of my house, while in a drunken frolic with the wretched Socinios, was now in his way before the king, where, if all his delinquency had been known, he would infallibly have loss his eyes, his life, or both. He was nephew to the Iteghé, as has been already mentioned, son to her brother Basha Eusebius, and consequently cousin-german to Ayto Confu himself, who, with great diffidence, asked me if I could pardon his cousin, and allow him to be delivered out of Mahomet's hands, which, ill as he deserved of me, I very readily complied with; for I would not for the world have had it thought that I was the occasion of his death, after it had been so often said, though falsely, that I had been the cause of that of his brother. Mahomet delivered him to Confu and me, without hesitation, and promised not to complain to Ras Michael; but he threatened, if ever again he fell into his hands, that he would certainly put him to death, which he well saw would not be very disagreeable to any of his relations, provided it happened in the field, or any other way than by the hands of a public executioner. Ayto Confu, however, insisted upon bringing him out, and correcting him publicly, though he was by ten years the younger of the two; and the wretch was accordingly severely whipt with wands, and delivered after to a servant of Ozoro Esther's to conduct him to some safe place, where he might be out of the reach of Ras Michael, at least for a time.
We now got on horseback, and having ordered Yasine and his soldiers to disarm, we all went in the habit of peace, with joyful hearts, to meet the king, who was already arrived at Mariam-Ohha, and was encamped there since about eleven o'clock that forenoon.
My first business was to wait on Ras Michael, who, tho' very busy, admitted me immediately upon being announced. This was a compliment I was under no necessity of paying him, as the king's servant; but I was resolved to take nothing upon me, but appear in all the humility of a private stranger. This he quickly perceived, so that, when he saw me approaching near him to kiss the ground, he made an effort as if to rise, which he never did, being lame, nor could do without help; stretching out his hand as if to prevent me, repeated the words in a hurry, be gzeir, be gzeir, or, for God's sake don't, for God's sake don't. However, the compliment was paid. As soon as I arose, without desiring me to sit down, he asked aloud, Have you seen the king? I said, Not yet. Have you any complaint to make against any one, or grace to ask? I answered, None, but the continuance of your favour. He answered. That I am sure I owe you; go to the king. I took my leave. I had been jostled and almost squeezed to death attempting to enter, but large room was made me for retiring.
The reception I had met with was the infallible rule according to which the courtiers were to speak to me from that time forward. Man is the same creature every-where, although different in colour: the court of London and that of Abyssinia are, in their principles, one. I then went immediately to the king in the presence-chamber. His largest tent was crowded to a degree of suffocation; I resolved, therefore, to wait till this throng was over, and was going to my own tent, which my servants pitched near that of Kefla Yasous, by that general's own desire, but before I could reach it I was called by a servant from the king. Though the throng had greatly decreased, there was still a very crowded circle.
The king was sitting upon an ivory stool, such as are represented upon ancient medals; he had got this as a present from Arabia since he went to Tigré; he was plainly, but very neatly dressed, and his hair combed and perfumed. When I kissed the ground before him, "There, says he, is an arch rebel, what punishment shall we inflict; upon him?" "Your majesty's justice, said I, will not suffer you to inflict any punishment upon me that can possibly equal the pleasure I feel this day at seeing you sitting there." He smiled with great good nature, giving me first the back, and then the palm of his hand to kiss. He then made me a sign to stand in my place, which I immediately did for a moment; and, seeing he was then upon business, which I knew nothing of, I took leave of him, and could not help reflecting, as I went, that, of all the vast multitude then in my sight, I was perhaps, the only one destitute either of hope or fear.
All Gondar, and the neighbouring towns and villages, had poured out their inhabitants to meet the king upon his return. The fear of Ras Michael was the cause of all this; and every one trembled, lest, by being absent, he should be thought a favourer of Socinios.
The side of the hill, which slopes gently from Belessen, is here very beautiful; it is covered thick with herbage down to near the foot, where it ends in broken rocks. The face of this hill is of great extent, exposed to the W. and S. W.; a small, but clear-running stream, rising in Belessen, runs through the middle of it, and falls into the Mogetch. It is not considerable, being but a brook, called Mariam-Ohha, (i. e. the water of Mariam) from a church dedicated to the Virgin, near where it rises in Belessen; an infinite number of people spread themselves all over the hill, covered with cotton garments as white as snow. The number could not be less than 50 or 60,000 men and women, all strewed upon the grass promiscuously. Most of these had brought their victuals with them, others trusted to their friends and acquaintances in the army; the soldiers had plenty of meat; as soon as the king had crossed the Tacazze all was lawful prize; and though they did not murder or burn, as was Michael's custom in his former marches, yet they drove away all the cattle they could seize, either in Begemder or Belessen. Besides this, a great quantity of provisions of every sort poured in from the neighbourhood of Gondar, in presents to the king and great men, though there was really famine in that capital, by the roads being every way obstructed; there was plenty, however, in the camp.
