Albuquerque treated with him privately before he landed, to make his

commissions known to him; but he expressly refused shewing any letter

unless to the king himself in Portugal. This behaviour hurt him in the

eyes of the viceroy, who was therefore disposed, with the rest of his

officers, to slight him when he should come ashore. But Matthew, now

out of danger, and knowing his person to be sacred, would no longer

be treated like a private person. He sent to let the viceroy, bishop,

and clergy know, that, besides his consequence as an ambassador, which

demanded their respect, he was the bearer of a piece of wood of the

true cross, which he carried as a present to the king of Portugal;

and, therefore, he required them, as they would avoid an imputation

of sacrilege, to shew to that precious relict the utmost respect, and

celebrate its arrival as a festival. No more was necessary after this.

The whole streets of Goa were filled with processions; the troops

were all under arms; the viceroy, and the principal officers, met

Matthew at his landing, and conveyed him to the palace, where he was

magnificently lodged and feasted. But nothing could long overcome the

prejudices the Portuguese had imbibed upon the first sight of him; and,

notwithstanding he carried a piece of the true cross, both he and it

soon fell into perfect oblivion: Nor was it till 1513, after he had

staid three years in India, that he got leave to proceed to Portugal by

a fleet returning home loaded with spices.

Damianus Goez the historian, though apparently a man of good sense and

candour, cannot conjecture why this Armenian was sent as an ambassador,

and wishes to be resolved why not an Abyssinian nobleman. But it is

obvious from the character I have already given of him, there could

be nobody in the empress’s power that had half his qualifications;

and, besides, an Abyssinian nobleman would not have ventured to go, as

knowing very well that everywhere beyond the limits of his own country

he would have been without protection, and the first Turk in whose

power he might have fallen would have sold him for a slave. In no other

character is any of his nation seen, either in Arabia or India, and

his master has no treaty with any state whatever. Add to this, that an

Abyssinian speaks no language but his own, which is not understood out

of his own country; and is absolutely ignorant even of the existence of

other far distant nations.

But, besides, there was an Abyssinian sent with Matthew, who died; and

here Damianus Goez’s wonder should cease.

The same ill-fortune, which had attended Matthew in India, followed

him in his voyage to Portugal. The Captains of the ships contended

with each other who should behave worst to him; and, in the midst of

all this ill-treatment, the ship which he was on board of arrived at

Lisbon. The king, upon hearing the particulars of this ill usage,

immediately put the offenders in irons, where they had, probably, lain

during their lives, had they not been freed by the intercession of

Matthew.

David (as I have before observed) was only eleven years old[25] when

he was placed upon the throne; and, at his inauguration, took the name

of Lebna Denghel, or the Virgin’s Frankincense; then that of Etana

Denghel, or the Myrrh of the Virgin; and after that, of Wanag Segued,

which signifies Reverenced, or Feared, among the Lions, with whom,

towards the last of his reign, he resided in wilds and mountains more

than with men.

During this minority, there was peace with Mahomet king of Adel.

Maffudi still continued his depredations; and, by his liberality, had

formed strong connections with the Turks in Arabia. In return for the

number of slaves whom he had sent to Mecca, a green silk standard,

(that of Mahomet and of the Faith), and a tent of black velvet,

embroidered with gold, were sent him by the Sherriffe, the greatest

honour a Mahometan could possibly receive, and he was also made Shekh

of the island of Zeyla, which was delivering the key of Abyssinia to

him.

It was not till David had arrived at sixteen years of age that the

constant success of Maffudi, the honours bestowed upon him, and the

gain which accrued from all his expeditions, had at last determined

the king of Adel to break the peace with Abyssinia, and join him.

These princes, with the whole Mahometan force, had fallen together

upon Dawaro, Ifat, and Fatigar; and, in one year, had driven away,

and slain, above nineteen thousand Christians, subjects to the king.

A terror was now spread over the whole kingdom, and great blame laid

both upon the empress and the king, for sitting and looking timidly on,

while the Turks and Moors, year after year, ravaged whole provinces

without resistance.

These murmurs at last roused David, who, for his own part, had not

suffered them willingly so long. He determined immediately to raise an

army, and to command it in person: In vain the empress admonished him

of his danger, and his absolute want of experience in matters of war;

in vain she advised him to employ some of the old officers against the

veteran Moorish troops.

The king answered, That every officer of merit had been tried already,

and baffled from beginning to end, so that the army had no confidence

in them; that he was resolved to take his trial as the others had done,

and leave the event where it ought to be left. Though the diviners all

prophesied ill from this resolution of the king, the generality of the

kingdom, and young nobility, flocked to his standard, rejoicing in a

leader so near their own age. The middle-aged had great hopes of the

vigour of that youth; and the old were not more backward, satisfied of

the weight their years and experience must give them in the councils of

a young king.

Seldom a better army took the field; and the empress, from her own

treasures, furnished every thing, even to superfluity, engaging all

the people of consequence by giving them in the most affable manner,

presents in hand, and magnificent promises of recompence hereafter.

Great as these preparations were, they had not made much impression

among the confederates in Adel; and already the king had put himself at

the head of his army, before the Moors seemed to think it worth their

while to follow him. They were, indeed, at that very time, laying waste

a part of the kingdom of Abyssinia. The king, then, by quick marches,

advanced through Fatigar, as if he was going to Aussa, the capital of

Adel.

Between Fatigar and the plain country of Adel there is a deep large

valley, through which it was necessary the army should pass. Very steep

mountains bound it on every side, whilst two openings (each of them

very narrow) were the only passages by which it was possible to enter

or go out. The king divided his army into two; he kept the best troops

and largest body with himself, and sent Betwudet with the rest, as if

they intended to fight the enemy before they gained the defiles. The

Moors, on the other hand, terrified at what must happen if the king

with his army marched into their defenceless country, accounted it a

great escape to get into these very defiles before they were forced

to an engagement. Betwudet, who desired no more, gave them their way,

and, entering the valley behind them, encamped there. The king, at the

other end, had done the same, unseen by the enemy, who thought he was

advanced on his march to Aussa. The Moors were thus completely hemmed

in, and the king’s army vastly superior. He had ordered his tents to

be left standing, with a body of troops in them, and these completely

covered the only outlet to the valley, whilst Betwudet and his party

had advanced considerably, and made much the same disposition.

The king drew up his troops early in the morning, and offered the

enemy battle, when the whole Abyssinian army was surprised to discover

a backwardness in the Moors so unlike their behaviour at former

times; well they might, when they were informed from whom that panic

among the Moors came. Maffudi, a fanatic from the beginning, whether

really deceived by such a prophecy, or raised to a pitch of pride

and enthusiasm by the honours he had received, and desirous, by a

remarkable death, to deserve the rank of martyr among those of his own

religion, or from whatever cause it arose, came to the king of Adel,

and told him, that his time was now come; that it had been prophesied

to him long ago, that if, that year, he fought the king of Abyssinia in

person, he was there to lose his life: That he knew, for certain, David

was then present, having, with his own eyes, seen the scarlet tent,

(a colour which is only used by the king); he desired, therefore, the

king of Adel to make the best of his way through a less steep part of

the mountain, which he shewed him; to take his family and favourites

along with him, and leave under his command the army to try their

fortune with David. Mahomet, at no time very fond of fighting, never

found himself less so than upon this advice of Maffudi’s. He resolved,

therefore, to follow his council; and, before the battle began,

withdrew himself through the place that was shewn him, and was followed

by a few of his friends.

It was now 9 o’clock, and the sun began to be hot, before which the

Abyssinians never choose to engage, when Maffudi, judging the king of

Adel was beyond danger, sent a trumpet to the Abyssinian camp, with a

challenge to any man of rank in the army to fight him in single combat,

under condition that the victory should be accounted to belong to that

army whose champion was victorious, and that, thereupon, both parties

should withdraw their troops without further bloodshed. It does not

appear whether the conditions were agreed to, but the challenge was

accepted as soon as offered. Gabriel Andreas the monk, who, in the

reign of Naod, had, by the king’s order, lost a part of his tongue

for giving it too much licence, offered himself first to the king,

beseeching him to trust to him that day, his own honour, and the

fortune of the army. The king consented without hesitation, with the

general applause of all the nobility; for Andreas, though a monk, was

a man of great family and distinction; the most learned of the court;

liberal, rich, affable, and remarkable for facetious conversation;

he was, besides, a good soldier, of tried skill and valour, and, in

strength and activity, surpassed by no man in the army.

Maffudi was not backward to present himself; nor was the combat longer

than might be expected from two such willing champions. Gabriel

Andreas, seeing his opportunity, with a two-handed sword struck Maffudi

between the lower part of the neck and the shoulder, so violently, that

he nearly divided his body into two, and felled him dead to the ground.

He then cut his head off, and threw it at the king’s feet, saying,

“There is the Goliath of the Infidels.”

This expression became instantly the word of battle, or signal to

charge. The king, at the head of his troops, rushed upon the Moorish

army, and, throwing them into disorder, drove them back upon Betwudet,

who, with his fresh troops, forced them again back to the king.

Seeing no hopes of relief, they dispersed to the mountains, and were

slaughtered, and hunted like wild beasts by the peasants, or driven

to perish with thirst and hunger. About 12,000 of the Mahometan army

are said to have been slain upon the field, with no very considerable

loss on the side of the conquerors. The green standard of Mahomet was

taken, as also the black velvet tent embroidered with gold; which

last, we shall see, the king gave to the Portuguese ambassador some

time afterwards, to consecrate and say mass in. A vast number of

cattle was taken, and with them much rich merchandise of the Indies.

Nor did the king content himself with what he had got in battle. He

advanced and encamped at a place where was held the first market of

Adel[26]. The next day he proceeded to a town where was a house of the

king, and, going up to the door, and finding it locked, he struck the

door with his lance, and nobody answering, he prohibited the soldiers

from plundering it, and retired with his army home, leaving his lance

sticking in the door as a sign of his having been there, and having had

it in his power.

Though the king was received on his return amidst the greatest

acclamations of his subjects, as the saviour of his country, the eyes

of the whole nation and army were first fixed on Andreas, whose bravery

had at last delivered them from that constant and inveterate scourge,

Maffudi. Every body pressed forward to throw flowers and green branches

in his way; the women celebrating him with songs, putting garlands on

his head, and holding out the young children to see him as he passed.

The battle was fought in the month of July 1516; and, the same day,

the island of Zeyla, in the mouth of the Red Sea, was taken, and its

town burned by the Portuguese armament, under Lopez Suarez Alberguiera.

Neither the suspicions transmitted from India, nor the mean person of

Matthew the ambassador, seem to have made any impression upon the king

of Portugal. He received him with every sort of honour, and testified

the most profound respect for his master, and attention to the errand

he came upon. Matthew was lodged and maintained with the utmost

splendour; and, considering the great use of so powerful a friend on

the African coast of the Red Sea, where his fleets would meet with

all sort of provision and protection, while they pursued the Turkish

squadrons, he prepared an embassy on his part, and sent Matthew home on

board the fleet commanded by Lopez Suarez for India.

