Strates proceeded--“We were crossing the plain below Dara, and not

being inclined to go into the town without you, we made to a large

daroo-tree, and sat down to rest ourselves till you should come up.

As the ground was somewhat elevated, we saw several horses in the

bed of a torrent where there was no water running, and, when these

were pulled up the bank, their masters got immediately upon them. I

conceived the one with the red sash upon his head was Guebra Mehedin,

and presently eight or ten naked people, armed with lances and shields,

came out of the hole nearest me. I was surprised, and thought they

might be robbers, and, kneeling down upon one knee, I presented the

large blunderbuss at them. On this they all ran back to their hole, and

fell flat on their faces; and they did well; I should have given them

a confounded peppering.”--“Certainly, said I, there is little doubt of

that.”--“You may laugh, continued Strates, but the first thing I saw

near me was Confu and Guebra Mehedin, the one with a red, the other a

kind of white fillet tied round his forehead. O ho! friend, says Guebra

Mehedin, where are you going? and held out his hand to me as kindly,

familiarly, and chearfully as possible. I immediately laid down my

blunderbuss, and went to kiss his hand. You know they are the good old

queen’s nephews; and I thought if their house was near we should have

good entertainment, and some merriment that night. I then saw one of

their servants lift the blunderbuss from the ground, but apparently

with fear, and the rest took possession of the mules and baggage. I

began to ask Guebra Mehedin what this meant? and said accidentally,

_ente you!_ instead of speaking it _entow_, as you know they pronounce

it to great people. Without further provocation he gave me a lash with

his whip across the eyes, another behind took hold of your sword that

was flung upon my shoulders, and would have strangled me with the cord

if I had not fallen backwards; they all began then to strip me. I

was naked in a minute as I was the hour I was born, having only this

night-cap; when one of them, a tall black fellow, drew a crooked knife,

and proposed to pay me a compliment that has made me shudder every time

I have since thought of it. I don’t know what would have been the end

of it, if Confu had not said, Poh! he is a _white_ man, and not worth

the _scarifying_: Let us seek his master, says Guebra Mehedin, he will

by this have passed the Gomara; he has always plenty of gold both from

the king and Iteghé, and is a real Frank, on which account it would be

a sin to spare him. On this away they went skirmishing about the plain.

Horsemen came to join them from all parts, and every one that passed me

gave me a blow of some kind or other. None of them hurt me very much,

but, no matter; I may have my turn: we shall see what figure he will

make before the Iteghé some of these days, or, what is better, before

Ras Michael.”

“That you shall never see, says Negadé Ras Mahomet, who entered the

room in the instant, for there is a man now without who informs us

that Guebra Mehedin is either dead or just a-dying. A shot fired at

him, by one of you at the Gomara, cut off part of his cheek-bone; the

next morning he heard that Kasmati Ayabdar was going to the hot waters

at Lebec with servants only, and the devil to whom he belonged would

not quit him; he would persist, ill as he was, to attack Ayabdar, who

having, unknown to him, brought a number of stout fellows along with

him, without difficulty cut his servants to pieces. In the fray, Tecla

Georgis, a servant who takes care of Ayabdar’s horse, coming up with

Guebra Mehedin himself, hurt as he was, struck him over the skull with

a large crooked knife like a hatchet, and left him mortally wounded on

the field, whence he was carried to a church, where he is now lying

a miserable spectacle, and can never recover.” Strates could hold no

longer. He got up and danced as if he had been frantic, sometimes

singing Greek songs, at another time pronouncing ten thousand curses,

which he wished might overtake him in the other world. For my part,

I felt very differently, for I had much rather, considering whose

nephew he was, that he should have lived, than to have it said that he

received his first wound, not a mortal one, but intended as such, from

my hand.

CHAP. V.

_Pass the Nile and encamp at Tsoomwa--Arrive at Derdera--Alarm on

approaching the Army--Join the King at Karcagna._

On the 22d of May we were all equally desirous to resume our journey.

We set out accordingly at six o’clock in the morning, ascending some

hills covered, as the former ones, with trees and shrubs, utterly

unknown to me, but of inexpressible beauty, and many of extraordinary

fragrance. We continued ascending about three miles, till we came to

the top of the ridge within sight of the lake. As we rose, the hills

became more bare and less beautiful. We afterwards descended towards

the passage, partly over steep banks which had been covered with

bushes, all trodden down by the army, and which had made the access

to the river exceedingly slippery. Here we saw the use of Mahomet’s

servants, three of whom, each with a lance in one hand, holding that of

his companion in the other, waded across the violent stream, sounding

with the end of their lances every step they took. The river was very

deep, the current, I suppose, fifty yards broader than it was at the

cataract; but the banks were, for a great way on each side, almost

perfectly level, though much obstructed with black stones. In the

middle it was very deep, and the stream smooth, so that it was apparent

our horses must swim. For my part I did not like the smooth stones

at the bottom, as a fall there would have been irrecoverable; and my

horse was shod with iron, which is not usual in Abyssinia. I therefore

resolved to swim where I could not wade, and, wrapping my cloaths in a

bundle, I gave them to a servant, who carried them over on his head. I

then waded in, and found the water unexpectedly cold. Mahomet rode on

a mule by my side, sometimes swimming, sometimes walking. I attempted

to sound up towards the lake, and found it deeper there. I returned,

therefore, being unwilling to try experiments, and, committing myself

to the stream, swam to the other side, much comforted by the assurance

that no crocodile passed the cataract.

The beasts having got over, the men followed much quicker; many women,

going to join the army, swam over, holding the tails of the horses, and

we were all on the other side before twelve o’clock, the beasts a good

deal tired with the passage, the steepness of the access to it, and the

still greater depth on the other side. For my part, I thought we could

not have gone on to Tsoomwa, but it was carried against me. Tsoomwa is

about twelve miles distant; and I suppose it was not much past three

o’clock when we arrived there, which was very fortunate, as we had

scarcely pitched our tents before a most terrible storm of rain, wind,

and thunder overtook us. My tent was happily placed in one respect,

being on a flat on the lee-side of a hill, and sheltered from the

storm; but, on the other hand, the water ran so plentifully from above

as quite to overflow it on the inside till a trench was dug to carry it

off.

Ras Michael had burnt nothing at Tsoomwa, though there was a house of

Powussen’s in the place, built by his father. But that dissembler, to

prevent the worst, and carry on the farce to the uttermost, had sent

many bags of flour for the use of the King and the Ras, which were to

be distributed to the army in case they wanted.

From the passage to Tsoomwa, all the country was forsaken; the houses

uninhabited, the grass trodden down, and the fields without cattle.

Every thing that had life and strength fled before that terrible

leader, and his no less terrible army; a profound silence was in the

fields around us, but no marks as yet of desolation. We kept strict

watch in this solitude all that night. I took my turn till twelve, as I

was the least fatigued of any. Netcho had picquets about a quarter of a

mile on every side of us, with fire-arms to give the alarm.

On the 23d, about three in the morning, a gun was heard on the side

towards the passage. This did not much alarm us, though we all turned

out. In a few minutes came Ayto Adigo, (not the Shum of Karoota,

already mentioned, who left us at the Gomara,) but a young nobleman

of Begemder of great hopes, one of the gentlemen of the king’s

bed-chamber, and consequently my colleague. He intended to have brought

four horses to the king, one of which he had drowned, or rather, as

I afterwards understood, throttled in passing the Nile at the mouth

of the lake; and two men, the king’s servants, had perished there

likewise. He came in great hurry, full of the news from Begemder,

and of the particulars of the conspiracy, such as have been already

stated. With Ayto Adigo came the king’s cook, Sebastos, an old Greek,

near seventy, who had fallen sick with fatigue. After having satisfied

his inquiries, and given him what refreshment we could spare, he left

Sebastos with us, and pursued his journey to the camp.

On the 24th, at our ordinary time, when the sun began to be hot, we

continued our route due south, through a very plain, flat country,

which, by the constant rains that now fell, began to stand in large

pools, and threatened to turn all into a lake. We had hitherto lost

none of our beasts of carriage, but we now were so impeded by streams,

brooks, and quagmires, that we despaired of ever bringing one of them

to join the camp. The horses, and beasts of burthen that carried the

baggage of the army, and which had passed before us, had spoiled

every ford, and we saw to-day a number of dead mules lying about the

fields, the houses all reduced to ruins, and smoking like so many

kilns; even the grass, or wild oats, which were grown very high, were

burnt in large plots of a hundred acres together; every thing bore the

marks that Ras Michael was gone before, whilst not a living creature

appeared in those extensive, fruitful, and once well-inhabited plains.

An awful silence reigned everywhere around, interrupted only at times

by thunder, now become daily, and the rolling of torrents produced

by local showers in the hills, which ceased with the rain, and were

but the children of an hour. Amidst this universal silence that

prevailed all over this scene of extensive desolation, I could not

help remembering how finely Mr Gray paints the passage of such an army,

under a leader like Ras Michael--

Confusion in his van with flight combin’d,

And Sorrow’s faded form, and Solitude behind.

At Derdera we saw the church of St Michael, the only building which,

in favour of his own name, the Ras had spared. It served us then for a

very convenient lodging, as much rain had fallen in the night, and the

priests had all fled or been murdered. We had this evening, when it

was clear, seen the mountain of Samseen. Our next stage from Derdera

was Karcagna, a small village near the banks of the Jemma, about two

miles from Samseen. We knew the king had resolved to burn it, and we

expected to have seen the clouds of smoke arising from its ruins, but

all was perfectly cool and clear, and this very much surprised us,

considering the time he had to do this, and the great punctuality and

expedition with which his army used to execute orders of this kind. As

we advanced, we had seen a great number of dead mules and horses, and

the hyænas so bold as only to leave the carcase for a moment, and snarl

as if they had regretted at seeing any of us pass alive.

Since passing the Nile I found myself more than ordinarily depressed;

my spirits were sunk almost to a degree of despondency, and yet nothing

had happened since that period more than was expected before. This

disagreeable situation of mind continued at night while I was in bed.

The rashness and imprudence with which I had engaged myself in so

many dangers without any necessity for so doing; the little prospect

of my being ever able to extricate myself out of them, or, even if

I lost my life, of the account being conveyed to my friends at home;

the great and unreasonable presumption which had led me to think that,

after every one that had attempted this voyage had miscarried in it,

I was the only person that was to succeed; all these reflections upon

my mind, when relaxed, dozing, and half oppressed with sleep, filled

my imagination with what I have heard other people call the _horrors_,

the most disagreeable sensation I ever was conscious of, and which I

then felt for the first time. Impatient of suffering any longer, I

leaped out of bed, and went to the door of the tent, where the outward

air perfectly awakened me, and restored my strength and courage. All

was still, and at a distance I saw several bright fires, but lower

down, and more to the right than I expected, which made me think I was

mistaken in the situation of Karcagna. It was then near four in the

morning of the 25th. I called up my companions, happily buried in deep

sleep, as I was desirous, if possible, to join the king that day. We

accordingly were three or four miles from Derdera when the sun rose;

there had been little rain that night, and we found very few torrents

on our way; but it was slippery, and uneasy walking, the rich soil

being trodden into a consistence like paste.

About seven o’clock we entered upon the broad plain of Maitsha, and

were fast leaving the lake. Here the country is, at least a great part

of it, in tillage, and had been, in appearance, covered with plentiful

crops, but all was cut down by the army for their horses, or trodden

under foot, from carelessness or vengeance, so that a green blade

could scarcely be seen. We saw a number of people this day, chiefly

straggling soldiers, who, in parties of threes and fours, had been

seeking, in all the bushes and concealed parts of the river, for the

miserable natives, who had hid themselves thereabouts; in this they had

many of them been successful. They had some of them three, some of them

four women, boys and girls, who, though Christians like themselves,

they nevertheless were carrying away into slavery to sell them to the

Turks for a very small price.

