Study of Amharic.--Remarks upon wet season in Abyssinia.--Sad
prospect of recovery.--Accident to Walderheros.--Books
in the Amharic language.--Messages from the Negoos.--
Inconvenience of living with Miriam.--Require a house.--
Expenditure.--Choosing a residence.
For several days I continued to apply closely to the study of the
Amharic language. My fever paroxysms on alternate days, became
gradually less violent, and my simple fare and regular habits whilst
living in Aliu Amba, seemed to promise the re-establishment of my
health. The only thing I dreaded was the continual wet weather, which
had now set in decidedly.
In Shoa the rains commence in the month of June, Messrs. Isenberg
and Krapf say about the 21st, and from the long residence of those
gentlemen in Abyssinia, they must be considered very good authority.
This year, the first rain that fell was on the 7th of July, but this
was an extraordinary irregularity, for which the inhabitants could
only account by referring it to the presence of the “Gypt sowitsh;”
as subsequently, when it came down in greater quantities than they
desired, and continued for a still more extraordinary long season.
This evil was also charged to their unlucky visitors, many old
monks having denounced the appearance of the white men as being the
threatening harbinger of some coming evil.
On making some inquiries respecting the commencement of the rainy
season, Walderheros and others, whom I questioned, stated the first day
was generally considered to be St. Michael’s-day, the eighteenth of
June, when the King distributes the yearly clothing to his courtiers
and slaves. This custom may, in some measure, be determined by the
commencement of the rains, and in that case the observation of the
natives differs but slightly from those of the English missionaries.
A severe thunder storm, attended by two distinct shocks of an
earthquake, at an interval of a few seconds, ushered in the first
heavy fall of rain. No very serious consequences resulted; a few rocks
were detached from the heights above, blocking up the narrow road to
Ankobar in some places, and in others, ploughing deep channels through
the young green crops. A few days previously to this convulsion, the
town of Ankobar, and the ridge on each side of it, had been enveloped
in clouds, that hung low down the precipitous cliffs like immensely
large festooned curtains, which were now raised, and again lowered,
as the morning, mid-day, or afternoon sun acted differently upon the
temperature of the atmosphere.
An unpleasant circumstance was communicated to me very feelingly during
the storm on this occasion. The straw roof of Miriam’s house was a
great resort of lizards, and their long serpentine burrows in the
thatch were so many irrigating canals, all of which, for my sins, I
suppose, according to Abyssinian ideas of judgment, terminated over my
bed-place, and I found that unless something was done to remedy this
evil, either by altering my course of life, or by applying more straw
to the roof, I must drag out the remainder of my life in a shower-bath.
As to getting well of an ague under such circumstances, even my
sanguine disposition gave up the idea, and Walderheros, whose fortune
at court depended upon my health being established, was shockingly
excited at this sad prospect of recovery, and was up and looking into
the matter immediately after the brief thunder-storm had ceased.
The lowness of the walls facilitated his examination, and stepping
from the ground he essayed to mount the roof, but the very next
moment I saw his black naked leg thrust quite through the frail stick
construction; filling the whole place with decayed thatch and dirt,
besides threatening my ribs beneath the hanging foot, with no gentle
application of his heel, as he convulsively, but vainly endeavoured to
extricate himself. Fortunately, a straw-band, which in his agony he had
seized and held on by as a centre of support, broke with the violence
of the struggles he made to escape, and he was again tumbled backwards
out of the hole, head and neck over on to the ground, quite as suddenly
and as expeditiously as he had before fallen into the dilemma.
Confounding his zeal, and that of all such injudicious friends, I was
in no humour to laugh when he came in, covered with mud and broken bits
of straw, as if he had been tarred and feathered; whilst the shouts
and jeers of all the boys of the neighbourhood, and Miriam’s high
displeasure, was all the return he got for the readiness he shewed
to risk in my service, his very heavy carcase upon a rotten roof. An
ahmulah was the estimate of the damage done: Walderheros’ procuring for
that sum straw sufficient to thatch the whole roof afresh, and before
night, such was his dexterity, and that of some of the neighbours who
good-naturedly came forward to assist him, the work was finished, and
the house several ahmulahs better for comfort, considering the season,
than previously to the accident.
