New Year's Day, which fell on the 10th of September, was, according to
the Abyssinian calendar, the eighteen hundred and thirty-fourth since
the nativity of Christ, and it was celebrated with much rejoicing and
festivity. Betimes in the morning came a summons to the presence of the
Negoos, who, seated in the portico of the audience chamber, was enjoying
the genial warmth of the rising sun. The interior of the hall was
strewed throughout with newly-plucked rushes, and under a large iron
chafing-dish, with a cheerful wood-fire, basked a whole host of sleek
cats in couples--a portion of the dower received with the fair daughter
of the Galla Queen of Moolo Falada.
The king was particularly affable, and in the highest spirits. His hand
having been extended to each of us in turn, with the usual inquiries
relative to our "safe entrance," the congratulations of the season were
offered to His Majesty, according to the customary form: "As the
departed year of Saint Matthew has closed happily upon your auspicious
reign, so also may the coming year of Saint Mark! May God prolong your
days, and continue the throne in the line of your ancestors unto your
children's children, to the end of time! May He extend the boundaries
of your dominions, and cause your spear to prevail over the lance of the
enemy! May He endow you with wisdom to judge your subjects aright, and
move your heart unto clemency; and may He cause high and low alike to
understand and to appreciate the equitable sway of the Father, whom
Heaven has appointed to rule over them!"
Elaborate models of a domed palace, completely furnished, and an English
saddle and bridle, were next presented, and received with every
manifestation of delight, coupled with a prayer from the royal lips that
"God might glorify the donor." A long and minute scrutiny led to an
infinity of questions, not easily answered, as to how the shield was to
be slung to the pommel, and why the entire foot, instead of the great
toe only, should be inserted in the stirrup? "The sun in different
countries shines with more or less brilliancy," exclaimed His Majesty,
with truly royal eloquence, as he concluded the examination--"the birds
and the beasts are different, and so are the plants. I am fond of new
inventions, if it be only to look at them, and although they should
prove on trial to be inferior to old ones."
Abd el Yonag, the chief of the Hurrur slave-merchants, was seated,
rosary in hand, during this conversation, and in his weather-beaten
countenance were displayed all the cunning lineaments of the petty
retailer in small wares, curiously contrasted with the sagacity of the
extensive dealer in politics, who had succeeded in obtaining an accurate
measure of the monarch's foot. The knave too protested to have seen the
world, and gave out that with his own grey eyes he had beheld the
glories of Britain's eastern possessions.
To support his widely circulated character for universal knowledge, the
Moslem miscreant now seized between his bony fingers two handsome pieces
of sprigged muslin, fresh from the looms of Manchester, which I had
presented for Queen Besabesh, and throwing them contemptuously towards
the corner of the throne, muttered betwixt his lips the word "Bombay."
"What's that, what do you say?" cried the king, in his usual abrupt
manner.
"May it please your Majesty," returned the turbaned traveller, to our
great diversion, "'tis the name of this cloth--it is called Bombay."
But an opportunity presently occurred of laughing at the beard of the
irreverent pedlar, nor was it suffered to pass unheeded. The despot
exhibited a silver sword scabbard, which had been curiously enamelled to
represent one of the scaly inhabitants of the deep, and it was
acknowledged _nemine contradicente_ that the artist had succeeded in
producing a highly creditable resemblance to a fish. "A fish," quoth
the man of Hurrur, "what is that?" Even the monarch smiled when the
explanation was rendered. "Fishes live in the great sea between
Abyssinia and Bombay, and he whose eyes have not suffered under Oubie's
searing irons, might behold numbers every day of the voyage."
"_Istigh-far-allah_," "Heaven defend me," growled the discomfited Wurj,
as he slunk into a corner--"'tis passing strange that Abd el Yonag
should have never seen the wild beast of the water."
Attended by the dwarf father confessor, and holding deep consultation
with several of the household priests, the king presently led the way
through the secret door on the north-eastern side of the palace
enclosure. Two umbrellas of crimson velvet, surmounted by silver globes
and crosses--his never-failing attendants on all occasions of state--
were supported by sturdy slaves, and twelve richly caparisoned steeds,
representing the months of the year, were led by the royal grooms. A
numerous and motley retinue of dismounted cavaliers followed, and on
reaching the meadow, the brows both of monarch and subject were bound by
the monks with green fillets of a wiry grass, styled "_enkotatach_"
whence the festival takes its appellation.
