A cool cloudy morning succeeding to this dreary, boisterous and
uncomfortable night, the caravan was in motion before sunrise across the
uninteresting plain of Azboti, in parts completely swamped, and covered
towards its borders with one interminable sheet of the aloe and
_lilium_, growing beneath spreading acacias upon a gravelly soil. Then
commenced a belt of hummocks, formed by prominences abutting from the
high land of Abyssinia--a succession of hill and dale, thickly-wooded
with a variety of timber, and still clothed with an undergrowth of the
wild aloe, through which wary herds of Baeza threaded their way. The
road soon entered the pebbly bed of a mountain stream, running easterly
between precipitous basaltic cliffs towards the Hawash; but although
such torrents of rain had fallen the preceding night, no water was
discovered in the wooded wady of Kokai, until reaching Dathara, nearly
thirteen miles from the last encampment, where the party partook of the
first crystal brook that had occurred during the entire weary journey
from the sea-coast.
Three thousand feet above the ocean, with an invigorating, breeze and a
cloudy sky, the climate of this principal pass into Southern Abyssinia,
was that of a fine summer's day in England, rather than of the middle of
July between the tropics. Here for the first time during the
pilgrimage, the tent was erected under the shade of a wide-spreading
tamarind, which, among many other trees of noble growth, graced the
sequestered spot. Above the surrounding foliage the long white roofs of
many of the royal magazines were visible, perched high on the blue
mountain side. In the forked branches overhead were piled
haystack-looking nests of gigantic dimensions, thatched with every
attention to neatness and comfort--the small aperture left by the
feathered architect turned in every instance to the eastward, and
carefully secured from the weather; and perched on every twig, an
assemblage of strange birds displayed their gay glittering plumage, or
filled the cool air with melodious song.
But from the summit of an adjacent basaltic knoll, which was ascended
towards the close of day, there burst upon the delighted gaze a prospect
more than ever alluring of the Abyssinian Alps. Hill rose above hill,
clothed in the most luxuriant and vigorous vegetation. Mountain towered
over mountain in a smiling chaos of disorder; and the soaring peaks of
the most remote range threw their hoary heads, sparkling with a white
mantle of hail, far into the cold azure sky. Villages and hamlets
embosomed in dark groves of evergreens were grouped in Arcadian repose.
Rich fields of every hue chequered the deep lone valley; and the sun,
bidding a diurnal farewell to his much-loved plains of the east, shot a
last stream of golden light, varied as the hues of the Iris, over the
mingled beauties of wild woodland scenery, and the labours of the
Christian husbandman.
No delegate with greetings from the Negoos awaiting the British Embassy,
and the frontier town of Farri, where caravans are received by His
Majesty's officers, being now only five miles distant, a letter was
prepared, of which Mohammad Ali volunteered to be the bearer. In
signifying gracious acquiescence to this arrangement, the Ras el Kafilah
gravely intimated that the escort of Hy Somauli spearmen, famished at
Killulloo by Ibrahim ibn Hameido, declined permitting the departure of
the son of Ali Abi, until they should have received the sum at which
they were pleased to estimate their services. Little reason existing to
be satisfied with the vigilance of this band of warriors, not one of the
component members whereof, Doctor Syntax inclusive, had adopted the plan
proposed by the poet for lengthening the days of existence by stealing a
few hours from the night, compliance to the full extent of the
exorbitant demand had previously been evaded. But as Izhak, in whom the
truth was not, now falsely asserted and maintained that the Akil had
taken his personal security for the sum, and as it was obviously of the
last importance that arrival on the frontier should be timely reported,
the money was reluctantly paid, and the courier set forth on his
journey.
Rain was again ushering in the early hours of the night, when the
unpleasant intelligence arrived that a certain Wulasma Mohammad was the
delinquent, and that he had contrived effectually to thwart the
intentions of his royal master. The king had commanded that his British
visitors should be received on the western bank of the Hawash by an
escort of honour. Under the commander-in-chief of the body-guard, three
hundred matchlock-men had been for this purpose detached from the troops
on service with His Majesty, and had actually reached Farri, whence the
jealous Moslem had dared to send them back upon the ridiculous pretext
of being unable to obtain any tidings of the expected Franks.