A little before nine we heard a gun fired that gave us some joy, as the

army seemed not to be far off; a few minutes after, we heard several

dropping shots, and, in less than a quarter of an hour’s time, a

general firing began from right to left, which ceased for an instant,

and then was heard again as smart as ever, about the occasion of which

we were divided in opinion.

Netcho was satisfied that Woodage Asahel, from Samseen, had fallen upon

Ras Michael at Karcagna, to prevent his burning it, and that Fasil had

strongly reinforced him that he might be able to retard the army’s

march. On the other hand, having been informed by Ayto Adigo, that news

were come to Gondar that Fasil had left Buré, and that Derdera was the

place agreed on by Gusho and Powussen to shut up Michael on the rear,

I thought that it was Fasil, to make good his part of his promise, who

had crossed the Nile at Goutto, and attacked Ras Michael before he

suffered him to burn Samseen. Indeed we all agreed that both opinions

were likely to be true, and that Fasil and Woodage Asahel would both

attack the king at the same time. The firing continued much in the same

way, rather slacker, but apparently advancing nearer us; a sure sign

that our army was beaten and retreating. We, therefore, made ourselves

ready, and mounted on horseback, that we might join them. Yet it was

a thing appeared to us scarcely possible, that Fasil should beat Ras

Michael so easily, and with so short a resistance.

We had not gone far in the plain before we had a sight of the enemy,

to our very great surprise and no small comfort. A multitude of deer,

buffaloes, boars, and various other wild beasts, had been alarmed by

the noise and daily advancing of the army, and gradually driven before

them. The country was all overgrown with wild oats, a great many of

the villages having been burnt the year before the inhabitants had

abandoned them; in this shelter the wild beasts had taken up their

abodes in very great numbers. When the army pointed towards Karcagna to

the left, the silence and solitude on the opposite side made them turn

to the right to where the Nile makes a semi-circle, the Jemma being

behind them, and much overflowed. When the army, therefore, instead of

marching south and by east towards Samseen, had turned their course

north-west, their faces towards Gondar, they had fallen in with these

innumerable herds of deer and other beasts, who, confined between the

Nile, the Jemma, and the lake, had no way to return but that by which

they had come. These animals, finding men in every direction in which

they attempted to pass, became desperate with fear, and, not knowing

what course to take, fell a prey to the troops. The soldiers, happy

in an occasion of procuring animal food, presently fell to firing

wherever the beasts appeared; every loaded gun was discharged upon

them, and this continued for very near an hour. A numerous flock of the

largest deer met us just in the face, and seemed so desperate, that

they had every appearance of running us down; and part of them forced

themselves through, regardless of us all, whilst others turned south to

escape across the plain.

The king and Ras Michael were in the most violent agitation of mind:

though the cause was before their eyes, yet the word went about that

Woodage Asahel had attacked the army; and this occasioned a great panic

and disorder, for everybody was convinced with reason that he was not

far off. The firing, however, continued, the balls flew about in every

direction, some few were killed, and many people and horses were hurt;

still they fired, and Ras Michael, at the door of his tent, crying,

threatening, and tearing his grey locks, found, for a few minutes, the

army was not under his command. At this instant, Kasmati Netcho, whose

Fit-Auraris had fallen back on his front, ordered his kettle-drums,

to be beat before he arrived in the king’s presence; and this being

heard, without it being known generally who we were, occasioned another

panic; great part of the army believed that Powussen and Gusho were

now at hand to keep their appointment with Fasil, and that Netcho and

I were his Fit-Auraris. The king ordered his tent to be pitched, his

standard to be set up, his drums to beat, (the signal for encamping)

and the firing immediately ceased. But it was a long while before all

the army could believe that Woodage Asahel had not been engaged with

some part of it that day. Happily, if near at hand, he did not lay hold

of this favourable opportunity; for I am convinced, if, just before our

arrival, he had attacked Michael on the Samseen side, with 500 horse,

our whole army had fled without resistance, and dispersed all over the

country.

Here I left Kasmati Netcho, and was making my way towards the king’s

tent, when I was met by a servant of confidence of Kefla Yasous, who

had that day commanded the rear in the retreat, a very experienced

officer, brave even to a fault, but full of mildness and humanity, and

the most sensible and affable man in the army. He sent to desire that

I would come to him alone, or that I would send one of the Greeks that

followed me. I promised to do so, after having answered most of the

questions that he bade his servant ask of me. After this I searched for

Strates and Sebastos, who had been sick upon the road.

I soon came up with them, and was more surprised than I had been for

several days, to see them both lie extended on the ground; Strates

bleeding at a large wound in his forehead, speaking Greek to himself,

and crying out his leg was broken, whilst he pressed it with both his

hands below the knee, seemingly regardless of the gash in his head,

which appeared to me a very ugly one, so that I, of course, thought his

leg was still worse. Sebastos was lying stretched along the ground,

scarcely saying any thing, but sighing loudly. Upon my asking him

whether his arm was broken? he answered feebly, that he was a dying

man, and that his legs, his arms, and his ribs were broken to pieces.

I could not for my life conceive how this calamity had happened so

suddenly, for I had not been half an hour absent talking to Kefla

Yasous’s servant; and, what seemed to me still stranger, every body

around them were bursting out into fits of laughter.

Ali Mahomet’s servant, who was the only person that I saw concerned,

upon my asking, told me that it was all owing to prince George, who

had frightened their mules. I have already hinted that this prince was

fond of horsemanship, and rode with saddle, bridle, and stirrups, like

an Arab; and, though young, was become an excellent horseman, superior

to any in Abyssinia. The manner that two Arabs salute one another, when

they meet, is, the person inferior in rank, or age, presents his gun at

the other, about 500 yards distance, charged with powder only; he then,

keeping his gun always presented, gallops these 500 yards as fast as he

can, and, being arrived close, lowers the muzzle of his gun, and pours

the explosion just under the other’s stirrups, or horse’s belly. This

they do, sometimes twenty at a time, and you would often think it was

impossible somebody should escape being bruised or burnt.

The prince had learned this exercise from me, and was very perfect at

the performance of it. We had procured him a short gun, with a lock and

flint instead of a match, and he shot not only justly, but gracefully

on horseback. He had been out after the deer all the morning; and

hearing that I was arrived, and seeing the two Greeks riding on their

mules, he came galloping furiously with his gun presented, and, not

seeing me, he fired a shot under the belly of Strates’s mule, upon the

ground, and wheeling as quick as lightning to the left, regardless of

the mischief he had occasioned, was out of sight in a moment, before he

knew the consequences.

Never was compliment worse timed or relished. Strates had two panniers

upon his mule, containing two great earthen jars of hydromel for the

king; Sebastos had also some jars and pots, and three or four dozen of

drinking-glasses, likewise for the king; each of the mules was covered

with a carpet, and also the panniers; and upon the pack-saddle, between

these panniers, did Strates and Sebastos ride. The mules as well as the

loading belonged to the king, and they only were permitted to ride them

because they were sick. Strates went first, and, to save trouble, the

halter of Sebastos’s mule was tied to Strates’s saddle, so the mules

were fastened to and followed one another. Upon firing the gun so near

it, Strates’s mule, not used to compliments of this kind, started, and

threw him to the ground; it then trampled upon him, began to run off,

and wound the halter around Sebastos behind, who fell to the ground

likewise amongst some stones. Both the mules then began kicking at

each other, till they had thrown off the panniers and pack-saddles,

and broke every thing that was brittle in them. The mischief did not

end here, for, in struggling to get loose, they fell foul of the mule

of old Azage Tecla Haimanout, one of the king’s criminal judges, a

very old, feeble man, and threw him upon the ground, and broke his

foot, so that he could not walk alone for several months afterwards.

As soon as I had pitched a tent for the wounded, and likewise dressed

Tecla Haimanout’s foot, I went to Kefla Yasous, while the two Mahomets

proceeded to the Ras with their money.

The moment I came into the tent, Kefla Yasous rose up and embraced

me. He was sitting alone, but with rather a chearful than a dejected

countenance; he told me they were all in great concern, till Ayto

Adigo’s arrival, at a report which came from Gondar that we had fought

with Guebra Mehedin, and had all been slain. I informed him every thing

I knew, or had heard, but he had better intelligence than I in every

article but this last, fresh news having arrived the night before

by way of Delakus. He said, the rebellion of Gusho and Powussen was

certain; that the King and Ras knew every circumstance of it, and that

Court-ohha was the place appointed with Fasil to meet and cut them off;

he had not heard of Woodage Asahel’s march, but seemed to give full

credit to it; he said it was certain, likewise, that Fasil had advanced

towards Maitsha; but where his quarters were he did not know, probably

they were not at a great distance. He complained violently of his

march, and of the number of beasts which they had lost; he wished also

that Fasil would be induced to give battle where they were encamped, as

his horse would probably be of little use to him among so many torrents

and rivers, and must suffer considerably in their advancing hither.

I asked him whither they were now marching? He said, that, as soon

as the news of the conspiracy were known, a council was held, where

it was the general opinion they should proceed, briskly forward, and

attack Fasil alone at Buré, then turn to Gondar to meet the other two;

but then they had it upon the very best authority that great rain had

fallen to the southward; that the rivers, which were so frequent in

that part of the country, were mostly impassable, so there would be

great danger in meeting Fasil with an army spent and fatigued with the

difficulty of the roads. It was, therefore, determined, and the Ras was

decidedly of that opinion, that they should keep their army entire for

a better day, and immediately cross the Nile, and march back to Gondar;

that they had accordingly wheeled about, and that day was the first of

their proceeding, which had been interrupted by the accident of the

firing. Kefla Yasous offered me all sorts of refreshments, and I dined

with him; he sent also great abundance for my servants to my tent,

lest I should not have yet got my appointments from the king. I then

went directly to my own tent, where I found all that belonged to me

had arrived safe, under the care of Francisco; and having now procured

clothes, instead of those taken from me by Guebra Mehedin, I waited

upon the king, and staid a considerable time with him, asking much the

same questions Kefla Yasous had done. I would have paid my respects to

the Ras also, but missed him, for he was at council.

CHAP. VI.

_King’s Army retreats towards Gondar--Memorable Passage of the

Nile--Dangerous Situation of the Army--Retreat of Kefla Yasous--Battle

of Limjour--Unexpected Peace with Fasil--Arrival at Gondar._

It was on the 26th of May, early in the morning, that the army marched

towards the Nile. In the afternoon we encamped, between two and three,

on the banks of the river Coga, the church Abbo being something more

than half a mile to the north-west of us.

Next morning, the 27th, we left the river Coga, marching down upon the

Nile; we passed the church of _Mariam-Net_, as they call the church of

St Anne. Here the superior, attended by about fifty of his monks, came

in procession to welcome Ras Michael; but he, it seems, had received

some intelligence of ill-offices the people of this quarter had done

to the Agows by Fasil’s direction; he therefore ordered the church to

be plundered, and took the superior, and two of the leading men of the

monks, away with him to Gondar; several of the others were killed and

wounded, without provocation, by the soldiers, and the rest dispersed

through the country.

Prince George had sent immediately in the morning to put me in mind

that I had promised, in the king’s tent at Lamgué, under Emfras,

to ride with him in his party when in Maitsha. He commanded about

two hundred and fifty chosen horse, and kept at about half a mile’s

distance on the right flank of the army. I told the king the prince’s

desire; who only answered, dryly enough, “Not till we pass the Nile;

we do not yet know the state of this country.” Immediately after this,

he detached the horse of Siré and Serawé, and commanded me with his

own guards to take possession of the ford where the Fit-Auraris had

crossed, and to suffer no mule or horse to pass till their arrival.

There were two fords proposed for our passage; one opposite to the

church Boskon Abbo, between the two rivers Kelti and Aroossi, (on the

west of the Nile,) and the Coga and Amlac Ohha from the east; it was

said to be deep, but passable, though the bottom was of clay, and very

soft; the other ford proposed was higher up, at the second cataract of

Kerr. It was thought of consequence to chuse this ford, as the Kelti,

(itself a large and deep river) joined by the Branti, which comes from

the westward of Quaquera, brings, in the rainy season, a prodigious

accession of water to the Nile; yet, below this, the guides had advised

the Ras to pass, and many found it afterwards a sound bottom, very

little deeper, with level ground on both sides. We arrived about four

on the banks of the Nile, and took possession in a line of about 600

yards of ground.