Edward Galvan, a man of capacity and experience, who had filled the

offices of secretary of state and ambassador in Spain, France, and

Germany, arrived at that time of life when he might reasonably expect

to pass the rest of his days in ease, wealth, and honour, found himself

unexpectedly chosen, at the age of eighty-six, to go ambassador from

his sovereign to Abyssinia. Goez had much more reason to wonder at the

ambassador fixed upon by his master, than at that of Abyssinia sent by

the empress Helena to Portugal. The fleet under Suarez entered the Red

Sea, and anchored at the flat island of Camaran, close on the coast of

Arabia Felix, one of the most unwholesome places he could have chosen.

Here Edward Galvan died; and here Suarez, most ignorantly, resolved to

pass the winter, which he did, suffering much for want of every sort

of provision but water; whereas twenty-four hours of any wind would

have carried him to Masuah, to his journey’s end; where, if he had lost

the monsoon, he would still have had great abundance of necessaries,

and been in the way every moment of promoting the wishes of his master.

Lopez de Segueyra succeeded the ignorant Suarez, who had returned to

India. He fitted out a strong fleet at Goa, with which he entered the

Red Sea, and sailed for the island of Masuah, where he arrived the 16th

of April 1520, having Matthew along with him. Upon the first approach

of the fleet, the inhabitants, both of the island and town, abandoned

them, and fled to Arkeeko on the main land. Segueyra having remained

before Masuah a few days without committing any hostilities, there came

at last to him a Christian and a Moor from the continent; who informed

him that the main-land, then before him, was part of the kingdom of

Abyssinia, governed by an officer called Baharnagash: they added,

that the reason of their flying at the sight of the fleet was, that

the Turks frequently made descents, and ravaged the island; but that

all the inhabitants of the continent were Christians. The Portuguese

general was very joyful on this intelligence, and began to treat

Matthew more humanely, finding how truly and exactly he had described

these places. He gave, both to the Christian and Moor that came off to

him, a rich vest; commended them for having fled to Arkeeko rather than

expose themselves to an attack from the Turks, but directed them to

assure the people on the continent, that they too were all Christians,

and under the command of the king of Abyssinia; being arrived there

purposely for his service, so that they might return, whenever they

should please, in perfect safety.

The next day, came down to the shore the governor of Arkeeko,

accompanied with thirty horsemen, and above two hundred foot. He was

mounted on a fine horse, and dressed in a kind of shirt resembling

that of the Moors. The governor brought down four oxen, and received

in return certain pieces of silk, with which he was well pleased. A

very familiar conversation followed; the governor kindly inviting the

Portuguese general ashore, assuring him that the Baharnagash, under

whose command he was, had already intelligence of his arrival.

In answer to his inquiries about the religion of the country, the

governor told him, that in a mountain, then in sight, twenty-four miles

distant, there was a convent called _the Monastery of Bisan_, (which

Matthew had often described in the voyage) whose monks, being informed

of his arrival, had deputed seven of their number to wait upon him,

whom the Portuguese general went to meet accordingly, and received them

in the kindest manner.

These monks, as soon as they saw Matthew, broke out into the warmest

expressions of friendship and esteem, congratulating him with tears in

their eyes upon his long voyage and absence. The Portuguese general

then invited the monks on board his vessel, where he regaled them, and

gave to each presents that were most suitable to their austere life. On

his side, Segueyra chose seven Portuguese, with Peter Gomez Tessera,

auditor of the East Indies, who understood Arabic very well, to return

the visit of the monks, and see the monastery of Bisan. This short

journey they very happily performed. Tessera brought back a parchment

manuscript, which he received as a present from the monks, to be sent

to the king of Portugal.

It was on the 24th of April that the Baharnagash arrived at Arkeeko,

having before sent information of his intended visit. The Portuguese

general, who never doubted but that he would come to the sea-side,

pitched his tents, and spread his carpets and cushions on the ground to

receive him. But it was signified to him from the Baharnagash, who was

probably afraid of putting himself under the guns of the fleet, that

he did not intend to advance so far, and that the governor should meet

him half way. This being agreed to on both sides, they sat down on the

grass.

The Baharnagash began the conversation, by telling the Portuguese,

they had, in virtue of certain prophecies, been long expected in this

country; and that he, and all the officers of Abyssinia, were ready to

do them every service and kindness. After the Portuguese general had

returned a proper answer, the priests and monks concluded the interview

with certain religious services. Segueyra then made the Baharnagash

a present of a very fine suit of complete armour with some pieces of

silk; while the Baharnagash, on his side, made the return with a very

fine horse and mule.

All doubt concerning Matthew was removed at this interview; he was

acknowledged as a genuine ambassador. The Portuguese now flocked to

Segueyra, beseeching him to choose from among his men, who should

accompany him to the court. The first step was to name Roderigo de

Lima ambassador from the king of Portugal, instead of Galvan, who was

dead; and, for his suite, George de Breu, Lopez de Gama, John Scolare

secretary to the ambassador, John Gonsalvez his factor and interpreter,

Emmanuel de Mare organist, Peter Lopez, Master John his physician,

Gaspar Pereira, and Lazarus d’Andrad a painter. The three chaplains

were John Fernandes, Peter Alphonso Mendez, and Francisco Alvarez. In

this company also went Matthew, the Abyssinian ambassador returned from

Portugal, and with him three Portuguese, one called Magailanes, the

other Alvaremgo, and the third Diego Fernandes.

It seemed probable, the severe blow which David had given to the king

of Adel, by the total destruction of his army on the death of his

general Maffudi, would have procured a cessation of hostilities to

the Abyssinian frontiers, which they had not experienced during the

life of that general; but it appeared afterwards, that, increased in

riches and population by the great accession of power which followed

the interruption of the Indian trade in Arabia by the Turkish conquest,

far from entertaining thoughts of peace, they were rather meditating a

more formidable manner of attack, by training themselves to the use of

fire-arms and artillery, of which they had provided a quantity, and to

which the Abyssinians were as yet strangers.

The king was encamped in Shoa, covering and keeping in awe his

Mahometan provinces, Fatigar and Dawaro; besides which he seemed to

have no object but the conquest of the Dobas, that bordered equally

upon the Moorish and Christian frontiers, and who (though generally

gained by the Mahometans) were, when occasion offered, enemies to

both. The Shum[27] of Giannamora, a small district belonging to

Abyssinia, full of brave soldiers, and considerably reinforced by David

for the very purpose, had the charge of bringing these barbarians to

subjection, as being their immediate neighbour.

The king had afterwards advanced eastward to the frontiers of Fatigar,

but was still in the southern part of his dominions. The ambassador

and his retinue were landed on the north. They were to cross the

whole extent of the empire through woods and over mountains, the

like of which are not known in Europe, full of savage beasts, and

men more savage than the beasts themselves; intersected by large

rivers, and what was the worst circumstance, swelling every day by the

tropical rains. Frequently deserts of no considerable length, indeed,

intervened, where no sustenance was to be found for man or beast, nor

relief for accidental misfortunes. Yet such was the bravery of that

small company, that they hesitated not a moment to undertake this

enterprise. Every thing was thought easy which contributed to the glory

of their king, and the honour of their country.

It was not long before this gallant company found need of all their

constancy and courage; for in their short journey to the convent of St

Michael (the first they attempted) they found the wood so thick that

there was scarcely passage for either man or beast. Briers and thorns,

too, of a variety of species, which they had never before seen, added

greatly to the fatigue which the thickness of the woods had occasioned.

Mountains presented themselves over mountains, broken into terrible

precipices and ravines, by violent torrents and constant storms; their

black and bare tops seemed as it were calcined by the rays of a burning

sun, and by incessant lightnings and thunder. Great numbers of wild

beasts also presented themselves everywhere in these dark forests,

and seemed only to be hindered from devouring them by their wonder

at seeing so many men in so lonely a situation. At last the woods

began to grow thinner, and some fields appeared where the people were

sitting armed, guarding their small flocks of half-starved goats and

kine, and crops of millet, of which they saw a considerable quantity

sown. The men were black, their hair very gracefully plaited, and were

altogether naked, excepting a small piece of leather that covered their

middle. At this place they were met by twelve monks, four of whom were

distinguished by their advanced years and the respect paid to them by

the others.

Having rested their mules and camels a short time, they again began

their journey by the side of a great lake, near which was a very high

mountain, and this they were too weary to attempt to pass. Full of

discontent and despondency, they halted at the foot of this mountain,

where they passed the night, having received a cow for supper, a

present from the convent. Here Matthew (the ambassador) separated

his baggage from that of the caravan, and left it to the care of

the monks. He had probably made some little money in Portugal; and,

distrusting his reception with the king, wisely determined to place it

out of danger. The precaution, however, proved superfluous; for, a

few days after, an epidemical fever began to manifest itself, which,

in eight-and-forty hours, carried off Matthew, and soon after Pereira,

the servant of Don Roderigo; so that no opportunity now offered for an

explanation with the king about his or the empress’s promise of ceding

one-third of the kingdom to the Portuguese in case the king would send

them succour. Terrified by the fever, and the bad prospect of the

weather, they resumed their journey.

The monastery of Bisan (to which they were now going) is so called from

the great quantity of water which is everywhere found about it. The

similitude of sound has made Poncet[28], and several other travellers,

call it the Monastery of the Vision; but Bisan (water) is its true

name, being plentifully supplied with that most valuable element. A

number of lakes and rivers are interspersed through its plains; while

abundant springs, that are never dry, flow from the top of each rock,

dashing their rills against the rugged projections of the cliffs below.

The monastery of Bisan, properly so called, is the head of six others

in the compass of 26 miles; each convent placed like a tower on the top

of its own rock. That upon which Bisan is situated is very high, and

almost perpendicular; and from this rises another still higher than it,

which, unless to its inhabitants, is perfectly inaccessible. It is, on

every side, surrounded with wood, interspersed with fruit-trees of many

different kinds, as well of those known as of those unknown in Europe.

Oranges, citrons, and limes are in great abundance; wild peaches and

small figs of a very indifferent quality; black grapes, on loaded

branches, hang down from the barren timber round which they are twined,

and afford plentiful supply to man and beast: The fields are covered

with myrtles and many species of jessamin; with roses too of various

colours; but fragrance is denied to them all, except one sort, which is

the white one, single-leafed[29].

The monks of these convents were said once to be about a thousand

in number. They have a large territory, and pay a tribute in cows

and horses to the Baharnagash, who is their superior. Their horses

are esteemed good, as coming from the neighbourhood of the Arabs.

However, though I had the absolute choice of them all during the time

I commanded the king’s guard, I never could draw from that part of the

country above a score of sufficient strength and size to bear a man in

complete armour.

I shall now leave Don Roderigo to pursue his journey towards the king

at Shoa. The history of it, and of his embassy, published at large

by Alvarez his chaplain, has not met, from the historians of his

own country, with a reception which favours the authenticity of its

narrative. There are, indeed, in the whole of it, and especially where

religion is concerned, many things very difficult of belief, which seem

to be the work of the Jesuits some years posterior to the time in which

Alvarez was in Abyssinia. Tellez condemns him, though a writer of those

times; and Damianus Goez, one of the first historians, says, that he

had seen a journal written in Alvarez’s own name, very different from

the journal that is gone forth to the public. For my part, I can only

say, that what is related of the first audience with the king, and many

of the following pages, seem to me to be fabrications of people that

never have been in Abyssinia; and, if this is the case, no imputation

can be laid against Francisco Alvarez, as, perhaps, he is not the

author of the misrepresentation in question. But, as to the cordiality

with which the Catholic religion was received by the monks and people

in general, during the long stay and bad reception Don Roderigo met

with, I have no sort of doubt that this is a falsehood, and this must

be charged directly to his account.

