Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile/Volume 4/Book 7/Chapter 5
110 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER
CHAP. V.
Rebel Army approaches Gondar — King marches out of Gondar — Takes Post at Serbraxos — The Author returns to Gondar with Confu, wounded,
GENTLE showers of rain began now to fall, and to announce the approach of winter; nay, some unusually severe and copious had already fallen. Gusho and Powussen of Amhara and Begemder, Kasmati Ayabdar governor of Foggora, Aylo son of Ozoro Welleta Israel the queen's daughter, governor of Gojam, Woodage Asahel, with the troops of Maitsha, and Coque Abou Barea from Kuara, were at the head of all the forces they could raise about Emfras and Nabca, and the borders of the lake Tzana. A brother-in-law of Powussen had brought a considerable body of troops from Zaat and Dehannah, two clans of Lasta, enemies to Guigarr, who had declared for Michael; and these were the best horse in the rebel army, superior to any in Begemder. This numerous army of Confederates were all ready, expecting the rain would make the Tacazze impassable, and cut off Michael's retreat to Tigré. Fasil alone kept them in suspense, who, with about 12,000 men, remained at Ibaba, professing to be at peace with Michael, in the mean time keeping all Maitsha quiet, and waiting for the coming of Welleta Yasous, and 20,000 Galla, whom he had sent for from the other side of the Nile, intending, as he said, to march on the arrival of this reinforcement, and join the king at Gondar. Although it may well be doubted if ever he intended all or any part of this, one thing was very certain, that he was sincere in his hatred to Gusho and Powussen; he never could forget their treachery in breaking their appointment and promise at Court Ohha, and exposing him either to fight Michael singly, or have his whole country burnt and destroyed. Although Michael had, for these last months, done every thing in his power to bring back to the king such people of consideration that possessed the lands and estates about Gondar, and were the most respectable of their nobility for influence and riches, bred up about court, and who did chiefly constitute it; yet the cruelty of his executions, his insatiable greed of money and power, and the extreme facility with which he broke his most sacred engagements, had terrified them from putting themselves into his hand; though they did not raise men, or join any side, but lived privately at a distance, yet their absence from about the king had the very worst effect upon his affairs. A great desertion had likewise happened since his coming among his old troops of Tigré, both of officers and soldiers. The execution of Guebra Denghel, and other two noblemen, had greatly alienated the minds of many of their countrymen and their connexions; but, above all, bis breach of promise made before the mountain of Haramat, that he was to levy no taxes upon that province for seven years, (but which he was now doing with the greatest rigour before one had expired) discontented them all.
The return of Welleta Michael and Kefla Yasous from Saraen, with about 6000 men, had considerably strengthened his army; added to this, 2000 more, who came voluntarily, from their love to Kefla Yasous, from Temben, where he was governor; these were picked men, partly musqueteers; there was nothing equal to them in the army.
Gusho was advanced to Minzim. Powussen had his head-quarters at Korreva, not above sixteen miles from Gondar. The whole plain to the lake was covered with troops. The weather was unseasonably cold, and considerable quantities of rain had fallen from the 23d of February to the 29th of March. The rebels had begun to lay waste Dembea, and burnt all the villages in the plain from south to west, making it like a desert between Michael and Fasil, as far as they dared venture to advance towards either. This they did to exasperate Michael, and draw him out from Gondar; for they had most of them great property in the town, and did not wish to be obliged to fight him there. He bore this fight very impatiently, as well as the constant complaints of people flying into the town from the depredations of the enemy, and stripped of every thing.
The king often ascended to the top of the tower of his palace, the only one to which there remains a stair, and there contemplated, with the greatest displeasure, the burning of his rich villages in Dembea. One day while he was here he shewed an instance of that quick penetration for which he was remarkable, and which, as a proof of this, I shall here mention.
There is a large waste space on each side of the palace where the market is kept. It had rained, and it was in the evening almost destitute of people; there were only two men at a considerable distance, who seemed to be in close conversation together, one of them apparently very much the worse of liquor, the other had hold of the end of the sash, or girdle, which was round the body of the drunk man; it is a narrow web of cotton cloth, which they wind eight or ten times about their waist. The king said to me, Do you know, Yagoube, what these two men are about? I answered, No. I saw the drunkard untwine one turn of his sash, which the other was feeling and looking curiously at, as if examining and doubting its goodness. That man, says the king, is robbing the drunkard of his sash: go down two or three of you who run best, and apprehend him, but hide yourselves till he has committed the theft, and seize him as he passes. The orders were quickly obeyed; the drunkard unwound his sash, by turning himself round and round, while the other seemed to be measuring it by the length of his arm, from his elbow to his forefinger, and then gathering it up. This was done very deliberately till it was all unwound, and the far end loose; upon which the fellow, who was measuring, gathering it in his arms, ran off as fast as he could, leaving the drunkard standing motionless, apparently in great surprise and amazement. The thief was immediately seized and brought up to the king, who ordered him to be thrown over the tower. At my intercession, and that of those about him, he was pardoned, and the drunkard's sash was returned to him.