This important functionary, in addition to his office of state-gaoler,
is the hereditary Abogaz of the Mohammadan population of Argobba on the
east of Shoa, and the nature of his government exalts him in the eyes of
all to the importance of a king. With the title of Wulasma--a word of
uncertain derivation, known to Ludolf, the great historian of Abyssinia,
who styles the dignitary "Pro rex of Efat"--he possesses unbounded
influence over the frontier, his immediate duties being to preserve
amicable relations with the Adaiel occupying the plain of the Hawash,
and to protect kafilahs and merchants arriving from the independent
principality of Hurrur, or from the coast of Tajura. His functions as
keeper of the state prison secure for him the respect of all.
Christians as well as Islams, who have the fear of a dungeon before
their eyes; and although numerous Abogasoch or Wulasmoch, governors of
small detached provinces, share his power, the name and influence of all
are dim under the light that glares from his loop-holed residence at
Goncho.
It is the invariable policy of the haughty Abogaz to assume the great
man to all travellers, since it is generally understood that through him
alone foreigners can be received and forwarded, or if necessary
presented to the Negoos. This arrangement involves not only trouble,
but considerable expense. His despotic Majesty claiming the prerogative
of franking every visitor through his territories, and a portion of the
attendant outlay falling upon the functionary who may be honoured with
the royal commands.
Openly opposed to European innovation, Mohammad particularly disliked
the advent of the British Embassy, and was obviously doing his utmost to
thwart the more liberal views of the crown, by treating the strangers
with disrespect. The imperial order that an escort of matchlock-men
should for the first time cross the hill frontier, and proceed into the
plain of the Hawash, to do honour to the Christian guests, not only
rankled in his Moslem breast, but was calculated to interfere with his
resolution to preserve inviolate the avenues to the sea-coast. His
intrigues had rendered abortive all attempts to communicate with the
Court; and whilst the approach of the Embassy was not reported until its
actual arrival at Dathara, his non-compliance with the order given had
resulted most prejudicially, the Danakil guides being now more than ever
unwilling to persuade themselves that the party would be welcome.
Preparations were making the following morning to continue the march to
Farri, when the burly functionary was seen pompously approaching with
measured step, followed by a retinue of many hundred armed followers,
whose shaven heads rose unturbaned above flowing white mantles. Far
from announcing himself in the customary manner, he remained seated in
portentous dignity, beneath the shade of a venerable tamarind by the
road-side, until, every camel having been loaded, the caravan was moving
off the ground. A peremptory message was then received through one of
his myrmidons, to the effect that he stood strictly charged with the
king's commands to suffer not one of the party to advance until the next
day, and that he was prepared to enforce the interdiction. There seemed
little reason to doubt of this being a premeditated falsehood, as it
afterwards proved to be; but the Ras el Kafilah having heard the
injunction repeated in presence of the Wulasma Suleiman Moosa, Abogaz of
Channoo, as coming direct from His Majesty, timidly declined any
infringement, and again threw down the loads.
Condescending at length in moody sullenness to approach with his host of
retainers, the triumphant potentate, armed with the rosary, or chaplet
of one hundred beads, which denoted his intolerant faith, squeezed his
pursy figure into a chair, and composed himself with much apparent
satisfaction at the success that had attended his scheme of opposition.
A debauched, ill-favoured, bloated specimen of mortality, the lines of
intemperance were deeply graven on his truculent visage, which was at
once cunning, sinister, and forbidding. But the party were not long
troubled with his obnoxious presence. The reception he experienced,
although civil, was distant and studiously formal, and the sun, beating
in a full blaze upon his bald crown, rendered his position so extremely
untenable, that after stiffly murmuring replies to the customary
inquiries anent the health and well-being of his august master, he rose
unceremoniously, and abruptly withdrew.
Throughout this brief and very unbending interview, a brawny retainer
stood behind the chair, denuded to the waist. In his right hand he
ostentatiously displayed the chief gaoler's sword of state--a short
heavy blade upon the model of the old Roman falchion, enclosed in a
scabbard of massive silver; and his left arm supported a buckler of
stiff bull's hide, elaborately emblazoned with crescents and brass
studs. The benevolent and prepossessing aspect of the Wulasma Suleiman
Moosa, who occupied a second seat, offered a striking contrast to the
repulsive arrogance of his scowling colleague. On his right side,
protruding upwards with the curve of a scorpion's tail, he wore a
semicircular weapon, also denominated a sword, though in fact more
nearly allied to a reaping-hook--a proud badge of office, with a fluted
tulip-shaped termination to the silver scabbard, which, according to the
wont of the despot, had been conferred on the occasion of his first
installation in office, but which ludicrously interfered with comfort in
an armchair.