We have already seen that, early as Zara Jacob’s time, the religion

of the Franks was held in the utmost detestation, and that in Bæda

Mariam’s reign the whole country was in rebellion, because the king had

directed the Virgin Mary to be painted by one Branca Leon, a Venetian

painter, then alive, and in court, when Don Roderigo de Lima was with

the king in Shoa. Iscander and Naod were both strict in the tenets of

the church of Alexandria; and two Abunas, Imaranha Christos, who lived

till Iscander’s time, and Abuna Marcus, alive in Alvarez’s, had given

no allowance for strange or foreign worship to be introduced. How the

Catholic could be so favourably and generally received in the time of

Alvarez is what I cannot conceive. Blood enough was spilt immediately

afterwards, to shew that this affection to the Roman Catholic religion,

if any such there was in Alvarez’s time, must have been merely

transitory. When, therefore, I find any thing in this journal plainly

misunderstood, I explain and vindicate it; where I see there is a fact

deliberately misrepresented, such as the celebration of the Epiphany,

I refute it from ocular demonstration. The rest of the journal I

leave _in medio_ to the judgment of my reader, who will find it at

his bookseller’s; only observing, that there can be no doubt that the

journey itself was made by Don Roderigo, and the persons named with him.

I have preserved the several stations of these travellers in my map,

though a great part of the countries through which they passed is now

in the hands of the Galla, and is as inaccessible to Abyssinians as it

is to strangers.

There are two particulars in Alvarez’s account of this journey which

very much surprise me. The first is, the daily and constant danger this

company was in from tigers, so daring as to present themselves within

pike-length. Of this I have taken notice in the appendix when speaking

of the hyæna.

The other particular relates to the field of beans through which they

passed. I never yet saw this sort of grain, or pulse, in Abyssinia.

The lupine, a wild plant, somewhat similar, chiefly infects those

provinces from which the honey comes, and is regarded there with the

utmost aversion. The reason of which will be seen in the sequel. But

as these Mahometans, through whose country Don Roderigo passed, are

not indigenous, and never had any connection with the ancient state

of manners or religion of this country, it is more than probable the

cultivation of the bean is no older than the settlement of these

Mahometans here, long after the Pythagorean prejudices against that

plant were forgotten.

It was on the 16th of April 1520 that Don Roderigo de Lima landed

in Abyssinia; and it was the 16th of October of the same year when

he arrived within sight of the king’s camp, distant about three

miles. The king had advanced, as hath been said, into Fatigar, about

twenty-five miles from the first fair in the kingdom of Adel, and

something less than two hundred from the port of Zeyla. The ambassador,

after so painful a journey, expected an immediate admission into the

king’s presence. Instead of which, a great officer, called _the Hadug

Ras_[30], which is chief or commander of the asses, was sent to carry

him three miles farther distant, where they ordered him to pitch

his tent, and five years passed in the embassy afterwards before he

procured his dismission.

Alvarez accounts very lamely for this prodigious interval of time; and,

excepting the celebration of the Epiphany, he does not mention one

remarkable occurrence in the whole of this period. One would imagine

their stay had not been above a month, and that one conversation only

passed upon business, which I shall here set down as a specimen of the

humour the parties were in the one with the other.

The king carried the ambassador to see the church Mecana Selassé, the

church of the Trinity, which was then repairing, where many of the

kings had been buried while the Royal family resided in Shoa. All the

churches in Abyssinia are thatched. Some of Roderigo’s own retinue, who

bore him ill-will, had put it into the king’s head how elegant this

church would be if covered with lead, a thing he certainly could have

no idea of. He asked Don Roderigo, whether the king of Portugal could

not send him as much sheet-lead as would serve to cover that church?

To which the ambassador replied, That the king of Portugal, upon bare

mentioning the thing, would send him as much sheet-lead[31] as would

cover not only that church, but all the other churches he should ever

build in Abyssinia; and, after all, the present would be but a trifling

one.

Immediately upon this the king changed his discourse; and observed to

the ambassador, in a very serious tone of voice, “That, since they

were now upon the subject of presents, he could not help letting the

king of Portugal know, that, if ever he sent an ambassador again into

that country, he should take care to accompany him with presents of

value, for otherwise stranger ambassadors that ventured to come before

him without these were very ill received.” To which the ambassador

returned warmly, “That it was very far from being the custom of the

king of Portugal to send presents to any king upon earth; that, having

no superior, it was usual for him, only to receive them from others,

and to accept them or not, according to his royal pleasure; for it was

infinitely below him to consider what was the value of the present

itself. He then desired the king of Abyssinia might be informed, that

he, Don Roderigo, came ambassador from the general of the Indies, and

not from the king of Portugal; nevertheless, when the king of Portugal

had lately dispatched Galvan, who had died upon the road, ambassador

to his highness, he had sent with him presents to the value of 100,000

ducats, consulting his own greatness, but not considering himself as

under any obligation to send any presents at all; and as to the many

scandalous aspersions that had been thrown upon him by mean people,

which the king had given credit to, and were made constantly part of

his discourse, he wished his highness, from the perusal of the letters

which he had brought from the general of the Indies, to learn, that the

Portuguese were not accustomed to use lying and dissimulation in their

conversations, but to tell the naked truth; to which he the ambassador

had strictly confined himself in every circumstance he had related to

his highness, if he pleased to believe him; if not, that he was very

welcome to do just whatever he thought better in his own eyes. Yet

he would, once for all, have his highness to know, that, though he

came only as ambassador from the general of the Indies, he could, as

such, have presented himself before the greatest sovereign upon earth,

without being subjected to hear such conversation as he had been daily

exposed to from his highness, which he, as a Portuguese nobleman and

a soldier, though he had been no ambassador at all, was not any way

disposed to suffer, and therefore he desired his immediate dismission.”

Upon this the king said, “That the distinction he had shewn him was

such as he would never have met with from any of his predecessors,

having brought no present of any value.” To which the ambassador

replied in great warmth, “That he had received no distinction in this

country whatever, but only injuries and wrongs; that he should think he

became a martyr if he died in this country where he had been robbed

of every thing, except the clothes upon his back; that Matthew, who

was but a pretended ambassador, had been much otherwise treated by

the king of Portugal; but for himself he desired nothing but a speedy

dismission, having delivered his letters and done his errand: Till that

time, he should expect to be treated like a man of honour, above lying

or falsehood.” To this the king answered, “That he believed him to be

a man of honour, worth, and veracity, but that Matthew was a liar: at

the same time he wished Don Roderigo to know, that he was perfectly

informed what degree of respect and good usage Matthew had met with

from the king of Portugal’s officers and captains, but that he did not

impute this to Don Roderigo.”

There was a rumour at court which very much alarmed the ambassador; it

was, that the king intended to detain him according to the invariable

custom and practice of his country. Two Venetians, Nicholas Branca Leon

and Thomas Gradinego, had been forcibly detained since the reign of

Bæda Mariam. But what terrified Don Roderigo still more, as a case most

similar to his, was the sight of Peter Covillan then in court, who had

been sent ambassador by John king of Portugal to Iscander, and ever

since was detained without being able to get leave to return, but was

obliged to marry and settle in the country.

What was the emperor’s real intention is impossible now to know;

but, having resolved to send an Abyssinian ambassador to the king of

Portugal, it was necessary to dismiss Don Roderigo likewise. However,

he did not entirely abandon the whole of his design, but forcibly

detained Master John the secretary, and Lazarus d’Andrad the painter,

and obliged Don Roderigo to depart without them. Zaga Zaab, an

Abyssinian monk, who had learned the Portuguese language by waiting on

Don Roderigo during his stay in Abyssinia, was chosen for the function;

and they set out together for Masuah, plentifully furnished with every

thing necessary for the journey, and arrived safely there without

any remarkable occurrence, where they found Don Hector de Silveyra,

governor of the Indies, with his fleet, waiting to carry Don Roderigo

de Lima home. Whether the king had changed his mind or not is doubtful;

but, on the 27th of April 1526, arrived four messengers from court

with orders for Don Roderigo to return, and also to bring Don Hector

along with him. This was immediately and directly refused; but it was

left in the power of Zaga Zaab to return if he pleased, who however

declared, that, if he staid behind, he should be thrown to the lions.

He, therefore, went on board with great readiness, and they all sailed

from Masuah on the 28th of April of the year just mentioned, in their

return to India.

These frequent intercourses with the Portuguese had given great alarm

to the Mahometan powers, though neither the king of Abyssinia, nor the

Portuguese themselves, had reaped any profit from them, or the several

fleets that had arrived at Masuah, which had really no end but to seek

the ambassador Don Roderigo. The six years spent in wrangling and

childish behaviour, both on the part of the king and the ambassador,

had an appearance of something serious between the two powers; and

what still alarmed the Moors more was, that no part of the secret had

transpired, because no scheme had really been concerted, only mere

proposals of vain and idle enterprises, without either power or will

to put them in execution. Such were the plans of a joint army, to

attack Arabia, and to conquer it down to Jerusalem. The Turks[32] were

on their progress southward in great force; they had conquered Arabia

in less than half the time Don Roderigo had spent quarrelling with

the king about pepper and mules; and a storm was ready to break in a

quarter least expected.

In the gentle reigns of the Mamalukes, before the conquest of Egypt

and Arabia by Selim[33], a caravan constantly set out from Abyssinia

directly for Jerusalem. They had then a treaty with the Arabs. This

caravan rendezvoused at Hamazen, a small territory abounding in

provisions, about two days journey from Dobarwa, and nearly the same

from Masuah; it amounted sometimes in number to a thousand pilgrims,

ecclesiastics as well as laymen. They travelled by very easy journies,

not above six miles a-day, halting to perform divine service, and

setting up their tents early, and never beginning to travel till

towards nine in the morning. They had, hitherto, passed in perfect

safety, with drums beating and colours flying, and, in this way,

traversed the desert by the road of Suakem.

The year after Selim had taken possession of Cairo, Abba Azerata

Christos, a monk famous for holiness, had conducted fifteen hundred

of these pilgrims with him to Jerusalem, and they had arrived without

accident; but, on their return, they had fallen in with a body of

Selim’s troops, who slew a great part of them, and forced others to

take refuge in the desert, where they perished with hunger and thirst.

In the year 1525, another caravan assembled at Hamazen, consisting of

336 friars and priests, and fifteen nuns. They set out from Hamazen on

the 12th day after leaving this place, travelling slowly; and, being

loaded with provisions and water, they were attacked by the Moors of

that district, and utterly defeated and robbed. Of the pilgrims taken

prisoners, all the old men were put to the sword, and the young were

sold for slaves; so that of 336 persons fifteen only escaped, but

three of which lived to return to Shoa at the time the ambassador was

there. This was the first vengeance the Moors to the northward had

yet taken for the alliance made with the Portuguese; and, from this

time, the communication with Cairo through the desert ceased as to the

Christians, and was carried on by Mahometans only.