From the time we decamped from Coga it poured incessantly the most

continued rain we ever had yet seen, violent claps of thunder followed

close one upon another, almost without interval, accompanied with

sheets of lightning, which ran on the ground like water; the day

was more than commonly dark, as in an eclipse; and every hollow, or

foot-path, collected a quantity of rain, which fell into the Nile

in torrents. It would have brought into the dullest mind Mr Hume’s

striking lines on my native Carron--

Red ran the river down, and loud and oft

The angry spirit of the water shriek’d.

DOUGLAS.

The Abyssinian armies pass the Nile at all seasons. It rolls with it

no trees, stones, nor impediments; yet the sight of such a monstrous

mass of water terrified me, and made me think the idea of crossing

would be laid aside. It was plain in the face of every one, that they

gave themselves over for lost; an universal dejection had taken place,

and it was but too visible that the army was defeated by the weather,

without having seen an enemy. The Greeks crowded around me, all forlorn

and despairing, cursing the hour they had first entered that country,

and following these curses with fervent prayers, where fear held the

place of devotion. A cold and brisk gale now sprung up at N. W. with a

clear sun; and soon after four, when the army arrived on the banks of

the Nile, these temporary torrents were all subsided, the sun was hot,

and the ground again beginning to become dry.

Netcho, Ras Michael’s Fit-Auraris, with about 400 men, had passed

in the morning, and taken his station above us in little huts like

bee-hives, which the soldiers, who carry no tents, make very speedily

and artificially for themselves, of the long, wild oats, each straw of

which is at least eight feet long, and near as thick as an ordinary

man’s little finger. He had sent back word to the king, that his men

had passed swimming, and with very great difficulty; that he doubted

whether the horses, or loaded mules, could cross at any rate; but,

if it was resolved to make the trial, they should do it immediately,

without staying till the increase of the river. He said both banks were

composed of black earth, slippery and miry, which would become more so

when horses had puddled it; he advised, above all, the turning to the

right immediately after coming ashore, in the direction in which he had

fixed poles, as the earth there was hard and firm, besides having the

advantage of some round stones which hindered the beasts from slipping

or sinking. Instead, therefore, of resting there that night, it was

resolved that the horse should cross immediately.

The first who passed was a young man, a relation of the king, brother

to Ayamico killed at the battle of Banja; he walked in with great

caution, marking a track for the king to pass. He had gone upon rather

solid ground, about twice the length of his horse, when he plunged

out of his depth, and swam to the other side. The king followed him

immediately with a great degree of haste, Ras Michael calling to him to

proceed with caution, but without success. Afterwards came the old Ras

on his mule, with several of his friends swimming both with and without

their horses on each side of him, in a manner truly wonderful. He

seemed to have lost his accustomed calmness, and appeared a good deal

agitated; forbade, upon pain of death, any one to follow him directly,

or to swim over, as their custom is, holding their mules by the tail.

As soon as these were safely ashore, the king’s household and black

troops, and I with them, advanced cautiously into the river, and swam

happily over, in a deep stream of reddish-coloured water, which ran

without violence almost upon a level.

Each horseman had a mule in his hand, which swam after him, or by his

side, with his coat of mail and head-piece tied upon it. My horse was

a very strong one, and in good condition, and a servant took charge

of my mule and coat of mail, so that, being unembarrassed, I had the

happiness to get safe and soon over, and up the path to the right

without great difficulty, so had most others of the cavalry who swam

along with us; but the ground now began to be broken on both sides of

the passage, and it was almost as difficult to get in, as it was to

scramble up the bank afterwards.

_Quis cladem illius noctis, quis funera fando,

Temperet a lachrymis._----

VIRG.

It is impossible to describe the confusion that followed; night was

hard upon us, and, though it increased our loss, it in great measure

concealed it; a thousand men had not yet passed, though on mules and

horses; many mired in the muddy landing-place, fell back into the

stream, and were carried away and drowned. Of the horse belonging to

the king’s household, one hundred and eighty in number, seven only were

missing; with them Ayto Aylo, vice-chamberlain to the queen, and Tecla

Mariam the king’s uncle, a great friend of Ras Michael’s, both old men.

The ground on the west side was quite of another consistence than was

that upon the east, it was firm, covered with short grass, and rose

in small hills like the downs in England, all sloping into little

valleys which carried off the water, the declivity being always towards

the Nile. There was no baggage (the tent of the Ras and that of the

king excepted) which had as yet come over, and these were wet, being

drenched in the river. The Fit-Auraris had left, ready made, two rafts

for Ozoro Esther, and the other two ladies, with which she might have

easily been conducted over, and without much danger; but the Ras had

made Ozoro Esther pass over in the same manner he had crossed himself,

many swimming on each side of her mule. She would have fain staid on

the east side, but it was in vain to remonstrate. She was with child,

and had fainted several times; but yet nothing could prevail with

the Ras to trust her on the other bank till morning. She crossed,

however, safely, though almost dead with fright. It was said he had

determined to put her to death if she did not pass, from jealousy of

her falling into the hands of Fasil; but this I will by no means vouch,

nor do I believe it. The night was cold and clear, and a strong wind

at north-west had blown all the afternoon. Guebra Mascal, and several

of Ras Michael’s officers, had purposely tarried behind for gathering

in the stragglers. The river had abated towards mid-night, when,

whether from this cause, or, as they alledged, that they found a more

favourable ford, all the Tigré infantry, and many mules lightly loaded,

passed with less difficulty than any of the rest had done, and with

them several loads of flour; luckily also my two tents and mules, to my

great consolation, came safely over when it was near morning. Still the

army continued to pass, and those that could swim seemed best off. I

was in the greatest distress for the good Ammonios, my lieutenant, who

was missing, and did not join us till late in the morning, having been

all night busy in seeking Ayto Aylo, the queen’s chamberlain, and Tecla

Mariam, who were his great companions, drowned probably at the first

attempt to pass, as they were never after heard of.

The greatest part of the foot, however, crossed in the night; and

many were of opinion that we had mistaken the passage altogether, by

going too high, and being in too great a haste; the banks, indeed,

were so steep, it was very plain that this could never have been an

accustomed ford for cavalry. Before day-light the van and the center

had all joined the king; the number, I believe, that had perished was

never distinctly known, for those that were missing were thought to

have remained on the other side with Kefla Yasous, at least for that

day. Kefla Yasous, indeed, with the rear and all the baggage of the

army, had remained on the other side, and, with very few tents pitched,

waited the dawn of the morning.

It happened that the priests of the church of Mariam Net, in the

confusion, had been left unheeded, chained arm to arm, in the rear

with Kefla Yasous, and they had began interceding with him to procure

their pardon and dismission. He was a man, as I said, of the greatest

affability and complacency, and heard every one speak with the utmost

patience. These priests, terrified to death lest Michael should pull

their eyes out, or exercise some of his usual cruelties upon them,

which was certainly his intention by bringing them with him to Gondar,

frankly declared to Kefla Yasous what they apprehended. They said that

they had never known a ford there before, though they had lived many

years in the neighbourhood, nor had ever heard of one at Kerr, the

first cataract, which the guides had persuaded the rather of the two;

they did believe, therefore, that Michael’s guides had deceived him on

purpose, and that they intended the same thing by him to-morrow, if he

attempted to pass at Kerr. They told him further, that, about three

days before Michael had arrived in the neighbourhood of Samseen, they

had heard a nagareet beat regularly every evening at sun-set, behind

the high woody hill in front, whereon was the church of Boikon Abbo;

that they had seen also a man the day before who had left Welleta

Yasous, Fasil’s principal officer and confident, at Goutto, waiting the

arrival of some more troops to pass the Nile there, whence they doubted

not that there was treachery intended.

The sagacious and prudent Kefla Yasous weighed every word of this

in his mind, and, combining all the circumstances together, was

immediately convinced that there had been a snare laid by Fasil

for them. Entering further into conversation with the priests, and

encouraging them with assurances of reward instead of punishment, he

inquired if they certainly knew any better ford below. They answered

him they knew of no ford but the common one of Delakus, about eight

miles below; that it was true it was not good, and it was deeper than

ordinary, as the rainy season had begun early, but that it was so

perfectly fordable that all the country people had gone with asses

loaded with butter and honey, and other provisions, for the market of

Gondar last week; from whence they inferred that he could easily ford

it, and safely, even with loaded mules. They advised him farther, as

the night was dry, and the rain fell generally in the day, to lose

no time, but to collect his troops, weary as they were, as soon as

possible, and send the heavy baggage before; that there was no river

or torrent in their way, but Amlac Ohha, which, at that time of night,

was at its lowest, and they might then pass it at their leisure, while

he covered them with his troops behind; that in such case they might

all be safe over the ford by the time the sun became to be hot in the

morning, about which hour they did not doubt he would be attacked by

Welleta Yasous. They said farther, that, though they could claim little

merit, being prisoners, by offering to be his guides, yet he might

perhaps find his use in the measure, and would thereby prove their

faith and loyalty to the king.

Although all this bore the greatest shew of probability, and the lives

of the informers were in his hands, that cautious general would not

undertake a step of so much consequence, as to separate the rear of

the army from the king, without further inquiry. There was then in

his camp, waiting the event of next day, two of the guides who had

brought them to this ford; a third had gone over the river with Ras

Michael. There was likewise in his camp a servant of Nanna Georgis,

who had arrived some days before with information to Ras Michael. The

two guides pretended to be Agows, consequently friends to the king. He

called these into his presence, and ordered them to be put in irons,

and then sent for the servant of Nanna Georgis. This man immediately

knew the one to be his countryman, but declared the other was a Galla,

both of them servants of Fasil, and then living in Maitsha.

Kefla Yasous immediately ordered the Kanitz Kitzera (the executioner

of the camp) to attend, and having exhorted them to declare the truth

for fear of what would speedily follow, and no satisfactory answer

being given, he directed the eyes of the eldest, the Galla, to be

plucked out; and he continuing still obstinate, he delivered him to the

soldiers, who hewed him to pieces with their large knives in presence

of his companion. In the mean time the priests had been very earnest

with the young one, the Agow, to confess, with better success; but

this execution, to which he had been witness, was more prevailing than

all their arguments. Upon promise of life, liberty, and reward, he

declared that he had left Fasil behind a hill, which he then shewed,

about three miles distant, in front of the king’s army, and had gone

down to Welleta Yasous, who was waiting at Goutto ready to pass the

Nile: that they were sent forward to decoy the king to that passage,

under the name of a ford, where they expected great part of the army

would perish if they attempted to pass: that Fasil was to attack such

part of the king’s army as should have passed as soon as it appeared

upon the heights above the river, but not till, by the firing on the

east side, he knew that Welleta Yasous was engaged with the rear, or

part of the army, which should still remain on that side separated by

the river: that they did not imagine Ras Michael could have passed

that night, but that to-morrow he would certainly be attacked by Fasil,

as his companion, who had crossed with Ras Michael, was to go directly

to Fasil and inform him of the situation of the King, the Ras, and the

army.

Kefla Yasous sent two of his principal officers, with a distinct detail

of this whole affair, to the king. It being now dark, they swam the

river on horseback, with much more difficulty and danger than we had

done, and they found Ras Michael and the king in council, to whom they

told their message with every circumstance, adding, that Kefla Yasous,

as the only way to preserve the army, quite spent with fatigue, and

encumbered with such a quantity of baggage, had struck his tent, and

would, by that time, be on his march for the ford of Delakus, which he

should cross, and, after leaving a party to guard the baggage and sick,

he should with the freshest of his men join the army. The spy that had

passed with Michael and the king was now sought for, but he had lost no

time, and was gone off to Fasil at Boskon Abbo. Kefla Yasous, having

seen all the baggage on their way before him, did, as his last act,

perhaps not strictly consistent with justice, hang the poor unfortunate

informer, the Agow, upon one of the trees at the ford, that Welleta

Yasous, when he passed in the morning, might see how certainly his

secret was discovered, and that consequently he was on his guard.