During the residue of the day, the conduct of the state-gaoler was
perfectly in unison with his character and previous hostile proceedings.
He brought the white visitors neither presents nor supplies, according
to the rules of Abyssinian hospitality; and although made fully aware
that the camp was drained of provisions, prevented purchases by the
undue exercise of his influence and authority. A pelting rain during
the night, from which his sleek person was defended by naught save the
pervious branches of a tamarind, had not tended to soften the
asperities, or to alleviate the sourness of his aspect, when the day
dawned; and it was only on finding the party prepared to advance at the
hazard of forcible opposition, that he finally yielded the point, and
betwixt his closed teeth muttered his grumbling consent to an
arrangement which he felt longer unable with prudence to oppose. "The
English are a great nation," whispered the nephew of Ali Shermarki, as
he passed the haughty Abogaz, "and you had better take care to treat
them civilly. _Wullahi_! one of their ships of war would carry this
kafilah over the water, and you and all your host of followers into the
bargain."
Volume One, Chapter XXXVII.
DINOMALI. GREETINGS FROM THE NEGOOS AT FARRI, ON THE FRONTIER OF HIS
DOMINIONS.
Gradually ascending through a hilly and well-wooded country, still a
positive garden of the wild aloe, the road now led through a succession
of deep glades, which opened in turn upon verdant mountain scenery; and
at on early hour, after the first signs of cultivation had been afforded
in the truly grateful sight of ploughs turning up the soil, the tents
were erected on the open plain of Dinomali.
At this, the frontier station of Argobba, are levied the royal import
duties of ten per cent; and a scene of noise, bustle, and confusion did
not fail to ensue, such as is wont to attend the arrival of every
caravan. In his character of collector-general of customs, the pompous
Wulasma took seat below a tree in the centre, whilst his myrmidons,
beleaguering every load the moment it was removed from the camel,
prevented all access on the part of the owner until scrutinising search
had been instituted by the secretary for the salt trade, and the
imperial scribes had, by a tedious process denominated writing,
completed an inventory of contents. From time immemorial it had been
the law of the realm to regard the despotic ruler as the proprietor of
every moveable in the land; and it was not without many looks of
incredulity and amazement that the custom-house officers now received
the astounding intimation that they would touch the baggage of the
British Embassy at their peril.
Thus for the first time thwarted in their prerogative of forcing open
boxes, and inspecting the wares they contained, Debtera Tekla Zion and
his brother scribes were tempted to attribute the opposition offered to
the truth of a vague report already current, that a foreign king was
being smuggled into Abyssinia for evil. And they were still standing in
mute astonishment, with idle ink-horns dangling from their hands, lost
in conjecture of the probable consequences involved by the unprecedented
interference exercised, when a message was received expressive of the
compliments and best wishes of Sahela Selassie. Still at a distance
from Ankober, His Majesty had resolved, in order to hasten the interview
with his guests, to proceed at once to the capital, whither the English
were invited to repair with all possible expedition.
The arrival of this unlooked-for salutation, which was coupled with an
affirmative answer to a request previously made, that the presents in
charge of the Embassy might neither be interfered with, nor subjected to
the usual custom-house scrutiny when crossing the frontier, had the
effect of bringing to his senses the overbearing Wulasma; and, in
accordance with the king's instructions, oxen, sheep, bread, beer, and
hydromel were liberally supplied without another moment's demur. But a
fresh source of delay and annoyance forthwith arose on the part of the
Ras el Kafilah, whose latent object being to transfer the charge of
Danakil caravans from the hands of the corpulent and now civil gaoler to
those of Wulasma Suleiman Moosa, made the acceptance of supplies at the
hand of the former a pretext for throwing up his functions and setting
out to Ankober, exclaiming as he mounted his mule in a towering passion,
for the avowed purpose of laying his complaint at the footstool of the
throne, "Am not I the brother of the Sultan of Tajura?"
