Abyssinia had for fifteen years been left without an archbishop, when
Abba Salama, a Coptic youth, nominated by the hundred and ninth occupant
of the chair of Saint Mark, arrived at Gondar to enter upon the
functions of his sacred office. Oubie, the tyrannical ruler of Tigre,
had, with diplomatic sagacity, despatched an expensive mission to the
Alexandrian Patriarch, to solicit a successor to the post so long vacant
by the death of Abba Kerlos--a wily measure, involving the sacrifice,
indeed, of lands and ecclesiastical revenues, but securing to himself a
sure political preponderance among the manifold rulers in the North, who
know no law but that of the strongest. Heretofore the dignity had
invariably been conferred on some bigoted old monk, extracted from one
of the convents of Saint Anthony--the only monastic order recognised by
the Coptic church. Much against his will, the patriarch elect was often
dragged by force from his cloister, where he had passed years of
abstinence and mortification, and being duly exalted to the episcopal
throne, on which the residue of his days were to be passed, he never
failed to impart a full share of ignorance and superstition. But the
new primate, raised at the early age of twenty-two years to the
pontificate of Ethiopia, and invested with despotic powers, proved,
fortunately for the country, to be possessed of abilities of a very
superior order, whilst his mind had been expanded by a liberal education
at Cairo under the Reverend Dr Lieder, a pious and learned missionary
of the Church of England.
One of the first steps of the new Abuna was to depute a confidential
servitor to Shoa, as the bearer of a letter of compliments to myself,
expressive of his desire to cultivate a friendly understanding, and
urging on me a speedy visit to his court. War had for some months past
been raging on the western frontier betwixt Goshoo, the ruler of Gojam,
and his son Birroo, who had risen in open rebellion, and the messenger
brought a confirmation of the long-rumoured defeat of the former, and of
the forces of Ras Ali, which had been sent to his assistance. The
return of killed and wounded is in this country never suffered to fall
short of the reality, and on the present occasion it had certainly not
lost by the distance it had travelled.
"It was a little before nightfall," said the turbaned priest, "that the
rival armies, countless as blades of grass, came in sight of each other
at Ungatta, on the banks of the Suggara. Before the morning dawned,
Birroo, who occupied the upper ground, moving down to the attack,
secured the fords of the river. The action presently opened with a
heavy fire of musketry and matchlocks, which did great execution. Five
thousand warriors were slain--two thousand five hundred stand of arms
were captured--Liban, who commanded, was, with several of his principal
chiefs, taken prisoner--and Goshoo was compelled to seek the inviolable
sanctuary afforded by the monastery of Dima Georgis. Five governors
were hewn alive down the middle; and the conqueror, after standing up to
his neck in water for three days, as an atonement for the slaughter he
had committed among a Christian people, sent to Ras Ali a horse with its
mane, tail, and ears cut off, and a pair of new trousers greatly soiled,
with a haughty message to the effect, that these were but types of the
fate that yet awaited his liege lord!"
The month of January had now come round; and the arrival of queen
Besabesh, who invariably precedes the movements of the court by one day,
proclaimed the advent of the Negoos to celebrate at the capital the
festivities of the Abyssinian Christmas. Her Majesty had become
extremely indisposed from the long journey, and was desirous of
receiving medical aid; but it being contrary to the court etiquette that
the royal consort should be seen by any male, an interview could not be
accorded. Seated in a small closed tent, the hand of the illustrious
patient was passed outside through a tiny aperture; and, although
eunuchs further embarrassed conversation, a condescending voice
inquired, in reply to some common-place civilities, on the part of Dr
Kirk, "If I did not befriend the foreigners, pray who is there else to
do so?"
Entertaining such a bigoted aversion to every Mohammadan custom, it
cannot fail to appear singular that the licentious court of Shoa should
have preserved one of the most objectionable--the seclusion of females.
Yet such is the extreme jealousy on this point, that although from our
first arrival the queen had expressed herself in the most friendly
terms, and almost daily sent me through her maids of honour trifling
presents of mead or bread, coupled with complimentary inquiries, an
introduction, under any circumstances, was quite impracticable.
From day to day, however, the most curious applications were still
preferred for beads, trinkets, cloth, and perfumery, and the utmost
disappointment was evinced at my making no demand in return. "I possess
honey and I possess butter, and have fowls and eggs in abundance," was
the undeviating message. "Why do not my children ask for what they
want? All I have is theirs, for all that they have is mine!"
Even when residing at a distance, I continually received laconic notes
on scrolls of parchment varying in breadth from one inch to three,
bearing neither signature nor superscription, and tightly rolled up in
wax. Their contents revealed some newly conceived fancy, such as might
have been expected from a queen that eats raw beef. "The brass in your
country is like gold," formed the sum and substance of one epistle, "and
you might therefore order the bracelets to be made of the pattern sent
by the hands of Dinkenich;" [i.e. "She is beautiful."--One of Her
Majesty's Abigails.] and again, "May this letter come to the hands of
the English commander. Are you well? are you well? are you quite well?