It was then the month of December, the fairest time of the year, when the sun was in the southern tropic, and no danger from rain in the day, nor in the night from dew; so that, if the remembrance of the pail had not hung heavy on some hearts, it was a party of pleasure, of the most agreeable kind, to convoy the king to his capital. The priests from all the convents for many miles round, in dresses of yellow and white cotton, came, with their crosses and drums, in procession, and greatly added to the variety of the scene. Among these were 300 of the monks of Koscam, with their large crosses, and kettle-drums of silver, the gift of the Iteghe in the days of her splendour; at present it was very doubtful what their future fate was to be, after their patroness had fled from Koscam. But what most drew the attention of all ranks of people, was the appearance of the Abuna and Itchegue, whose character, rank, and dignity exempted them from leaving Gondar to meet the king himself; but they were then in great fear, and in the form of criminals, and were treated with very little respect or ceremony by the soldiers, who considered them as enemies.
It will be remembered, upon a report being spread just after the election of Socinios, that Ras Michael's affairs were taking an adverse turn while besieging the mountain Haramat; that the Abuna, Itchegue, and Acab Saat, had solemnly excommunicated the king, Ras Michael, and all their adherents, declaring them accursed, and absolving all people from their allegiance to Tecla Haimanout. But as soon as the king began his march from Tigré, application for pardon was made through every channel possible, and it was not without great difficulty that Ras Michael could be brought to pardon them, chiefly by the entreaty of Ozoro Esther. But this mortification was prescribed to them as a condition of forgiveness, that they should meet the king at Mariam-Ohha, not with drums and crosses, or a retinue, but in the habit and appearance of supplicants. Accordingly they both came by the time the king had alighted, but they brought no tent with them, nor was any pitched for them, nor any honour shewn them.
The Abuna had with him a priest, or monk, on a mule, and two beggarly-looking servants on foot; the Itchegue two monks, that looked like servants, distinguished by a cowl only on their heads; they were both kept waiting till past three o'clock, and then were admitted, and sharply rebuked by the Ras: they after went to the king, who presently dismissed them without saying a word to either, or without allowing them to be seated in his presence, which both of them, by their rank, were intitled to be. I asked the Abuna to make use of my tent to avoid the sun: this he willingly accepted of, was crest-fallen a little, spoke very lowly and familiarly; said he had always a regard for me, which I had no reason to believe; desired me to speak favourable of him before the King and the Ras, which I promised faithfully to do. I ordered coffee, which he drank with great pleasure, during which he gave me several hints, as if he thought his pardon was not compleated; and at last asked me directly what were my sentiments, and what I had heard? I said, I believed every thing was favourable as to him and the Itchegue, but I did not know how much farther the king's forgiveness would extend. I know, says he, what you mean; that Abba Salama, (curse upon him) he is the author of it all: What do I know of these black people, who am a stranger, fo lately come into the country? and, indeed, he seemed to know very little; for, besides his native Arabic, which he spoke like a peasant, he had not learned one word of any of the various languages used in the country in which he was to live and die. Having finished coffee, I left him speaking to some of his own people; about half an hour afterwards, he went away.
Ras Michael had brought with him from Tigre about 20,000 men, the best soldiers of the empire; about 6000 of these were musqueteers, about 12,000 armed with lances and shields, and about 6000 men had joined them from Gondar; a large proportion of these were horsemen, who were scouring the country in all directions, bringing with them such unhappy people as deserved to be, and were therefore destined for public example.
The short way from Tigre to Gondar was by Lamalmon, (that is the mountain of Samen) and by Woggora. Ayto Tesfos had maintained himself in the government of Samen since Joas's time, by whom he was appointed; he had continued constantly in enmity with Ras Michael, and had now taken possession of the passes near the Tacazze, so as to cut off all communication between Gondar and Tigre. On the side of Belessen, between Lasta and Begemder, was Ras Michael and his army. Powussen and the Begemder troops cut off the road to Gojam by Foggora and Dara. Ayto Engedan, who was to be considered as an advanced post of Fasil, was at Tsiemmera, in the way of the Agow and Maitsha, and Coque Abou Barea on the N. W. side, towards Kuara; so that Gondar was so completely invested, that several of the people died with hunger.
Ras Michael had ordered his own nephew, Tecla and Welleta Michael, the king's mailer of the household, to endeavour to force their way from Tigre to Woggora, and open that communication, if possible, with Gondar; and for that purpose had left him 4000 men in the province of Sire, on the other side of the Tacazze; and now scarce was his tent pitched at Mariam-Ohha, when he detached Kefla Yasous with 6000 men to force a junction with Michael and Tecla from the Woggora side. Their orders were, if possible, to draw Tesfos to an engagement, but not to venture to storm him in the mountain; for Tesfos's principal post, the Jews Rock, was inaccessible, where he had plowed and sowed plentifully for his subsistence, and had a quantity of the purest running-water at all seasons of the year: to irritate Tesfos more, Kefla Yasous was then named governor of Samen in his place. This brave and active officer had set out immediately for his command, and it was to me the greatest disappointment possible, that I did not see him.