Ever since the middle of February, Ras Michael had resolved to march out, and give battle to the rebels encamped about Korreva, committing every sort of violence, and burning all the villages, houses, and barns in Dembea, with the corn they contained more than what served for their present use; but the great superiority of the enemy in horse had always made him delay his intention.
Yasine had, indeed, succeeded in his commission to Sennaar, as far as it regarded the horses. He had found the Arabs encamped immediately upon the frontier at Ras el Feel, and had received from them very near 200 of one kind or other, of which 76 only answered the purpose of mounting the king's black servants; the others were distributed among the rest of the army that wanted them. But they had not been equally successful in purchasing their coats of mail, fourteen only of which had been brought with the horses. In order to buy the rest, the messenger continued his journey to Sennaar, and with him my servant Soliman with my letters, to which, of consequence, I had as yet no return. But what appeared at that time most material to me, Fidele Shekh of Atbara wrote to Yasme, "That, there was no fear but that I should be well received at Sennaar, where Nasser, a young king, had succeeded his father, whom he had deposed; but that the great difficulty was to pass between Ras el Feel and Teawa, the place of his residence, and from thence to the banks of the river Dender, for that the Ganjar horse of Kuara, and the Arabs their friends, were at war with the Arabs of Atbara, and had burnt all their crops and villages: that he sometimes did not think himself safe in Teawa, and that a load of salt had not been suffered to pass for several months; which, indeed, was the reason why the Arabs of Atbara were come so near Ras el Feel, and that the king's horse were procured so readily at the first coming." This traitor, however, added, "That if, by any means, I could advance to him at Teawa, I need not take any thought about the rest of the journey; and that it was better I should come quietly and quickly, without writing to Sennaar before-hand: and he concluded with great professions of respect and friendship for me."
It had been very cold, and more than usual rainy, since the beginning of February; the 9th was a day of close rain; and this, being earlier than common, very much discouraged the soldiers who were naked, and, therefore, very sensible of cold, or rain, and, as I have before said, never can be brought to engage willingly, unless under the influence of a warm sun.
At last the cries of the people flying into Gondar, seeking protection from the cruelties of the rebels, determined the Ras to march out, and set his all upon the fortune of a battle. The rifle was not thought great, as he had been all his life in use to conquer; had a better army at that time than ever he commanded; the Begemder troops, too, in whom the rebels trusted most, were but those which he and his men had beaten at Nefas Musa, although led by a very brave and valiant officer, Mariam Barea. All this was true; but then, since that period, these troops of Begemder had been constantly led by himself, had been trained, and disciplined with the old troops of Tigre, and taught to conquer with them. Above all, they had been used to see the effect of fire-arms, which they no longer feared as formerly, but boldly rushed in upon the musqueteers, sometimes without giving them time to fire, or at least before they had time to charge again.
At last, having previously called in all his out-posts, on the 13th of May he marched out of Gondar, taking with him the King and Abuna, as also Ozoro Esther, and Ozoro Altash her sister, and all the other ladies about court, who were in possession of the great fiefs of the crown, and whom he obliged to personal attendance, as well as to bring the quota of troops they were bound to by their respective tenures.
The king's army halted upon the same ground they had done on their return to Gondar. They were then supposed to be near 20,000 foot, belonging to Tigre and its dependencies, incomparably the best troops of the empire, 6000 of which were armed with musquets, six times the number that all the rest of Abyssinia could furnish, and, considering they were all match-locks, very expert in the management of them. The rest of the foot which joined them since he passed the Tacazze were about 10,000, besides 2000 of the king's household, 500 of which were horsemen; of these, few short of 200 were his black servants, armed with coats of mail, the horses with plates of brass on their cheeks and faces, with a sharp iron spike of about five inches in length, which stuck out in the middle of their forehead, a very troublesome, useless piece of their armour; their bridles were iron chains; the body of the horse covered with a kind of thin quilt stuffed with cotton, with two openings made above the flaps of the saddle, into which the horseman put his thighs and legs, and which covered him from his hip (where his shirt of mail ended) down to a little above his ancle: his feet were covered with flippers of thin leather, without heels, and his stirrups were of the Turkish or Moorish form, into which his whole foot entered, and, being hung very short, he could raise himself, and stand as firmly as if he was upon plain ground. The saddles were in the Moorish form like wise, high before and behind; a strong lace made fast to the coat of mail by the one end, the other passed through a small hole in the back of the saddle, kept it close down, so that the back was never exposed by the coat of mail rising over the hinder part of the saddle. Each had a small ax in the foreangle of his saddle, and a pike about fourteen feet long, the weapon with which he charged; it was made of very light wood, brought from the banks of the Nile, with a small four-edged head, and the butt end balanced by a long spike of iron; this entered a leather case fastened by a thong to the saddle, and was rested sometimes below the thigh, and sometimes above, and guided by the right hand at the height the point was intended to strike at. The horseman's head was covered with a helmet of copper, or block tin, much like those of our light-horse, with large crests of black horse tail.