On the 28th he crossed Amlac Ohha with some degree of difficulty, and

was obliged to abandon several baggage-mules. He advanced after this

with as great diligence as possible to Delakus, and found the ford,

though deep, much better than he expected. He had pitched his tent on

the high road to Gondar, before Welleta Yasous knew he was decamped,

and of this passage he immediately advised Michael refreshing his

troops for any emergency.

About two in the afternoon Welleta Yasous appeared with his horse on

the other side of the Nile, but it was then too late. Kefla Yasous

was so strongly posted, and the banks of the river so guarded with

fire-arms, down to the water-edge, that Fasil and all his army would

not have dared to attempt the passage, or even approach the banks of

the river.

As soon as Ras Michael received the intelligence, he dispatched the

Fit-Auraris, Netcho, to take post upon the ford of the Kelti, a large

river, but rather broad than deep, about three miles off. He himself

followed early in the morning, and passed the Kelti just at sun-rise,

without halting; he then advanced to meet Kefla Yasous, as the army

began to want provisions, the little flour that had been brought over,

or which the soldiers had taken with them, being nearly exhausted

during that night and the morning after. It was found, too, that the

men had but little powder, none of them having recruited their quantity

since the hunting of the deer; but what they had was in perfect good

order, being kept in horns and small wooden bottles, corked in such

a manner as to be secured from water of any kind. Kefla Yasous,

therefore, being in possession of the baggage, the powder, and the

provisions, a junction with him was absolutely necessary, and they

expected to effect this at Wainadega, about twenty miles from their

last night’s quarters. The ground was all firm and level between Kelti

and the Avoley, a space of about 15 miles.

Ras Michael halted after passing the Kelti, and sent on the Fit-Auraris

about five miles before him; he then ordered what quantity of flour,

or provisions of any kind could be found, to be distributed among the

men, and directed them to refresh themselves for an hour before they

again began their march, because they might expect soon to engage

with Fasil. The day being clear, and the sun hot, those that the cold

affected, from the passage of last night, began to recover their former

health and agility; their clothes were now all dry, clean washed, and

comfortable; and had it not been for the fatigue that remained from

the two last days, and the short allowance to which they were reduced,

perhaps there were few occasions wherein the army was fitter for an

engagement. Being now disembarrassed from dangerous rivers, they were

on dry solid ground, which they had often marched over before in

triumph, and where all the villages around them, lying in ruins, put

them in mind of many victorious campaigns, and especially the recent

one at Fagitta over this same Fasil. Add to all this, they were on

their way home to Gondar, and that alone made them march with a tenfold

alacrity. Gondar, they thought, was to be the end of all their cares, a

place of relaxation and ease for the rest of the rainy season.

It was between twelve and one we heard the Fit-Auraris engaged, and

there was sharp firing on both sides, which soon ceased. Michael

ordered his army immediately to halt; he and the king, and Billetana

Gueta Tecla, commanded the van; Welleta Michael,and Ayto Tesfos of

Siré, the rear. Having marched a little farther, he changed his order

of battle; he drew up the body of troops which he commanded, together

with the king, on a flat, large hill, with two valleys running parallel

to the sides of it like trenches. Beyond these trenches were two

higher ridges of hills that ran along the side of them, about half a

musket-shot from him; the valleys were soft ground which yet could bear

horses, and these hills, on his right and on his left, advanced about

100 yards on each side farther than the line of his front. The gross

of these side-divisions occupied the height; but a line of soldiers

from them came down to the edge of the valleys like wings. In the

plain ground, about three hundred yards directly in his front, he had

placed all the cavalry, except the king’s body-guards drawn up before

him, commanded by an old officer of Mariam Barea. As prince George

was in the cavalry, he strongly solicited the Ras at least to let him

remain with them, and see them engage; but the Ras, considering his

extreme youth and natural rashness, called him back, and placed him

beside me before the king. It was not long before the Fit-Auraris’s two

messengers arrived, running like deer along the plain, which was not

absolutely flat, but sloped gently down towards us, declining, as I

should guess, not a fathom in fifteen.

Their account was, that they had fallen in with Fasil’s Fit-Auraris;

that they had attacked him smartly, and, though the enemy were greatly

superior, being all horse, except a few musqueteers, had killed four of

them. The Ras having first heard the message of the Fit-Auraris alone,

he sent a man to report it to the king; and, immediately after this, he

ordered two horsemen to go full gallop along the east side of the hill,

the low road to Wainadega, to warn Kefla Yasous of Fasil’s being near

at hand; he likewise directed the Fit-Auraris to advance cautiously

till he had seen Fasil, and to pursue no party that should retreat

before him.

The King, the Ras, and the whole army, began to be in pain for Kefla

Yasous; and we should have changed our ground, and marched forward

immediately, had we not heard the alarm-guns fired by Fit-Auraris

Netcho, and presently he and his party came in, the men running, and

the horses at full gallop. Ras Michael had given his orders, and

returned to the presence of the king on his mule; he could not venture

among horse, being wounded in the middle of the thigh, and lame in that

leg, but always charged on a mule among the musquetry. He said shortly

to the king, “No fear, Sir, stand firm; Fasil is lost if he fights

to-day on this ground.”

Fasil appeared at the top of the hill. I have no guess about the

number of such large bodies of troops, but, by those more used to such

computations, it is said he had about 3000 horse. It was a fine sight,

but the evening was beginning to be overcast. After having taken a

full view of the army, they all began to move slowly down the hill,

beating their kettle-drums. There were two trees a little before the

cavalry, that were advanced beyond our front. Fasil sent down a party

to skirmish with these, and he himself halted after having made a few

paces down the hill. The two bodies of horse met just half way at

the two trees, and mingled together, as appeared at least, with very

decisive intention; but whether it was by orders or from fear, (for

they were not overmatched in numbers) our horse turned their backs

and came precipitately down, so that we were afraid they would break

in upon the foot. Several shots were fired from the center at them by

order of the Ras, who cried out aloud in derision, “Take away these

horses and send them to the mill.” They divided, however, to the right

and left, into the two grassy valleys under cover of the musquetry, and

a very few horse of Fasil’s were carried in along with them, and slain

by the soldiers on the side of the hill. On the king’s side no man of

note was missing but Welleta Michael, nephew of Ras Michael, whose

horse falling, he was taken prisoner and carried off by Fasil.

A few minutes after this, arrived a messenger from Fasil, a dwarf,

named Doho, a man always employed on errands of this kind; it is an

intercourse which is permitted, and the messenger not only protected,

but rewarded, as I have before observed; it is a singular custom, and

none but shrewd fellows are sent, very capable of making observations,

and Doho was one of these. He told the Ras to prepare immediately, for

Fasil intended to attack him as soon as he had brought his foot up:

Doho further added a request from his master, as a mark of his duty,

that the king might not change his dress that day, lest he might fall

into the hands of some of the stranger troops of Galla, who might not

know him otherwise, or shew the proper respect to his person. The

Ras, I was told afterwards, for he was too far before us to hear him,

laughed violently at this compliment. “Tell Fasil, says he, to wait but

a few minutes where he now is, and I promise him that the king shall

dress in any way he pleases.” When Doho’s message was told to the king,

he sent back answer to Ras Michael, “Let Doho tell Fasil from me, that,

if I had known those two trees had been where they are, I would have

brought Welleta Gabriel, Ozoro Esther’s steward, to him; by which he

very archly alluded to the battle of Fagitta, where that drunkard,

shooting from behind a tree, and killing one Galla, made all the rest

fly for fear of the zibib.”

Doho being thus dismissed, the whole army advanced immediately at a

very brisk pace, hooping and screaming, as is their custom, in a most

harsh and barbarous manner, crying out Hatzé Ali! Michael Ali! But

Fasil, who saw the forward countenance of the king’s troops, and that

a few minutes would lay him under necessity of risking a battle, which

he did not intend, withdrew his troops at a smart trot over the smooth

downs, returning towards Boskon Abbo. It seems, as we heard afterwards,

he was in as great anxiety about the fate of Welleta Yasous, of whom

he had no intelligence, as we had been for that of Kefla Yasous; and

he had got as yet no intelligence till he had taken Welleta Michael

prisoner; he had heard no firing, nor did he consequently know

whether Kefla Yasous had passed the Nile with the Ras or not; he had,

therefore, left his camp, and marched with his horse only to take a

view of Michael, but had no sort of intention to give him battle; and

he was now very much exasperated against both Gusho and Powussen, by

whom he saw plainly that he had been betrayed.

This is what was called the battle of Limjour, from a village burnt by

Ras Michael last campaign, which stood where the two trees are; the

name of a battle is surely more than it deserves. Had Fasil been half

as willing as the Ras, it could not have failed being a decisive one.

The Ras, who saw that Fasil would not fight, easily penetrated his

reasons, and no sooner was he gone, and his own drums silent, than he

heard a nagareet beat, and knew it to be that of Kefla Yasous. This

general encamped upon the river Avoley, leaving his tents and baggage

under a proper guard, and had marched with the best and freshest of

his troops to join Michael before the engagement. All was joy at

meeting, every rank of men joined in extolling the merit and conduct

of their leaders; and, indeed, it may be fairly said, the situation of

the king and the army was desperate at that instant, when the troops

were separated on different sides of the Nile; nor could they have

been saved but by the speedy resolution taken by Kefla Yasous to march

without loss of time and pass at the ford of Delakus, and the diligence

and activity with which he executed that resolution.

Although a good part of Kefla Yasous’s soldiers were left at the

Avoley, the Ras, as a mark of confidence, gave him the command of the

rear. We were retreating before an enemy, and it was, therefore, the

post of honour, where the Ras would have been himself, had not Kefla

Yasous joined us. We soon marched the five miles, or thereabout, that

remained to the Avoley, and arrived just as the sun was setting, and

there heard from the spies that Welleta Yasous with his troops had

retired again to Goutto, after having been joined by Woodage Asahel.

There again were fresh rejoicings, as every one recovered their baggage

and provisions, many rejoined their friends they had given over as lost

at the passage, and the whole army prepared their supper. All but Ras

Michael seemed to have their thoughts bent upon sleep and rest; whilst

he, the most infirm and aged of the army, no sooner was under cover of

his tent than he ordered the drum to beat for assembling a council.

What passed there I did not know; I believe nothing but a repetition

of the circumstances that induced Kefla Yasous to advance to Delakus,

for, after supper, just before the king went to bed in the evening, a

man from Kefla Yasous brought the four priests of Mariam Net, who had

been the guides to the ford at Delakus. The king ordered meat to be set

before them, but they had done very well already with Kefla Yasous,

and, therefore, only took a small piece of bread and a cup of bouza,

the eating and drinking in presence of the king being an assurance that

their life was safe and pardon real. They had then five ounces of gold,

and several changes of clothes given to each of them, and the king took

them to Gondar with him, to provide for them there, out of the reach of

the revenge of Fasil, and placed them in the church of Hamar Noh[116].

The army marched next day to Dingleber, a high hill, or rock,

approaching so close to the lake as scarcely to leave a passage

between. Upon the top of this rock is the king’s house. As we arrived

very early there, and were now out of Fasil’s government, the king

insisted upon treating Ras Michael and all the people of consideration.

A great quantity of cattle had been sent thither from Dembea by those

who had estates in the neighbourhood, out of which he gave ten oxen to

Ras Michael, ten to Kefla Yasous, the same number to several others,

and one to myself, with two ounces of gold for Strates and Sebastos to

buy mules; but they had already provided themselves; for, besides the

two they rode upon of mine, they and my servants had picked up four

others in very good condition, whose masters had probably perished in

the river, for they were never claimed afterwards.

