Angollala, on the Galla frontier, founded ten years since by the
reigning monarch, is now the capital of the western portion of Shoa, and
during the greater part of the year it forms His Majesty's favourite
place of residence. Thither he proceeded on the morning following the
festivities of Maskal. Upwards of three thousand horsemen composed the
_cortege_, which was swelled every quarter of a mile by large
detachments of cavalry. Led by their respective chiefs, each band
dismounted at a considerable distance on the flank, and advancing on
foot with shoulders bared, fell prostrate with one accord before the
state umbrellas. The Negoos bestrode a richly caparisoned mule, with
swallow-tailed housings of crimson and green, and massive silver
collars; and he was closely followed by the corps of shield-bearers
under the direction of the Master of the Horse, who, by vigorous
sallies, and the judicious exercise of a long stick, kept the crowd from
encroaching upon the royal person, during our eight-mile ride over the
level plain.
From four to five hundred circular huts, consisting of loose stone walls
very rudely thatched, cover the slopes of a group of tabular hills that
enclose an extensive quadrangle. On the summit of the largest eminence,
near the church of Kidana Meherat, stands the palace, defended by six
rows of stout high palisades. A clumsy stone edifice of two stories,
rising in the form of a dove-cot, occupies the centre. It was erected
by Demetrius, an Albanian visitor, and is considerably superior in point
of architecture to all other domiciles in the realm, although somewhat
tottering in appearance, and deserted from an apprehension of
earthquake, which holds strong possession of the royal mind.
"Earthquakes are bad things," was His Majesty's remark, "for they
overthrow houses, and demolish my people."
The rugged ascent up the steep hill-side was thronged with spectators,
male and female, assembled to greet the arrival of their sovereign, and
to stare at the foreigners. Paupers and mendicants crowded the first
enclosure; and the approach from the second gate through four
court-yards, to the King's quarters, was lined with matchlock-men and
fusiliers, who, as the Embassy passed between the ranks, made a
laughable attempt to present arms in imitation of the artillery escort
at the review. Kitchens, magazines, and breweries were scattered in all
directions; and, with the long banqueting-hall, the chamber of audience,
the apartments of the women, and the solitary cells, formed a curious,
but far from imposing group of buildings.
The despot, in high good-humour, conducted us over the unswept premises,
and up a rude ladder to the attic story, which commands a pleasant
prospect over wide grassy meadows, intersected by serpentine streamlets,
and covered with the royal herds. Upon a floor strewed with newly-cut
grass, blazed a wood fire in an iron stove, with the never-failing cats
luxuriating under its influence. A dirty couch graced the alcove, and a
few guns and fowling-pieces the rudely white-washed walls, but otherwise
the dreary chamber was unfurnished. "I have brought you here," quoth
His Majesty, "that you may understand what I want. These rooms require
to be ornamented; and I wish your artist to cover them with elephants
and soldiers, and with representations of all the buildings and strange
things in your country, which my eyes have not yet seen. At present my
children may go."
Awnings had been pitched on the summit of Debra Maskal, [The Hill of the
Cross] the southern eminence. The weather was now intensely cold, and a
fire during the evening hours could not be dispensed with. As the
embers died away, and the smoke cleared from the interior of the flimsy
pall, our teeth chattered under the pinching exhalation from the ground.
Rifles became rusty in a single night from the heavy white dew that
saturated the cloth--watches stopped beneath the pillow--and heaps of
blankets proved of small avail to warm our cramped and shivering limbs,
which told full well of the hoar frost that was encrusting the verdure
of the adjacent meadow.
In the filthy purlieus of the palace, and close to the outer gate,
stands a mound of ashes and rubbish, mingled with the noisome lees that
stream over the road from the adjacent royal breweries. Packs of
half-wild dogs, the pest of Angollala, luxuriate hereon during the day,
and at night set forth on their reckless foray, dispelling sleep, and
destroying tents in their pilfering invasions. Long before the dawn,
the shrill crowing of a thousand cocks first startles the slumberer from
his uneasy repose. The wild whoop of the oppressed Galla, who demands
redress, then mingles with the "_Abiet! Abiet_!" reiterated by the more
civilised Amhara from every hill-top; and the memory of those who have
ever witnessed the breaking of the glorious day amid nature's luxuriant
forests of the East, is forcibly carried back to the tangled thicket,
where the _campanero_ tolls her bell-like note from the branches of the
spreading tamarind, and the wild ape fills up the interval with his deep
voice of exultation, as he pounces upon the bitter apple of the wood.
Bands of mendicant monks next silently take post on the crest of a
crumbling wall, within spear's length of the slumberer's pillow, and by
a shrill recitative, followed by a chorus of independent voices, dispel
the morning dream, whilst they scream with a pertinacity that bribery
can alone quell. Psalms and hymns never fail to usher in the morn; and
when the asperity of cracked and aged throats is somewhat mellowed by
distance, the chant of Christian praise--now rambling wildly through all
the varied shakes and intonations of a single voice--now swelling with
the choral unison of many--is not altogether unpleasant. But greatly
more melodious would it fall upon the mortal ear, if a lesson in music
were taken from the larks, which rise in hundreds from the steaming
meadows, to lift their matin song--at intervals warbling far and faint
in the cool dewy air, and again approaching with one rich quaver of
delicious harmony, as they fearlessly alight upon the awning.