Since the time of Peter Covillan’s arrival in Abyssinia, the views of

all parties had very much changed. The Portuguese at first coveted

the friendship of Abyssinia, for the sake of obtaining through it a

communication with India. But they now became indifferent about that

intercourse, since they had settled in India itself, and found the

convenience of the passage of the Cape of Good Hope. David, freed

from his fears of the Moors of Adel, whom he had defeated, and seeing

the great power of the Turks, so much apprehended after the conquest

of Egypt, disappointed in India in all their attempts against the

Portuguese settlements there; being, moreover, displeased with the

abrupt behaviour of the ambassador Don Roderigo, and the promises the

empress Helena had made by Matthew without his knowledge, he wished

no further connection with the Portuguese, for whose assistance, he

thought, he should have no use.

Selim, whose first object was the conquest of India, had met there so

rude a reception that he began to despair of further success in his

undertaking; but, having conquered Arabia on one side of the Red Sea,

he was desirous of extending his dominions to the other also, and

for three reasons: The first was, that the safety of the holy place

of Mecca would be much endangered should a Portuguese army and fleet

rendezvous in Abyssinia, and be joined by an army there. The second,

that his ships and gallies could not be in security at the bottom of

the Gulf, should the Portuguese obtain leave to fortify any island

or harbour belonging to the Abyssinians. The third, that the king of

Abyssinia being, as he was taught to believe, the prince whom the

prophet Mahomet had honoured with his correspondence, he thought it

a duty incumbent upon him to convert this prince and kingdom to the

Mahometan religion by the sword, a method allowable in no religion but

that of Mahomet and of Rome.

The ancient and feeble arms of lances and bows, carried by half-naked

peasants assembled in haste and at random for an occasion, were now

laid aside. In place of these, Selim had left garrisons of veteran

troops in all the sea-coast towns of Arabia, exercised in fire-arms,

and furnished with large trains of artillery, supported by a large

fleet which, though destined against the Portuguese in India, and

constantly beat by them, never failed, both going and coming, to

reinforce their posts in Arabia with stores and fresh soldiers.

The empress Helena died in 1525, the year before the Portuguese embassy

ended, after having brought about an interview between the two nations,

which, by the continual disavowal of Matthew’s embassy, it is plain

that David knew not how to turn to his advantage. Soon after her death,

the king prepared to renew the war with the Moors, without having

received the least advantage from the Portuguese. But very differently

had the people of Adel employed this interval of peace. They had

strengthened themselves by the strictest friendship with the Turkish

officers in Arabia, especially with the basha of Zibit, a large trading

port nearly opposite to Masuah. A Turkish garrison was put into Zeyla;

and a Turk, with a large train of artillery, commanded in it. All was

ready against the first invasion the king was to make, and he was now

marching directly towards their country.

The first retaliation, for the Portuguese friendship, (as we have

already observed) had been the cutting off the caravan for Jerusalem.

In revenge for this, the king had marched into Dawaro, and sent a body

of troops from that province to see what was the state of the Moorish

forces in Adel. These were no sooner arrived on the frontiers of that

kingdom, than they were met by a number of the enemy appointed to

guard those confines, and, coming to blows, the Abyssinians defeated,

and drove them into the desert parts of their own country. The king

still advanced till he met the Mahometan army, and a battle was fought

at Shimbra Coré, where the Abyssinian army was totally defeated; the

Betwudet, Hadug Ras, the governor of Amhara, Robel, governor of the

mountain of Geshen, with the greatest part of the nobility, and four

thousand men, were all slain.

Mahomet, called Gragnè, (which signifies _left-handed_) commanded this

army. He was governor of Zeyla, and had promoted the league with the

Turkish bashas on the coast of Arabia; and, having now given the king

a check in his first enterprise, he resolved to carry on the war with

him in a way that should produce something decisive. He remained then

quiet two years at home, sent all the prisoners he had made in the

last expedition to Mecca, and to the Turkish powers on the coast, and

required from them in return the number of troops stipulated, with a

train of portable artillery, which was punctually furnished, while a

large body of janizaries crossed over and joined the Moorish army.

Mahomet led these troops straight into Fatigar, which he over-ran, as

he did the two other neighbouring provinces Ifat and Dawaro, burning

and laying waste the whole country, and driving, as was his usual

manner, immense numbers of the inhabitants, whom the sword had spared,

back with him to Adel.

The next year, Mahomet marched from Adel directly into Dawaro,

committing the same excesses. The king, who saw in despair that total

ruin threatened his whole country, and that there were no hopes but in

a battle, met the Moorish army at Ifras, very much inferior to them in

every sort of appointment. The battle was fought 1st May 1528; the king

was defeated, and Islam Segued, his first minister, who commanded the

army that day, with many of his principal officers, were slain upon the

spot, and the Moorish army took possession of Shoa. David retreated

with his broken army into Amhara, and encamped at Hegu, thinking to

procure reinforcements during the bad weather, but Gragnè was too near

to give him time for this. He entered Amhara, destroying all before

him. The second of November he burnt the church of Mecana Selassé of

the holy sepulchre, and Atronsa Mariam; and, on the 8th of the same

month, Ganeta Georgis; on the 2d of December, Debra Agezia-beher; the

6th of the same month, St Stephen’s church; after which he returned to

Adel with his booty.

The following year Gragnè returned in April, plundered and burnt

Warwar, and wintered there. In the year 1530 Gragnè invaded the

province of Tigré in the month of October, while the king, who had

wintered in Dembea, marched up to Woggora; thence, in December, he went

to Tsalamet, and returned to Tigré to keep the feast of the Epiphany.

The king, next year, marched through Tzegadé, and Gragnè close followed

him, as if he had been hunting a wild beast rather than making war.

The 2d of January he burnt Abba Samuel, then went down into Mazaga

the borders of Sennaar to a conference with Muchtar, one of his

confederates, when it was resolved that they should fight the king

wherever they could meet him, and attach themselves to his person

alone. Gragnè by forced marches overtook the king upon the Nile at

Delakus, the 6th of February, and offered him battle, knowing the

proud spirit of David, that he would not refuse, however great the

disproportion was.

The event was such as might be expected. Fortune again declared against

the king. Negadé Yasous, Acab Saat, and many others of the nobility

perished, fighting to the last, in the sight of their sovereign. In

this battle the brave monk, Andreas[34], much advanced in years, was

slain, behaving with the greatest gallantry, unwilling to survive the

ruin of his country.

The Moors now found it unnecessary to keep together an army. They

divided into small parties, that they might more effectually and

speedily ruin the country. Part of Gragnè’s army was detached to burn

Axum; the other under Simeon continued in Amhara to watch the king’s

motions; and, while he attempted to relieve Axum, dispersed his army,

on which the town was burnt, and with it many of the richest churches

in Abyssinia, Hallelujah, Banquol, Gaso, Debra Kerbé, and many others.

And, on the 7th of April, Saul, son of Tesfo Yasous, fought another

detachment of the Moorish army, and was cut to pieces.

The 28th year of his reign, 1536, the king crossed the Tacazzé, and had

many disastrous encounters with the people of Siré and Serawé. Tesfo

l’Oul, who commanded in this latter province for the king, surprised

a Turkish party under Adli, whom he slew, and met with the same fate

himself from Abbas, Moorish governor of Serawé, when a great many of

the principal people of that province were there slain. Galila, a large

island in the lake Tzana, was plundered, and the convent upon it burnt.

It was one of the principal places where the Abyssinians hid their

treasure, and a great booty was found there.

In the following year, Gragnè, in a message represented to him, that

he might see he was fighting against God, exhorting him to be wise,

and make his peace in time, which he should have upon the condition of

giving him his daughter in marriage, and he would then withdraw his

army, otherwise he would never leave Abyssinia till he had reduced

it to a condition of producing nothing but grass. But the king,

nothing daunted, returned him for answer, That he was an infidel, and

a blasphemer, used as an instrument to chastise him and his people

for their many sins; that it was his duty to bear the correction

patiently; but that it would soon happen, when this just purpose was

answered, that he would be destroyed, and all those with him, as such

wicked instruments had always been; that he the king, and Abyssinia

his kingdom, would be preserved as a monument of the mercy of God, who

never entirely forsook his people, though he might chastise them.

Indeed, the condition of the country was now such that a total

destruction seemed to be at hand; for a famine and plague, its constant

companion, raged in Abyssinia, carrying off those that the sword had

spared.

Gideon and Judith, king and queen of the Jews, in the high country of

Samen, after having suffered much from Gragnè, had at last rebelled and

joined him; and the king, who it seems continued to shew an inclination

to the Catholic church, which he had imbibed during the embassy of Don

Roderigo, by this had occasioned many to fall off from him, he and the

court observing Easter according to the Roman kalendar, while the rest

of the clergy and kingdom continued firm to that of Alexandria.

At this time Osman of Dawaro, Jonadab, Kefla, Yousef, and other rebel

Abyssinians, part of Ammer’s army, one of Gragnè’s generals, surprised

the king’s eldest son, Victor, going to join his father the 7th day of

March; slew him, and dispersed his army. Three days after, the king

himself came to action, with Ammer at Zaat in Waag, but he was there

again beaten, and his youngest son Menas was taken prisoner. The king

had scarce now an attendant, and, being almost alone, he took refuge

among the rocks and bushes in a high mountain called _Tsalem_, in the

district of Tsalamet. But he had not remained above a day there, when

he was followed by Joram, (rebel-master of that district) and narrowly

escaped being taken as he was crossing the Tacazzé on foot and alone;

whence he took refuge on mount Tabor, a very high mountain in Siré, and

there he passed the winter.

The amazing spirit and constancy of the king, who alone seemed not to

forsake the cause of his kingdom, who now, without children or army,

still singly, made war for the liberty of his country, astonished all

Abyssinia as well friends as enemies. Every veteran soldier, therefore,

that could escape the small parties of the Moors which surrounded the

king, joined him at Tabor, and he was again at the head of a very

small, but brave body of troops, though it was scarcely known in what

part of the kingdom he was hid. When Achmet-eddin, lieutenant of Ammer,

passed through Siré, loaded with the spoils of the churches and towns

he had plundered, the king, finding him within his reach, descended

from the mountain, and, by a sudden march, surprised and slew him with

his own hand, leaving the greatest part of his army dead on the field.

After which he distributed the booty among his small army.

Ammer, the king’s mortal enemy, who had taken upon himself the

destruction of the royal family, descended into the province of Siré,

and neighbourhood of Tabor, and there indulged himself in the most

wanton cruelties, torturing and murdering the priests, burning churches

and villages, hoping by this the king would lose his temper, and leave

his strong-hold in the mountain. But hearing at the same time, that a

large quantity of plate, and other treasure, belonging to the church

Debra Kerbé, had been carried into an island in the lake Tzana for

safety, he left the king, and seized his booty in the lake to a very

great amount.