The officers were distinguished from the soldiers by locks of hair dyed yellow, interspersed with the black. Upon the front of each helmet was a silver star, at least a white-metal one, and before the face, down to the top of the nose, a flap of iron chain, made in the fame manner as the coat of mail, but only lighter, which served as a vizier. This was the most troublesome part of the whole, it was hot and heavy, and constantly fretted the cheek and nose, when either the man or the horse were in motion; and therefore I always substituted a black silk net, which concealed my colour better, and for the rest of my face I committed it to the care of Providence.
This body of horse was able to make their way through all the cavalry in Abyssinia, if they had been drawn up against them with equal fronts; for every horseman sat immoveable upon his saddle, and acted most powerfully by his weight alone, and was perfectly master of his person also by the breadth and shortness of his stirrups; whereas the Abyssinian horsemen were placed most disadvantageously, their head and body naked, their saddle small, and of no support to them, their stirrup leathers long, and no stirrups to put their foot in; but being constantly afraid of their horse falling upon them, the only hold which they had was the outside of an iron ring, which they grasped between their great and second toe, so that they had no strength from their stirrups, whilst their foot was always swelled, and their toes fore and galled.
Of the thousand Shoa horse about 60 had deserted; the rest were all in good order, each armed with their lances about ten feet long, and two light javelins, their shafts being of cane, which they threw at a great distance; the lance they never loosed out of their hand; as for their stirrups and saddle, they were of the same bad construction as those of the Abyssinians in general, and this reduced them nearly to a footing with them. The horsemen of the king's army were about 7000, mostly very indifferent troops; so that his whole muster was nearly 7000 musqueteers, 25,000 foot, armed with lances and shields, and about 7500 horsemen; in round numbers about 40,000 men. It is not possible, I believe, to know, with greater precision, the number, such is the confusion of barbarous armies on these occasions, and such the inclination of their leaders to magnify and increase their quotas. Besides these, Ayto Confu and Sanuda were left with about 600 men each, to protect Gondar from flying, pillaging parties, and to keep the communication open between the army and the capital, from whence the provisions were to be supplied.
This army was furnished with a number of excellent officers, veterans of noble families, who had spent their whole life in war, which we may say, for these last 400 years, has never ceased to lay desolate this unhappy country; the principal were Ras Michael, who, arrived at the age of seventy-four, had passed the last 50 years of his life in a course of continued victories, Atsham Georgis, and Guebra Christos, uncles by the mother's side to the king; Kefla Yasous, in the full vigour of life, who, though unhappily born in a country plunged in ignorance, and where there is no education, possessed every quality that became a man, whether a soldier, statesman, citizen, or friend; Welleta Michael, master of the household to the king; Billetana Gueta Tecla; Basha Hezekias, and Guebra Mascal, two principal officers of his musquetry, and a great number of others of equal merit, known better in the camp than at the court; Aylo, and Engedan, two sons of Kasmati Eshte; Ayto Confu, son of Ozoro Esther, all young men, employed generally in enterprises, and growing every day more and more into reputation.
It is impossible so much as to guess at the number of the enemy, they were always very numerous, but constantly changing. It was said, that Begemder and Lasta had at one time 30,000 horsemen; I should believe this number greatly exaggerated, from what I heard afterwards; and that the whole cavalry in their army did not exceed what it was at the battle of Serbraxos. I suppose indeed, that, together with their foot, they did not much exceed that number, tho' they were at times magnified to 50 and 60,000, most of them very bad troops, continually deserting, excepting about 4000 men belonging to Gusho, from Amhara, who likewise brought about 100 match-locks, and besides these there were scarcely any in the rebel army. I must not, however, forget 200 horsemen, Edjow Galla, servants and relations of the late king Joas, who behaved in the most gallant and undaunted manner, and upon all occasions set a noble example to the rest of the army.
