Another Abyssinian year had floated away upon the stream of time, and
again the return of spring had been celebrated by the green fillet of
_enkotatach_, by the tournament in the bright meadows of Debra Berhan,
and by the plaintive ditty of the king's Guragues, who, with yellow
garlands of the cross-flower wreathed among their raven tresses, once
more chanted away their three days of privileged inebriety. As
September drew towards a close, it had been confidently predicted that
the rain would terminate according to its "covenant;" but it still
poured on with unabated violence, and the review of Maskal was achieved
under a pitiless deluge, which exerted its best endeavours both to mar
the pageant, and to extinguish the evening bonfire raised in honour of
Saint Helena.
But the beat of the _nugareet_, and the voice of the herald beneath the
solitary tree at Angollala, proclaimed the great annual foray as
heretofore; and the plain below the palace hill was soon dotted with the
black woollen tents of the leaders of cohorts. There were the governors
of Bulga and of Mentshar, and of Morat and Morabeitie, and Efrata and
Antzochia, and of Mahhfood and of Shoa-Meda, with all their
subordinates, each surrounded by his own retainers; and the rear
division of this feudal host was placed under the command of Besuenech,
now governor of Giddem, the father of the king's grand-nephew, who fell
the preceding year upon the fair plains of Germama.
Led on to victory by the holy ark of Saint Michael, the great crimson
umbrellas streamed again through the barrier wall at the head of the
Christian chivalry. Twenty thousand troopers pursued the route of the
Sertie Lake to the Metta Galla, occupying the plains immediately
contiguous to the valley of Finfinni, who were now the victims marked
out for spoliation. The despot had so invariably passed this tribe
without offering any molestation, that the heathen were little prepared
for the thunderbolt that was about to fall, and of which the first
intimation was afforded in the simultaneous invasion of the entire
district. Overwhelmed by the torrent of desolation which had so
suddenly burst in, four thousand five hundred Gentiles of all ages were
butchered by the "soldiers of Christ," and of these the greater number
were shot from trees that they had ascended in the vain hope of eluding
observation. Three hapless individuals were thus barbarously destroyed
by the hands of Sahela Selassie, who for the first time led his troops
to the summit of the mountain Entotto--the ancient capital of Ethiopia--
and, taking formal possession, appointed the arch-rebel Shambo to the
government, under the title of "_Shoom_ of all Gurague."
Forty-three thousand head of cattle were on this occasion swept away to
replenish the royal pastures, and the rich prize had been obtained with
the loss of only nine of the king's liege subjects. Of the heroes who
fell, one was torn by a lion in the deep juniper forest, and another
basely assassinated by his comrade in arms, whose disfigured corse was
subsequently left in retribution to the hyenas; whilst a third, a priest
of extraordinary piety, and the father of the young page Besabeh, was
transfixed by the spear of a Pagan who sat concealed amid the branches
of a tree, beneath which the holy man rode in a rash attempt to secure a
fugitive. The king's Master of the Horse wore the vaunting green
_sareti_ for having achieved the capture of a child scarce five years of
age; and upwards of one thousand captives, chiefly women and young
girls, swelled the barbaric pomp of triumphal entry to Angollala.
I considered that the opportunity had again arrived, when a remonstrance
from the Embassy would promote the release of these unfortunate slaves;
and after reminding His Majesty of his noble conduct with respect to the
prisoners taken during the preceding foray, I entreated him not to
tarnish, in the eyes of the civilised world, the reputation he had
acquired for mercy, but to prove, by his present conduct, that he was
indeed influenced by the true principles of Christianity. Under
Providence, my application was again crowned with success, and with a
few exceptions, all were liberated without ransom. "I listen to your
words," said His Majesty, as he issued the fiat of release, "in order
that the name of Sahela Selassie may not be broken."
Sad indeed are the atrocities perpetrated by the undisciplined armies of
Ethiopia, when disputing the abstruse mysteries of Abyssinian divinity,
or seeking, in the relentless fury of religious hate, to exterminate a
heathen and stranger nation by a series of crusades, undertaken as an
acceptable vindication of the sacred symbol of Christianity.
"Her badge of mercy blazons half their shields;
Sword hilts are fashion'd as memorials of it:
This sign of man's forgiveness leads to battle!
Whilst every tyrant hangs its ensign out,
In scorn of justice, from his battlements;
Mail'd prelates march before it to the field--
Priest fights with priest, and both sides under it!
This sign and pledge of mercy!"
The people of Shoa have fully adopted that spirit of merciless
destruction which impelled the Israelites to destroy their enemies from
the face of the earth. Considering themselves the lineal descendants of
those heroes of ancient history who were arrayed against the enemies of
the Lord, they are actuated by the same motives and feelings which led
the bands of Judah to the massacre. The foe is a Pagan, who does not
fast, nor kiss the church, nor wear a _mateb_. All feelings of humanity
are thrown to the winds; and a high reward in heaven is believed to
await the king and the blood-thirsty soldier for the burning of the
hamlet, the capture of the property, and the murder of the accursed
Gentile. The words of absolution from the mouth of the Father Confessor
usher in the ruthless slaughter; and the name of the Most High is
wantonly employed to consecrate the ensuing scenes of savage atrocity.
That the minds of the people should not be more disturbed and alienated
from agricultural pursuits, by the continual military expeditions which
they are thus called upon to make, cannot fail to appear extraordinary.