However, he there fell ill of a fever; but, on his return, was so

far advanced in his recovery as to resume his schemes of destroying

the king; when, the night of the 10th of February 1538, while he was

sleeping in bed in his tent, a common soldier, from what quarrel or

cause is not known, went secretly and stabbed him several times in the

belly with a two-edged knife, so that he died instantly, to David’s

great relief, and much to the safety of the whole kingdom.

It was now 12 years since Don Roderigo de Lima had sailed from Masuah,

carrying with him Zaga Zaab ambassador from the king of Abyssinia.

This embassy arrived safe in Lisbon, and was received with great

magnificence by king John; but, as the circumstances of the kingdom

when he left Masuah were really flourishing, and as the treatment he

met in Portugal was better than he had, probably, ever experienced at

home, he seems to have been in no haste to put an end to this embassy.

On the other side, the king of Portugal’s affairs in India were arrived

at that degree of prosperity and power, that little use remained for

such an ally as the king of Abyssinia.

The Moorish trade and navigation to India had already received a fatal

blow, as well from the Portuguese themselves, as from the fall of the

Mamalukes in Egypt; and Soliman, and his servant Sinan Basha, by their

conquest, and introducing soldiers who had not any idea or talent for

trade, but only plunder and rapine, had given a finishing stroke to

what the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope began. The filling Arabia

with fire-arms and Turks was now of consequence to none but to David;

and of such a consequence it had been, that, as we have seen, in the

course of 12 years it had left him nothing in Abyssinia but the bare

name of king, and a life so precarious that it could not be counted

upon from one day’s end to the other.

David had detained in Abyssinia two Portuguese, one called Master John,

the other Lazarus d’Andrad a painter, being two of Don Roderigo’s train

that came from the Indies with him. The Abuna (Mark) was become old and

incapable, and, since the Turkish conquest of Egypt, very indifferent

to, and unconnected with, what passed at Cairo. Before he died, at the

king’s desire he had appointed John his successor, and accordingly

ordained him Abuna, as well as having first given him all the inferior

orders at once; for John was a layman and student in physic; a very

simple creature, but a great bigot; and we shall from henceforward call

him John Bermudes.

John very willingly consented to his ordination, provided the pope

approved of it; and he set out for Rome, not by the usual way of

India, but through Arabia and Egypt; and, arriving there without

accident, was confirmed by Paul III. the then pope, not only as

patriarch of Abyssinia, but of Alexandria likewise; to which he added,

as Bermudes says, the most unintelligible and incomprehensible title

of Patriarch of the Sea. Bermudes, to this variety of charges, had

this other added to him, of ambassador from King David to the court

of Portugal; and for this he was certainly very fit, however he might

be for his ecclesiastical dignities; for he had been now 12 years in

Abyssinia, knew the country well, and had been witness of the variety

of distresses which, following close one upon another, had brought this

country to its then state of ruin.

While these things passed in the north of Abyssinia, a terrible

catastrophe happened in the south. A Mahometan chief, called Vizir

Mudgid, governor of Arar, having an opportunity from his situation to

hear of the riches which were daily carried from churches, and other

places, for safety into the mountain of Geshen, took a resolution to

attempt that natural fortress, though in itself almost impregnable, and

strengthened by an army constantly encamped at the foot of it.

When Mudgid arrived near the mountain he found it was forsaken by the

troops destined to guard it; and led by a Mahometan, who was a menial

servant to the princes above, he ascended with his troops without

opposition, putting all the royal family that were prisoners, and

indeed every individual of either sex resident there, indiscriminately

to the sword.

The measure of David’s misfortunes seems to have been now full, and he

died accordingly this very year 1540.

It will be necessary here to remind the reader, that Alvarez, the

chaplain and historian of the first Portuguese embassy, was (as he

said) on his return appointed by king David to make his submission

to the pope. Leaving Zaga Zaab, therefore, in Portugal, he proceeded

to Bologna, where the emperor Charles V. was then in person, before

whom and the pope himself he delivered his credentials framed by Peter

Covillan, and afterwards, in a long speech, the reasons of his embassy.

The pope received this submission of David with infinite pleasure,

at a time when so many kingdoms in the west were revolting from his

supremacy. He considered it as a thing of the greatest moment to be

courted before the emperor by so powerful a prince in Africa. But as

for the emperor himself, though he was then preparing for an expedition

against the Mahometans, and though it was his favourite war, he seems

to have been perfectly indifferent either to the embassy itself, or

to the person that sent it; a great proof that he believed there was

nothing real in it.

Many other people have doubted whether this embassy, or that of

John Bermudes, actually came from the Abyssinian court, as the king

would scarcely have abandoned the form of the Alexandrian church in

which he had been brought up by Abuna Mark, then alive. Abuna Mark,

moreover, could scarcely be believed to have promoted embassies which

were intended to strike at the root of his own religion, and the

patriarchal power with which he was endowed.

But to this it is easily answered, That the Abyssinian historian of

David’s reign, through the whole course of it, readily admits his

constant attachment to the see of Rome. He gives a striking example

of it during the war with Gragnè, when the king celebrated Easter

after the manner of the Roman Catholics, though it was to have this

certain effect of dividing his kingdom, and alienating the minds of

his subjects, of whose assistance he was then in the utmost need.

And as for the Abuna, we are to consider that Cairo had been taken,

and the government, which Abuna Mark owned for the lawful one, had

been overturned by the Turks who then possessed it, and were actually

persecuting the Alexandrian church.

The Abuna, then, and the king also, had the same reason for not

applying to Cairo, the seat of the Turks their enemies; and, therefore,

they more readily accommodated matters with a people from whom only

their assistance could come; and without whom, it was probable, that

both the Christian religion and civil government of Abyssinia would

fall together.

It has been said of this king by the European writers who have touched

upon the history of his reign, that he was a prince who had began it in

the most promising manner, but after the death of the empress Helena,

he had abandoned himself to all sort of debauchery, and especially that

of women; insomuch, as Mr Ludolf says, he suffered his concubines to

have idols in his palace. This I take to be a calumny copied from the

Portuguese priests, who never forgave him the denial of his writing

the letters by Matthew, in which it was said he gave the Portuguese,

or rather king of Portugal, one-third of the kingdom; for he succeeded

to the crown at 11 years of age, defeated and slew Maffudi when he

was about sixteen; and, when Don Roderigo and the Portuguese embassy

were with him, he was then something more than twenty, a very devout,

prudent prince, according to the account Alvarez, an eye-witness, gives

of him; and all this time empress Helena was alive.

Again, the very year after the Portuguese embassy left Abyssinia,

that is, in the year 1526, the king was defeated by the Moors, and,

from that time to his death, was hunted about the country like a wild

beast, from rock to rock, very often alone, and at all times slenderly

attended, till he died, in 1540, at the age of 46; so there is no

period during his life in which this calumny can be justly fixed upon

him.

As for the idolatry he is accused of suffering in his palace among his

Pagan mistresses, I cannot recollect any place in the adjoining nations

from which he could have brought these idolatrous rites or mistresses.

The Pagan countries around him profess a remnant of ill-understood

Sabaism, worshipping the stars, the moon, and the wind; but I do not,

as I say, recollect any of these bordering on Abyssinia who worship

idols.

[Illustration]

CLAUDIUS, OR ATZENAF SEGUED.

From 1540 to 1559.

_Prosperous Beginning of Claudius’s Reign--Christopher de Gama

lands in Abyssinia--Prevented by the rainy Season from joining

the King--Battle of Ainal--Battle of Offalo--Christopher

de Gama slain--Battle of Isaac’s Bet--Moors defeated, and

their General slain--Abyssinian Army defeated--Claudius

slain--Remarkable Behaviour of Nur, Governor of Zeyla, General

of the Moors._

Claudius succeeded his father David III. being yet young, and found the

empire in circumstances that would have required an old and experienced

prince. But, though young, he possessed those graceful and affable

manners which, at first sight, attached people of all sorts to him.

He had been tutored with great care by the empress Helena, was expert

in all warlike exercises, and brave beyond his years.--So say the

Abyssinian annals; and though I have not thought myself warranted to

depart from the letter of the context, yet it is my duty to the reader

to shew him how this could not be.

Claudius was born about the 1522; the empress Helena died in 1525. From

this it is plain, the first three years of his life was all that he

could be under the tutelege of the empress Helena; and, at so early

a period, it is not possible he could receive much advantage. The

princess, to whom he was indebted for his education, was Sabel Wenghel,

celebrated in the Abyssinian history for wisdom and courage equal to

the empress Helena herself. She was relict of David. We shall hereafter

see her called Helena likewise upon another occasion; but the reader is

desired to have in mind, that this confusion of persons is owing only

to that of names to be met with almost in every reign in the Abyssinian

history.

Claudius is said likewise in these annals to have been a child at

the time of his accession; but, having been born in the 1522, and

succeeding to the throne in 1540, he must have been eighteen years of

age; and this cannot be called childhood, especially in Abyssinia,

unless, as I have before said, this observation of age was relative to

the arduous task he had in hand, by succeeding to a kingdom arrived at

the very eve of perdition.

The Moors, notwithstanding the constant success they had against David,

still feared the consequences of his long experience and undaunted

resolution in the most adverse fortune. They were happy, therefore,

in the change of such an enemy, however unfortunate, for a young man

scarcely yet out of the influence of female government, which had

always been favourable to them, and their religion.

A general league was formed without delay among all the Mahometan

chiefs to surround Claudius, and fall upon him before he was in a

situation to defend himself, and by one stroke to put an end to the

war. They accordingly set about collecting troops from all quarters,

but with a degree of inattention and presumption that sufficiently

shewed they thought themselves in no danger. But the young king having

good intelligence that vizir Asa, Osman, Debra Yasous, and Joram,

(who had so nearly taken his father prisoner in the mountain Tsalem)

had their quarters near him, and neglected a good look-out, fell upon

them, without their knowing what his force was, entirely defeated them,

dispersed their army, and struck a panic into the whole confederacy by

the manner this victory was followed up; the king himself on horseback

continued the pursuit all that day and night, as also the next day, and

did not return to his camp till the second evening after his victory,

having slain without mercy every one that had fallen into his hands,

either in the flight, or in the field of battle.

Claudius’s behaviour, on this first occasion, raised the soldiers

confidence to a degree of enthusiasm. Every man that had served under

his father repaired to him with the greatest alacrity. Above all, the

Agows of Lasta came down to him in great troops from their rugged and

inaccessible mountains, the chief of that warlike nation being related

to him by his mother.

The king in person at the head of his army became now an object of

such consideration as to make the Mahometan chiefs no longer retire

as usual to winter in Adel, but canton themselves in the several

districts they had conquered in Abyssinia, and lay aside the thoughts

of farther wasting the country, to defend themselves against so active

and spirited an assailant. They agreed then to join their whole forces

together, and march to force the king to a battle. Osman of Ganzé,

vizir Mudgid who had settled in Amhara, Saber-eddin[35], and all the

lesser rebel officers of Siré and Serawé, effected a junction about

the same time without opposition. Jonathan alone, a rebel of great

experience, had not yet appeared with his troops. The king, on the

other hand, did not seem over anxious to come to an engagement, though

his army was every day ready for battle; and his ground was always

taken with advantage, so that it was almost desperate to pretend to

force him.