Ras Michael himself led the van; the king the center, with Guebra Mascal,and a considerable body of musqueteers of Tigre; he had no horse but those of his own household. The rear was commanded by Welleta Michael, and Tecla: how disposed, or of what troops constituted I know not, for the front, center, and rear were understood to march in order, but it was often impossible to discern any such divisions; we were often all in confusion, sometimes we were in the middle of the front, sometimes joined and mixed with the rear; all our officers had left their command, and were crowding about Ras Michael and the king; women bearing provisions, horns of liquor, and mills for grinding corn, upon their backs; idle women of all sorts, half dead with fear, crying and roaring, mounted upon mules; and men driving mules loaded with baggage, mingled with the troops, and palling through in all directions, presented such a tumultuous appearance that it surpassed all description. There were above 10,000 women accompanying the army: the Ras had about 50 loaded with bouza, and the king I suppose near as many.
The sight threw me for a moment into low spirits. I know not if the king saw it. I was perfectly silent, when he cried, Well, what do you say to us now, Yagoube? I answered. Is this the order in which your majesty means to engage? He laughed, and said. Aye; why not, you will see. If that is so, I replied, I only hope it is the enemy's custom as well as your majesty's to be in no better order. The king was going to answer me, when Guebra Mascal, who was just beside him, cried out, This is a business you know nothing about, Yagoube; go to your Felac (quadrant) and your fortune-telling, if you are afraid; we have no need of you, nor your advice to-day. Respect for the presence of the king, which you seem to be void of, said I, hinders me from answering you as I otherwise would have done; but be assured, in which ever army they were to-day, they are not men like Guebra Mascal whom should be afraid of. The king looked at him much displeased, and, I believe, said something favourable of me; what it was I did not distinctly hear.
It was now about 10 o'clock, when, marching close along the foot of the hills, we arrived at Tedda. The burying-place of Hatze Hannes I. son of Facilidas, and father of Yasous the Great, was scarce a quarter of a mile to the S. W. of us, and the church of St George a mile more on the east, when orders came from the Ras for us to encamp on the side of the hill, which we accordingly did, and were presently in better order than we were when marching. The Ras, who had passed the river of Tedda, encamped on the south side of it. It happened that our two bodies, the front and center, were at that time treading upon one another's heels; but the rear, from some accident, was considerably behind, and part of it had scarce passed the Mogetch.
Both the burying place, and church near it, were planted thick round with cyprus and cedar trees. Just a little before the Ras ordered us to encamp, a messenger arrived from Netcho, (the Fit-Auraris) that he had that morning met the Fit-Auraris of Begemder on this side of the river Mariam; that he had killed the Fit-Auraris himself, (a man of Lasta) with 37 of his men, and driven them back: he added, that he intended to fall back himself upon the Ras's army, unless stopt by contrary orders; these the Ras did not send, being desirous that he should join him, as he soon after did, without being pursued: he brought word that the army of the rebels was near at hand, between. Korreva and the lake; that Powussen's head-quarters were at Korreva, and that he had heard Gusho had pushed on advanced posts, as far as the church of Mariam; but this he did not know for certain, being only the information of a dying man. Ras Michael immediately detached Guebra Mascal, and another officer, with 400 men to take possession of the sepulchre and the church at Tedda, and conceal themselves among the cedar-trees. We had not encamped long, before the rear came in sight, Confu, son of Ozoro Esther, whom the Ras had left to guard Gondar, hearing how near the enemy was, and the probability of a battle that day, had left his post, and joined Yasine, with the horse of Ras el Feel, that were in the rear; soon after this junction, Asahel Woodage, with about 400 men, partly Edjow Galla, (the late king Joas's household) partly Maitsha, came up from the Denibea side of the lake Tzana, and began to harrass the rear, marching in great confusion. Confu, though something superior in number, was thought to be inferior in the goodness of troops by much more than the difference; but the event proved the contrary, for he charged Woodage Asahel so forcibly, that he obliged him to quit our rear, and retire across the plain at a pace, which if not a flight, did very much resemble it. Ayto Confu pressed vigorously upon him, till, being now clear of the rest of the army, and in the fair open plain, Woodage wheeled shortly about, and shewed by his countenance that it was not to avoid Ayto Confu, but Ras Michael's musquetry, that he retreated to a greater distance; both sides stopt to breathe their horses for some minutes; but it was plain afterwards, Asahel Woodage, an old soldier, trusted much to the known valour of his troops, and wished to strike a blow of consequence in presence of his old enemy the Ras.