Just as the king sat down to dinner an accident happened that

occasioned great trepidation among all his servants. A black eagle[117]

was chased into the king’s tent by some of the birds of prey that hover

about the camp; and it was after in the mouth of every one the king

would be dethroned by a man of inferior birth and condition. Every

body at that time looked to Fasil: the event proved the application

false, though the omen was true. Powussen of Begemder was as low-born

as Fasil, as great a traitor, but more successful, to whom the ominous

presage pointed; and, though we cannot but look upon the whole as

accident, it was but too soon fulfilled.

In the evening of the 29th arrived at Dingleber two horsemen from

Fasil, clad in habits of peace, and without arms; they were known to be

two of his principal servants, were grave, genteel, middle-aged men;

this message had nothing of Doho’s buffoonery. They had an audience

early after their coming, first of the Ras, then of the King. They

said, and said truly, that Fasil had repassed the Kelti, was encamped

on the opposite side, and was not yet joined by Welleta Yasous. Their

errand was, to desire that the Ras might not fatigue his men by

unnecessarily hurrying on to Gondar, because he might rest secured of

receiving no further molestation from Fasil their master, as he was

on his march to Burè. They told the Ras the whole of the conspiracy,

as far as it regarded him, and the agreement that Powussen and Gusho

had made with their master to surround him at Derdera: they mentioned,

moreover, how sensible Fasil was of their treason towards him; that,

instead of keeping their word, they had left him to engage the King and

the Ras’s whole force at a time when they knew the greatest part of

his Galla troops were retired to the other side of the Nile, and could

be assembled with difficulty: That if the Ras by chance had crossed

at Delakus, as Kefla Yasous had done, instead of embarrassing his

army among the rivers of Maitsha, and crossing the Nile at that most

dangerous place near Amlac-Ohha, (a passage never before attempted in

the rainy season) the consequence would have been, that he must have

either fought at great disadvantage with an inferior army against the

Ras, or have retired to Metchakel, leaving his whole country to the

mercy of his enemies. Fasil declared his resolution never again to

appear in arms against the king, but that he would hold his government

under him, and pay the accustomed taxes punctually: he promised

also, that he would renounce all manner of connection with Gusho and

Powussen, as he had already done, and he would take the field against

them next season with his whole force, whenever the king ordered him.

The messengers concluded, with desiring the Ras to give Fasil his

grand-daughter, Welleta Selassé, in marriage, and that he would then

come to Gondar without distrust.

At the audience they had of the king the same night, they added, That

Fasil could not trust Ras Michael, he broke his word so often, and had

so many reservations and evasions in his promises.

The Ras, though he did not believe all this, made no difficulty

in agreeing to every thing that they desired. He promised the

grand-daughter; and, as an earnest of his believing the rest, the

king’s two nagareets were brought to the door of the tent, where, to

our very great surprise, we heard it proclaimed, “Fasil is governor

of the Agow, Maitsha, Gojam, and Damot; prosperity to him, and long

may he live a faithful servant to the king our master!”--This was an

extraordinary revolution in so small a space of time. It was scarce 43

hours since Fasil had laid a scheme for drowning the greater part of

the army in the Nile, and cutting the throats of the residue on both

sides of it; it was not twenty-four hours, since he had met us to fight

in open field, and now he was become the king’s lieutenant-general in

four of the most opulent provinces of Abyssinia. This was produced,

however, by the necessity of the times, and both parties were playing

at the same game who should over-reach the other. Fasil’s messengers

were magnificently cloathed, and it was first intended they should

have gone back to him; but, after reflection, another person was sent,

these two chusing to go to Gondar with the king to remain hostages for

Fasil’s word, and to bring back his investiture from thence to Burè.

The whole camp abandoned itself to joy.

Late in the evening Ozoro Esther came to the king’s tent. She had been

ill, and alarmed, as she well might, at the passage of the Nile, which

had given her a more delicate look than ordinary; she was dressed

all in white, and I thought I seldom had seen so handsome a woman.

The king, as I have mentioned, had sent ten oxen to Ras Michael, but

he had given twenty to Ozoro Esther; and it was to thank him for

this extraordinary mark of favour that she had come to visit him in

his tent. I had for some time past, indeed, thought they were not

insensible to the merit of each other. Upon her thanking the king

for the distinction he had shewn her, Madam, said he, your husband

Ras Michael is intent upon employing, in the best way possible for

my service, those of the army that are strong and vigorous; you, I

am told, bestow your care on the sick and disabled, and, by your

attention, they are restored to their former health and activity; the

strong active soldier eats the cows that I have sent to the Ras; the

enfeebled and sick recover upon yours, for which reason I sent you a

double portion, that you may have it in your power to do double good.

After this the room was cleared; and she had an audience alone for half

an hour. I doubt very much whether Ras Michael had any share in the

conversation; the king was in the very gayest humour, and went to rest

about twelve. The Ras loved Ozoro Esther, but was not jealous.

I had violent threatenings of the ague, and had gone to bed full of

reflections on extraordinary events that, in a few hours, had as it

were crowded upon one another. I had appointed Fasil’s servants to come

to my tent in the evening. I understood a council had been called, to

which Welleta Kyrillos, the king’s historiographer, had been sent for,

and instructed how to give an account of this campaign of Maitsha,

the passage of the Nile, and the meeting with Fasil at Limjour. Kefla

Yasous’s march to Delakus, and passage there, were ordered to be

written in gold letters, and so was Fasil’s appointment to Damot and

Maitsha. From this authentic copy, and what I myself heard or observed,

I formed these notes of the campaign.

On the 30th of May nothing material happened, and, in a few days,

we arrived at Gondar. The day before we entered, being encamped on

the river Kemona, came two messengers from Gusho and Powussen, with

various excuses why they had not joined. They were very ill received by

the Ras, and refused an audience of the king. Their present, which is

always new clothes to some value, was a small piece of dark-blue Surat

cloth, value about half-a-crown, intended as an affront; they were not

suffered to sleep in the camp, but forwarded to Fasil where they were

going.

The 3d of June the army encamped on the river Kahha, under Gondar. From

the time we left Dingleber, some one or other of the Ras’s confidential

friends had arrived every day. Several of the great officers of state

reached us at the Kemona, many others met us at Abba Samuel. I did not

perceive the news they brought increased the spirits either of the King

or the Ras; the soldiers, however, were all contented, because they

were at home; but the officers, who saw farther, wore very different

countenances, especially those that were of Amhara.

I, in particular, had very little reason to be pleased; for, after

having undergone a constant series of fatigues, dangers, and expences,

I was returned to Gondar disappointed of my views in arriving at the

source of the Nile, without any other acquisition than a violent ague.

The place where that river rises remained still as great a secret as it

had been ever since the catastrophe of Phaeton:--

_Nilus in extremum fugit perterritus orbem,

Occuluitque caput, quod adhuc latet._----

OVID. METAM. lib. ii.

CHAP. VII.

_King and Army retreat to Tigré--Interesting Events following that

Retreat--The Body of Joas is found--Favourable Turn of the King’s

Affairs--Socinios, a new King, proclaimed at Gondar._

The king had heard that Gusho and Powussen, with Gojam under Ayto Aylo,

and all the troops of Belessen and Lasta, were ready to fall upon him

in Gondar as soon as the rains should have swelled the Tacazzé, so

that the army could not retire into Tigré; and it was now thought to

be the instant this might happen, as the king’s proclamation in favour

of Fasil, especially the giving him Gojam, it was not doubted, would

hasten the motion of the rebels. Accordingly that very morning, after

the king arrived, the proclamation was made at Gondar, giving Fasil

Gojam, Damot, the Agow, and Maitsha; after which his two servants were

again magnificently cloathed, and sent back with honour.

As I had never despaired, some way or other, of arriving at the

fountains of the Nile, from which we were not fifty miles distant when

we turned back at Karcagna, so I never neglected to improve every means

that held out to me the least probability of accomplishing this end.

I had been very attentive and serviceable to Fasil’s servants while

in the camp. I spoke greatly of their master, and, when they went

away, gave each of them a small present for himself, and a trifle also

for Fasil. They had, on the other hand, been very importunate with

me as a physician to prescribe something for a cancer on the lip, as

I understood it to be, with which Welleta Yasous, Fasil’s principal

general, was afflicted.

I had been advised, by some of my medical friends, to carry along

with me a preparation of hemlock, or cicuta, recommended by Dr Stork,

a physician at Vienna. A considerable quantity had been sent me from

France by commission, with directions how to use it. To keep on the

safe side, I prescribed small doses to Welleta Yasous, being much more

anxious to preserve myself from reproach than warmly solicitous about

the cure of my unknown patient. I gave him positive advice to avoid

eating raw meat; to keep to a milk diet, and drink plentifully of whey

when he used this medicine. They were overjoyed at having succeeded

so well in their commission, and declared before the king, That Fasil

their master would be more pleased with receiving a medicine that

would restore Welleta Yasous to health, than with the magnificent

appointments the king’s goodness had bestowed upon him. “If it is so,

said I, in this day of grace, I will ask two favours.”--“And that’s a

rarity, says the king; come, out with them; I don’t believe anybody is

desirous you should be refused; I certainly am not; only I bar one of

them, you are not to relapse into your usual despondency, and talk of

going home.”--“Well, Sir, said I, I obey, and that is not one of them.

They are these--You shall give me, and oblige Fasil to ratify it, the

village Geesh, and the source where the Nile rises, that I may be from

thence furnished with honey for myself and servants; it shall stand me

instead of Tangouri, near Emfras, and, in value, it is not worth so

much. The second is, That, when I shall see that it is in his power to

carry me to Geesh, and shew me those sources, Fasil shall do it upon my

request, without fee or reward, and without excuse or evasion.”

They all laughed at the easiness of the request; all declared that

this was nothing, and wished to do ten times as much. The king said,

“Tell Fasil I do give the village of Geesh, and those fountains he is

so fond of, to Yagoube and his posterity for ever, never to appear

under another’s name in the deftar, and never to be taken from him,

or exchanged, either in peace or war. Do you swear this to him in the

name of your master.” Upon which they took the two fore fingers of my

right hand, and, one after the other, laid the two fore fingers of

their right hand across them, then kissed them; a form of swearing used

there, at least among those that call themselves Christians. And as

Azage Kyrillos, the king’s secretary and historian, was then present,

the king ordered him to enter the gift in the deftar, or revenue-book,

where the taxes and revenue of the king’s lands are registered. “I will

write it, says the old man, in letters of gold, and, poor as I am, will

give him a village four times better than either Geesh or Tangouri,

if he will take a wife and stay amongst us, at least till my eyes

are closed.” It will be easily guessed this rendered the conversation

a chearful one. Fasil’s servants retired to set out the next day,

gratified to their utmost wish, and, as soon as the king was in bed, I

went to my apartment likewise.

But very different thoughts were then occupying Michael and his

officers. They could not trust Fasil, and, besides, he could do them no

service; the rain was set in, and he was gone home; the western part

of the kingdom was ready to rise upon them; Woggora, to the north,

immediately in his way, was all in arms, and impatient to revenge the

severities they had suffered when Michael first marched to Gondar.

The Tacazzé, which separates Tigrè from Woggora, and runs at the

foot of the high mountains of Samen, was one of the largest and most

rapid rivers in Abyssinia, and, though not the first to overflow,

was, when swelled to its height, impassable by horse or foot, rolling

down prodigious stones and trees with its current. Dangerous as the

passage was, however, there was no safety but in attempting it:

Michael, therefore, and every soldier with him, were of opinion that,

if they must perish, they should rather meet death in the river, on the

confines of their own country, than fall alive into the hands of their

enemies in Amhara. For this, preparation had been making night and day,

since Ras Michael entered Gondar, and probably before it.

There was in Belessen, on the nearest and easiest way to a ford of the

Tacazzè, a man of quality called Adero, and his son Zor Woldo. To these

two Ras Michael used to trust the care of the police of Gondar when

he was absent upon any expedition; they were very active and capable,

but had fallen from their allegiance, and joined Powussen and Gusho,

at least in councils. The Ras, immediately upon arriving at Gondar,

dissembling what he knew of their treason, had sent to them to prepare

a quantity of flour for the troops that were to pass their way; to

get together what horses they could as quietly as possible; to send

him word what state the ford was in; and also, if Powussen had made

any movement forward; or if Ayto Tesfos, governor of Samen, had shewn

any disposition to dispute the passage through Woggora into Tigré.