Although Ras Michael had been in council all night, the signal was made to strike the tents at the first dawn of day, and soon after, the whole army was in motion; the council had been in the Ras's tent, not in presence of the king, with whom I had staid the most part of the evening, indeed, till late in the night; he seemed to have lost all his former gaiety, and to be greatly troubled in mind; inquired much about the Iteghe, and Fasil; told me he had sent his assurance of peace to the Iteghe, and desired her not to leave Koscam: but she had returned for answer, that she could not trust Michael, after the threatnings he had sent against her from Tigre. It was observed also, in this day's march, that, contrary to his custom before crossing the Tacazze, he received all that came out to meet him with a sullen countenance, and scarce ever answered or spake to them, Michael also, every day since the same date, had put on a behaviour more and more severe and brutal. He had enough of this at all times.
It was the 23d of December when we encamped on the Mogetch, just below Gondar. This behaviour was so conspicuous to the whole people, that no sooner were the tents pitched, (it being about eleven o'clock) than they all stole home to Gondar in small parties without their dinner, and presently a report was spread that the king and Ras Michael came determined to burn the town, and put the inhabitants all to the sword. This occasioned the utmost consternation, and caused many to fly to Fasil.
As for me, the king's behaviour shewed me plainly all was not right, and an accident in the way confirmed it. He had desired me to ride before him, and shew him the horse I had got from Fasil, which was then in great beauty and order, and which I had kept purposely for him. It happened that, crossing the deep bed of a brook, a plant of the kantuffa hung across it. I had upon my shoulders a white goat skin, of which it did not take hold; but the king, who was dressed in the habit of peace, his long hair floating all around his face, wrapt up in his mantle, or thin cotton cloak, so that nothing but his eyes could be seen, was paying more attention to the horse than to the branch of kantuffa beside him; it took first hold of his hair, and the fold of the cloak that covered his head, then spread itself over his whole shoulder in such a manner, that, notwithstanding all the help that could be given him, and that I had at first seeing it, cut the principal bough asunder with my knife, no remedy remained but he must throw off the upper garment, and appear in the under one, or waistcoat, with his head and face bare before all the spectators.
This is accounted great disgrace to a king, who always appears covered in public. However, he did not seem to be ruffled, nor was there any thing particular in his countenance more than before, but with great composure, and in rather a low voice, he called twice, Who is the Shum of this district? Unhappily he was not far off. A thin old man of sixty, and his son about thirty, came trotting, as their custom is, naked to their girdle, and flood before the king, who was, by this time, quite cloathed again. What had struck the old man's fancy, I know not, but he passed my horse laughing, and seemingly wonderfully content with himself. I could not help considering him as a type of mankind in general, never more confident and careless than when on the brink of destruction; the king asked if he was Shum of that place? he answered in the affirmative, and added, which was not asked of him, that the other was his son.
There is always near the king, when he marches, an officer called Kanitz Kitzera, the executioner of the camp; he has upon the tore of his saddle a quantity of thongs made of bull hide, rolled up very artificially, this is called the tarade. The king made a sign with his head, and another with his hand, without speaking, and two loops of the tarade were instantly thrown round the Shum and his son's neck, and they were both hoisted upon the same tree, the tarade cut, and the end made fast to a branch. They were both left hanging, but I thought so aukwardly, that they should not die for some minutes, and might surely have been saved had any one dared to cut them down; but fear had fallen upon every person who had not attended the king to Tigré.
This cruel beginning seemed to me an omen that violent resolutions had been taken, the execution of which was immediately to follow; for though the king had certainly a delight in the shedding of human blood in the field, yet till that time I never saw him order an execution by the hands of the hangman; on the contrary, I have often seen him shudder and express disgust, lowly and in half words, at such executions ordered every day by Ras Michael. In this instance he seemed to have lost that feeling; and rode on, sometimes conversing about Fasil's horse, or other indifferent subjects, to those who were around him, without once reflecting upon the horrid execution he had then so recently occasioned. In the evening of the 23d, when encamped upon the Mogetch, came Sanuda, the person who had made Socinios king, and who had been Ras under him; he was received with great marks of favour, in reward of the treacherous part he had acted. He brought with him prisoners, Guebra Denghel, the Ras's son-in-law, one of the best and most amiable men in Abyssinia, but who had unfortunately embraced the wrong side of the question; and with him Sebaat Laab and Kefla Mariam, both men of great families in Tigré. These were, one after the other, thrown violently on their faces before the king. I was exceedingly distressed for Guebra Denghel; he prayed the king with the greatest earnestness to order him to be put to death before the door of his tent, and not delivered to his cruel father-in-law. To this the king made no answer, nor did he shew any signs of pity, but waved his hand, as a sign to carry them to Ras Michael, where they were put in custody and loaded with irons.