A long coarse grass, called “cimbyllal,” three or four feet long,
which grows chiefly in what is called, “Wana daggan middre,” that is
land situated between the “colla” or low land, and the “daggan,” or
elevated table land, is chiefly used in thatching Abyssinian houses.
Straw is too valuable as fodder, to be so employed, even if its broken
and bruised condition after the grain has been thrashed out, in the
usual manner, by the feet of oxen, admitted of its being so used.
The cimbyllal grass is cultivated in inferior soils, where grain will
not grow; but this convenience, I should suppose, is not a sufficient
recommendation for its introduction into England, as an economical
substitute for straw for the purposes of thatching cottages or
littering cattle.
For some days I continued closely at my studies, having procured,
through the kindness of Dr. Roth, some Amharic school-books, published
by the Church Missionary Society, and which were compiled by the
industry and the very creditable zeal of the Rev. Messrs. Isenberg and
Krapf, in the discharge of their duties as missionaries of the Gospel,
and as agents for the diffusion of Christian civilization. A geography
which had been written by the former gentleman in the Amharic language,
was particularly useful to me in acquiring a knowledge of the meaning
of many words, which would otherwise have been a difficult business
with a native teacher, who knew nothing of English, and but very little
Arabic; although much more, certainly, of the latter, than myself. The
Amharic signification of Arab words familiar to Sheik Tigh, I soon
learnt, and other names of visible objects were as readily gained, but
words expressive of abstruse qualities I only acquired by reading with
him the geography; descriptive terms of well-known subjects, conveying
by a little exercise of mind, the required words for other purposes of
application. With this work I therefore got on very well, for one great
advantage was, the interest my teacher took in the subject, which,
of all others, next to sacred writings, is most calculated to excite
the attention of an active but ignorant mind. Long after Sheik Tigh
had given up his duty of attending me, when he returned again to Aliu
Amba from Bulga, he reminded me of my promise to bestow upon him my
geographical lesson-book, and I was pleased to see with what reverence
he received, and the care with which he prevented it from receiving any
injury, by making a strong leathern case, in which he deposited it when
not in use.
This was not the only instance, I observed, of the desire on the part
of the people of Shoa, both Christians and Mahomedans, to possess the
Amharic translations published by the Church Missionary Society. The
Christians, of course, generally asked for the books of Moses, and of
the four Evangelists. Tinta, in return for some trifling memolagee, or
gift, desired me to procure him both these works, but before I could
oblige him, an opportunity offered, of purchasing the latter in the
market. He immediately bought it, and the next time he called upon me,
one of his servants carried the purchase before him in triumph, and I
was desired to get him a geography instead of the book he had procured
himself.
Tinta, in his character as my “balderabah,” frequently brought me
messages from the Negoos, sometimes asking about my health, or wishing
to know if I required anything, “for was not Sahale Selassee my
father?” to supply me with whatever I wanted in his country. After one
of these visits, Walderheros put me in mind, that a house of my own
would be very desirable. A very decent one was vacant in the town, and
the owner had offered to sell it to me for five dollars, but not having
any to spare, I was obliged to decline purchasing it. Walderheros’
suggestion, that I should ask the Negoos to give me one, was a very
sensible idea, as I certainly felt I should be much more comfortable in
a house I could call my own, without interfering with the ways and the
convenience of others. Miriam was particularly anxious that I should
make myself as much “at home” with her, as possible; still I found,
that Walderheros and myself occupied the whole house, to the exclusion
of her and her two children. For the accommodation thus afforded me, I
paid a rent treble the amount of what she would have received from any
one else; three ahmulahs a-week is considered a most extravagant price
for lodgings in Shoa, and I gave Miriam two dollars a month, being ten
ahmulahs a-week. Unfortunately for me, Lieut. Barker had resided in the
same house nearly four months, and having always had a plentiful supply
of cash, I could see my economical housekeeping greatly disappointed
the expectation of Miriam’s friends, who, on my taking up my quarters
in her house had congratulated her on the favour of Allah, which was so
evidently shown to her by another “Gypt” coming to reside with her.