Word was immediately returned by the traitor Adero, that the ford was

as yet very passable; that it was said Powussen was marching towards

Maitsha; that Ayto Tesfos was at home upon his high rock, the seat of

his government, and that no time was to be lost, as he believed he

had already flour enough to suffice; he added also, that it would be

dangerous to collect more, for it would give the alarm. This was all

received as truth, and a messenger sent back with orders, that Zor

Woldo should leave the flour in small bags at Ebenaat, and that he

should himself and his father wait the Ras at the ford, with what horse

they had, the fourth day from that, in the evening.

The next morning the whole army was in motion. I had the evening before

taken leave of the king in an interview which cost me more than almost

any one in my life. The substance was, That I was ill in my health,

and quite unprepared to attend him into Tigré; that my heart was set

upon completing the only purpose of my coming into Abyssinia, without

which I should return into my own country with disgrace; that I hoped,

through his majesty’s influence, Fasil might find some way for me to

accomplish it; if not, I trusted soon to see him return, when I hoped

it would be easy; but, if I then went to Tigré, I was fully persuaded

I should never have the resolution to come again to Gondar.

He seemed to take heart at the confidence with which I spoke of his

return. “You, Yagoube, says he, in a humble, complaining tone, could

tell me, if you pleased, whether I shall or not, and what is to befal

me; those instruments and those wheels, with which you are constantly

looking at the stars, cannot be for any use unless for prying into

futurity.”--“Indeed, said I, prince, these are things by which we guide

ships at sea, and by these we mark down the ways that we travel by

land; teach them to people that never passed them before, and, being

once traced, keep them thus to be known by all men for ever. But of the

decrees of Providence, whether they regard you or myself, I know no

more than the mule upon which you ride.”--“Tell me then, I pray, tell

me, what is the reason you speak of my return as certain?”--“I speak,

said I, from observation, from reflections that I have made, much more

certain than prophecies and divinations by stars. The first campaign of

your reign at Fagitta, when you was relying upon the dispositions that

the Ras had most ably and skillfully made, a drunkard, with a single

shot, defeated a numerous army of your enemies. Powussen and Gusho

were your friends, as you thought, when you marched out last, yet they

had, at that very instant, made a league to destroy you at Derdera;

and nothing but a miracle could have saved you, shut up between two

lakes and three armies. It was neither you nor Michael that disordered

their councils, and made them fail in what they had concerted. You

was for burning Samseen, whilst Woodage Asahel was there in ambush

with a large force, with a knowledge of all the fords, and master

of all the inhabitants of the country. Remember how you passed those

rivers, holding hand in hand, and drawing one another over. Could you

have done this with an enemy behind you, and such an enemy as Woodage

Asahel? He would have followed and harrassed you till you took the

ford at Goutto, and there was Welleta Yasous waiting to oppose you

with 6000 men on the opposite bank. When Ras Michael marched by Mariam

Net, he found the priests at their homes. Was that the case in any of

the other churches we passed? No; all were fled for fear of Michael;

yet these were more guilty than any by their connections with Fasil;

notwithstanding which, they alone, of all others, staid, though they

knew not why; an invisible hand held them that they might operate your

preservation. Nothing could have saved the army but the desperate

passage, so tremendous that it will exceed the belief of man, crossing

the Nile that night. Yet if the priests had crossed before this, not

a man would have proceeded to the ford. The priests would have been

Ras Michael’s prisoners, and, on the other side, they never would have

spoken a word whilst in the presence of Michael. Providence, therefore,

kept them with Kefla Yasous; all was discovered, and the army saved by

the retreat, and his speedy passing at the ford of Delakus.”

What would have happened to Kefla Yasous, had Fasil marched down to

Delakus either before or after the passage? Kefla Yasous would have

been cut off before Ras Michael had passed the Kelti; instead of

which, an unknown cause detained him, most infatuated-like, beating

his kettle-drums behind Boskon Abbo, while our army under the Ras

was swimming that dangerous river, and most of us passing the night,

naked, without tents, provision, or powder. Nor did he ever think of

presenting himself till we had warmed ourselves by an easy march in a

fine day, when we were every way his superiors, and Kefla Yasous in

his rear. From all these special marks of the favour of an over-ruling

Providence, I do believe stedfastly that God will not leave his work

half finished. “He it is who, governing the whole universe, has yet

reserved specially to himself the department of war; he it is who has

stiled himself the God of Battles.” The king was very much moved,

and, as I conceived, persuaded. He said, “O Yagoube, go but with me

to Tigrè, and I will do for you whatever you desire me.”--“You do,

Sir, said I, whatever I desire you, and more. I have told you my

reasons why that cannot be; let me stay here a few months, and wait

your return.” The king then advised me to live entirely at Koscam with

the Iteghé, without going out unless Fasil came to Gondar, and to

send him punctually word how I was treated. Upon this we parted with

inexpressible reluctance. He was a king worthy to reign over a better

people; my heart was deeply penetrated with those marks of favour and

condescension which I had uniformly received from him ever since I

entered his palace.

On the 5th of June, while Powussen, Adero, and the conspirators were

waiting his passage through Belessen, (that is to the S. W.) the king’s

army marched towards Koscam, over the mountain Debra Tzai towards

Walkayt, and the low, hot provinces of Abyssinia which lie to the N. E.

so that the distance between them increased every day in the greatest

proportion possible.

The queen ordered her gates at Koscam to be shut. A little before the

Ras mounted his mule, Ozoro Esther and her servants took refuge with

her mother the Iteghè; Gondar was like a town which had been taken by

an enemy; every one that had arms in his hands did just what he pleased.

Two very remarkable things were said to have happened the night

before Michael left the city. He had always pretended, that, before

he undertook an expedition, a person, or spirit, appeared to him, who

told him the issue and consequence of the measures he was then taking;

this he imagined to be St Michael the archangel, and he presumed very

much upon this intercourse. In a council that night, where none but

friends were present, he had told them that his spirit had appeared

some nights before, and ordered him, in his retreat, to surprise the

mountain of Wechné, and either slay or carry with him to Tigré the

princes sequestered there. Nebrit Tecla, governor of Axum, with his

two sons, (all concerned in the late king’s murder) were, it is said,

strong advisers of this measure; but Ras Michael, (probably satiated

with royal blood already) Kefla Yasous, and all the more worthy men of

any consequence, acting on principle, absolutely refused to consent to

it. It was upon this the passage by Belessen was substituted instead of

the attempt on Wechné, and it was determined to conceal it.

The next advice which, the Ras said, this devil, or angel, gave him,

was, that they should set fire to the town of Gondar, and burn it to

the ground, otherwise his good fortune was to leave him there for ever;

and for this there was a great number of advocates, Michael seeming

to lean that way himself. But, when it was reported to the king,

that young prince put a direct negative upon it, by declaring that

he would rather stay in Gondar, and fall by the hands of his enemies,

than either conquer them, or escape from them, by the commission of so

enormous a crime. When this was publicly known, it procured the king

universal good-will, as was experienced afterwards, when he and Michael

were finally defeated, and taken prisoners, upon their march in return

to Gondar.

The army advanced rapidly towards Walkayt. Being near the Tacazzé, they

turned short upon Mai-Lumi, (the River of Limes) the governor of which,

as I have already said, in our journey from Masuah, detained us several

days at Addergey with a view to rob us, upon a report prevailing that

Ras Michael was defeated at Fagitta. This thief the king surprised and

made prisoner, set fire to his house after having plundered it, and

carried him as hostage to Tigré, for the payment of a sum which he laid

upon every village to save them from being set on fire.

Being now safely arrived on the banks of the Tacazzè, the first

province beyond which is that of Sirè, Michael sent before him Ayto

Tesfos the governor, a man exceedingly beloved, to assemble all

sort of assistance for passing the river. Every one flocked to the

stream with the utmost alacrity; the water was deep, and the baggage

wet in crossing, but the bottom was good and hard; they passed both

expeditiously and safely, and were received in Siré, and then in Tigré,

with every demonstration of joy.

Michael, now arrived in his government, set himself seriously to

unite every part under his own jurisdiction. It was now the rainy

season; there was no possibility of taking the field, and a rebellion

prevailed in two different districts of his province. The sons of

Kasmati Woldo, whose father Ras Michael put to death, had declared

for themselves, in their paternal government of Enderta, and Netcho

who married Ras Michael’s daughter, had taken possession of the

mountain Aromata, commonly called Haramat, an ancient strong-hold of

his father’s, of which Michael had made himself master, while yet a

young man, after besieging it fifteen years. Netcho had also united

himself with Za Menfus Kedus, a man of great property in that and the

neighbouring country. Enderta is a flat, fertile territory, in the very

south-east of Abyssinia, depending on Tigré, and the mountain Aromata

is situated near the middle of that province; before taking the field,

Michael had directed the two Woldos to be assassinated during a feast

at Enderta, and their party dispersed of itself without farther effort.

The mountain shewed a better countenance, and seemed to promise

employment for a long time; it was garrisoned by old and veteran troops

who had served under Ras Michael. Netcho was the son of his hereditary

enemy, anciently governor of that mountain, whom he had reconciled

by giving him his daughter in marriage; notwithstanding which he had

now rebelled, just as the Ras marched to Maitsha against Fasil, by

the persuasion of Gusho and Powussen, purposely that he might form a

diversion in Tigré, and for this reason he had little hopes of mercy,

if ever he fell into the hands of Ras Michael. I had seen him often,

and knew him; he was a tall, thin, dull man, of a soft temper, and

easily imposed upon. Za Menfus, the other chief in the mountain, was a

very active, resolute, enterprising man, of whom Michael was afraid.

He had a large property all around the mountain; had been put in irons

by Michael, and had escaped; besides, on his return to Tigré, he had

slain the father of Guebra Mascal, Michael’s nephew by marriage, who

was commander in chief of all the musquetry Michael had brought from

Tigrè, so that he feared nothing so much as falling into Ras Michael’s

hands.

Ras Michael saw the danger of leaving an enemy so prepared and so

situated behind him; he therefore, before the rainy season was yet

finished, ordered the whole mountain to be surrounded with barracks,

or huts, for his soldiers; he also erected three houses for himself,

the principal officers, and the king. The country people were called in

to plow and sow the ground in the neighbourhood, so that his intention

was plainly never to rise from thence till he had reduced the mountain

of Aromata for the second time, after having once before succeeded in

taking it, after fifteen years siege, from Netcho’s father. There we

shall leave him at this siege, and return to Gondar.

It was on the 10th of June that Gusho and Powussen entered Gondar,

and next day, the 11th, waited upon the queen; they both beseeched

her to return from Koscam to the capital, and take into her hands the

reins of government for the interim: this she positively refused,

unless peace was first made with Fasil. She said, that Fasil was the

only person who had endeavoured to avenge his master Joas’s death;

that he had continued till that day in arms in that quarrel; and,

notwithstanding all the offers that could be made her, she never would

come to Gondar, nor take any part in public business, without this

condition. Fasil, moreover, informed her by a messenger, that there was

no trust to be put either in Gusho or Powussen; that they had failed

in their engagement of following and fighting Ras Michael in Maitsha,

and had purposely staid at home till a superior army should fall upon

him singly, and ravage his country: That they had broken their word a

second time by entering into Gondar without him; whereas the agreement

was, that they all three should have done this at once, to settle the

form of government by their joint deliberation. Many days passed in

these negociations; Fasil always promising to come upon some condition

or other, but never keeping his word, or stirring from Buré.