About two hours later came Ayto Aylo, son of Kasmati Eshte, whom the king had named governor of Begemder; he brought with him Chremation brother to Socinios, and Abba Salama the Acab Saat, who had excommunicated his father, and been instrumental in his murder by Fasil. I had a great curiosity to see how they would treat the Acab Saat, for my head was full of what I had read in the European books of exemption that churchmen had in this country from the jurisdiction of the civil power.
Aylo had made his legs to be tied under the mule's belly, his hands behind his back, and a rope made fail to them, which a man held in his hand on one fide, while another led the halter of the mule on the other, both of them with lances in their hands. Chremation had his hands bound, but his legs were not tied, nor was there any rope made fail to his hands by which he was held. While they were untying Abba Salama, I went into the presence-chamber, and stood behind the king's chair. Very soon after Aylo's men brought in their prisoners, and, as is usual, threw them down violently with their faces to the ground; their hands being bound behind them, they had a very rude fall upon their faces.
The Acab Saat rose in a violent passion, he struggled to get loose his hands, that he might be free to use the act of denouncing excommunication, which is by lifting the right hand, and extending the fore-finger; finding that impossible, he cried out, Unloose my hands, or you are all excommunicated. It was with difficulty he could be prevailed upon to hear the king, who with great composure, or rather indifference, said to him. You are the first ecclesiastical officer in my household, you are the third in the whole kingdom; but I have not yet learned you ever had power to curse your sovereign, or exhort his subjects to murder him. You are to be tried for this crime by the judges to-morrow, so prepare to shew in your defence, upon what precepts of Christ, or his apostles, or upon what part of the general councils, you found your title to do this.
Let my hands be unloosed, cries Salama violently; I am a priest, a servant of God; and they have power, says David, to put kings in chains, and nobles in irons. And did not Samuel hew king Agag to pieces before the Lord? I excommunicate you, Tecla Haimanout. And he was going on, when Tecla Mariam, son of the king's secretary, a young man, struck the Acab Saat so violently on the face, that it made his mouth gush out with blood, saying, at same time, What! suffer this in the king's prefence? Upon which both Chremation and the Acab Saat were hurried out of the tent without being suffered to fay more; indeed the blow seemed to have so much disconcerted Abba Salama, that it deprived him for a time of the power of speaking.
In Abyssinia it is death to strike, or lift the hand to strike, before the king; but in this cafe the provocation was so great, so sudden, and unexpected, and the youth's worth and the insolence of the offender so apparent to every body, that a slight reproof was ordered to be given to Tecla Mariam (by his father only) but he lost no favour for what he had done, either with the King, Michael, or the people.
When the two prisoners were carried before the Ras, he refused to see them, but loaded them with irons, and committed them to close custody. That night a council was held in the king's tent, but it broke early up; afterwards another before the Ras, which sat much later; the reason was, that the first, where the king was, only arranged the business of to-morrow, while that before the Ras considered all that was to be done or likely to happen at any time.
On the 24th the drum beat, and the army was on their march by dawn of day: they halted a little after passing the rough ground, and then doubled their ranks, and formed into close order of battle, the king leading the center; a few of his black horse were in two lines immediately before him, their spears pointed upwards, his officers and nobility on each side, and behind him the reft of the horse, distributed in the wings, excepting prince George and Ayto Confu, who, with two small bodies, not exceeding a hundred, scoured the country, sometimes in the front, and sometimes in the flank. I do not remember who commanded the rest of the army, my mind was otherwise engaged; they marched close and in great order, and every one trembled for the fate of Gondar. We passed the Mahometan town, and encamped upon the river Kahha, in front of the market-place. As soon as we had turned our faces to the town, our kettle-drums were brought to the front, and, after beating some time, two proclamations were made. The first was, That all those who had flour or barley in quantities, should bring it that very day to a fair market, on pain of having their houses plundered; and that all people, soldiers, or others, who attempted by force to take any provisions without having first paid for them in ready money, should be hanged upon the spot. A bench was quickly brought, and set under a tree in the middle of the market; a judge appointed to sit there; a strong guard, and several officers placed round him; behind him an executioner, and a large coil of ropes laid at his feet. The second proclamation was, That everybody should remain at home in their houses, otherwise the person flying, or deserting the town, should be reputed a rebel, his goods confiscated, his house burnt, and his family chastised at the king's pleasure for seven years; so far was well and politic.
