Bidding adieu to the hospitable host, we continued our journey along the
eastern side of the Turmaber range, through a country considerably
improved in point of beauty. There was a warmth of appearance about the
numerous hamlets, quite in unison with the increased temperature of this
lower tract. Gayer flowers bloomed by the way-side; more brilliant
birds fluttered among the thick corinda hedges, through which peeped the
eglantine, the honeysuckle, and the blackberry; and the entire prospect,
although exceedingly broken, was covered with the most luxuriant grass,
in every spot where the hand of the cultivator had not been busy. The
slope of each hill and abrupt eminence was wooded with junipers and
other fantastic evergreens; fields of yellow safflower glowed in golden
tints; and teff, growing in the depths of the valleys, resembled greatly
the waving rice-fields of Asia.
Dame Twotit, one of the king's choristers, who accompanied the army to
Garra Gorphoo, and was now making a professional tour of the provinces,
joined us _en route_, carrying a small wicker parasol; and as she ambled
along upon her mule, with the butter pouring in streams over her
shoulders, through the influence of the solar rays, the good lady was
pleased to chant extemporaneous couplets in honour of the war about to
be waged against the beasts of the forest. "The Gyptzis will slay the
elephant, whereof all the warriors of Amhara are afraid"--whilst it
formed the burden of her song, conveyed an opinion diametrically opposed
to that entertained by the public; and the followers, inspired by the
words of a woman, took up the sentiment, and made the valleys re-echo to
their martial chorus, which attracted to the roadside the inhabitants of
every hamlet in the vicinity.
Mahhfood, a village hemmed in by high kolqual hedges, formed the
termination of the march. Its natural fortifications having uniformly
proved insurmountable, this district has never been conquered either by
the Galla or Mohammadans. The residence of the governor, who has been
honoured with the hand of Woizoro Birkenich, daughter of Queen Besabesh
by her former marriage, stands on the apex of the loftiest of the many
isolated hills; and in accordance with the precaution invariably taken
to prevent surprise on these disturbed frontiers, it is surrounded by a
formidable fence. Our camp was pitched at the foot; and the thermometer
having stood in the morning at 32 degrees on the summit of Dokaket, the
difference in temperature was considerably felt during the afternoon,
when the mercury mounted to 90o under the flimsy palls which formed our
only screen.
Having been specially recommended to Ayto Gadeloo, whose acquaintance I
had formed during the late foray, we paid him a visit of ceremony in the
cool of the evening, and were received and entertained according to the
perfection of Abyssinian etiquette. The whole of the dirty domestics
and household slaves were mustered on the occasion, to witness the
presentation of gifts brought for the "Emabiet," [i.e. "The mother of
the house"--a title of honour employed in speaking of the queen, the
princesses royal, the mistress of a family, and the holy Virgin, who is
usually styled "Our Lady."] who, like the rest of the princesses royal,
displayed unequivocal signs of being sole and undisputed mistress of the
establishment. Fat, fair, and forty, she was seated in a gloomy recess,
upon an "alga," and partially screened from view by the intervention of
a lusty handmaiden. The good man, who occupied a corner of the throne,
presented in his owlish features the very personification of a
well-trained, hen-pecked husband, for years accustomed to the iron rule
of the shrew--and so complete was her monopoly, that he could be said to
boast of little beyond the empty title of governor of Mahhfood.
The lady put a few preliminary questions touching the number of wives we
each possessed, and appeared highly to approve of the matrimonial code
that limited the number to one. But throughout the dingy mansion there
was a miserable assumption of regal dignity which considerably retarded
conversation, by imparting to the whole ceremony an air of unbending
stiffness. The host, who was either unable or unwilling to answer any
interrogatories respecting his own country, subjected us to a tiresome
catechism; and like the Arab Bedouin, who formed his estimate of the
poverty of Europe by the fact of its producing neither dates nor camels,
Ayto Gadeloo conceived a passing indifferent idea of Great Britain, from
the discovery that it boasted of no mules.
"Have you mashela, and daboo, and tullah in your country?" [Anglice,
"maize, bread, and beer"] he inquired, whilst his fair partner feasted
her eyes upon the "pleasing things" presented, in none of which it was
evident the lord of the creation was destined to participate--"Oh, you
have all these; well, and have you oxen and sheep, and horses and
mules?"--"How, no mules?" he shouted in derision, while the slaves
tittered and hid their black faces, and their mistress laughed
outright--"Why, what a miserable country yours must be!"
Shortly after daybreak we resumed our journey through very thriving
crops, descending to the valley of the Robi, where the eye was greeted
by a perfect scene of Eastern cultivation. Juwarree, fifteen feet high,
teff, chilies, onions, oil-plant, and cotton, in many parts artificially
irrigated, flourished with the utmost luxuriance on a rich-black soil,
under a climate resembling that of the more favoured spots in Western
India. The scenery of this richly-wooded and well-watered valley was
not a little enhanced by the beauty of the surrounding mountains, of
which the numerous peaks were tufted with trees, and crowned by populous
hamlets, whilst the redundance of vegetation, and the growth and quality
of the cotton, with a soil adapted for the production of sugar, coffee,
and rice, proclaimed the locality to possess the very highest natural
advantages as an emigrating settlement.