Jonathan at last was on his way to join the confederates; but the king

had as early intelligence of his motions as his friends: and, while

he was yet two days march distant from the camp, the king, leaving

his tents standing and his fires lighted, by a forced march in the

night came upon him, (while he thought him blocked up by his rebel

associates at a distance) and, finding Jonathan without preparation or

defence, cut his whole army to pieces, slew him, and then returned to

his own tents as rapidly as he went, having ordered small detachments

to continue in the way between him and his camp, patroling lest some

ambush should be laid for him by the enemy, who, if they had been

informed of his march, though they were too late to prevent the success

of it, might still have attempted to revenge it.

But intelligence was now given to the Moors with much less punctuality

and alacrity than formerly. So generally did the king possess the

affections of the country-people, that no information came to the

confederate army till the next day after his return, when, early in the

morning, he dispatched one of the Moorish prisoners that he had taken

three days before, and spared for the purpose, carrying with him the

head of Jonathan, and a full account of the havock to which he had been

a witness.

This messenger bore also the king’s defiance to the Moors, whom he

challenged, under the odious epithets they deserved, to meet him; and

then actually to shew he was in earnest, marched towards them with his

army, which he formed in order of battle. But tho’ they stood under

arms for a considerable time, whilst several invitations to single

combat were sent from the Christian horsemen, as their custom is,

before they engage, or when their camps are near each other, yet the

Moors were so astonished at what had happened, and what they saw now

before them, that not one officer would advise the risking a battle,

nor any one soldier accept of the challenge offered. The king then

returned to his camp, distributed the whole booty among his soldiers,

and refreshed them, preserving a proper station to cover the wounded,

whom he sent off to places of security.

The king was in the country of Samen in the neighbourhood of Lasta.

He then decamped and passed the river Tacazzé, that he might be

nearer those districts of which the Turks had possessed themselves.

In this march all sorts of people joined the victorious army. Those

that had revolted, and many that had apostatized, came without fear

and surrendered themselves, trusting to the clemency of the prince.

Many of the Moors, natives of Abyssinia, did the same, after having

experienced the difference between the mild Christian government, and

that of their new masters, the Moors and Turks of Adel.

The king encamped at Sard, there to pass his Easter; and, as is usual

in the great festivals, many of the nobility obtained leave to attend

the religious offices of the season at home with their families. Ammer,

governor of Ganzé, who knew the custom of the country, thought this

was the time to surprise the king thinly attended; and it might have

succeeded, if intelligence of the enemy’s designs had not been received

almost as soon as they were formed. Claudius, therefore, drawing

together some of the best of his forces, placed himself in ambush in

Ammer’s, way, who, not suspecting, fell into it with his army, which

was totally destroyed on the 24th of April 1541. After which the king

left his own quarter at Sard and came to Shume.

While things were taking this favourable turn in Abyssinia, the

ambassador, John Bermudes, had passed from Rome to Lisbon, where he

was acknowledged by the king as patriarch of Alexandria, Abyssinia,

and, as he will have it, of the Sea. The first thing he did was to give

the Portuguese a sample of Abyssinian discipline, by putting Zaga Zaab

in irons for having wasted so much time without effecting any of the

purposes of his embassy; but, by the interposition of the king, he was

set at liberty in a few days. Bermudes then fell roundly to the subject

of his embassy, and drew such a picture of the distresses of Abyssinia,

and insisted in his own blunt way so violently with the king of

Portugal, and the nobility in general, that he procured an order from

the king for Don Garcia de Noronha, who was then going out viceroy of

the Indies, to send 400 Portuguese musqueteers from India to the relief

of Abyssinia, and to land them at Masuah.

John Bermudes, to secure the assistance promised, resolved to embark

in the same fleet with Don Garcia; but he fell sick, from poison given

him, as he apprehends, by Zaga Zaab, and this delayed his embarkation a

year. The next year, being recovered of his illness, he arrived safely

at India. In the interim Don Garcia died, and Don Stephen de Gama, who

succeeded him, did not embrace the scheme of the intended succour with

such eagerness as Bermudes could have wished.

After some delay, however, it was resolved that Don Stephen should

himself undertake an expedition from India, to burn the Turkish gallies

that were at Suez. In this, however, Don Stephen was disappointed.

Upon intelligence of the intended visit, the Turkish gallies had been

all drawn ashore. He came after this to the port of Masuah, where

the fleet intended to water; and, for that purpose, their boats were

sent to Arkeeko, a small town and fortress upon the main-land, where

good water may be found. But the Moors and Turks from Zeyla and Adel

were now masters there, who took the 1000 webs of cotton-cloth the

captain had sent to exchange for water and provisions, and sent him

word back, that his master, the king of Adel, was now king of all

Ethiopia, and would not suffer any further trade to be carried on, but

through his subjects; if, therefore, the captain of the fleet would

make peace with him, he should restore the cotton-webs which had been

taken, supply him plentifully with provisions, and make amends for the

sixty Portuguese slain on the coast near Zeyla: For, upon the fleet’s

entering the Red Sea, this number of Portuguese had run away with a

boat; and, landing in the kingdom of Adel, where they could procure

no water, they were decoyed to give up their arms, and were then all

massacred.

The captain, Don Stephen, saw the trap laid for him by the Moors, and,

resolving to pay them in their own coin, he returned this answer to

their message, “That he was very willing to trade with the Moorish

officer, but did not demand restitution of the clothes, as they were

taken in fair war. As for the sixty Portuguese, they had met the death

they deserved, as being traitors and deserters: That he now sent a

thousand more clothes, desiring water and provisions, especially live

cattle; and that, as it was now the time of their festival, he would

treat with them for peace, and bring his goods ashore as soon as the

holidays were over.”

This being agreed to on both sides, with equal bad faith and intention

towards each other, and Don Stephen having obtained his refreshments,

he strictly forbade any further communication with the shore. He then

selected a body of six hundred men, the command of whom he gave to

Martin Correa, who, in light boats, without shewing any fire, landed

undiscovered below Arkeeko, and took possession of the entrances to

the town, putting all that they met to the sword. Nur, governor of

the province for the king of Adel, fled as soon as he had heard the

Portuguese were in the town: He was already in the fields, when Martin

Correa shot him with a musquet, and cut off his head, which was

sent before them to the queen, Sabel Wenghel, then in a strong-hold

of the province of Tigré, and with her Degdeasmati (which, in common

discourse, is called _Kasmati_) Robel. This was the person of that name

who had met Don Roderigo in his journey to find the king, and who was

now governor of the province. The queen received the Moorish general’s

head with great demonstrations of joy, considering it as an early

pledge of future victories.

In the mean time, Don Stephen de Gama, captain of the fleet, began to

inrol the men destined to march to join Claudius. Four hundred and

fifty musqueteers was the number granted by the king to Bermudes; but

an ardent desire of glory had seized all the Portuguese, and every

one strove to be in the nomination for that enterprise. All that Don

Stephen could do was to choose men of the first rank for the officers;

and these, of necessity, having many servants whom they carried with

them, greatly, by this means, encreased the number beyond the 450. Don

Christopher de Gama, Don Stephen’s youngest brother, a nobleman of

great hopes, was chosen to command this small army of heroes.

A very great murmuring, nevertheless, prevailed among those that

were refused, which was scarcely kept in due bounds by the presence

and authority of the governor Don Stephen himself. And from this

honourable emulation, and the discontent these brave soldiers who were

left behind shewed, the bay where the galley rode in the harbour of

Masuah, on board which this council was held, is called to this day

_Bahia dos Agravados_, the Bay of Wronged, or Injured People, sometimes

misinterpreted the Bay _of the Sick_.

The army under Don Christopher marched to Arkeeko, where the next day

came the governor Don Stephen, and the principal officers of the fleet,

and took leave of their countrymen; and, after receiving the blessing

of Don John Bermudes, _Patriarch of the Sea_, the governor and rest of

the Portuguese embarked, and returned to India.

Don Christopher, with the greatest intrepidity, began his march towards

Dobarwa, the easiest entrance into Abyssinia, though still over rugged

and almost inaccessible mountains. The Baharnagash had orders to attend

him, and furnish this little army with cattle both for their provision

and carriages; and this he actually performed. But the carriages of the

small train of artillery giving way in this bad road, and there being

nobody at hand to assist them with fresh ones in case the old failed,

Gama made certain carriages of wood after the pattern of those they

had brought from Portugal; and, as iron was a very scarce commodity in

Abyssinia, he made them split in pieces some barrels of old and useless

firelocks for the wheels with which they were to draw their artillery.

The queen, without delay, came forward to join Don Christopher;

who, hearing she was at hand, went to meet her a league from the

city with drums beating and colours flying, and saluted her with a

general discharge of fire-arms, which terrified her much. Her two

sisters accompanied her, and a number of attendants of both sexes. Don

Christopher, at the head of his soldiers, paid his compliments with

equal gallantry and respect. The queen was covered from head to foot,

but lifted up her veil, so that her face could be seen by him; and he,

on the other hand, appointed a hundred musqueteers for her guard; and

thus they returned to Dobarwa mutually satisfied with this their first

interview.

Don Christopher marched from Dobarwa eight days through a very rugged

country, endeavouring, if possible, to bring about a junction with the

king. And it was in this place, while he was encamped, that he received

a message from the Moorish general, full of opprobrious expressions,

which was answered in much the same manner. Don Christopher continued

his march as much as he could on account of the rains; and Gragnè,

whose greatest desire was to prevent the junction, followed him into

Tigré. Neither army desired to avoid the other, and they were both

marching to the same point; so that on the 25th of March 1542, they

came in sight of each other at Ainal, a small village in the country of

the Baharnagash.

The Moorish army consisted of 1000 horsemen, 5000 foot, 50 Turkish

musqueteers, and a few pieces of artillery. Don Christopher, besides

his 450 musqueteers, had about 12,000 Abyssinians, mostly foot, with

a few bad horse commanded by the Baharnagash, and Robel governor of

Tigré. Don Christopher, whose principal view was a junction with the

king, though he did not decline fighting, yet, like a good officer, he

chose to do it as much as possible upon his own terms; and, therefore,

as the enemy exceeded greatly in the number of horse, he posted himself

so as to make the best of his fire-arms and artillery. And well it was

that he did so, for the Abyssinians shewed the utmost terror when the

firing began on both sides.

Gragne, mounted on a bay horse, advancing too near Don Christopher’s

line that he might see if in any part it was accessible to his cavalry,

and being known by his dress to be an officer of distinction, he was

shot at by Peter de Sa, a Portuguese marksman, who killed his horse,

and wounded the rider in the leg. This occasioned a great confusion,

and would probably have ended in a defeat of the Moors, had not the

Portuguese general also been wounded immediately after by a shot.

Don Christopher, to shew his confidence of victory, ordered his men

forthwith to pitch their tents, upon which the Moors retired with

Gragnè (whom they had mounted on another horse) without being pursued,

the Abyssinians having contented themselves with being spectators of

the battle.