There was at Gondar a sort of mummers, being a mixture of buffoons and ballad-singers, and posture masters. These people, upon all public occasions, run about the streets, and on private ones, such as marriages, come to the court-yards before the houses, where they dance, and sing songs of their own composing in honor of the day, and perform all forts of antics: many a time, on his return from the field with victory, they had met Ras Michael, and received his bounty for singing his praises, and welcoming him upon his return home. The day the Abuna excommunicated the king, this set of vagrants made part of the solemnity; they abused, ridiculed, and traduced Michael in lampoons and scurrilous rhymes, calling him crooked, lame, old, and impotent, and several other opprobrious names, which did not affect him near so much as the ridicule of his person: upon many occasions after, they repeated this, and particularly in a song they ridiculed the horse of Sire, who had run away at the battle of Limjour, where Michael cried out, Send these horse to the mill. It happened that these wretches, men and women, to the number of about thirty and upwards, were then, with very different songs, celebrating Ras Michael's return to Gondar. The King and Ras, after the proclamation, had just turned to the right to Aylo Meidan, below the palace, a large field where the troops exercise. Confu and the king's household troops were before, and about 200 of the Sire horse were behind; on a signal made by the Ras, these horse turned short and fell upon the singers, and cut them all to pieces. In less than two minutes they were all laid dead upon the field, excepting one young man, who, mortally wounded, had just enough strength to arrive within twenty yards of the king's horse, and there fell dead without speaking a word. All the people present, most of them veteran soldiers, and consequently inured to blood, appeared shocked and disgusted at this wanton piece of cruelty. For my part, a kind of faintishness, or feebleness, had taken possession of my heart, ever since the execution of the two men on our march about the kantuffa; and this second act of cruelty occasioned such a horror, joined with an absence of mind, that I found myself unable to give an immediate answer, though the king had spoken twice to me.
It was about nine o'clock in the morning when we entered Gondar; every person we met on the street wore the countenance of a condemned malefactor; the Ras went immediately to the palace with the king, who retired, as usual, to a kind of cage or lattice-window, where he always sits unseen when in council. We were then in the council-chamber, and four of the judges seated; none of the governors of provinces were prefent but Ras Michael, and Kasmati Tesfos of Sire. Abba Salama was brought to the foot of the table without irons, at perfect liberty. The accuser for the king (it is a post in this country in no great estimation) began the charge against him with great force and eloquence: he stated, one by one, the crimes committed by him at different periods, the sum of which amounted to prove Salama to be the greatest monster upon earth: among these were various kinds of murder, especially by poison; incest, with every degree collateral and descendant. He concluded this black, horrid list with the charge of high treason, or cursing the king, and absolving his subjects from their allegiance, which he stated as the greatest crime human nature was capable of, as involving in its consequences all sorts of other crimes. Abba Salama, though he seemed under very great impatience, did not often interrupt him, further than, You lie, and, It is a lie, which he repeated at every new charge. His accuser had not said one word of the murder of Joas, but passed it over without the smallest allusion to it.
In this, however, Abba Salama did not follow his example: being desired to answer in his own defence, he entered upon it with great dignity, and an air of superiority, very different from his behaviour in the king's tent the day before: he laughed, and made extremely light of the charges on the article of women, which he neither confessed nor denied; but said these might be crimes among the Franks, (looking at me) or other Christians, but not the Christians of that country, who lived under a double dispensation, the law of Moses and the law of Christ: he said the Abyssinians were Beni Israel, as indeed they call themselves, that is. Children of Israel; and that in every age the patriarchs had acted as he did, and were not lefs beloved of God. He went roundly into the murder of Joas, and of his two brothers, Adigo and Aylo, on the mountain of Wechne, and charged Michael directly with it, as also with the poisoning the late Hatze Hannes, father of the present king.
The Ras seemed to avoid hearing, sometimes by speaking to people standing behind him, sometimes by reading a paper; in particular, he asked me, standing directly behind his chair, in a low voice, What is the punishment in your country for such a crime? It was his custom to speak to me in his own language of Tigré, and one of his greatest pastimes to laugh at my faulty expression. He spake this to me in Amharic, so I knew he wanted my answer should be understood: I therefore said, in the same low tone of voice he had spoke to me, High-treason is punished with death in all the countries I have ever known. — This I owed to Abba Salama, and it was not long before I had my return.
Abba Salama next went into the murder of Kasmati Eshte, which he confessed he was the promoter of. He said the Iteghe, with her brothers and Ayto Aylo, had all turned Franks, so had Gusho of Amhara; and that, in order to make the country Catholic, they had sent for priests, who lived with them in confidence, as that frank did, pointing to me: that it was against the law of the country, that I should be suffered here; that I was accursed, and should be stoned as an enemy to the Virgin Mary, There the Ras interrupted him, by saying, Confine yourself to your own defence; clear yourself first, and then accuse any one you please: it is the king's intention to put the law in execution against all offenders, and it is only as believing you the greatest that he has begun with you.