In the broad shallow channel of the Robi, upwards of two hundred yards
across, which pours into the Hawash between a belt of verdant acacias
two sparkling streams of the clearest water, are found an inexhaustible
supply of round pebbles of every size, which being assorted, are used by
the Amhara fusiliers in lieu of the usual iron bullets. They are even
employed as slugs and shot, and form a large item in the tribute paid by
this district, wherein alone they are obtained. Crossing the river, the
road entered a thick jungle; and we were warned to be on our guard, as
it had long been infested by banditti called Gowezza, composed
principally of Christian outcasts, who absconded either from fear of
their creditors, or of church censure. During the great famine in the
year of Saint Luke, their numbers were augmented by from five to six
hundred Christian, Mohammadan, and Galla vagabonds, who formed
themselves into a lawless band, and renouncing all forms of religion,
took up their permanent abode in the greenwood, where, favoured by the
nature of the ground, they could plunder and kidnap with impunity.
To the notes of an Abyssinian war chorus, which still proclaimed our
hostile designs on the lordly elephant, the plain was crossed without
any demonstrations on the part of the outlaws; and leaving the high
peaks of Chureecha and Sangota on the right, with Mungut and Sallaish on
the left, the road ascended the Gozi mountain by a narrow pass, leading
under a peak on which stands a house belonging to Wulasma Mohammad.
Abomesa, forming the termination of the range towards the Adaiel
frontier, limits his power in this direction, his rights as Abogaz
extending westward to Bulga. The district of Gozi is entirely peopled
by Mohammadans styled Arablet, whose progenitors are said by tradition
to have been left there prior to the reign of Nagasi, first king of
Shoa. Hoossain, Wahabit, and Abdool Kurreem, generals probably detached
from the victorious army of Graan, are represented to have come from
Mecca, and to have taken possession of the country--the legend assigning
to the first of these warriors as his capital the populous village of
Medina, which is conspicuous on a cone among the mountains shortly after
entering the valley of the Robi.
Having descended the Gozi range, the road led across an extensive flat,
styled "the wilderness of Giddem," which forms the neutral ground
betwixt the Amhara and the Adaiel. But less than four years have
elapsed since the great chief of the Gibdosa, at the head of his whole
clan, made a sudden inroad, and swept off all the cattle in this
district. The Christians pursuing the invaders, slew great numbers in
an engagement fought near Rasa, and recovered a portion of the spoil;
but on their march back, they were in turn overtaken by Anbassa Ali, who
destroyed upwards of one thousand.
The valley of Giddem is watered by four fine rivers, which we crossed in
succession--the Sower, "mystery," the Ashmak, "man who deals in
sorcery," the Gasha Bakindee, "shield on my arm," and the Jow-waha,
"stupid water"--the whole of which, uniting after their escape from the
mountains, join the Hawash not far from Mount Azulo. The Gasha
Bakindee, the banks of which are precipitous and thickly wooded, is
represented to have been the scene of numberless murders on the part of
the Wollo Galla, who are here in the constant habit of way-laying
travellers through the wilderness. To the eastward of the valley,
therefore, the hand of the cultivator has been stayed, and the forest,
standing in large gloomy patches, choked with reeds and wild canes, is
tenanted by troops of guinea-fowl, by the boar, the lion, and the
elephant; but to the westward, on either side of the road, the
cultivation is magnificent--the soil, the climate, and the abundant
supply of water, with the shelter afforded by the surrounding hills,
proving especially favourable to the labours of the agriculturist.
Traces of the huge tenants of the shades so worthy of their bulk, were
however visible among the adjacent crops, and the dread entertained of
their visits was well evinced by numerous elevated platforms,
constructed upon the highest trees that bordered the rich plantations of
cotton and red pepper.
On the sedge-grown banks of the Sower, beneath the spreading branches of
a venerable tamarind, we found Ayto Abaiyo, with a numerous retinue,
reposing during the noontide heat, on his way to assume the district of
Mungust, to the south-southwest, the late governor having been summarily
removed on charges of oppression. In the principal town, Mosabiet, is
held one of the chief markets in the kingdom, the high road to
Manchettee, the Wollo, and the Yedjow Galla passing through it. The
numerous mounted retinue of the haughty functionary had conjured up
misgivings in the mind of our guide, who, since leaving Mahhfood, had
never ceased allusions to the "Gowezza;" nor was it without much
persuasion and remonstrance that he was finally induced to cross the
river with us, and to hail from a respectful distance the suspicious
band of his own countrymen.
Leaving the valley of Giddem, seven miles in length, the route led over
a very broken and stony rise into a third vale, also richly cultivated,
whence commenced the ascent of the Kokfari range. We halted for the
night at the village of Zumbo, pleasantly situated on a pretty green
terrace on the mountain side between Manya and Dai Mariam, and I
despatched the King's messenger in advance to apprise Ayto Tsanna, the
governor, of our arrival within his jurisdiction. Supplies poured in
from all directions; but although now far beyond the reach of the
much-dreaded freebooters, it was not destined that our hours should be
passed in peace. Attracted by the smell of honey, a legion of huge
black ants swarmed into the tent; and invading every bed, caused one
slumberer after the other to start in madness to his feet. In vain we
obtained a light, and massacred thousands upon thousands--a fresh army
streamed upon the track of the annihilated troops; and so unremitting
were their persecutions, that we ultimately found it necessary to strike
the camp, and remove to a remote stubble field, where, although fairly
beaten from the field, pursuit was fortunately baffled, and their
proximity speedily forgotten.
Volume Two, Chapter XXXVIII.