His Christian Majesty passed the greater portion of the wet night
succeeding the presentation of the British Embassy, in revels amid the
foreign riches so unexpectedly heaped upon him. Long tormented by
curiosity which he had been afraid to gratify, he now minutely examined
every novel article with all the greediness of the savage; and the royal
scribes having been duly assembled, elaborate inventories were penned
upon scrolls of parchment, to be deposited for the edification of
posterity in the archives of the kingdom. The fire-arms and the warlike
munitions were transferred forthwith to the grand arsenal; the rich
manufactures of the loom were added to the shelves of the palace
wardrobes; and the curiosities, including the Chinese dancing girls,
were carefully immured in the mouldy magazines of Mamrat, Kondie, and
Aramba, with labels and tickets setting forth their respective
properties, and proclaiming to future occupants of the throne of Shoa
that these wonders were added to the state treasures by the red men
called Gyptzis, who came from beyond during the auspicious reign of
Sahela Selassie.
Ere day had dawned, the favourite page was deputed from the king to
inquire whether all had slumbered happily. Etiquette demanded that our
reply should be in the affirmative, but if an estimate were formed from
the drenched and miserable aspect of the tent, the report made to the
palace must have been far from favourable. In the absence of the cap,
which had been lost upon the road, the fly of the marquee was hastily
lashed with cords to the pole, and becoming saturated during the night
by the pelting storm, it had presently slidden down, and formed a
funnel, which completely put an end to sleep.
Hajji Kasim and Izhak, who, with some of their bigoted Moslem retainers,
had repaired to court to witness the reception of "the Christian dogs,"
had presented themselves at nightfall, wet, shivering, and famished, to
implore food and shelter, which had been denied by the officers of the
royal household. Upon the principle of good for evil, we gave them
abundance to eat, and each of us contributed a share of his bedding, but
the untoward fall of the canvass proved equally disagreeable to
Christian and to Mohammadan. Drenched to the skin, the true believers,
spite of their covering of lard, were fairly swamped where they lay; and
the Ras el Kafilah's pet Koran having been trampled under foot in the
confusion attendant upon repitching, he angrily left the tent in the
morning by one door, at the moment that the spoiled page entered by the
other, grumbling as he went, "Allah! how could the sacred volume
experience any better fate at the hand of infidels?"
Six hundred peasants, who had been pressed on the service of the state
from the Mohammadan villages of Argobba, after transporting the king's
baggage from Alio Amba to Machal-wans, had bivouacked without food or
shelter upon the bare saturated ground, and were strewed over the
greensward like the slain on a battle-field. As the day dawned, their
loud cries of "_Abiet, abiet_," "Master, master," arose to the
palace-gates from every quarter of the valley; but they lifted up their
sad voices in vain; and reiterated entreaties for dismissal passing
unheeded, I with great difficulty succeeded in purchasing for them a
sufficient number of oxen, which were instantly slaughtered, and eaten
raw upon the spot.
The sceptic in Europe who still withholds his credence from Bruce's
account of an Abyssinian brind feast, would have been edified by the
sight now presented on the royal meadow. Crowds swarmed around each
sturdy victim to the knife, and impetuously rushing in with a
simultaneous yell, seized horns, and legs, and tail. A violent struggle
to escape followed the assault. Each vigorous bound shook off and
scattered a portion of the assailants, but the stronger and more
athletic still retained their grasp, and resolutely grappling and
wrestling with the prize, finally prevailed. With a loud groan of
despair the bull was thrown kicking to the earth. Twenty crooked knives
flashed at once from the scabbard--a tide of crimson gore proclaimed the
work of death, and the hungry butchers remained seated on the quivering
carcass, until the last bubbling jet had welled from the widely-severed
throat.
Rapidly from that moment advanced the work of demolition. The hide was
opened in fifty places, and collop after collop of warm flesh and
muscle--sliced and scooped from the bone--was borne off in triumph.
Groups of feasting savages might now be seen seated on the wet grass in
every direction, greedily munching and bolting the raw repast. Entrails
and offal did not escape. In a quarter of an hour nought remained of
the carcass save hoofs and horns, and the disappointed vultures of the
air assembling round the scene of slaughter with the village curs, found
little indeed to satisfy their hunger.