Ras Michael was at the door of his tent then playing at dams, or drafts, as was his custom, and Ozoro Esther was trembling to see her son on the point of being surrounded by merciless Galla, the nation who most of all she detested, and who had every cause to hate her. All the young men, (Confu's friends) with their lances in their hands, and ready to mount on horseback, beseeched the Ras to allow them to go down into the plain to the assistance of Confu; but the old general, without leaving off his game, said, "I do strictly forbid one of you to stir; Confu has broke my orders to-day, and brought himself into a scrape by his own folly; let me see him get out of it by his courage and conduct, and thereby set the army a better example than he yet has done." — "Sir, said I, at least station some musquetry on the small hill, at the edge of the plain, that, if Confu is beaten, I may not have the mortification of seeing Yasine, and the new troops of Ras el Feel, (who were in their proper post) and have all my baggage and provisions, massacred before my eyes by these cowardly barbarians." I spoke this in the Utmost anguish, when the Ras lifted up his head with a ghastly kind of laugh, and said, "Right, well do so, Yagoube." Though this was but an imperfect permission, I ran down to the station with such haste that I fell twice in my way, and was considerably hurt, for the ground was rocky, and the grass slippery.
Although I had only waved my cloak, and cried come on fire, a large number of matchlocks of Ozoro Esther's, and the king's, hastened immediately to the ground. Confu by this time had charged, and after a short resistance beat Woodage back into the plain; Woodage, however, again faced about, and after some resistance, Confu in his turn was driven back in evident disorder, and pushed almost in upon the post, where our soldiers had made ready their musquets, to fire if they came a step nearer. At this instant a body of about 30 or 40 horse (the commander we afterwards knew to be Ayto Engedan) came up full gallop from the right, and stopt the Galla in their pursuit, Confu's men rallied upon this assistance, and Asahel Woodage retired in a direction passing close under the sepulchre, Engedan and Confu keeping at a moderate pace on his left between them and the army, and forcing them down, as it were, to the trap they knew was laid for them. They were yet a long shot from the cedars that surrounded the sepulchre, when a volley was discharged at them from among the trees, where Michael had posted his 400 men, which, though it did little or no execution, terrified Woodage Asahel's men so much, that Confu and Engedan, charging in that instant a, upon a signal, they all dispersed through different parts of the field, and their leader after them: Joas's Edjow, indeed, would not fall back a step upon the volley, but, after an obstinate resistance, they were broken by superior numbers, and forced to retreat before an enemy, so overcome with fatigue and wounds, as to be unable to pursue them.
The whole of this engagement lasted near an hour by my watch. One hundred and thirteen of Woodage Asahel's men were slain upon the spot, and their bloody trophies brought and thrown before the king. On Confu's side about 70 were killed and wounded; he himself received two wounds, one a large flesh wound in the hip, the other more flight upon the head, both of them at the very beginning of the engagement.
Notwithstanding the natural hardness of his heart, and that the misfortune which had happened was in immediate disobedience of orders, Ras Michael shewed great sensibility at hearing Confu was wounded; he came immediately to see him, a visit not according to etiquette, and gave him. a slighter reproof than was expected for leaving his post in the town, as well as for his fighting without his orders. Confu, with great submission and address at the same time, excused his leaving his post, from the repeated information he had received that a decisive battle was to be fought that day, and knowing the Ras's want of horse, he could not stay at Gondar, and keep his idle, when the fate of so kind a father, (as the Ras had been) and that of another, to whom he owed every thing, was depending. He said it would be more agreeable to him to die by the hands of the executioner of the camp, as an example for disobedience of orders, than survive with the reflection that he had been voluntarily absent from such an occasion. As for engaging with Asahel Woodage that day, he said he had no intention of that kind; that he knew not who he was when he attacked him, and only endeavoured to hinder him from harrassing the rear of the army, and destroying the provisions: That when he charged him first, Woodage was among the women, loaded with bouza, flour, and spirits, which were coming to the Ras, and great part of which he had intercepted, as the Ras would find. Michael could not help laughing at this sad part of the excuse, but went away, and, in his conversation that evening, gave Confu the highest praises for his conduct and bravery, but said nothing of his fault.
Engedan was next arraigned for fighting without orders. He, too, answered with great humility, That when he saw the infantry run down the hill, with their matches lighted, he thought it was the Ras's intention to relieve Confu - by the most effectual means possible; but at any rate he could never, with arms in his hands, stand looking on, while his cousin-german and companion was massacred by Galla. All ended well. The truth is, Michael never would find fault with a man that fought, however imprudently he fought the occasion: courage was to him in place of charity; it covered a multitude of sins.
Ozoro Esther, in the deepest concern, had attended her son from the moment of his arrival, and had seen his wound dressed and swathed up. A large gaping flesh-wound (such as his was) frightens ignorant people more than the small orifice made by a shot, which breaks bones and endangers life. Such was Ozoro Esther's apprehension; and every minute she inquired of me if I thought it was possible he could recover, I had not quitted him since he had got off his horse. I advised him by all means to go in a litter to Gondar, either carried by men or mules; but no persuasion, nor consideration, would induce him to go otherwise than on a mule, with his horse harnessed and led by him.