Probably the selfishness of the despot, in his appropriation of the
lion's share of the spoil, has exerted a salutary influence in checking
innate restlessness; and the subject has been instructed in a rough
school, that there is more profit to be derived from holding the plough
than from wielding the sword: for it is certainly the fact, that when
the foray is over, the war-horse is turned loose in the meadow, and the
partisan willingly returns to his peaceful avocations in the field. But
these campaigns bring annually a repetition of the most atrocious and
monstrous barbarity, and none who have witnessed the unhallowed
proceedings of the Amhara warrior, can fail to offer up a fervent prayer
that the time may be hastened, when nations shall be knit together in
the bonds of love, and when true Christianity shall reign paramount in
every heart.
December had now commenced, but a dense gloomy mist still enveloped the
hill of Anko, and torrents of rain continued to deluge the country, at a
season when the smiling sun had been wont to shine over the land. The
fair face of heaven was utterly obscured. The ripe crops lay rotting
upon the ground; and as the inhabitants waded with difficulty through
the deep mire which filled every street and lane of the capital, the
exchange of mournful salutations was followed by a foreboding shake of
the head at the daily increasing price of provisions. The season was
unusually rigorous, and the soaked firewood sputtering upon the hearth,
gave not out one atom of genial heat. On the bleak summit of the
Abyssinian alps every thing was cold and clammy to the touch; and a
searching wind, creeping up the damp sides of the hill, entered at each
crevice in the mud wall, and rendered the situation of the inmates of
the frail houses even more miserable than usual.
As the evening of the 6th of December closed in, not a single breath of
air disturbed the thick fog which still brooded over the mountain. A
sensible difference was perceptible in the atmosphere, but the rain
again commenced to descend in a perfect deluge, and for hours pelted
like the discharge of the bursting water-spout. Towards morning there
came on a violent thunder-storm, and for some minutes the entire scene
was fearfully illuminated by the dazzling fire of heaven; and every rock
and cranny re-echoed from the succeeding crash of the hurtling thunder.
Deep darkness again settled over the mountain. Suddenly the earth
groaned and trembled to its very centre: the hill reeled and tottered
like a drunken man; and a heavy rumbling noise, like the passage of
artillery wheels, was followed by the shrill cry of mortal despair.
Dreadful indeed were the consequences of this shock. The earth,
saturated with moisture, had slidden like an avalanche from the steep
rugged slopes, and huge boulders, tilted from their muddy beds, were
thrown into the glens below. Houses and cottages were buried in the
dark _debris_, or shattered to fragments by these monstrous masses
bounding on their course with terrific rapidity. Large trees were torn
from their roots, and daylight presented to the eyes of the affrighted
inhabitants a strange scene of ruin.
Perched upon the apex of the conical peak, the palace had, on the
preceding evening, frowned over the capital in all the security of its
numerous encircling palisades; but now, shorn of their bristling
protection, those buildings that had not been overthrown, stood naked
and exposed. Twenty open breaches, as though heavy batteries had been
playing for a fortnight on the devoted hill, laid bare the approaches to
the very porch of the banqueting-hall; and palings and palisades, forced
from their deep foundations, lay broken and mingled together, strewed
over the entire face of the eminence. The roads along the scarp were
completely obliterated. Tall green shrubs reclined with their roots
reversed among the wreck; and not one vestige of the fragile tenements
could be discovered in the bare earthy tracts which disfigured the
mountain-side, and marked the disastrous course of the treacherous slip.
The more vigilant inmates had, with the loss of all their little
property, found barely time to rush from their houses, and huddled
together in shivering groups totally denuded of clothing, had passed the
remnant of the night in all the pangs of cold and terror; whilst in the
market-place lay extended the stark discoloured bodies of numerous
victims that had been already extricated from the slimy ruins, and were
placed in the _Arada_ for recognition by surviving relatives, if any
there were. The shrieks of the mourners added to the distress of the
scene. The hymn of entreaty rose high in the mist from every church
throughout the town; and bands of priests, carrying the holy cross,
marched in solemn procession through the miry streets, beating their
breasts and calling aloud upon Saint Michael the Archangel, and upon
Mary the mother of the Messiah, to intercede for them in this the day of
their affliction.
Sweeping desolation had spread for miles along the great range: houses
with their inmates and household gear had been scattered in fragments
over the mountain-side; and the voice of wailing from the green hill top
and from the sheltered nook, announced the many victims that were thus
immaturely buried in the dark bosom of the earth. The destruction
varied considerably according to situation and locality. Some villages
were entirely smothered under the descending tons of heavy wet soil, and
the inhabitants of others grieved only for their cattle, their crops,
and their farm-steading; but the loss of life and property was
altogether immense; and although the tremulous shock had been before
frequently experienced, a similar to the present calamity had not
befallen the country within the memory of man.
For many nights afterwards, as the thick mist still continued to enfold
the mountain in its dark shroud, and the sloppy rain plashed heavily
over the denuded rocks, the air at the close of each dull evening was
filled with the plaintive sounds of hymn and prayer. The deep voice of
the priesthood pealed incessantly from the churches; and groups of
bewildered females, collected in every corner of the streets, bowed
themselves to the ground, whilst calling in strangely wild cadence upon
the Virgin, who is the Mediator, and upon all the saints and guardian
angels, to preserve the believers in Christ from impending ruin--for the
wise men who deal in sorcery had proclaimed that the present throe was
only the harbinger of the wrath of Heaven, which would one day sweep the
high mountain of Anko with all her inhabitants utterly from the face of
the earth.
Volume 3, Chapter XLV.