That the soap may not end quick, you will send it in large quantities,
saith Besabesh."
Not long after Her Majesty's arrival, she sent me an unfortunate child,
recently purchased from a Gurague slave caravan, with a request that
_Hubsheeri_ might be exchanged for some clear salad oil which had met
with special approval "for medicine for the face;" and great surprise
was elicited by my reply, "that such a course of proceeding would
involve disgrace and criminality, inasmuch as the unchristian-like
traffic in human beings was held in abhorrence beyond the great water."
But in this matter the Emabiet was not singular. Certain of the
courtiers, who considered themselves under obligations, had previously
tendered us "strong Shankela slaves" as a Christmas gift, and all had
been equally at a loss to comprehend our motives in refusing.
Amongst the followers that I had brought from India was a native of
Cabool, who acted in capacity of tailor, and his proficiency in the
needle involved a most unreasonable tax upon his services. Day after
day for weeks and months had he been in attendance at the palace; and
when at length, under the royal eye, he had completed a sumptuous
_burnoos_ [cloak], on the elaborate embroidery of which half the
treasures in the _gemdjia_ house were lavished, the king, in the
plenitude of his munificence, sent by the hands of Ayto Melkoo a shabby
cotton cloth, value three shillings and sixpence, with a half-starved
goat, and a message that "it was Christmas, and the tailor might eat."
Hajji Mirza was furious. "Take back these gifts to your Shah," he
growled indignantly; "I want none of them. By the beard of the prophet,
I'm the son of a Pathan; and praise be to Allah, the meanest overseer of
a village in Afghanistan is possessed of greater liberality than Sahela
Selassie."
This _tirade_ had fortunately been delivered in a tongue not familiar to
the ears of the king's Master of the Horse, who was meanwhile diligently
occupied with the Pathan's needle and scissors. Having taken the bag
out of his hands, and extracted a scrap of red cloth, he had carefully
fashioned a minute cross, which, with elbows squared, he was now
proceeding to stitch over a hole in the lower part of his striped cotton
robe.
"Why do you do that?" inquired the tailor, peevishly, in broken Amharic,
not relishing the interference in his department, and anxious also to
exhibit his own talents. "Let me darn it for you, and then there will
be no blemish."
"No," replied the party addressed, with great gravity declining the
proffered assistance. "Don't you know that the hole has been burnt, and
therefore that it _must_ be repaired with another colour?"
In Abyssinia, as in other parts of Christendom, the festival of the
nativity is a season of frolic and rejoicing, during which people
display the strength of their piety by the quantity of beef that they
can consume; the principal difference being, that it is here eaten raw
instead of roasted. Our cook, a Portuguese from Goa, had been
frequently summoned to the palace for the royal edification in culinary
matters, but although he was a _bona fide_ Christian, and wore a "mateb"
too, the king could never persuade himself to partake of any of the
viands prepared by his hands. Loaf sugar being now employed in the
manufacture of a Christmas cake, His Majesty, after attentively watching
operations, enquired, as a matter of course, "How they made it white?
Was the ox whose blood was employed killed in the name of the holy
Trinity?"
"Certainly not."
"Then it might remain," was the abrupt rejoinder. "_Ye noor_--I don't
want it; it doth not please me."
The Abyssinians, assigning to the world an existence of 7334 years,
refer the birth of Christ to the five thousand five hundredth after the
creation. Thus eight years have been lost in the computation of time,
and their Anno Domini 1834 corresponded with the Christian era 1842.
On the 4th of January, which was Christmas eve, the usual contest took
place on the king's meadow between the royal household and the
dependents of the Purveyor-General and the Dedj Agafari. A cloth ball
having been struck with a mall, a struggle for its possession follows,
and the party by which it is thrice caught in succession being declared
victorious, enjoys the privilege of abusing the vanquished during the
ensuing two days of festivity, the first of which is celebrated by the
male, the second by the female portion of the population. Every tongue
is unloosed; and the foulest slander may be heaped upon the most
illustrious, as well as upon the holiest personages in the land, the
monarch alone excepted.
His Majesty's partisans gained the day, and we were summoned to the
palace to witness their Christmas exhibition. Filling the courtyard,
they danced and recited before the throne couplets defamatory of all the
principal functionaries present, not omitting the Lord Bishop, who
appeared to consider himself infinitely complimented by the vices
whereof he stood accused. Bodily imperfections were not overlooked;
asses and dromedaries afforded frequent comparisons; and the fat of the
corpulent State-Gaoler, who sat a witness to the festivities, was
declared sufficient to light the entire capital during the approaching
public entertainment, which, given at the expense of the defeated
chiefs, closed the disgraceful Saturnalia in riot and debauchery.
Volume 3, Chapter XXIII.