During this general carousal of the grateful host, the smooth-spoken
purveyor-general, who was completely at a loss to comprehend the meaning
of the liberality extended, advanced with a sleek and pampered band of
parasites. The assistance of the unfeeling functionary had been craved
in vain, and he now, after casting a contemptuous glance towards the
sated serfs, in honied words inquired with obvious surprise, "whether
the party had not rested well, that they thus troubled their heads
unnecessarily about the worthless bondsmen of the Negoos?"
No suitable lodging being obtainable at Machalwans, I deemed it
advisable to adopt the king's proposal of proceeding at once into winter
quarters at the capital. Preparatory to setting out thither we had an
audience of the king. "My children," quoth His Majesty, "all my
gun-people shall accompany you; may you enter in safety! Whatsoever
your hearts think and wish, that send word unto me. Saving myself, ye
have no relative in this distant land. Ye have travelled far on my
affairs. I will give you what I can, according to that which my country
produces. I cannot give you what I do not possess. Be not afraid of
me. Listen not to the evil insinuations of my people, for they are bad.
Look only unto Sahela Selassie. May his father die, he will accomplish
whatsoever ye desire!"
The sun shone brightly through the fleecy white clouds, as our party
left the wet encampment in the valley, and under an escort of fusiliers
took the way to the capital without that regret which is usually felt on
quitting the precincts of royalty. A green, swampy meadow led to the
foot of the mountains, over which numberless cascades foamed furiously
to the plain. Supported from the base to the utmost summit by
artificial terraces, and clothed with the most luxuriant cultivation,
there were parts over which it seemed hardly possible that the plough
should have passed at so great an angle. But wheat and barley delight
in a dry stony soil, and with a fair proportion of the "former and the
latter rain," will here yield abundant return to those who, by their
industry, strive to emulate the prosperity of more happily located
neighbours.
From Machal-wans to Ankober the distance does not exceed six miles; but
the ascent is great and immediate, and the reduction in temperature
perceptible at every step. Springs gushed out clear and sparkling on
either side of the rugged path, and beautiful plants luxuriated in the
moist atmosphere. The prospect was altogether delightful, and the
change more than ever striking from the hot deserts of the Adaiel, which
now, at a yet greater depression, stretched away in fading tints to the
extreme point of vision.
The latter portion of the road lay through the forest of Aferbeine.
Cedar-like junipers, dried up by the blast of centuries, rearing towards
the sky their tall skeleton forms, rocked to every breeze. Younger
scions of the stock, clothed in a sombre cypress garb, flourished in
vigour among the drooping and silvery _woira_, of which the pensive
branches were hoary with ancient moss hanging in fanciful festoons; and
saving when the zephyr sighed through the foliage, or a bird whistled
from the topmost branch, silence reigned throughout the sylvan scene.
Whether in Europe or in half-civilised Abyssinia, monastic
establishments are invariably seated in spots the most romantic. Deep
in the recesses of Aferbeine stands the church and monastery dedicated
to Tekla Haimanot, an ecclesiastic of extraordinary abilities, who
flourished during the thirteenth century, and rescuing the greater
portion of the empire from the yoke of usurpation, restored it to the
hands of Yekweno Amlak, the lineal descendant of the ancient Ethiopic
dynasty. Subsequently canonised for his successful exertions in the
cause both of Church and State, the monk, whose history is obscured with
numberless superstitious traditions, is to the present day held in the
highest veneration. Thrice during the year a festival is held in
celebration of his birth, death, and ascension, and by the entire
Christian population he is regarded as the patron saint of Abyssinia.
Instantly on emerging from the forest, the metropolis of Shoa, spreading
far and wide over a verdant mountain, shaped like Afric's appropriate
emblem, the fabled sphynx, presented a most singular if not imposing
appearance. Clusters of thatched houses of all sizes and shapes,
resembling bams and haystacks, with small green enclosures and splinter
palings, rising one above the other in very irregular tiers, adapt
themselves to all the inequalities of the rugged surface; some being
perched high on the abrupt verge of a cliff, and others so involved in
the bosom of a deep fissure as scarcely to reveal the red earthen pot
which crowns the apex. Connected with each other by narrow lanes and
hedgerows, these rude habitations, the residence of from twelve to
fifteen thousand inhabitants, cover the entire mountain-side to the
extreme pinnacle--a lofty spire-like cone, detaching itself by a narrow
isthmus to form the sphynxs head. Hereon stands the palace of the
Negoos, a most ungainly-looking edifice with staring gable ends, well
fortified by spiral lines of wooden palisades. They extend from the
base to the summit, and are interspersed with barred stockades, between
which are profusely scattered the abodes of household slaves, with
breweries, kitchens, cellars, storehouses, magazines, and granaries.