Don Christopher, with his army and the empress, now entered into

winter-quarters at Affalo; nor did Gragnè depart to any distance from

him, but took up his quarters at Zabul, in hopes always to fight the

Portuguese before it was possible for them to effect a junction with

the king. The winter passed in a mutual intercourse of correspondence

and confidence between the king and Don Christopher, and in determining

upon the best scheme to pursue the war with success. Don Christopher

and the queen were both of opinion, that, considering the small number

of Portuguese first landed, and their diminution by fighting, and a

strange climate, it was risking every thing to defer a junction till

the winter was over.

The Moorish general was perfectly of the same opinion; therefore,

as soon as the king began his march from Dembea, Gragnè advanced to

Don Christopher’s camp, and placed himself between the Portuguese

army and that of the king, drawing up his troops before the camp, and

defying the Portuguese to march out, and fight, in the most opprobrious

language. Don Christopher, in a long catalogue of virtues which he

possessed to a very eminent degree, had not the smallest claim to

that of patience, so very necessary to those that command armies. He

was brave to a fault; rash and vehement; jealous of what he thought

military honour; and obstinate in his resolutions, which he formed in

consequence. The defiance of this barbarian, at which an old general

would have laughed, made him utterly forget the reasons he himself

frequently alledged, and the arguments used by the queen, which the

king’s approach daily strengthened, that it was risking every thing to

come to a battle till the two armies had joined. He had, however, from

no other motive but Gragnè’s insolence, formed his resolution to fight,

without waiting a junction; and accordingly the 30th of August, early

in the morning, having chosen his ground to the best advantage, he

offered battle to the Moorish army.

Gragne, by presents sent to the basha of Zibid, had doubled his number

of horse, which now consisted of 2000. He had got likewise 100 Turkish

musqueteers, an infinite number of foot, and a train of artillery more

numerous and complete than ever had been seen before in Abyssinia. The

queen, frightened at the preparation for the battle, fled, taking with

her the Portuguese patriarch, who seemed to have as little inclination

as she had to see the issue of the day. But Don Christopher, who knew

well the bad effects this example would have, both on Abyssinians and

Portuguese, sent twenty horse, and brought them both back; telling

the patriarch it was a breach of duty he would not suffer, for him

to withdraw until he had confessed him, and given the army absolution

before the action with the Infidels.

The battle was fought on the 30th of August with great fury and

obstinacy on both sides. The Portuguese had strewed, early in the

morning, all the front of their line with gun-powder, to which, on

the approach of the Turks, they set fire by trains, which burnt

and disabled, a great many of them; and things bore a prosperous

appearance, till the Moorish general ordered some artillery to be

pointed against the Abyssinians, who, upon hearing the first explosion,

and seeing the effect of some balls that had lighted among them, fled,

and left the Portuguese to the number only of 400, who were immediately

surrounded by the Moorish army. Nor did Gragnè pursue the fugitives,

his affair being with the Portuguese, the smallness of whose number

promised they would fall an easy and certain sacrifice. He therefore,

attacked their camp upon every side with very little success, having

lost most of his best officers, till, unfortunately, Don Christopher,

fighting and exposing himself everywhere, was singled out by a Turkish

soldier, and shot through the arm. Upon this all his men turned their

thoughts from their own preservation to that of their general, who

obstinately refused to fly, till he was by force put upon a litter, and

sent off, together with the patriarch and queen.

Night now coming on, Don Christopher had got into a wood in which there

was a cave. There he ordered himself to be set down to have his wounds

dressed; which, being done, he was urged by the queen and patriarch to

continue his flight. But he had formed his resolution, and, without

deigning to give his reasons, he obstinately refused to retreat a step

farther. In vain the queen, and those that knew the country, told him

he was just in the tract of the Moorish horsemen, who would not fail

soon to surround him. He repeated his resolution of staying there

with such a degree of firmness, that the queen and patriarch, who had

no great desire for martyrdom, left him to his fate, which presently

overtook him.

In one of Don Christopher’s expeditions to the mountains, he had taken

a very beautiful woman, wife to a Turkish officer, whom he had slain.

This lady had made a shew of conversion to Christianity; lived with him

afterwards, and was treated by him with the utmost tenderness. It was

said, that, after he was wounded and began to fly, this woman had given

him his route, and promised to overtake him with friends that would

carry him to a place of safety. Accordingly, some servants left by

the queen, hidden among the rocks, to watch what might befal him, and

assist him if possible, saw a woman, in the dawn of the morning, come

to the cave, and return into the wood immediately, whence there rushed

out a body of Moorish horse, who went straight to the cave and found

Don Christopher lying upon the ground sorely wounded. Upon the first

question that was asked him, he declared his name, which so overjoyed

the Moors, that they gave over further pursuit, and returned with the

prisoner they had taken. Don Christopher was brought into the presence

of the Moorish general, Gragnè, who loaded him with reproaches; to

which he replied with such a share of invectives, that the Moor, in the

violence of his passion, drew his sword and cut off his head with his

own hand. His head was sent to Constantinople, and parts of his body to

Zibid and other quarters of Arabia.

The Portuguese camp was now taken, and all the wounded found in it

were put to death. The women, from their fear, having retired all into

Don Christopher’s tent, the Turks began to indulge themselves in their

usual excesses towards their captives, when a noble Abyssinian woman,

who had been married to a Portuguese, seeing the shocking treatment

that was awaiting them, set fire to several barrels of gun-powder that

were in the tent, and at once destroyed herself, her companions, and

those that were about to abuse them.

The queen and the patriarch, after travelling through most difficult

ways, and being hospitably entertained whereever they passed, at last

took up their residence in the Jews mountain, a place inaccessible in

point of strength, having but one entrance, and that very difficult,

being also defended by a multitude of inhabitants who dwell on a large

plain on the top of that mountain, where there is plenty of space to

plow and sow, and a large stream of water that runs through the whole

of it. Here they staid two months, as well to repose themselves as

to give the king time to relieve them. After hearing that he was in

motion, they left the mountain of the Jews, and met him on his march

towards them.

Claudius shewed great signs of sorrow for the death of Don Christopher,

and mourned three days. He then sent 3000 ounces of gold to be divided

among the Portuguese, who, in the place of Don Christopher, had elected

Alphonso Caldeyra for their captain. These all flocked about the king,

demanding that he would lead them to battle, that they might revenge

the death of Don Christopher. Soon after which, Alphonso Caldeyra,

exercising a horse in the field, was thrown off and died of the fall.

In his place was elected Arius Dias, a Portuguese, born at Coimbra,

whose mother was a black; he was very much favoured by the king, who

now began to cultivate particular parties among the Portuguese, in

order to divide them, and loosen their attachment for their patriarch,

religion, and country.

The king marched from Samen to Shawada, where the Moorish army came

in full force to meet him. They were not, however, those formidable

troops that had defeated and taken Don Christopher: For the Turkish

soldiers, who were the strength of the army, expecting to have shared

a great sum each for Don Christopher’s ransom, thought themselves

exceedingly injured by the manner in which he was put to death; and

they had accordingly all to a man returned into Arabia, leaving Gragnè

to fight his own battles for his own profit. Nor was Claudius ignorant

of this; and having collected all his army he gave the Moors battle on

the 15th of November in a plain called Woggora, on the top of Lamalmon,

in which the Moors, notwithstanding their recent victory, were not long

in yielding to the superiority of the king’s troops.

The loss of the day was not inconsiderable. Mahomet, Osman, and Talil,

three Moorish leaders, famous for their successes against David the

king’s father, were this day slain in the field.

Claudius now descended into the low country of Derseguè, a very

plentiful province, to which the Moors always retreated to strengthen

themselves after any misfortune. This the king utterly destroyed;

while Gragnè did the same with those countries in Dembea that had been

recovered by the king. Claudius then returned to Shawada, and Gragnè to

Derseguè. After that the king marched to Wainadega, and Gragnè, leaving

Derseguè, advanced so near the king’s army, that the outposts were

nearly in sight of each other. In such a position of two such armies a

battle became inevitable.

Accordingly, on the 10th of Feb. 1543, in the morning, the king, whose

quarters were at Isaac’s Bet, having well refreshed his army, marched

out of his camp, and offered the enemy battle. The Portuguese, ever

mindful of Don Christopher, fought with a bravery like to desperation,

and the presence of the king keeping the Abyssinians in their duty,

the van of Gragnè’s army was pushed back upon the center, and much

confusion was like to follow, till Gragnè advanced alone before them,

waving and beckoning with his hands to his men that they should follow;

and he was already come so near the Portuguese line as to be easily

known and distinguished by them.

Peter Lyon, a man of low stature, but very active and valiant, who had

been valet-de-chambre to Don Christopher, having crept unseen along

the course of a river a considerable space nearer, to make his aim

more certain, shot Gragnè with his musquet, so that the ball went

through his body in the moment that both armies joined. Gragnè, finding

that his wound was mortal, rode aside from the pressure of the troops

towards a small thicket, and was closely followed by Peter Lyon, who

saw him fall dead from his horse; and, desirous still to do further

service in the battle, he would not incumber himself with his head,

but, cutting off one of the ears, he put it in his pocket, and returned

to the action. The Moorish army no sooner missed the presence of their

general, than concluding all lost, they fell into confusion, and were

pursued by the Portuguese and Abyssinians, with a great slaughter, till

the evening.

The next morning, in surveying the dead, the body of Gragnè was found

by an Abyssinian officer, who cut his head off, and brought it to the

king, who received him with great honour and promise of reward. Peter

Lyon stood a silent spectator of the impudence of his competitor; but

Arius Dias, who knew the fact, desired the king’s attention; saying, at

the same time, “That he believed his majesty knew Gragnè well enough to

suppose that he would not suffer any man to cut off his ear, without

having it in his power to sever his head also; and consequently, that

the ear must be in possession of a better man than he that had brought

his head to the camp.” Upon this, Peter Lyon pulled the ear out of his

pocket, and laid it at the king’s feet, amidst the acclamations of all

present, for his bravery in revenging his old master’s death, and his

modesty in being content with having done so, without pretending to any

other reward.

In this battle, a son of Gragnè was taken prisoner, with many other

considerable officers; and Del Wumbarea, wife of Gragnè, with Nur son

of Mudgid, and a few troops, were obliged to throw themselves, for

safety, among the wilds and woods of Atbara, thereby escaping with

great difficulty.

The king had now ample revenge of all the Moorish leaders who had

reduced his father to such extremities, excepting Joram, who had driven

the king from his hiding-place on mount Tsalem, and forced him to cross

the Tacazzé on foot, with equal danger of being drowned or taken. This

leader had, much against his will, been detained from the last battle,

but, hoping to be still in time, was advancing by forced marches. The

king, informed of his route, detached a party of his army to meet him

before the news of the battle could reach him. They having placed them

selves in ambush, he fell into it with his army, and was cut to pieces:

this completed Claudius’s account with his father’s enemies.

During the late war with Gragnè, the provinces of Tigré and Siré had

been the principal seat of the war. They were immediately in the way

between Dembea, Masuah, and the other Moorish posts upon the Red Sea;

the enemy had crossed them in all directions, and a proportionable

devastation had been the consequence. Gragnè had burnt Axum, and

destroyed all the churches and convents in Tigré. The king, now

delivered from this enemy, had applied seriously to repair the ravages

which had been made in the country. For this purpose he marched with a

small army towards Axum, intending afterwards an expedition against the

Galla.