This calmness of the Ras seemed to disconcert the Acab Saat; he lost all method; he warned the Ras that it was owing to his excommunicating Kasmati Eshte that room was made for him to come to Gondar; without that event this king would never have been upon the throne, so that he had still done them as much good by his excommunications as he had done them harm: he told the Ras, and the judges that they were all doubly under a curse, if they offered either to pull out his eyes, or cut out his tongue; and prayed them, bursting into tears, not so much as to think of either, if it was only for old fellowship, or friendship which had long subsisted between them. There is an officer named Kal Hatze who stands always upon steps at the side of the lattice-window, where there is a hole covered in the inside with a curtain of green taffeta; behind this curtain the king sits, and through this hole he sends what he has to say to the Board, who rise and receive the messenger standing: he had not interfered till now, when the officer said, addressing himself to Abba Salama, "The king requires of you to answer directly why you persuaded the Abuna to excommunicate him? the Abuna is a slave of the Turks, and has no king; you are born under a monarchy, why did you, who are his inferior in office, take upon you to advise him at all? or why, after having presumed to advise him, did you advise him wrong, and abuse his ignorance in these matters?" This question, which was a home one, made him lose all his temper; he cursed the Abuna, called him Mahometan, Pagan, Frank, and Infidel; and was going on in this wild manner, when Tecla Haimanout[1], the eldest of the judges, got up, and addressing himself to the Ras, It is no part of my duty to hear all this railing, he has not so much as offered one fact material to his exculpation.
The king's secretary sent up to the window the substance of his defence, the criminal was carried at some distance to the other end of the room, and the judges deliberated whilst the king was reading. Very few words were said among the rest; the Ras was all the time speaking to other people: after he had ended this, he called upon the youngest judge to give his opinion, and he gave it, 'He is guilty, and should die;' the same said all the officers, and after them the judges, and the same said Kasmati Tesfos after them. When it came to Ras Michael to give his vote, he affected moderation; he said that he was accused for being his enemy and accomplice; in either case, it is not fair that he should judge him. No superior officer being present, the last voice remained with the king, who sent Kal Hatze to the Board with his sentence; 'He is guilty and shall die the death.— The hangman shall hang him upon a tree to-day.' The unfortunate Acab Saat was immediately hurried away by the guards to the place of execution, which is a large tree before the king's gate; where uttering, to the very last moment, curses against the king, the Ras, and the Abuna, he suffered the death he very richly deserved, being hanged in the very vestments in which he used to sit before the king, without one ornament of his civil or sacerdotal pre-eminence having been taken from him before the execution. In going to the tree he said he had 400 cows, which he bequeathed to some priests to say prayers for his soul; but the Ras ordered them to be brought to Gondar, and distributed among his soldiers.
I have entered into a longer detail of this trial, at the whole of which I assisted, the rather that I might ask this question of those that maintain the absolute independence of the Abyssinian priesthood, Whether, if the many instances already mentioned have not had the effects, this one does not fully convince them, that all ecclesiastical persons are subject to the secular power in Abyssinia as much as they are in Britain or any European Protestant state whatever?
Chremation, Socinios's brother, was next called, he seemed half dead with fear; he only denied having any concern in his brother being elected king. He said he had no post, and in this he spoke the truth, but confessed that he had been sent by Abba Salama to bring the Itchegue and the Abuna to meet him the day of excommunication at Dippabye. It was further unluckily proved against him, that he was present with his brother at plundering the houses in the night-time when the man was killed; and upon this he was sentenced to be immediately hanged; the court then broke up and went to breakfast. All this had passed in less than two hours; it was not quite eleven o'clock when all was over, but Ras Michael had sworn he would not taste bread till Abba Salama was hanged, and on such occasions he never broke his word.
Immediately after this last execution the kettle-drums beat at the palace-gate, and the crier made this proclamation, "That all lands and villages, which are now, or have been given to the Abuna by the king, shall revert to the king's own use, and be subject to the government, or the Cantiba of Dembea, or such officers as the king shall after appoint in the provinces where they are situated."
I went home, and my house being but a few yards from the palace, I passed the two unfortunate people hanging upon the same branch; and, full of the cruelty of the scene I had witnessed, which I knew was but a preamble to much more, I determined firmly, at all events, to quit this country.
The next morning came on the trial of the unfortunate Guebra Denghel, Sebaat Laab, and Kefla Mariam; the Ras claimed his right of trying these three at his own house, as, they were all three subjects of his government of Tigre Guebra Denghel bore his hard fortune with great unconcern, declaring, that his only reason of taking up arms against the king was, that he saw no other way of preventing Michael's tyranny, and monstrous thirst of money and of power: that the Ras was really king, had subverted the constitution, annihilated all difference of rank and persons, and transferred the efficient parts of government into the hands of his own creatures. He wished the king might know this was his only motive for rebellion, and that unless it had been to make this declaration, he would not have opened his mouth before so partial and unjust a judge as he considered Michael to be.