Over those portions unengrossed by cultivation or by architecture,
shrubs and bushes and great beds of nettles assumed the most luxuriant
and lively appearance. Huge fallen masses of rock strewed the lower
valleys, and others seemed ready to be launched at a moment's notice
upon the clustering habitations; whilst in the distance, the bronze
cross of the church of "our Lady," peeping above the dark foliage of the
juniper, touched the chord of feelings but little in unison with the
wild escort that surrounded us, above whose streaming locks floated
bloody emblems, that breathed aught save conformity to the mild tenets
of the Christian religion.
Ankober, literally translated, signifies the gate of Anko. She was
queen over the Galla tribe, by which this mountain was peopled from the
invasion of Graan until its reconquest by the crown of Shoa, and has
bequeathed her name to the narrow winding path which forms the "_her_"
or gate to the suburbs. Skirting the brink of a yawning abyss, and
scarcely wide enough for the foot of a mule, it is not traversed without
a feeling of insecurity, and the labour of a few hours would suffice to
render all approach to the capital impracticable, unless to the mountain
goat. Loud cheers from the whole assembled population, female as well
as male, greeted our arrival, for the thunder of our guns in the
adjacent valley had given birth to a feeling of respect in the breast of
all; nor was it without considerable difficulty that we made our way
through the dense crowd that whitened the entire hill-side, and lined
every valley. At length we reached a newly erected building fronting
the palace, which had been set apart by His Majesty for our occupation,
and which was now completely thronged by porters, and beleaguered by
clamourous spectators.
Wistful looks were exchanged as we entered this barn-like and dreary
abode, which for months, if not for years, was to form our asylum. A
decent new thatch, and a neat basket-work ceiling, did indeed form a
roof to the structure, but further, the crude and unfinished shell
whereon they rested, could hardly claim the denomination of "a house."
It rather resembled a den in Exeter 'change, or an aviary upon a
magnified scale; and the open hide-lashed ribs, being innocent
throughout of dab or plaster to choke the interstices, wind, rain, and
mountain fog considered themselves to be equally His Majesty's guests,
and entitled to the occupation of the uninviting interior. Oblong in
form, windowless, chimneyless, and provided at either end with a lofty
but narrow door, rudely fashioned of massive planks and beams, each of
which, in the absence of a saw, had involved the demolition of an entire
tree, the edifice yet afforded an unusually favourable specimen of Shoan
architecture; and to account for its desolate and unfinished condition,
it may be proper to add, that the proprietor, who had been honoured with
the fair hand of a princess of the blood royal, having a few weeks
previously been so unfortunate as to incur the displeasure of his
despotic father-in-law, now occupied apartments in the state prison,
whilst the management of his estate was, _ad interim_, considerately
undertaken by the crown, without even the preliminary of a _fieri
facias_.
Inner walls divided the centre room from two narrow verandahs, intended
for the reception of mules, horses, and household lumber. The floor was
precisely as nature made it, depressed rather than raised, and little
improved by the many recent inundations to which it had been subjected.
Torrents of muddy water filled the trench which environed the entire
structure, and occasionally bursting the banks of the dyke, oozed
copiously between the palisades, to cover the soil with artificial
lakes; whilst the small open area beyond, into which it disembogued--
hemmed in on all sides by rank vegetation, stinging nettles, and
half-ruined but noisily inhabited hovels--was, without any exaggeration,
eighteen inches deep in honest mire.
Although our pilgrimage had at last terminated, the prospect, both
within and without, was still far from encouraging. The mercury in
Fahrenheit's thermometer stood at 58 degrees, and it became necessary to
adopt immediate measures towards the exclusion of the cold driving mist
and the whistling wind, which the absence of a fire rendered far from
agreeable. The union flag of old England, stretched across the hall,
lent the aid of its ample folds to enliven the interior. Tent walls and
tarpaulins composed tolerably comfortable cabins in the verandah
closets. Gun-cases, placed on end, and connected by the lid of a chest,
formed a temporary table, and with a puncheon as a washing-stand, and
two swinging shelves overhead, completed the furniture of each
apartment. Boxes and bales, as they continued to arrive, were piled
around the inner walls, and soon reaching to the ceiling, the appearance
of a booth at a country fair, on a rainy day, ere the wares have been
exposed for sale, was gradually imparted to this highly unique residency
in the capital of Shoa.
Volume Two, Chapter II.