Every thing was accordingly prepared, when I received a message from the Ras to wait upon him. I immediately went to his tent, and found him with two dwarf boys only, who were fanning the flies from his face. "Ozoro Esther wishes, says he, that you would see Confu safe to Gondar, and bring us word to-morrow how he is; and you must stay with him altogether, if he is in danger." — "If he has no fever, said I, he is in no danger. If the king and you" — He then interrupted me, — "The king, and I, and every one, wishes you to attend Confu." I bowed, and went away without reply. When I was got to the door he cried after me, "Don't be afraid, you will be in time enough to see every thing; neither they nor I wish an engagement but at Serbraxos."
I did not understand the meaning of the speech, but went away without reply straight to the king's tent; and I was just going to speak when he stopt me, by crying, "Go, go, for God's sake! Ozoro Esther has been here almost out of her senses." I went on this to her tent, where I found her sitting by Confu and drowned in tears, which at times were interrupted by fits of seeming distraction. He began to feel the loss of blood, which would have made me wish not to move him; but there was no staying here for sick people; and so violent a spirit had spread through the army, upon Netcho's success and Confu's victory, that one and all inflicted upon fighting the next day; and several of my friends, who knew where I was going, shook hands with me at my passing them, saying, "Farewell, Yagoube; we are sorry to lose you, but all will be over before you come back."
I now insisted more than ever upon Confu's going in a litter, and setting out immediately, which was accordingly complied with Ozoro Esther had dinner, or rather supper, ready in a moment, and I had great need of it, having scarcely tasted any thing for two days. While I was eating, Ozoro Esther could not stop the effusions of her gratitude for the care I had again taken of Confu. "I knew, says she, you would have refused me, if I had endeavoured to persuade you to go away from the camp, when there are such fair expectations, you may be knocked on the head to-morrow; and therefore I applied to the Ras by force to bend that rash, proud spirit of yours, which one day will be the occasion of your death." — "Madam, said I, you do me injustice if you will not believe that I had rather obey your commands than those of any general upon earth: But, pray, what is the meaning of the Ras's speech to me about both armies wishing to fight at Serbraxos[1]? Where is this Serbraxos?" — "Why, says she, here, on a hill just by; the Begemder people have a prophecy, that one of their governors is to fight a king at Serbraxos, to defeat him, and slay him there: in his place is to succeed another king, whose name is Theodorus, and in whose reign all Abyssinia is to be free from war, or from any trouble, sickness, or famine; that the Galla, Shangalla, and Mahometans are all to be destroyed, and the empire of Abyssinia to be extended as far as Jerusalem." — "All this destruction and conquest without war! That will be curious indeed. I think I could wish to see this Theodorus," said I, laughing. "See him you will, replied Ozoro Esther; peace, happiness, and plenty will last all his reign, and a thousand years afterwards. Enoch and Elias will rise again, and will fight and destroy Gog and Magog, and all this without any war." — "On which I again said, that must be cleverly managed. And now, why does Ras Michael choose to fight at Serbraxos? I do not think he is desirous to pay his court to the king Theodorus, or any king brought him by Begemder." — "Why, says she, all the hermits and holy men on our side, that can prophecy, have assured him he is to beat the rebels this month at Serbraxos; and a very holy man, a hermit from Waldubba, came to him at Gondar, and obliged him to march out against his will, by telling him this prophecy, which he knows to be true, as the man is not like common prophets, but one who never ate any thing but roots, or drank other liquor than water, since the day of his nativity. Such a man as this, you know, Yagoube, cannot lie." "And I, says Ayto Confu, being a prophet that hath ate beef and drunk bouza ever since my nativity, whenever I could not get wine or brandy, and who give my share of water freely to the saints of Waldubba, as a proper reward for the lies they tell, I do prophecy, that there are now two thousand men eating their supper within fight of Serbraxos, who will never see it nearer, but will all be slain in a battle fought at this place to-morrow, at which time Yagoube shall be feasting with me at Gondar, without caring a fig for king Theodorus and his plenty." — "A blessed prophet you!" says Ozoro Esther.
