In Shoa a girl is reckoned according to the value of her property; and
the heiress to a house, a field, and a bedstead, is certain to add a
husband to her list before many summers have shone over her head.
Marriage is generally concluded by the parties declaring, before
witnesses, "upon the life of the king," that they intend to live happily
together, and the property of each being produced, is carefully
appraised. A mule or an ass, a dollar, a shield, and a sheaf of spears
on the one side, are noted against the lady's stock of wheat, cotton,
and household gear; and the bargain being struck, the effects become
joint for the time, until some domestic difference results in both
taking up their own, and departing to seek a new mate.
Matrimony is, however, occasionally solemnised by the church, in a
manner somewhat similar to the observance of more civilised lands; the
contracting parties swearing to take each other for life, in wealth or
in poverty, in sickness or in health, and afterwards ratifying the
ceremony by partaking together of the holy sacrament, and by an oath on
the despot's life. But this fast binding is not relished by the
inhabitants of Shoa, and it is of very rare occurrence. Favourite
slaves and concubines are respected as much as wedded wives. No
distinction is made betwixt legitimate and illegitimate children; and,
to the extent of his means, every subject follows the example set by the
monarch, who, it has been seen, entertains upon his establishment, in
addition to his lawful spouse, no fewer than five hundred concubines.
The king resides only for a few weeks at either of his many palaces; and
whenever he proceeds to another, is accompanied by all his chief
officers, courtiers, and domestics. At each new station a new female
establishment is invariably entertained. All conjugal affection is lost
sight of, and each woman is in turn cast aside in neglect. Few married
couples ever live long together without violating their vow; and the
dereliction being held of small account, a beating is the only
punishment inflicted upon the weaker party. The jewel chastity is here
in no repute; and the utmost extent of reparation to be recovered in a
court of justice for the most aggravated case of seduction is but
fivepence sterling!
Morality is thus at the very lowest ebb; for there is neither custom nor
inducement to be chaste, and beads, more precious than fine gold, bear
down every barrier of restraint. Honesty and modesty both yield to the
force of temptation, and pride is seldom offended at living in a state
of indolent dependence upon others. The soft savage requires but little
inducement to follow the bent of her passions according to the dictates
of unenlightened nature; and neither scruples of conscience nor the
rules of the loose society form any obstacle whatever to their entire
gratification.
The bulk of the nation is agricultural; but on pain of forfeiting eight
pieces of salt, value twenty-pence sterling, every Christian subject of
Shoa is compelled, whenever summoned, to follow his immediate governor
to the field. A small bribe in cloth or honey will sometimes obtain
leave of absence, but the peasant is usually ready and anxious for the
foray; presenting as it does the chance of capturing a slave, or a flock
of sheep, of obtaining honour in the eyes of the despot, and of
gratifying his inherent thirst for heathen blood.
The principal men of the country who may not be entrusted with
government, spend their time in basking in the sun, holding idle gossip
with their neighbours, lounging about the purlieus of the court, or
gambling at _gebeta_ or _shuntridge_, [see Note 1] the management of the
house being left to the women, and the direction of the farm to the
servants and slaves. Visits are customarily paid early in the morning;
and it is reckoned disreputable to enter a stranger's house after the
hour of meals, because the etiquette of the country enforcing the
presentation of refreshment, the unseasonable call is ascribed to a
desire to obtain it.
Whether in the cabinet or in the field, a great man is constantly
surrounded by a numerous band of sycophants, and never for a moment
suffered to be by himself. The custom of the country enjoins the
practice; the cheapness of provisions favours the support of a large
retinue; and through the lack of manufactories, the population is able
to supply an unlimited number of idlers, who are willing to pick up a
livelihood by any means that chance may present. But to the stranger
the nuisance is a crying one. No privacy is to be enjoyed, for no
retirement is ever permitted. A dozen naked savages are perpetually by
one's side, restrained by no very correct ideas of order or decorum.
Each intruder seizes the first object that comes within his reach, and
attacks ears, teeth, and nose, with the most reckless indifference to
appearance. The confused hum and the half-suppressed chatter are far
from affording assistance during the hours of mental employment; and at
the season of meals, or during the presence of illustrious visitors, the
whole establishment, denuded to the girdle, crowd into the apartment to
satisfy their own curiosity, under pretext of doing honour to their lord
and master.