On the 20th, the queen’s servants, who had gone to offer terms of

reconciliation to Fasil on the part of Gusho and Powussen, returned

to their homes. The same day he ordered it to be proclaimed in the

market-place, That Ayto Tesfos should be governor of Samen, and that

whoever should rob on that road, or commit any violence, should suffer

death. This was an act of power, purposely intended to affront Powussen

and Gusho, and seemed to be opening a road for a correspondence with

Ras Michael; but, above all, it shewed contempt for their party and

their cause, and that he considered his own as very distinct from

theirs; for Tesfos had taken arms in the late king’s lifetime, at the

same time, and upon the same principles and provocation, as Fasil, and

had never laid down his arms, or made peace with Ras Michael, but kept

his government in defiance of him.

On the 24th, for fear of giving umbrage, I waited upon Gusho and

Powussen at Gondar. I saw them in the same room where Ras Michael used

to sit. They were both lying on the floor playing at draughts, with

the figure of a draught-table drawn with chalk upon the carpet; they

offered no other civility or salutation, but, shaking me each by the

hand, they played on, without lifting their heads, or looking me in the

face.

Gusho began by asking me, “Would it not have been better if you had

gone with me to Amhara, as I desired you, when I saw you last at

Gondar? you would have saved yourself a great deal of fatigue and

trouble in that dangerous march through Maitsha.” To this I answered,

“It is hard for me, who am a stranger, to know what is best to be

done in such a country as this. I was, as you may have heard, the

king’s guest, and was favoured by him; it was my duty therefore to

attend him, especially when he desired it; and such I am informed has

always been the custom of the country; besides, Ras Michael laid his

commands upon me.” On this, says Powussen, shaking his head, “You see

he cannot forget Michael and the Tigré yet.”--“Very naturally, added

Gusho, they were good to him; he was a great man in their time; they

gave him considerable sums of money, and he spent it all among his

own soldiers, the king’s guard, which they had given him to command

after the Armenian. Yagoube taught him and his brother George to

ride on horseback like the Franks, and play tricks with guns and

pikes on horseback; folly, all of it to be sure, but I never heard

he meddled in affairs, or that he spoke ill of any one, much less

did any harm, like those rascals the Greeks when they were in favour

in Joas’s time, for it was not their fault they did not direct every

thing.”--“I hope I never did, said I; sure I am I never so intended,

nor had I any provocation. I have received much good usage from every

one; and the honour, if I do not forget, of a great many professions

and assurances of friendship from you, said I, turning to Gusho. He

hesitated a little, and then added very superciliously, “Aye, aye, we

were, as I think, always friends.”--“You have had, says Powussen, a

devilish many hungry bellies since we left Gondar.”--“You will excuse

me, Sir, replied I, as to that article; I at no time ever found any

difference whether you was in Gondar or not.”--“There, says Gusho, by

St Demetrius, there is a truth for you, and you don’t often hear that

in Begemder. May I suffer death if ever you gave a jar of honey to any

white man in your life.”--“But I, says Powussen, sitting upright on the

floor, and leaving off play, will give you, Yagoube, a present better

than Gusho’s paultry jars of honey. I have brought with me, addressing

himself to me, your double-barrelled gun, and your sword, which I took

from that son of a wh--e Guebra Mehedin: by St Michael, continued

Powussen, if I had got hold of that infidel I would have hanged him

upon the first tree in the way for daring to say that he was one of

my army when he committed that unmanly robbery upon your people. The

Iteghé, your friend, would yesterday have given me ten loads of wheat

for your gun, for she believes I am to carry it back to Begemder again,

and do not mean to give it you, but come to my tent to-morrow and you

shall have it.” I very well understood his meaning, and that he wanted

a present; but was happy to recover my gun at any rate.

I arose to get away, as what had passed did not please me; for before

the king’s retreat to Tigré, Gusho had sat in my presence uncovered to

the waist, in token of humility, and many a cow, many a sheep, and jar

of honey he had sent me; but my importance was now gone with the king;

I was fallen! and they were resolved, I saw, to make me sensible of it.

I told the queen, on my return, what had passed. They are both brutes,

said she; but Gusho should have known better.

The next morning, being the 25th, about eight o’clock, I went to

Powussen’s tent. His camp was on the Kahha, near the church of Ledata,

or the Nativity. After waiting near an hour, I was admitted; two women

sat by him, neither handsome nor cleanly dressed; and he returned me my

gun and sword, which was followed by a small present on my part. This,

says he, turning to the women, is a man who knows every thing that is

to come; who is to die, and who is to live; who is to go to the devil,

and who not; who loves her husband, and who cuckolds him.”--“Tell me

then, Yagoube, says one of the women, will Tecla Haimanout and Michael

ever come to Gondar again?”--“I do not know who you mean, Madam, said

I; is it the king and the Ras you mean?”--“Call him the King, says the

other woman in half a whisper; he loves the king.”--“Well, aye, come,

let it be the king then, says she; will the King and Ras Michael ever

come to Gondar?”--“Surely, said I, the king is king, and will go to any

part of his dominions he pleases, and when he pleases; do you not hear

he is already on his way?”--“Aye, aye, by G--d, says Powussen, no fear

he’ll come with a vengeance, therefore I think it is high time that I

was in Begemder.” He then shrugged up his shoulders, and rose, upon

which I took my leave. He had kept me standing all the time; and when

I came to Koscam I made my report as usual to the Iteghé, who laughed

very heartily, though the king’s arrival, which was prophecied, was

likely to be a very serious affair to her.

That very day, in the evening, came a servant from Ras Michael, with

taunts and severe threats to the queen, to Powussen, and Gusho; he said

he was very quickly bringing the king back to Gondar, and being now

old, intended to pass the rest of his life in Tigré; he, therefore,

hoped they would await the king’s coming to Gondar, and chuse a Ras for

his successor from among themselves, as he understood they were all

friends, and would easily agree, especially as it was to _oblige him_.

On the 27th, Gusho and Powussen waited upon the queen to take their

leave. They declared it was not their intention to stay at Gondar,

merely to be alternately the subject of merriment and scoffing to

Michael and to Fasil, and upon this they immediately set out on their

way home, without drum or trumpet, or any parade whatever.

Immediately after, arrived another servant from Fasil to the queen,

desiring that Powussen and Gusho might halt at Emfras, adding, that

he had just then begun his march from Buré, and would be at Gondar in

a few days. Gusho and Powussen did accordingly halt there, and were

detained for the space of six weeks, amused by false pretences and

messages, in very uncomfortable quarters, till their armies disbanded,

the soldiers, from hunger and constant rains, deserted their leaders,

and went every man to his home.

In the beginning of August the queen came to Gondar, and sat on the

throne all day. She had not been there these three years, and I

sincerely wished she had not gone then. It was in meditation that day

to chuse a new king; she was present at that deliberation, and her

intention was known to place a son of Aylo, Joas’s brother, a mere

infant, upon the throne. All those that were in fear of Michael, and

it was very general at that time, cried out against an infant king at

such a critical period; but, old as that princess was, the desire of

reigning had again returned.

Upon the return of the Iteghé that night to Koscam, Sanuda held a

council of the principal officers that had remained at Gondar, and

fixed upon one Welleta Girgis, a young man of about 24 years of age,

who had, indeed, been reputed Yasous’s son, but his low life and

manners had procured him safety and liberty by the contempt they had

raised in Ras Michael. His mother, indeed, was of a noble origin, but

so reduced in fortune as to have been obliged to gain her livelihood by

carrying jars of water for hire. The mother swore this son was begot by

Yasous, and as that prince was known not to have been very nice in his

choice of mistresses, or limited in their number, it was, perhaps, as

likely to be true as not, that Welleta Girgis was his son. He took the

name of Socinios. On the morning after, the new king came to Koscam,

attended by Sanuda and his party, with guards, and all the ensigns

of royalty. He threw himself at the Iteghé’s feet, and begged her

forgivenness if he had vindicated the rights of his birth, without her

leave or participation; he declared his resolution to govern entirely

by her advice, and begged her to grant his request and come to Gondar,

and again take possession of her place as Iteghé, or regent of the

kingdom.

It was about the 10th of August that an accident happened, which it

was generally thought would have determined Fasil to come to Gondar. A

common woman, wife of a Galla at Tchelga, a town upon the frontiers

of Sennaar, being at variance with her husband, upbraided him with

being the person that, with his own hand, had assassinated the late

king Joas. This Galla was immediately seized and sent to Gondar, and

was examined before the queen, where I was present. He, with very

little hesitation, declared, That, on a night immediately after the

battle of Azazo, he was sent for to Ras Michael, who gave him some

money and large promises, on condition that he would undertake to

murder the king that night. The persons present were Laeca Netcho, and

his two sons, Nebrit Tecla and his two sons, Shalaka Becro relation

to the present king, and Woldo Hawaryat a monk of Tigré The prisoner

said, he was afraid, if he should refuse, they would murder him for

the sake of secrecy. He further said, that they had given him spirits

to drink till he was intoxicated, and then delivered to him the keys

of the apartments where Joas was confined, and they all went with him

to the palace; they found the unfortunate king alone, walking in his

apartment, very pensive, and, though at the late hour of twelve at

night, dressed in his usual habit. Two of Laeca Netcho’s sons attempted

to put a cord round his neck, but the king, being young and strong,

shewed a disposition to defend himself, and wrested the cord out of the

murderers hands; upon which Zor Woldo (the name of the Galla) struck

him a violent blow with a bludgeon on the head, which felled him to the

ground: The others then, with a short cord, strangled him, the monk,

Woldo Hawaryat, crying, dispatch him quickly; after this they carried

the body to the neighbouring church of St Raphael, where a grave, or

rather hole, was ready, into which they threw it with the clothes just

as he was. The prisoner said, That, when they were carrying the king’s

body out of the palace into the church-yard, over a breach in the

church-yard wall, they were challenged by a person, who asked them what

they were about? to which they replied, Burying a stranger who died

that day of a pestilential fever.

Immediately upon this confession, the Galla was carried out and hanged

upon the daroo-tree before the king’s gate. Many condemned this hasty

execution, but many likewise thought it prudent; for he had already

named a great part of the people about the queen as accessary to the

death of her son.

I have said his name was Zor Woldo; he was of the race of Galla,

called Toluma, on the borders of Amhara; he had been formerly a

servant to Kasmati Becro; was of small stature, thin and lightly made;

his complexion a yellowish black, and singularly ill-favoured. When

under the tree, he acknowledged the murder of the king with absolute

indifference; nor did he desire any favour, or shew any fear of death.

Zor Woldo’s examination and declaration were sent immediately to Fasil,

who, as usual, promised to come to Gondar quickly. The body of Joas was

raised also, and laid in the church (in his clothes, just as he was dug

up) upon a little straw; his features were easily distinguishable, but

some animal had ate part of his cheek.

The day after, I went from Koscam to Gondar without acquainting the

Iteghé, and took a Greek called Petros with me; he had been chamberlain

to Joas. We went about eleven o’clock in the forenoon to the church

of St Raphael, expecting to have seen many as curious as ourselves,

but, by reason of the atrociousness of the act, now for the first

time known to be true, and the fear of Ras Michael threatening Gondar

every day, not a living soul was there but a monk belonging to the

church itself, who kept the key. It was thought criminal to know what

it was apparent Michael had wished to conceal. Petros no sooner saw his

master’s face than, saying, It is he! he ran off with all the speed

possible: for my part, I was shocked at the indecent manner in which

the body was exposed; it affected me more than the murder itself, for

it appeared as if it had been thrown down upon the ground, the head,

arms, and legs lying in all sorts of directions, and great part of

his haunch and thigh bare. I desired the monk to lock the door, and

come along with me to Petros’s house. Petros was a merchant who sold

carpets, and such sort of goods used in the country, which he brought

from Cairo. It was full an hour before we could make him behave

sensibly, or deliver me a small Persian carpet, such as Mahometans use

to pray upon, that is about seven feet long and four feet broad, and

a web of coarse muslin, which I bought of him. I told the priest (for

Petros absolutely refused to return to the church) how to lay the body

decently upon the carpet, and to cover his face and every part with

the muslin cloth, which might be lifted when any body came to see the

corpse.