At this instant the servants at the door informed us there was scarce light to see the way down the hill, and we got our wounded prophet, without much difficulty or complaint, into the litter. A number of men supported him down the hill, and about 50 of his own horse attended. I desired him to feel often the bandage if his wound bled; and, finding it did not, I rode on horseback close by his side. For some time, not hearing him stir or speak, I thought he was asleep, or had fainted; on which I stopt the litter, felt his pulse, and asked him if he was dosing? He said, No; he was thinking of all the lies his mother had been telling me: but there is one thing she did not care to tell you, Yagoube, she says you laugh at these stories; but there is a spirit who always appears to Michael and assures him of victory. The devil, said I, probably; for what good arises from all those victories? are they not the ruin of innocent people, and of the country? No, replied Confu, it is St Michael the archangel; he saw him still before he surprised the mountain Haramat, but neither at Gondar, nor since he passed the Tacazze, and this makes him sorrowful. The spirit has been afraid to catch cold, said I, by wetting his feet in that cold fiver. I doubt so, answered Confu; but the liar of a monk, who my mother supposes never eats nor drinks, told him he was to see him at Serbraxos.
At this time we heard the noise of horses, and could discern (as we thought) three men that passed the bridge of Mogetch briskly before us. As they seemed to avoid us, six or eight of Confu's men pursued them at full gallop, but lost them in the darkness. They, however, were found to be soldiers of Kasmati Sanuda, who hearing Woodage Asahel had been engaged with Ayto Confu, had come out with the unworthy purpose of collecting some filthy trophies, by mangling the dead or wounded, though these must have been their own companions, the soldiers of Ayto Confu, who had been slain; for the whole of Woodage Asahel's men had already undergone what Strates emphatically called the operation, by the knives of Confu's soldiers. We now arrived at Koscam without any adventure, and Confu was laid to repose, after taking a little food: in obedience to the orders of Ozoro Esther, I lay down by him in the same apartment.
Early next morning I was sent for by a servant of Ozoro Esther, to attend Welleta Selasse, who I was told was at the point of death. I repaired immediately to the house of Ras Michael, where she then was, but found her without possibility of recovery, having already lost her speech. She expired a few minutes afterwards, apparently in violent agonies. The cause was never properly known; some attributed it to the jealousy of Ozoro Either, others alledged that she had taken poison from apprehension of falling into the hands of Ras Michael: whatever was the truth, her servants certainly told me, that the had confessed she had taken poison, and not till the pain became violent, and then she turned afraid, would she consent to have an express sent to Ozoro Esther, to bring me from the camp. I had unluckily left it before to attend Ayto Confu, neither is it probable I could have been of any service, as the poison she had taken was arsenic. This accident detained me that whole day, so that, instead of returning to the army, I went to Ayto Confu at Koscam, where I found another messenger in search of me.
The king's Mahometan was returned from Sennaar, and with him Soliman my servant, who brought me answers to the letters I had written; they had come by Beyla to Ras el Feel, by Sim Sim, and the western deserts, the way to Teawa being much infested by gangs of Arabs, and Ganjar horse, who murdered every body they found in their way. They brought with them only twelve horses, eighteen coats of mail, and about thirty libd[2]; these were mostly returns made by the principal members of government to the presents the king had sent them, for every body at Sennaar now set too great a value upon the armour, and horses, to part easily with them, on account of the unsettled state of the times, the history of which we shall give afterwards. My letters informed me that the whole kingdom of Sennaar was in arms, that Nasser (who had deposed his father by the help of two great brothers, Mahomet Abou Calec, and Adelan) was upon the point of trusting his life and kingdom to the event of a battle with these two officers. I was, moreover, conjured, with all the casuallness, as I thought, of a truly honest man, that I would by no means undertake the journey I intended; that to come from Ras el Feel to Sennaar, was, for a white man like me, next to an absolute impossibility, connecting the danger of the way with the great hardships from the excessive heat of the climate, and want of food and water; that even arrived at Sennaar, I should be in the utmost danger from the soldiery and the king's slaves, under no subordination or government; and that, even if I was happy enough to escape these, the worst still remained, and no human power could convoy or protect me, in my remaining journey to Egypt through the great desert. I was therefore begged to lay all such intention aside as impossible, and either stay where I was, or return by Tigré, Masuah, and Arabia, the way by which I first entered Abyssinia. This was the severest of all blows to me, and threw me for some time into the lowest despondency, but it did not change my resolution, which was already taken, not to turn to the right or the left, but either compleat my journey to Syene, the frontier of Egypt, by Sennaar, and Nubia, or perish in the attempt.
I now resolved to proceed immediately to the camp, taking twenty horse from Sanuda, and twenty from Confu, to escort the coats of mail and horses from Sennaar. I see out that evening with Mahomet the king's servant, by the load of Sema Confu, and arrived about nine o'clock in the camp, without any adventure, bringing the news of Welleta Selasse's death, which seemed to cause neither surprise nor sorrow, and was never after spoken of either by the Ras or Ozoro Esther; but very great rejoicings were made at the good accounts of Ayto Confu, with very kind expressions of me, both from the Ras and Ozoro Esther.