It was in the 13th year of the reign of Claudius, while he was at

Siré, that there happened a very remarkable eclipse of the sun, which

threw both court and army into great consternation. The prophets and

diviners, ignorant monks of the desert, did not let slip so favourable

an opportunity of increasing their consequence by augmenting this

panic, and declaring this eclipse to portend nothing less than the

renewal of the Moorish war. The year, however, passed in tranquillity

and peace. Two old women, relations of the king, are said to have died;

and it was in this great calamity that these diviners were to look for

the completion of their prophecies. It is from this, however, that

I have taken an opportunity to compare and rectify the dates of the

principal transactions in the Abyssinian history. Siré, where the king

then resided, was a point very favourable for this application; for,

in my journey from Masuah to Gondar, I had settled the latitude and

longitude of that town by many observations.

On the 22d of January 1770, at night, by a medium of different passages

of stars over the meridian, and by an observation of the sun the noon

of the following day, I found the latitude to be 14° 4´ 35´´ north, and

the evening of the 23d, I observed an emersion of the first satellite

of Jupiter, and by this I concluded the longitude of Siré to be 38° 0´

15´´ east of the meridian of Greenwich.

The 13th year of the reign of Claudius falls to be in the 1553, and I

find that there was a remarkable eclipse of the sun that did happen

that same year on the 24th of January N. S. which answers to the 18th

of the Ethiopic month Teir. The circumstances of this eclipse were as

follow:

_H._ _M._ _S._

Beginning, 7 21 0 A. M.

Middle, 8 40 0

End 10 1 0

The quantity of the sun’s disk obscured was 10 digits; so that this

was so near to a total eclipse, it must have made an impression on

the spectators minds that sufficiently accounts for the alarm and

apprehensions it occasioned.

In the month of January, nothing can be more beautiful than the sky in

Siré; not a cloud appears; the sky is all of a pale azure, the colour

lighter than an European sky, and of inexpressible beauty. The manner

of applying this eclipse I shall mention hereafter.

Eclipses of the moon do not seem to be attended to in Abyssinia. The

people are very little out in the night, insomuch that I do not find

one of these recorded throughout their history. The circumstances of

the season make even those of the sun seldomer visible than in other

climates, for in the rainy season, from April to September, the heavens

are constantly overcast with clouds, so that it is mere accident if

they can catch the moment it happens. But in the month of Teir, that

is December and January, the sky is perfectly serene and clear, and at

this time our eclipse above mentioned happened.

The king now took into his consideration the state of the church. He

had sent for an Abuna from Cairo to succeed Abuna Marcus, and he was

now in his way to Abyssinia, while Bermudes, not able to bear this

slight, on the other hand, publicly declared to the king, that, having

been ambassador from his father, and made his submission to the Roman

pontiff, for himself and for his kingdom, he now expected that Claudius

would make good his father’s engagements, embrace the Roman Catholic

religion himself, and, without delay, proclaim it as the established

religion in Abyssinia. This the king positively refused to do, and

a conversation ensued, which is repeated by Bermudes himself, and

sufficiently shews the moderation of the young king, and the fiery,

brutal zeal of that ignorant, bigotted, ill-mannered priest. Hitherto

the Abyssinians heard the Portuguese mass with reverence and attention;

and the Portuguese frequented the Abyssinian churches with complacency.

They intermarried with each other, and the children seem to have been

christened indifferently by the priests of either church. And this

might have long continued, had it not been for the impatience of

Bermudes.

The king, seeing the danger of connecting himself with such a man,

kept up every appearance of attachment to the Alexandrian church. Yet,

says the Abyssinian historian who writes his life, it was well known

that Claudius, in his heart, was a private, but perfect convert, to

the Romish faith, and kept only from embracing it by his hatred to

Bermudes, the constant persuasion of the empress Sabel Wenghel, and

the recollection of the misfortunes of his father. Upon being required

publicly to submit himself to the See of Rome, he declared that he had

made no such promise; that he considered Bermudes as no patriarch,

or, at best, only patriarch of the Franks; and that the Abuna of

Abyssinia was the chief priest acknowledged by him. Bermudes told him,

that he was accursed and excommunicated. Claudius answered, that he,

Bermudes, was a nestorian heretic, and worshipped four gods. Bermudes

answered plainly, that he lied; that he would take every Portuguese

from him, and return to India whence he came. The king’s answer was,

that he wished he would return to India; but as for the Portuguese,

neither they, nor any other person, should leave his kingdom without

his permission. Accordingly, having perfectly gained Arius Dias, he

gave him the name of Marcus, with the command of the Portuguese, and

sent him a standard with his own arms, to use instead of the king of

Portugal’s. But the Abyssinian page being met, on his return, with the

Portuguese standard in his hand, by James Brito, he wrested it from

him, felling him to the ground with a blow of his sword on the head.

From expostulations with the king, the matter of religion turned into

disputes among the priests, at which the king always assisted in

person. If we suppose they were no better sustained on the part of

the Abyssinians than they were by the patriarch Bermudes, who we know

was no great divine, we cannot expect much that was edifying from the

arguments that either of them used. The Portuguese priests say[36],

that the king, struck with the ignorance of his own clergy, frequently

took the discussion upon himself, which he managed with such force

of reasoning as often to put the patriarch to a stand. From verbal

disputes, which terminated in nothing, Bermudes was resolved to appeal

to arguments in writing; and, with the help of those that were with

him of the same faith, a fair state of the differences in question was

made in a small book, and presented to the king, who read it with so

much pleasure that he kept it constantly by him. This gave very great

offence to the Abyssinian clergy; and the Abuna being now arrived,

the king desired of him liberty to read that book, which he refusing,

put the young king into so violent a passion that he called the Abuna

Mahometan and Infidel to his face.

Things growing worse and worse between the Portuguese and Abyssinians,

by the incendiary spirit of the brutish Bermudes, from reproaches they

came to blows; and this proceeded so far, that the Portuguese one night

assaulted the king’s tent, where they slew some, and grievously wounded

others. Upon this, the king, desirous to estrange him a little from the

Portuguese, sent Bermudes to the country of the Gafats, where he gave

him large appointments, in hopes that the natural turbulence of his

temper would involve him in some difficulties. And there he staid seven

months, oppressing the poor ignorant people, and frightening them with

the noise of his fire-arms. During this period, the king went on an

expedition against the Galla; Bermudes then returned to court, where he

found that Arius Dias was dead, and a great many of the Portuguese very

well attached to the king. But he began his old work of dissention,

insomuch that the king determined to banish him to a mountain for life.

Gaspar de Suza now commanded the Portuguese instead of Arius Dias, a

man equally beloved by his own nation and the king. By his persuasions,

and that of Kasmati Robel, the banishment to the mountain was laid

aside; but Bermudes was privately persuaded to embark for India while

it was yet time; and accordingly he repaired to Dobarwa, where he

remained two years, as it should seem, perfectly quiet, neglected, and

forlorn; saying daily mass to ten Portuguese who had settled in that

town after the defeat of Don Christopher. He then went to Masuah, and

the monsoon being favourable, he embarked on board a Portuguese vessel,

carrying with him the ten Portuguese that were settled at Dobarwa, who

all arrived safely at Goa.

St Ignatius, founder of the Order of Jesuits, was then at Rome in

the dawn of his holiness. The conversion of Abyssinia seemed of such

consequence to him, that he resolved himself to go and be the apostle

of the kingdom. But the pope, who had conceived other hopes of him and

his Order more important and nearer at hand, absolutely refused this

offer. One of his society, Nugnez Baretto, was, however, fixed upon

for patriarch, without any notice being taken of Don John Bermudes. By

him Ignatius sent a letter addressed to Claudius, which is to be found

in the collections[37]. It does not, I think, give us any idea of the

ingenuity or invention of that great saint. It seems mostly to beg the

question, and to contain little else than texts of scripture for his

future missionaries to preach and write on, relative to the difference

of tenets of the two churches.

With this letter, and a number of priests, Baretto came to Goa. But

news being arrived there of king Claudius’s steady aversion to the

Catholic church, it was then thought better, rather than risk the

patriarchal dignity, to send Andrew Oviedo bishop of Hierapolis,

and Melchior Carneyro bishop of Nice, with several other priests,

as ambassadors from the governor of India to Claudius, with proper

credentials. They arrived safely at Masuah in 1558, five days before

the Turkish basha came with his fleet and army, and took possession of

Masuah and Arkeeko, though these places had been occupied by the Turks

two years before.

When the arrival of these Portuguese was intimated to Claudius, he was

exceedingly glad, as he considered them as an accession of strength.

But when, on opening the letter, he saw they were priests, he was

very much troubled, and said, that he wondered the king of Portugal

should meddle so much with his affairs; that he and his predecessors

knew no obedience due but to the chair of St Mark, or acknowledged

any other patriarch but that of Alexandria; nevertheless, continued

he with his usual goodness and moderation, since they are come so

far out of an honest concern for me, I shall not fail to send proper

persons to receive and conduct them. This he did, and the two bishops

and their companions were immediately brought to court. It was at this

time that the dispute about the two natures began, in which the king

took so considerable a part. He was strenuous, eloquent, and vehement

in the discussion; when that was ended, he still preserved his usual

moderation and kindness for the Portuguese priests.

Nugnez died in India, and Oviedo succeeded him as patriarch to

Abyssinia, it having been so appointed by the pope from the beginning

of their mission.

Claudius had no children; a treaty was therefore set on foot, at the

instance of the empress Sabel Wenghel, for ransoming the prince Menas

who had been taken prisoner in his father David’s time, and ever since

kept in confinement among the Moors, upon a high mountain in Adel.

The same had happened to a son of Gragnè likewise, made prisoner at

the battle of Wainadega, when his father was slain by Claudius. The

Moors settled in Abyssinia, as well as all the Abyssinian rebels who

had forsaken their allegiance or religion during the war, were to a man

violently against setting Menas at liberty, for he was the only brother

Claudius had, and a disputed succession was otherwise probable, which

was what the Moors longed for. Besides this, Menas was exceedingly

brave, of a severe and cruel temper, a mortal enemy to the Mahometans,

and at this time in the flower of his age, and perfectly fit to govern.

It was not, then, by any means, an eligible measure for those who were

naturally the objects of his hatred, to provide such an assistant and

successor to Claudius.

Del Wumbarea thought, that, having lost her husband, to be deprived of

her son likewise, was more than fell to her share in the common cause.

She, too, had therefore applied to the basha of Masuah, who looked no

farther than to a ransom, and cared very little what prince reigned in

Abyssinia. He, therefore, undertook the management of the matter, and

declared that he would send Menas to the Grand Signior, as soon as an

answer should come from Constantinople, while Claudius protested, that

he would give up Gragnè’s son to the Portuguese, if the ransom for his

brother was not immediately agreed on. This resolution, on both sides,

quickly removed all objections. Four thousand ounces of gold were

paid to the Moors and the basha; Menas was released and sent home to

Claudius, who thereupon, in his turn, set Ali Gerad, son of Gragnè by

Del Wumbarea, at liberty, and with him Waraba Guta brother of the king

of Adel, and this finished the transaction.