On the first introduction of a stranger, an individual is selected from
the establishment, and appointed the _baldoraba_, or "introducer." He
is designed to illustrate the agency of the holy Virgin and of the
saints, between the Redeemer and the sinning mortal. To him and to him
alone can a visitor look for admittance into the house; and unless he be
present, the monarch and the great man are alike invisible. Courtyards
may be thronged with attendants, and the doors may seem invitingly
accessible, but the _open sesame_ is wanting, and the repulsed party
returns to his home disgusted with the insolence received. Time,
however, gradually softens down the rigidity of this most inconvenient
practice, which is at first so pertinaciously observed. Suspicion of
evil design gives way on matured acquaintance; and after a certain
probation, there is not much more difficulty experienced in gaining
admittance to an Abyssinian hut, than to the lordly halls of the English
nobleman.
Respect is paid by prostration to the earth in a manner the most
degrading and humiliating--by bowing the face among the very dust--by
removing the robe in order to expose the body--and on entering the
house, by kissing the nearest inanimate object. Every subject, of
whatever rank, when admitted to the royal presence, throws himself flat
before the footstool, and three times brings his forehead in contact
with the ground. All stand with shoulders bare to the girdle before His
Majesty, or any superior; but to equals the corner of the cloth is
removed only for a time. Any thing delivered to a domestic must be
received with both hands in a cringing attitude; and should a present be
made, the nearest object, generally the threshold of the door, is
invariably saluted with the lips.
Amongst persons of rank, presents are frequently interchanged, and the
utmost display is attempted on their delivery. Whenever anything was
offered to us by our Amhara hosts, the articles were subdivided into a
multiplicity of minute portions, placed in baskets covered with red
cloth, consigned to a long train of bearers, and each component part of
the gift exposed in turn to our view. Wild bulls and unruly he-goats,
half as large as a donkey, were sometimes forcibly dragged into our
sitting apartment, to the imminent danger and frequent pollution of all
around. My personal inspection and approval was required to cocks and
hens, unseemly joints of raw beef, loaves of half-baked dough, pots of
rancid butter, sticky jars of honey, or leaky barilles of hydromel,
sacks of barley, bundles of forage, and coarse overgrown cabbages; and
any deviation from this established rule was certain to be visited with
the most dire displeasure.
Meals are taken twice during the day--at noon and after sunset. The
doors are first scrupulously barred to exclude the evil eye, and a fire
is invariably lighted before the Amhara will venture to appease his
hunger--a superstition existing, that without this precaution, devils
would enter in the dark, and there would be no blessing on the meat.
Men and women sit down together, and most affectionately pick out from
the common dish the choicest bits, which, at arm's length, they thrust
into each other's mouth, wiping their fingers on the pancakes which
serve as platters, and which are afterwards devoured by the domestics.
The appearance of the large owlish black face bending over the low
wicker table, to receive into the gaping jaws the proffered morsel of
raw beef, which, from its dimensions, requires considerable strength of
finger to be forced into the aperture, is sufficiently ludicrous, and
brings to mind a nest of sparrows in the garden hedge expanding their
toad-like throats to the whistle of the school-boy. Mastication is
accompanied by a loud smacking of the lips--an indispensable sign of
good breeding, which is send to be neglected by none but mendicants,
"who eat as if they were ashamed of it;" and sneezing, which is frequent
during the operation, is accompanied by an invocation to the Holy
Trinity, when every by-stander is expected to exclaim, _Maroo_! "God
bless you!"
Raw flesh forms the grand aliment of life. It is not unfrequently
seasoned with the gall of the slaughtered animal; but a sovereign
contempt is entertained towards all who have recourse to a culinary
process. The bull is thrown down at the very door of the eating-house;
the head having been turned to the eastward, is, with the crooked sword,
nearly severed from the body, under an invocation to the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost; and no sooner is the breath out of the carcass,
than the raw and quivering flesh is handed to the banquet. It is not
fair to brand a nation with a foul stigma, resting on a solitary fact;
but from my own experience I can readily believe all that is related by
the great traveller Bruce of the cruelties practised in Northern
Abyssinia.
Sour bread, made from teff, barley, and wheat, is eaten with a
stimulating pottage of onions, red pepper, and salt. _Dabo_, the most
superior description of bread manufactured, is restricted to the
wealthier classes; but there are numerous other methods employed in the
preparation of grain, descending through all the grades of _hebest,
anbabero, anabroot, deffo, amasa, debenia, demookta_, and _kitta_; the
first four being composed of wheaten flour, and the remainder of teff,
gram, juwarree, barley, and peas.
Mead formed the beverage of the northern nations, and was celebrated in
song by all their bards. It was the nectar they expected to quaff in
heaven from the skulls of their enemies, and upon earth it was liberally
patronised. In Shoa the despot alone retains the right of preparing the
much-prized luxury, which, under the title of _tedj_, is esteemed far
too choice for the lip of the plebeian. Unless brewed with the greatest
care, it possesses a sweet mawkish flavour, particularly disagreeable to
the palate of the foreigner; but its powers of intoxication, which do
not appear to be attended with the after-feelings inseparable from the
use of other potent liquors, extend an irresistible attraction to the
Amhara of rank, who will never, if the means of inebriation be placed
within his reach, proceed sober to bed.