The priest received the carpet with great marks of satisfaction, and

told me it was he who had challenged the murderers when carrying the

body over the wall; that he knew them well, and suspected they had been

about some mischief; and, upon hearing the king was missing the next

day, he was firmly convinced it was his body that had been buried. Upon

going also to the place early in the morning, he had found one of the

king’s toes, and part of his foot, not quite covered with earth, from

the haste the murderers were in when they buried him; these he had

put properly out of sight, and constantly ever after, as he said, had

watched the place in order to hinder the grave from being disturbed, or

any other person being buried there.

About the beginning of October, Guebra Selassé, a servant of the king

and one of the porters in the palace, came on a message to the queen.

It was a laconic one, but very easily understood.--“Bury your boy,

now you have got him; or, when I come, I will bury him, and some of

his relations with him.” Joas, upon this, was privately buried. As

this Selassé was a favourite of mine, who took care of my shoes when

I pulled them off to go into the audience-room, I waited impatiently

for this messenger’s coming to my apartment, which he did late in the

evening. I was alone, and he advanced so softly that I did not at first

hear or know him; but, when the door was shut, he began to give two

or three capers; and, pulling out a very large horn, “Drink! drink!

G--d d--n! repeating this two or three times, and brandishing his horn

over his head. Selassé, said I, have you lost your senses, or are you

drunk? you used to be a sober man.”--“And so I am yet, says he, I have

not tasted a morsel since noon; and, being tired of running about on

my affairs, I am now come to you for my supper, as I am sure you’ll

not poison me for my master’s sake, nor for my own either, and I have

now enemies enough in Gondar.”--“I then asked, How is the king?”--“Did

not you hear, said he--Drink!--the king told me to say this to you

that you might know me to be a true messenger.” And an Irish servant

of mine, opening the door in the instant, thinking it was I that

called _drink_! Selassé adroitly continued, “He knows you are curious

in horns, and sent you this, desiring me first to get it filled at the

Iteghé’s with good red wine, which I have done; and now, Hallo! Drink!

Englishman!” He then added in a whisper, when the servant had shut the

door, “I’ll tell it you all after supper, when the house is quiet, for

I sleep here all night, and go to Tigré to-morrow morning.”

The time being come, he informed me Ras Michael and Fasil had made

peace; Welleta Michael, the Ras’s nephew, taken by Fasil at the battle

of Limjour, had been the mediator; that the king and Michael, by their

wise behaviour, had reconciled Tigré as one man, and that the Ras

had issued a proclamation, remitting to the province of Tigré their

whole taxes from the day they passed the Tacazzé till that time next

year, in consideration of their fidelity and services; and this had

been solemnly proclaimed in several places by beat of drum. The Ras

declared, at the same time, that he would, out of his own private

fortune, without other assistance, bear the expence of the campaign

till he seated the king on his throne in Gondar. A kind of madness, he

said, had seized all ranks of people to follow their sovereign to the

capital; that the mountain Haramat still held out; but that all the

principal friends, both of Za Menfus and Netcho, had been up with the

governors of that fortress offering terms of peace and forgivenness,

and desiring they would not be an obstacle in the king’s way, and a

hinderance to his return, but that all terms had been as yet refused;

however, says he, you know the Ras as well as I, he will play them a

trick some of these days, winking with his eye, and then crying out,

Drink!

I asked him if any notice had been taken of the carpet I had procured

to cover the body of Joas, and hoped it had given no umbrage. He said,

“No; none at all; on the contrary, the king had said twenty kind things

upon it; that he was present also when a priest told it to Ras Michael,

who only observed, Yagoube, who is a stranger in this country, is

shocked to see a man taken out of his grave, and thrown like a dog upon

the bare floor. This was all Michael said, and he never mentioned a

word on the subject afterwards;” nor did he, or the king, ever speak of

it to me upon their return to Gondar.

The Iteghé, too, had much commended me, so did all the nobility, more

than the thing deserved; for surely common humanity dictated thus much,

and the fear of Michael, which I had not, was the only cause that so

proper an action was left in a stranger’s power. Even Ozoro Esther,

enemy to Joas on account of the death of her husband Mariam Barea,

after I had attended her one Sunday from church to the house of the

Iteghé, and when she was set down at the head of a circle of all those

that were of distinction at the court, called out aloud to me, as I was

passing behind, and pointing to one of the most honourable seats in the

room, said, Sit down there, Yagoube; God has exalted you above all in

this country, when he has put it in your power, though but a stranger,

to confer charity upon the king of it. All was now acclamation,

especially from the ladies; and, I believe, I may safely say, I had

never in my life been a favourite of so many at one time.

I dispatched Guebra Selassé with a message to the king, that I was

resolved now to try once more a journey to the head of the Nile; that

I thought I should have time to be there, and return to Gondar, before

the Tacazzé was fordable, soon after which I expected he would cross

it, and that nothing but want of health would prevent me from joining

him in Belessen, or sooner, if any opportunity should offer.

Before I took my last resolutions I waited upon the queen. She was

exceedingly averse to the attempt; she bade me remember what the last

trial had cost me; and begged me to defer any further thoughts of it

till Fasil arrived in Gondar; that she would then deliver me into his

hands, and procure from him sure guides, together with a safe conduct.

She bade me beware also of troops of Pagan Galla which were passing

and repassing to and from his army, who, if they fell in with me,

would murder me without mercy. She added, that the priests of Gojam

and Damot were mortal enemies to all men of my colour, and, with a

word, would raise the peasants against me. This was all true; but then

many reasons, which I had weighed well, concurred to shew that this

opportunity, dangerous as it was, might be the only time in which my

enterprise could be practicable; for I was confident a speedy rupture

between Fasil and Michael would follow upon the king’s return to

Gondar. I determined therefore to set out immediately without farther

loss of time.

CHAP. VIII.

_Second Journey to discover the Source of the Nile--Favourable Turn of

the King’s Affairs in Tigré--We fall in with Fasil’s Army at Bamba._

Though the queen shewed very great dislike to my attempting this

journey at such a time, yet she did not positively command the

contrary; I was prepared, therefore, to leave Gondar the 27th of

October 1770, and thought to get a few miles clear of the town, and

then make a long stretch the next day. I had received my quadrant,

time-keeper, and telescopes from the island of Mitraha, where I had

placed them after the affair of Guebra Mehedin, and had now put them in

the very best order.

But, about twelve o’clock, I was told a message from Ras Michael had

arrived with great news from Tigré. I went immediately to Koscam as

fast as I could gallop, and found there Guebra Christos, a man used

to bring the jars of bouza to Ras Michael at his dinner and supper:

low men are always employed on such errands, that they may not, from

their consequence excite a desire of vengeance. The message that he

brought was to order bread and beer to be ready for 30,000 men who were

coming with the king, as he had just decamped from before the mountain

Haramat, which he had taken, and put Za Menfus to the sword, with every

man that was in it: this message struck the queen with such a terror

that she was not visible the whole day.

After asking the messenger if he had any word from the king to me, he

said, “Very little;” that the king had called him to tell me he should

soon begin his march by Belessen; and that he would send for me to meet

him when he should arrive at Mariam-Ohha; he told me besides, that the

king had got a stone for me with writing upon it of old times, which he

was bringing to me; that it had been dug up at Axum, and was standing

at the foot of his bed, but that he did not order him to tell me this,

and had only learned it from the servants. My curiosity was very much

raised to know what this stone could be, but I soon saw it was in vain

to endeavour to learn any thing from Guebra Christos; he answered in

the affirmative to every inquiry: when I asked if it was blue, it was

blue; and if black, it was black; it was round, and square, and oblong,

just as I put my question to him: all he knew about it at last, he

said, was, that it cured all sort of sickness; and, if a man used it

properly, it made him invulnerable and immortal: he did not, however,

pretend to warrant this himself, but swore he had the account from

a priest of Axum who knew it. I was perfectly satisfied all further

inquiry was unnecessary; he had got a very plentiful portion of bouza

from his friends, and was, I saw, fast engaged in the pursuit of more,

so I gave him a small present for his good news, and took my leave, my

mind being full of reflections upon the king’s goodness, who, after

such an absence, and in so critical a situation as he then was, still

remembered the trifling pursuits in which he had seen me often engaged.

In the afternoon I received a message from Ozoro Esther, as brought

to her by a servant of Ras Michael. It seems the giving up the king’s

revenue due from Tigré, and all sort of taxes upon the inhabitants,

had interested the whole province so strongly, that all of them, as

one man, endeavoured to remove the obstacle which stood in the way of

the king’s return: Michael, moreover, offered peace and pardon to the

rebels, certain compensations, and an amnesty of all that was past. All

the friends, both of Netcho and Za Menfus, and the other leaders upon

the mountain, endeavoured to persuade them to accept the terms offered,

whilst all the priests and hermits, eminent for sanctity, became as

mediators between them and Ras Michael: this intercourse, though it had

no effect upon Za Menfus, had seduced Netcho, and opened a large field

for treachery.

In the midst of this treaty, Kefla Yasous, with a detachment of chosen

men, in a very stormy night, was appointed to ascend up a private path

to that part of the mountain where Netcho kept the principal guard,

and being admitted, found the garrison mostly asleep; he surprised and

obliged them to surrender, with very little bloodshed; Za Menfus was

taken prisoner, and, while Kefla Yasous conducted him to the camp,

was met by Guebra Mascal, who thrust him through with a lance, as a

retaliation for his father’s death. Netcho and the rest of the garrison

being pardoned, all joined Ras Michael’s army. I looked upon these news

as a good omen, and experienced a degree of confidence and composure of

mind to which I for a long time had been a stranger. I slept sound that

night, and it was not till half after nine in the morning that I was

ready for my journey.

In the evening before, I had endeavoured to engage my old companion

Strates to accompany me on this attempt as he had done, on the former;

but the recollection of past dangers and sufferings was not yet

banished from his mind; and upon my asking him to go and see the head

of this famous river, he coarsely, according to his stile, answered,

Might the devil fetch him if ever he sought either his head or his tail

again.

It was on the 28th of October, at half past nine in the morning, that

we left Gondar, and passed the river Kahha at the foot of the town;

our route was W. S. W. the road a little rugged upon the side of a

hill, but the day was fair, with sunshine; and a small breeze from

the north had risen with the sun, and made the temperature of the air

perfectly agreeable. We left the church of Ledeta about a mile on the

right, and passed by several poor villages called Abba Samuel; thence

we came to the small river Shimfa, then to the Dumaza, something

larger. Upon the banks of this river, very pleasantly situated, is

Azazo, a country-house built by the late king Yasous, who often retired

here to relax himself with his friends. It is surrounded, I may say

covered, with orange-trees, so as to be scarcely seen; the trees are

grown very large and high; they are planted without order, the only

benefit expected from them being the shade. At some small distance is

the village Azazo, originally built for the accommodation of the king’s

servants while he resided there, but now chiefly occupied by monks

belonging to the large church of Tecla Haimanout, which is on a little

hill adjoining. Azazo, though little, is one of the most chearful

and pleasant villages in the neighbourhood of Gondar. The lemon-tree

seems to thrive better and grow higher than the orange; but the house

itself is going fast to ruin, as the kings of this country have a fixed

aversion to houses built by their predecessors.

The Dumaza is a very clear and pleasant stream, running briskly over a

small bed of pebbles: both this river and the Shimfa come from Woggora

on the N. W. they pass the hill of Koscam, called Debra Tzai, join

below Azazo, and, traversing the flat country of Dembea, they meet the

Angrab, which passes by Gondar, and with it fall into the Tacazzè, or

Atbara.

At noon we passed a small rivulet called Azzargiha, and, soon after,

the Chergué, where there began a most violent storm of rain, which

forced us, much against our will, into the village, one of the most

miserable I ever entered; it consisted of small hovels built with

branches of trees, and covered with thatch of straw. These rains that

fall in the latter season are what the natives very much depend upon,

and without which they could not sow the latter crops; for, though it

rains violently every day from May to the beginning of September, by

the end of October the ground is so burnt that the country would be

unfit for culture.