Page:A voyage to Abyssinia (Salt).djvu/223

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CHELICUT
215

fidelity to their rulers has been so remarkable, that it is become proverbial throughout the country.[1]

Here Mr. Pearce met with very hospitable treatment at the house of one of the Aristies (farmers,) where he observed that his appearance did not excite that kind of surprise which the first sight of a white man is generally observed to produce in other parts of the country. The wife of the Aristi was peculiarly attentive to him, and, on his quitting them the following day, she prepared some cakes, and supplied him with a calibash full of booza for his journey.

On the 28th, having crossed the narrow and mountainous district of Wojjerat, he arrived, in about eight hours, at an extensive and uncultivated plain, inhabited by a people called Doba. One of the isolated tribes of negroes which are to be found occasionally interspersed throughout all the regions of Africa. In the earlier history of the country, the Doba[2] were considered as a formidable set of marauders, but, latterly, it appears that they have experienced great difficulties in maintaining their native independence. Here Mr. Pearce passed unmolested, on account of his being supposed to travel in the service of the Ras, but he had little communication with the natives, owing to his not understanding their language.

On the 29th, after seven hours travelling, he reached a district called Iyah, held by a tribe of Galla, under

  1. The inhabitants of Wojjerat form, in my opinion, the strongest contrast that can be imagined to the degenerate descendants of the Portuguese in India, which perhaps may be attributed to the effects of climate and the striking difference in their modes of life. The first, proud of their descent from a race of warriors, were left in a mountainous country, under a temperate climate, to fight their way and maintain their character among savage nations by whom they were environed, and they have ever since kept up an independent superiority. The others, from being the offspring of petty traders, and from living under an intemperate sky, soon dwindled away, amid the debaucheries of Indian cities, into a more degenerate and feeble set of beings than even the natives among whom they resided.
  2. Vide Déscription Historiale de l'Ethiopie, par Dom. Francisque Alvarez. Anvers 1558, p. 129. "Ces hommes de Dobas sont fort braves et vaillans gens: ayant une telle loy, que personne d'entre eux ne s'y peut marier, sans premièrement faire foy, et declarer par serment d'avoir privé de vie douze Chretiens, qui rend ces chemins tant décriez et si fort dangereuse que personne n'y ose passer, si ce n'est en caravanne, &c." This was written in 1520.