To the cry of "_Abiet_!" which now resounded so unceasingly, the
Abyssinians attach the opinion that, on the last day, Satan, taking up
his post before the gates of heaven, will continue thus to vociferate
until he gains admittance. On presenting himself before the
judgment-seat, it will be asked "what he would have?" "The souls which
have been wrested from me by the angels," is to be the reply; but on his
acknowledging inability to specify the names of those who have robbed
him, the Father of Evil will receive a command to be gone, and never to
shew his face again.
Importunity is an attribute which stands prominently forth in the
character of a native of Southern Abyssinia. For hours together the
numerous applicants for redress continue thus to call upon the "master"
from every eminence around the palace, until at length the door-keepers
appearing, beckon the petitioners to draw nigh. Well aware, however, of
the existing understanding between these servitors and the very judges
against whose decision they would appeal, they give no heed to the
summons, but thrusting their fingers into their ears, do but lift up
their voices the louder, until the king commands one of his pages to
cause the whole to assemble in the court-yard, where, with shoulders
bared to the waist, the parties fearlessly bring their complaint before
the throne.
Opportunities were therefore daily afforded of witnessing the
dispensation of justice in this singular and anomalous land, where an
Ethiopic translation of the code of Justinian, adapted to the customs of
the country, forms the basis of legal decisions. The Fetha Negest, or
"Judgment of the Kings," as this volume is entitled, is said to have
fallen from heaven during the reign of Constantine the Great; but its
statutes, although liberally quoted on all convenient occasions, are not
considered binding upon the monarch, unless found in perfect unison with
his own despotic pleasure. Disputes are first adjusted by the governors
of provinces, who, in the powers with which they are invested, resemble
the feudal barons of the middle ages, and often perpetrate the grossest
injustice. But the injured party can always seek redress in the court
of the Four _Wamberoch_, or "the chairs," who are the judges civil and
criminal. These dignitaries daily take their seat in the verandah of a
building allotted in one of the palace courts, where accuser and accused
delivered their conflicting statements in an equally elevated tone of
oratory, accompanied by much theatrical gesture. The decision lies
again under appeal to the throne; and whensoever the king sees fit to
reverse it, the severest censure is invariably passed upon the
delinquent "chairs." The lives and the lands of every subject of Shoa
belong _de jure_ to Sahela Selassie, and of their persons and worldly
substance he is absolute master. Whether at the demise of the king or
of the subject, the estates of the latter are again at the disposal of
the crown, and without the occurrence of either contingency, the mere
will and pleasure of the despot is alone requisite to their resumption.
Violent use, however, is not often made of this arbitrary power, and it
is rarely resorted to except in cases of high treason or of offences
against the state, which, in place of capital punishment, are visited by
confiscation of property, with imprisonment for life. But if the
criminal shall have taken timely sanctuary in the monastery of Affaf
Woira, his person is held inviolate, even by the king, and the monks can
generally mediate with success. Slavery, either limited to the
offender, or extended to his whole family, and continued to his
descendants, during one, two, or even seven generations, is a punishment
from which no class is held exempt, but exile is usually substituted for
offences committed by the clergy, the banished ecclesiastic being then
commanded to "stay not by day, neither to tarry by night," if he would
avoid the penalty that awaits delay.
In accordance with the Mosaic dispensation, a life for a life is the
sentence passed upon the murderer; but, obtaining the consent of the
relatives of the deceased, he is authorised by law to purchase his
pardon, and to beg through the land until he shall have accumulated the
stipulated ransom. His escape under any circumstances involves
forfeiture of property by all his relatives who may be residing north of
the river Airara, and unless he be produced, the attachment continues in
full force during three generations. Robbery is usually investigated
through the Lebashi, or "thief-taker," who is indispensable to
Abyssinian jurisprudence, and the unhappy wretch whom his imp selects,
if unable to pay the fine adjudged, is visited by castigation either
with a whip or cudgel. If a Christian, he is then confided to the care
of a follower of the Prophet in some of the hot unwholesome Mohammadan
districts--if an Islam, to that of a Christian--the party on whom the
culprit is thus quartered, being in either case held responsible to the
crown for his safe custody during his term of hard labour.
In all the courts of judicature, interest for money lent is recognised
at the rate of one _amole_ per mensem upon each dollar. No note of hand
is ever exchanged, but the security of a substantial house-keeper is
taken, who is termed "_was_." Debtors are generally manacled, and
suffered to roam about, in order to beg the amount due among the
charitably disposed; and it is a fact, that in the absence of a "_was_"
either the creditor or one of his retainers is chained to the defaulter,
and the happy couple thus linked, wander through the country together,
crying "By Mary! By Mary!" until the requisite sum shall have been
contributed for the sake of the Holy Virgin.
At home and abroad, on excursions and on military expeditions, the loud
cry of "_Abiet_!" salutes the royal ear from situations the most strange
and unexpected, and although the sceptre is despotic, appeals are almost
always promptly attended to. The more boisterous petitioner, who will
not remain content with the promise of a future consideration of his
claim, is sometimes visited with the stick, but no available opportunity
is neglected of listening to those who present themselves. The
halting-stone and the green turf are frequently transferred into seats
of justice; judgment is given whilst ambling over the fields and
meadows; and during five days of every week, many hours are patiently
devoted by the monarch to the unravelment of knotty points in
litigation.
Volume Two, Chapter XII.