But Welleta Selasse, his daughter, hearing the danger her father was in, broke suddenly out of Ozoro Esther's apartment, which was contiguous; and, coming into the council-room at the instant her father was condemned to die, threw herself at the Ras's feet with every mark and expression of the most extreme sorrow. I cannot, indeed, repeat what her expressions were, as I was not present, and I thank God that I was not; I believe they are ineffable by any mouth but her own, but they were perfectly unsuccessful. The old tyrant threatened her with immediate death, spurned her away with his foot, and in her hearing ordered her father to be immediately hanged. Welleta Selasse, in a fit, or faint, which resembled death, fell speechless to the ground; the father, forgetful of his own situation, flew to his daughter's assistance, and they were both dragged out at separate doors, the one to death, the other to after sufferings, greater than death itself. Fortune seemed to have taken delight, from very early life, constantly to traverse the greatness and happiness of this young lady. She was first destined to be married to Joas, and the affair was near concluded, when the fatal discovery, made at the battle of Azazo, that the king had sent his household troops privately to fight for Fasil against Michael, prevented her marriage, and occasioned his death. She was then destined to old Hatze Hannes, Tecla Haimanout's father: Michael, who found him incapable of being a king, judged him as incapable of being a husband to a woman of the youth and charms of Welleta Selasse, and, therefore, deprived him at once of his life, crown, and bride. She was now not seventeen, and it was designed she should be married to the present king; Providence put a stop to a union that was not agreeable to either party: she died some time after this, before the battle of Serbraxos; being strongly pressed to gratify the brutal inclinations of the Ras her grandfather, whom, when she could not refill or avoid, she took poison; others said it was given her by Ozoro Esther from jealousy, but this was certainly without foundation. I saw her in her last moments, but too late to give her any assistance; and she had told her women-servants and slaves that she had taken arsenic, having no other way to avoid committing so monstrous a crime as incest with the murderer of her father.
The rage that the intercession of the daughter for her father Guebra Denghel had put the Ras into, was seen in the severity of the sentence he passed upon the other two criminals; Kefla Mariam's eyes were pulled out, Sebaat Laab's eye-lids were cut off by the roots, and both of them were exposed in the market-place to the burning sun, without any covering whatever. Sebaat Laab died of a fever in a few days; Kefla Mariam lived, if not to see, at best to hear, that he was revenged, after the battle of Serbraxos by the disgrace and captivity of Michael.
I will spare myself the disagreeable task of shocking my readers with any further account of these horrid cruelties; enough has been said to give an idea of the character of these times and people. Blood continued to be spilt as water, day after day, till the Epiphany; priests, lay-men, young men and old, noble and vile, daily found their end by the knife or the cord. Fifty-seven people died publicly by the hand of the executioner in the course of a very few days; many disappeared, and were either murdered privately, or sent to prisons, no one knew where.
The bodies of those killed by the sword were hewn to pieces and scattered about the streets, being denied burial. I was miserable, and almost driven to despair, at feeing my hunting-dogs, twice let loose by the carelessness of my servants, bringing into the court-yard the head and arms of slaughtered men, and which I could no way prevent but by the destruction of the dogs themselves; the quantity of carrion, and the stench of it, brought down the hyaenas in hundreds from the neighbouring mountains; and, as few people in Gondar go out after it is dark, they enjoyed the streets to themselves, and seemed ready to dispute the possession of the city with the inhabitants. Often when I went home late from the palace, and it was this time the king chose chiefly for conversation, though I had but to pass the corner of the market-place before the palace, had lanthorns with me, and was surrounded with armed men, I heard them grunting by two's and three's so near me as to be afraid they would take some opportunity of seizing me by the leg; a pistol would have frightened them, and made them speedily run, and I constantly carried two loaded at my girdle, but the discharging a pistol in the night would have alarmed every one that heard it in the town, and it was not now the time to add any thing to people's fears. I at last scarce ever went our, and nothing occupied my thoughts but how to escape from this bloody country by way of Sennaar, and how I could bed exert my power and influence over Yasine at Ras el Feel to pave my way, by assisting me to pass the desert into Atbara.
The king missing me some days at the palace, and hearing I had not been at Ras Michael's, began to inquire who had been with me. Ayto Confu soon found Yasine, who informed him of the whole matter; upon this I was sent for to the palace, where I found the king, without any body but menial servants. He immediately remarked that I looked very ill; which, indeed, I felt to be the case, as I had scarcely ate or slept since I saw him last, or even for some days before. He asked me, in a condoling tone, What ailed me? that, besides looking sick, I seemed as if something; had ruffled me, and put me out of humour. I told him that what he observed was true: that, coming across the market-place, I had seen Za Mariam, the Ras's doorkeeper, with three men bound, one of whom he fell a hacking to pieces in my presence. Upon feeing me running across the place, flopping my nose, he called me to stay till he should come and dispatch the other two, for he wanted to speak to me, as if he had been engaged about ordinary business: that the soldiers, in consideration of his haste, immediately fell moon the other two, whose cries were still remaining in my ears: that the hyænas at night would scarcely let me pass in the streets when I returned from the palace; and the dogs fled into my house to eat pieces of human carcases at leisure.