Unlike the rugged mountains of Ankober, which can alone be traversed by
the sure-footed mule, the country around Debra Berhan is well adapted
for the equestrian, and the bright azure of the sky, mottled by fleecy
clouds, the fresh verdure of the turf, and the elasticity of the air,
all lent their aid to the coming tournament. Armed with a slender
staff, the king mounted his charger, and bounding over the green-sward,
opened the sports of the day. Groups of wild savages were instantly to
be seen scouring in every direction, engaged in the _gombeza_, or joust,
but His Majesty in flaunting striped robes shone conspicuous. Well
mounted, a fearless horseman, and admirably skilled in the use of the
spear, he had on no previous occasion been seen to so great advantage as
during his participation in the warlike exercises of the new year--now
pursuing, and now in turn pursued by the warrior whom he had honoured by
selection as his antagonist in the tilt.
"Guebroo is sick," quoth the monarch, the moment this display was over;
"he has received a severe wound in the head during a skirmish with the
rebel Galla, and I am desirous that you should now visit him, taking
with you the medicine for putrid sores!"
Ayto Berkie, the governor of Bulga, volunteered his escort to Daluti,
the abode of his invalid brother. Crossing the serpentine Bereza, the
road led through swampy meadows, and over little cultivated knolls
destitute of either tree or shrub, towards Angollala, which, after a
gallop of seven miles, opened in the distance. On the summit of a
tabular eminence rose the king's two-storied palace, above churches and
conical houses; and five distinct knolls, forming an arc in the
intermediate and otherwise level landscape, were severally crowned by
the abodes of favourite courtiers--that on the extreme right, embowered
in luxuriant trees, pertaining to Ayto Guebroo, governor of Mentshar.
Ascending the tumulus by a steep and stony path, and passing through a
muddy court-yard, we reached to the abode of the great man. Surrounded
by mournful attendants, he reclined on an _alga_ before a fierce fire,
his right eye screened by a shade of blue calico, and his comely partner
sobbing violently at his feet. The Gille and Loomi Galla, bordering on
the ancient province of "Fatigar," having revolted, the warrior had
taken the field with his contingent, and becoming opposed to a rebel in
hand to hand combat, had received the first spear on his buckler, which
was now ostentatiously displayed. The horse of his adversary fell under
a well-directed lance, and the dismounted pagan sued for quarter;
obtaining which, he treacherously launched his remaining shaft, which
had cleft the forehead, and passed through the corner of the eye,
although without destroying the vision.
The patient having pledged himself to submit to the prescribed
treatment, which few in Abyssinia will do, an operation was successfully
performed by Dr Kirk. Drying her tears, the hostess had meanwhile
slaughtered a ram, and made extensive preparations for a repast. Piles
of thin _teff_ cakes, which loaded the low wicker table, were flanked by
decanters of mawkish old honey wine; bowls of pepper porridge smoked at
the place appointed for each guest, and lumps of raw meat were in
profusion; nor was it without infinite surprise that the hospitable
entertainers and their domestics beheld the chops submitted in the first
instance to the influence of the hot embers. "Do all of your nation
thus burn their meat?" inquired the lady, after long and attentive
observation: "I was told that such was the case, and that you burnt the
king's bread too, but could never have believed it."
No small difficulty was experienced by the despot in comprehending how
an eye could be restored by the use of the knife; but His Majesty was at
a still greater loss to understand by what means a subject had been
cured, whilst himself remained in partial blindness. Ayto Katama was
present at this observation, and turning to one of the party, he
whispered, "You must not suppose that the Negoos is blind of that eye:
may Sahela Selassie die, he sees better with it than with the other!"
Like -sop of old, who was once a bondsman, the general of the body-guard
still retained the grovelling spirit of slavery, varnished with the
address of the artful courtier; and he thus invariably followed the
advice given to Solon by the hunchback author of the Fables, "that we
should either not come near crowned heads at all, or speak those things
only that will prove agreeable to them."
Volume Two, Chapter IX.