The branches of the _gesho_ plant are dried, pulverised, and boiled with
water, until a strong bitter decoction is produced, which is poured off
and left to cool. Honey and water being added, fermentation takes place
on the third day. Chilies and pepper are next thrown in, and the
mixture is consigned to an earthen vessel, closely sealed with mud and
cow-dung. The strength increases with the age; and the monarch's
cellars are well stored with jars filled thirty years ago, which, little
inferior in potency to old Cognac, furnish the material for the nightly
orgies in the palace.
The _tullah_, or beer of the country, also possesses intoxicating
properties, and if swallowed to the requisite extent, produces the
consummation desired. Barley or juwarree, having been buried until the
grain begins to sprout, is bruised, and added to the bitter decoction of
the _gesho_. Fermentation ensues on the fourth day, when the liquor is
closed in an earthen vessel, and according to the temperature of the
hut, becomes ready for use in ten or fifteen more. The capacity of the
Abyssinian for this sour beverage, which in aspect resembles soap and
water, is truly amazing. In every house gallons are each evening
consumed, and serious rioting, if not bloodshed, is too often the result
of the festivity.
Rising with the liquor quaffed, the fiercer passions gradually gain the
entire ascendency, and guests seldom return to their homes without
witnessing the broil and the scuffle, the flashing of swords and the
dealing of deep cuts and wounds among the drunken combatants. If but a
small portion of the grease which is so plentifully besmeared over the
Christian persons of the Amhara were employed in the fabrication of
candles, the long idle evenings might be passed in a more pleasant and
profitable manner than in the swilling of beer like hogs, and the
consequent brawling contentions which at present stigmatise their
nocturnal meetings.
On ordinary occasions, however, when not engaged in a debauch, the
Abyssinian retires to his bed as soon as the shades of night close in.
A bullock's hide is stretched upon the mud floor, on which, for mutual
warmth, all the inferior members of the family lie huddled together _in
puris naturalibus_. The clothing of the day forming the covering at
night, is equitably distributed over the whole party; and should the
master of the house require sustenance during the nocturnal hours, a
collop of raw flesh and a horn of ale are presented by a male or female
attendant, who starts without apparel from the group of sleepers,
exclaiming _Abiet_! "My lord!" to the well-known summons from the
famished _gaita_.
Coffee, although flourishing wild in many parts of the kingdom, is at
all times strictly forbidden on pain of exclusion from the church; and
the priesthood have extended the same penal interdiction to smoking,
"because the Apostle saith, that which cometh out of the mouth of a man
defileth him." One half the year, too, which is reserved for utter
idleness, is marked by an exclusion of all meat diet, under the penalty
of excommunication. Eggs and butter are then especially forbidden, as
also milk, which is styled "the cow's son." Nothing whatever is tasted
between sunrise and sunset; and even at the appointed time a scanty mess
of boiled wheat, dried peas, or the leaves of the kail-cabbage, with a
little vegetable oil, is alone permitted to those who are unable to
obtain fish, of which none are found in any of the upland rivers.
Besides Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the twelve months, which are
observed as holydays, the fast of the Apostles continues eighteen days,
that of the holy Virgin sixteen, Christmas seven, Nineveh four, and Lent
fifty-six. During all these, labouring men are strictly prohibited from
every employment, and, as they desire their souls to be saved, are
compelled to live like anchorites, to the serious diminution of their
bodily strength. This is encouraged and promoted by the king; yet there
is no system more baneful than that of devoting so many precious days to
idleness and vice, and none forming a more fatal obstacle to the
amelioration of the people. Where such a waste of time as this is
sanctioned by religion, how deeply laid must be the foundation of mental
ignorance! Six months out of the twelve devoted to listless idleness is
indeed an immense source of evil, and God, who has placed men here for
useful and worthy exertion, is not likely to reward them for their
sloth. But throughout Abyssinia the evil is in full force. In arts, in
industry, and in social as well as in moral existence, her sons are
shrouded under a dense cloud of ignorance. Want of education denies
them the relaxation of intellectual employment--little amusement varies
the dull routine of a life awed by the church, by the king, and by the
nobles; and an unprofitable existence having been passed in this world,
the spirit passes away without any very distinct idea being entertained
of what is to happen in the next.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note 1. _Gebeta_ is a game something allied to backgammon, but played
with sixty-four balls, stored in twenty cavities on the board.
_Shuntridge_ is, with few deviations, the Arab game of chess.
Volume 3, Chapter XX.