Before he went to bed, the king had examined Mahomet, and drawn from him the true state of the kingdom of Sennaar; he then sent for me, and ordered me to deliver him my letters, which I did, interpreting them to him, word for word. He said, however, but little at this time, as he thought that that door, being so effectually shut against me, less could be urged against the safer, and more known road through Tigré, which, of course, it was presumed I should more eagerly embrace; he kept my letters, and ordered me to choose two of the horses for myself, which I did, one of them near seventeen hands high, I suppose one of the most powerful horses in the world. The rest he distributed among the black troops; the same he did with the coats of mail. I found the army in great spirits, but still the story of fighting only at Serbraxos seemed to be obstinately persisted in. I asked Ozoro Esther if St Michael had yet appeared to the Ras; she answered, "Hush! for God's sake, don't make a joke of this, one word of this kind repeated to him would prevent your ever receiving a favour from Michael.
It happened that, the day after I had attended Ayto Confu to Gondar, Ras Michael sent some soldiers into Dembea to forage, these had been intercepted by a party posted on purpose by Kasmati Ayabdar and Gusho, consisting of Edjow Galla, with some horse from Foggora and Amhara. An engagement happened pretty much in the same place and manner as that with Woodage Asahel and Ayto Confu, in full view of the camp, and assistance was sent on both sides to the respective parties. The troops commanded by Aylo, brother of Engedan, and Guebra Mascal, were beaten back almost close to the camp, by the horse led by the Edjow Galla, though brave and veteran soldiers, while Ras Michael ordered Yasine and his 200 from Ras el Feel, (all with their libds on) to charge the Galla, now advanced very near. Each horse had a number of brass bells at his neck, and they no sooner appeared than the whole cavalry of the enemy, starting at the hideous figure and noise, fell into confusion, and, being closely pressed with violent blows of their great swords, no longer disputed the ground, but left the field on the gallop. A beautiful grey horse of Gusho's, superbly ornamented with gold and silver, and having a very rich broad-sword hanging at his saddle, and a pole-ax on the other fide under the furcingle, was taken by some soldiers of Ras el Feel, who spread the report instantly that Gusho was slain. Immediately on this, orders were given for the whole army to descend into the plain, which they did with great alacrity, forming in order of battle, though neither the king nor Ras Michael left the camp, nor did any adversary appear; and the troops, content with this bravado, returned again in great spirits to the camp.
This is the account I heard of that day's skirmish, for I was not present there, being at Gondar with Ayto Confu. In the evening of that very day arrived a messenger from Gusho, telling Ras Michael, that a young boy, a nephew of his, had, without his knowledge, gone to see the engagement, and had taken with him his favourite horse, who, being frightened at the Arabs with their libels, had thrown him, after which he had run off and left the horse among the enemy. He begged to have his horse restored at any price, if the man that had taken him was allowed to sell him. He at the same time sent a present of a large quantity of fruit and fresh fish from the lake. The messenger was a priest well known by Ras Michael, and warmly attached to the king, and it was thought came with an errand of more consequence than either about the horse or the fish. The Ras sent him for his answer to the King, who told him, the horse being taken by the troops of Ras el Feel, belonged to me, and with me he must make his bargain: that I was at Gondar, and my return uncertain; but that the next day he might have my answer. This was the better to conceal the priest's real business, for the King and Ras knew how they were to dispose of the horse; at least they certainly knew I was not to return him without their orders.
The morning after my arrival this same priest came to me with a message from Gusho, desiring I would send him his horse, as a proof of the friendship which he said had always subsisted between us, at the fame time offering me any sum of money that I might have promised to content the soldiers who took him. As I had before obtained leave from Ras Michael to restore the horse, so I did it with the very best grace possible, sending Yasine himself, chief of the troops of Ras el Feel, with the message to Gusho, that I reckoned myself exceedingly happy in having that opportunity of obliging him, and of shewing the value I had ever set upon his friendship; that he very well knew the little regard I had for money, and that the soldier who took the horse was my servant, and had already been abundantly satisfied. I desired Yasine to add, that I hoped, in order to a continuation of that friendship, he would avoid, in his own particular command, or in that of his relations, attacking where the king was in person, because it was my indispensible duty to be there, and that his nephew might not escape with the loss of a horse, if he again happened to be engaged with the Moorish troops, who, though under my command, were Mahometans, strangers to the language, and to whom it was impossible for me to convey any distinction of persons. Gusho was exceedingly sensible of this civil return of the horse; he cloathed Yasine magnificently, made him a present of another horse, and sent a very flattering message by him to me.