But the furious elder had not proceeded far on his adventurous journey,
ere his ears were saluted by repeated discharges of musketry,
accompanied by martial music and a solemn vocal chorus. These served to
announce the advent of Ayto Katama, commander-in-chief of the imperial
body-guard, with the escort of honour consisting of three hundred
matchlock-men, who were to have received the Embassy on the banks of the
Hawash. The arrival of this important personage, whose schoolboyish
sallies ill became his years and high military functions, was speedily
followed by the appearance of Ayto Wolda Hana, governor of Ankober, and
first nobleman in the realm, also fraught with congratulations. His
presence had the effect of recalling the irritated Ras to a sense of
duty; and no efficient carriage having been provided by the Abogaz, it
was finally arranged, after many difficulties, objections, and disputes,
that the baggage should be transported to Farri, other two miles in
advance, where Mohammadan porters could be obtained in sufficient
numbers to convey it to its final destination--the mountains in every
part being deemed quite inaccessible to the camel.
Although the distance from Farri did not exceed a mile, the lateness of
the hour at which this accommodation was vouchsafed, rendered it
impossible to carry the measure into effect until the following day.
The governor of Ankober meanwhile politely insisted upon charging
himself with the baggage, his officious zeal extending even to the
effects of private individuals, whereby much inconvenience was entailed.
But notwithstanding his garrulous protestations, and the presence of so
large a body of the royal troops, everything was finally left
unprotected; and, before his negligence was discovered, four of the
remaining mules had been stolen from their pickets by the marauders who
infest the neighbourhood.
Loaded for the thirty-fifth and last time with the baggage of the
British Embassy, the caravan, escorted by the detachment of Ayto Katama,
with flutes playing and muskets echoing, and the heads of the warriors
decorated with white plumes, in earnest of their bold exploits during
the late expedition, advanced on the afternoon of the 16th of July, to
Farri, the frontier town of the kingdom of Efat. Clusters of
conical-roofed houses, covering the sloping sides of twin hills which
form a gorge wherein the royal dues are deposited, here presented the
first permanent habitations that had greeted the eye since leaving the
sea-coast; rude and ungainly, but right welcome signs of transition from
depopulated wastes to the abodes of man.
As well from the steepness of the rugged mountains of Abyssinia, which
towered overhead, as from the pinching climate of their wintry summits,
the camel becomes useless as a beast of burthen; and none being ever
taken beyond the frontier, many of the Wulasma's retinue now gazed at
the ungainly quadrupeds for the first time. The "ship of the desert"
has been created for the especial benefit of sultry, arid, and waterless
plains, such as those now crossed, where no other domesticated animal
could long exist, but where, even under the most scorching radiation of
heat, when the skin peels from the parched lips of the pilgrim, and the
horizon beams as with the fires of an hundred volcanoes, the soft
lustrous eye of the patient dromedary loses not a jot of its wonted
brilliancy. But numbers had been dreadfully wrung during the tedious
march, those especially which carried tent-poles and other unmanageable
burdens; and amongst others, two of the finest had sung under the weight
of the galloper-gun. No sooner was the load now removed, than a swarm
of parasitic birds, with brilliant golden eyes, here for the first time
seen, swarmed around the galled part, and having dived into the gaping
wounds, without causing perceptible annoyance to the sufferer, became so
engrossed in the removal of ticks and maggots with their crimson bills,
that several were made prisoner with the hand.
Boxes and bales as they arrived were deposited within a stone enclosure
in the centre of the area; and the bloated Wulasma, again seated in
regal dignity beneath an ancient acacia, which threw its slender shade
over the heterogeneous pile, placing Ayto Wolda Hana upon his right
hand, with the aid of the royal scribes and their ink-horns commenced an
inventory _de novo_. Vigorous attempts to force open the cases were
once more resisted, with complete success. Earnest expostulations tried
in turn by the Moslem and the Christian, were alike unheeded; and amid
noise, clamour, and confusion, such as could ill be described, the
inquisitive functionaries were fain, as before, to content themselves
with a list of packages in the gross. Rough conjectural estimates of
the number of muskets contained in each matted roll were however
clandestinely formed, by dint of squeezing and pinching; and these too
were committed to writing, as though fears were entertained lest the
king might now, in his own dominions, be defrauded of a portion of the
investment transported in safety thither from a distant land.