Although his intention was to look grave, I saw it was all he could do to stifle a laugh at grievances he thought very little of. "The men you saw with Za Mariam just now, says he, are rebels, sent by Kefla Yesous for examples: he has forced a junction with Tecla and Welleta Michael in Samen, and a road is now open through Woggora, and plenty established in Gondar. The men you saw suffer were those that cut off the provisions from coming into the city; they have occasioned the death of many poor people; as for the hyæna he never meddles with living people, he seeks carrion, and will soon clear the streets of those incumbrances that so much offend you; people say that they are the Falasha of the mountains, who take that shape of the hyæna, and come down into the town to eat Christian flesh in the night." — "If they depend upon Christian flesh, and eat no other, said I, perhaps the hyænas of Gondar will be the worst fed of any in the world." — "True, says he, bursting out into a loud laughter, that may be, few of those that die by the knife anywhere are Christians, or have any religion at all; why then should you mind what they suffer?" — "Sir, said I, that is not my sentiment; if you was to order a dog to be tortured to death before me every morning, I could not bear it. The carcases of Abba Salama, Guebra Denghel, and the rest, are still hanging where they were upon the tree; you smell the stench of them at the palace-gate, and will soon, I apprehend, in the palace itself. This cannot be pleasant, and I do assure you it mull be very pernicious to your health, if there was nothing else in it. At the battle of Fagitta, though you had no intention to retreat, yet you went half a day backward, to higher ground, and purer air, to avoid the stench of the field, but here in the city you heap up carrion about your houses, where is your continual residence."
"The Ras has given orders, says he gravely, to remove all the dead bodies before the Epiphany, when we go down to keep that festival, and wash away all this pollution in the clear-running water of the Kahha: but tell me now, Yagoube, is it really possible that you can take such thing as these so much to heart? You are a brave man; we all know you are, and have seen it: we have all blamed you, stranger as you are in this country, for the little care you take of yourself; and yet about these things you are as much affected as the most cowardly woman, girl, or child could be," — "Sir, said I, I do not know if I am brave or not; but if to see men tortured or murdered, or to live among dead bodies without concern, be courage, I have it not, nor desire to have it: war is the profession of noble minds; it is a glorious one; it is the science and occupation of kings; and many wise and many humane men have dedicated their whole life to the study of it in every country; it softens men's manners, by obliging them to society, to assist, befriend, and even save one another, though at their own risk and danger. A barbarian of that profession should be pointed at. Observe Ayto Engedan, (who came at that very instant into the room) there is a young man, said I, who, with the bravery, has also the humanity and gentleness of my countrymen that are soldiers," Engedan fell on his face before the king, as is usual, while the king went on seriously — "War you want; do you, Yagoube? war you shall have; it is not far distant, and Engedan is come to tell us how near." They then went into a considerable conversation about Gusho, Powussen, and the preparations they were making, and where they were, with which I shall not trouble the reader, as I shall have an occasion to speak of the particulars afterwards as they arise. "I want Confu, says the king; I want him to send his men of Ras el Feel to Sennaar, and to the Baharnagash to get horses and some coats of mail. And what do you think of sending Yagoube there? he knows their manners and their language, and has friends there to whom he is intending to escape, without so much as asking my leave." — "Pardon me, Sir, said I; if I have ever entertained that thought, it is proof sufficient of the extreme necessity I am under to go." — "Sir, says Engedan, I have rode in the Koccob horse; I will do so again, if Yagoube commands them, and will stay with us till we try the horse of Begemder. I have eight or ten coats of mail, which I will give your majesty; they belonged to my father, Confu, and I took them lately from that thief Abou Barea, with whom they were left at my father's death; but I will tell your Majesty, I had rather fight naked without a coat of mail, than that you should send Yagoube to Sennaar to purchase them from thence, for he will never return."
Ras Michael was now announced, and we made haste to get away. I would have Confu, Engedan, and you, come here to-morrow night, says the king, as soon as it is dark; and do not you, Yagoube, for your life, speak one word of Sennaar, till you know my will upon it. He said this in the sternest manner, and with all the dignity and majesty of a king.
We passed the Ras in the anti-chamber, attended by a great many people. We endeavoured to slide by him in the crowd, but he noticed us, and brought us before him. We both kissed his hands, and he kept hold of one of mine, while he asked Engedan, " Is Fasil at Ibaba?" to which he was answered, "Yes." "Who is with him? says the Ras." — "Damot, Agow, and Maitsha," answered Engedan. "Was you there? says the Ras." "No, answered Engedan, I am at Tshemera, with few men." He then turned to me, and said, "My son is ill; Ozoro Esther has just sent to me, and complains you visit her now no more. Go see the boy, and don't neglect Ozoro Esther, she is one of your best friends." I inquired if she was at Gondar, and was answered, No; she is at Koscam. We parted; Engedan went to Koscam to Ozoro Esther's, and I went home to plan my route to Sennaar, and to prepare letters for Hagi Belal, a merchant there, to whom I was recommended from Arabia Felix.
- ↑ The same whose foot was hurt by Strato's mule in the campaign of Maitsha.