The poor woman herself, however, was very thankful for the few salt
pieces I could offer her weekly, and being sensible that it was only
because I had not more to give, she never annoyed me with hints of
disappointed expectations, or invidious comparisons with the habits of
my predecessor; although others, who had no business to expect anything
from me, were much less delicate in their allusions to the liberality
of the “Kapitan,” who, to judge by the kind inquiries respecting him,
made by male and female, old and young, seemed to have been a universal
favourite among the inhabitants of Aliu Amba.
Walderheros, whose greatest weakness was to be considered the servant
of a most powerful and influential master, felt any sneers at my
poverty a great deal more acutely than myself, and which, after all,
he generally excited himself, by his assumption of importance, and the
affectation of swearing by my name, “Ahkeem e moot,” “may the doctor
die,” if a thing was not so and so, as if I had been a magnate of the
land; for besides swearing by the life of the Negoos upon all important
matters, the dependents of Abyssinian noblemen are accustomed, in
private life, or on trivial occasions, to asseverate the truth of
anything by similar imprecations upon the lives of their masters. This
practice has not a bad effect upon a listening stranger, being a very
pleasing characteristic of the natural affection that ought to exist
between master and servant.
Several affronts that Walderheros had received about my economy, and
the small establishment I kept up, determined him at length to put it
to Tinta himself, if such a scandalous little place I lived in was fit
for a friend of the Negoos, and as I supported this expostulation by
a direct request to have a proper domicile appointed for me during my
stay in Shoa, my worthy balderabah undertook to see the Negoos next
day about the matter. This was so far satisfactory to Walderheros, who
could now talk about nothing else but my new house, and a large garden
which was to be attached to it, and where, according to his account,
teff grass, jowarhee, and cayenne pepper plants would all flourish
most advantageously, especially as regarded my expenditure. According
to his account, there could be no question about the success of my
housekeeping. Everything was propitious, and he amused me by the manner
in which he used to endeavour to convince me how comfortable we should
be. He had a wife, and he had a slave girl, caught by himself on some
Galla expedition; besides these, I was to buy a donkey, and then there
was himself, all of whom were to work like horses, and save me three
ahmulahs a-week, about seven-pence halfpenny, and, in fact, my whole
expenditure, by his making out, was to be a dollar a-month, one-half
for his wages during that time, and the remainder for the purchase of
poultry and sheep.
Tinta, in two or three days, brought a reply from the Negoos, that I
was to look out what house would suit me, and if I were well enough to
visit him at Ankobar, where he was coming to from Angolahlah, in the
course of the week, he would then give the necessary directions to put
me in possession of my choice.
Night and morning we were now to be seen, Walderheros and myself,
slowly walking along the narrow confined lanes in search of a house
that would suit us. I leaning upon him on one hand, and in the other,
to assist in supporting my weakened frame, I carried a slender rod,
about seven feet long, called a “zank,” in common use, as an aid when
walking, by the people of Shoa. We visited every vacant house in the
town to examine their condition and character, and occupied ourselves
entirely by suggesting alterations and repairs, or devising sundry
projects of domestic comfort, in connexion with the expected grant by
the Negoos of the one which I should prefer. For five or six days we
thus amused ourselves, and when the eve of the day came on which I was
to see the Negoos at Ankobar, we were as far from having come to a
decisive choice, as upon the first day we commenced the search. Some
were too old, some stood in a crowded neighbourhood, the repairs of
others would have required an outlay of five or six dollars, here the
thatch was nearly all gone, and there the garden was too small, and the
last was worse than all, for, by a curious accident, the roof settled
down on the top of us as we entered, the wattled wall on the outside
giving way as we pushed open the dilapidated door to get in. There
was not one, in fact, that I could fix my mind upon, and Walderheros
being equally difficult to please, we might have continued a long
time without coming to a decision, had not the next day’s visit to
the Negoos rendered it necessary to fix upon some one, that I might
be prepared to answer the Negoos’s usual question, “What is it you
desire?” in return for the memolagee or offering I had prepared for
his acceptance, and which, as it was of a peculiar kind, it shall be
treated of in the next chapter.