Hajji Mohammad, a respectable old slave-dealer in the suite of the
Abogaz, had during this interim obligingly undertaken to solve certain
puzzling geographical questions proposed, and with a staff was
methodically tracing on the sand, for the edification of his European
audience, the position of the Hawash in its upper course. An insane old
Hassoba, long resident at Farri, whose head laboured under the effect of
sundry wounds received in youth, had unfortunately become violently
excited by too copious libations in honour of the safe arrival of his
clansmen. To the annoyance of every one, he had been bawling
incessantly for many hours, and he presently staggered up to ascertain
if he could throw light upon the subject under discussion.
"What do you know about the Hawash?" he exclaimed, in a violent passion,
as the name of the lone river fell upon his ear--"Pray where did you
learn about the Hawash, or the Ittoo, or the Aroosi?"--and suiting the
action to the word, his cudgel rattled heavily over the crown of the
unoffending pilgrim to the shrine of the Prophet. Nettled at this
unprovoked assault, the venerable man retorted with interest--blows
pattered thick and fast, a crowd collected, creeses were drawn, and the
friends of the respective parties felt themselves bound to interfere.
The belligerent Hajji was held to prevent his committing murder; and the
Adel geographer, as he walked reluctantly away, under a shower of
stones, turning frequently to breathe defiance to the object of his ire,
repeated with a sneer, "Here is the Hawash indeed: what the devil does
that old donkey know about the Hawash?"
Meanwhile arrived a special messenger, bearing reiterated compliments
from the Negoos, with a horse and a mule from the royal stud, attired in
the peculiar trappings and colours which in Shoa pertain solely to
Majesty. The bridles and breastplates glittered with studs and bosses
of polished metal; gay embroidery in coloured worsted covered the
saddle-cloth of the mule, and a collection of silver chains, jingles,
and bells, encircled her neck. At sight hereof women and girls
enveloped in blood-red shifts, who had thronged to the busy scene to
stare at the white strangers, at once burst into a loud scream of
acclamation. A group of hooded widows, occupying an adjacent public
asylum, thrust their fingers into their ears, and joined in the clamour.
Escort and camel-drivers, now at their journey's end, had placed no
bounds to their hilarity. A fat ox that had been promised was turned
loose among the spectators--pursued by fifty savages with gleaming
creeses--and ham-strung by a dexterous blow, which threw it bellowing to
the earth in the height of its mad career. The rival clans of lean
curs, that are respectively quartered on the dung-heaps of the twin
hills, and suffer no intrusion into each other's domains, rushed to the
neutral ground, and forthwith commenced an indiscriminate engagement
over the garbage; and whilst Debtera Tekla Zion, still counting and
recounting, amended his long list with untiring perseverance, crowds of
porters and lounging visitors added the mite of their united voices to
the din, tumult, and intolerable uproar which continued until close of
day.
Predatory incursions of the Galla upon the Argobba frontier are
frequent, and not many weeks had passed away since six of the king's
liege subjects were murdered within the precincts of the encamping
ground. In defiance of tempestuous weather, two European soldiers and
an officer had been on guard without shelter during every night of the
long and tedious march, and the sergeant of the escort had every hour
personally relieved the sentries: but the exposed position of the
baggage, added to the evil character borne by the spot, and the
experience already gained at Dinomali, still precluded the
discontinuance of watch and ward, whereof all were heartily weary.
In the dead of night an alarm caused all to spring from their couches on
the hard ground, and to stand prepared for the reception of an unseen
foe, whose approach was announced by the blast of some hideous war-horn.
Halters had been broken, and mules and horses were charging over the
tent ropes, nor was the real cause of the confusion discovered for some
minutes. A thirsty dog, unacquainted with the artifice resorted to by
the fox that needed water, had recklessly thrust his mangy head so deep
into an earthen jar that he was unable to withdraw it, and rushing he
knew not whither, was giving vent through his strange proboscis to
fearful hollow groans, which might well have instilled terror into the
breast of the superstitious, and did not fail to elicit ceaseless howls
from the canine occupants of the dunghill.
The delinquent was shot, and order being at length restored, those who
were entitled to slumber again proceeded to avail themselves of the
privilege. After pacing his beat some hours beyond the wonted period of
relief, the sentinel who mounted at midnight hailed the officer on duty.
Receiving no reply to the challenge, he approached the door of the
tent, and there, sad to relate, the first breach of discipline was
detected on the part of the guardian of the camp, who, worn out by
incessant vigils, was on this, his last watch, lying fast asleep upon
his post, with a pistol in each hand!
Volume One, Chapter XXXVIII.