Spinning cotton.--Of police force of Shoa.--Mode of administering
justice.--Priest lawyers.--Politics of Shoa.--French intrigues.--
Different kinds of cotton.--Process of cleaning it.--Instruments
used.--Return from market.
I lay watching the cotton-spinners some time, thinking upon the effect
produced in the human form by occupation, as I noticed that the arms of
the whole party were the most beautifully moulded I had ever seen. I
could attribute this general characteristic of Abyssinian women, to no
other cause than the action and exercise dependent upon spinning, which
requires both arms to be in constant motion, without any heavy labour
being imposed at the same time. The white fleecy cotton, reposing like
a wreath of snow upon the bronze red skin of the hand and wrist, is
gradually carried to its farthest extent one way, whilst drawing from
it the long slender thread, the other hand conducts, in an opposite
direction, the short thin reed tipped with a piece of ivory or horn
that forms the reel, which spinning as it hangs, its effect upon the
thread depends upon the slowness or quickness with which the cotton is
drawn out. Continued gentle exercise in some light occupation, would
lead to somewhat similar effects in forming a beautiful arm, and I
recommend it to my countrywomen, whom I certainly thought of when I
made the observation in Aliu Amba.
An unfortunate Arab, named Allee Chous, one of the discharged servants
of the mission, now came in. He had that morning been robbed of
sixty-three ahmulahs, the last money he had in the world, and although
he hoped to discover the thief, had nothing with which to purchase
his next week’s provision in the market. I understood the statement
to be an appeal for assistance, and as I felt some sympathy for his
situation, I gave him the last two salt-pieces I had in the house.
Tinta coming in soon after, I made some inquiries respecting the police
of Shoa, and learned that there was a regular body of men employed
as thief-takers, called _Labarshoitsh_, who have an _ullica_, or
superior, and form a portion of the royal household. They are agents
of the King’s commands alone, and it is not until directions have been
given by him that they proceed to apprehend culprits. Thieves must
therefore have been denounced by name before a _Labarshi_ is sent upon
his errand. The Negoos refuses to entertain charges where the accused
parties are unknown, on the same plea that, according to Abyssinian
ideas, the devil will be repulsed at the last day by our Saviour; on
his demand for justice, the monks say he will be asked the names of the
souls that belong to him, which, not being able to give, Jesus will
then answer, “Begone from hence, for I know none of thine.”
Most cases of theft, however, are not brought before the Negoos at all,
but before the governors of the towns in which the crime has occurred,
a summary kind of conviction takes place, the stolen articles being
returned to the owner, and the property of the thief confiscated, who,
if dissatisfied, can make an appeal to the Negoos; but in that case he
must have very good evidence of innocence, or he will, in addition to
the loss of his property, receive a severe flogging, commonly inflicted
by the Labarshi, at the gate of the inner court of the palace, where
the Negoos, if he pleases, may see the punishment.
In cases of suspicion or doubtful guilt, singularly enough, the
Shoans follow certain instructions which they say are contained in
the epistles of St. Paul, and point more particularly to that passage
in the sixth chapter of Hebrews, where it is said, “An oath for
confirmation is the end of all strife.” It is, therefore, customary
for the accuser and the accused to present themselves at a church,
where before a priest mutual oaths are required to be taken; the former
swearing to the loss of his property, the latter that the crime laid
to his charge is unfounded, and there, unless further evidence is
obtained, the matter ends. Should the accused refuse to purge himself
in this manner of the accusation, it is considered as a confession of
guilt, and the priest then acts as mediator, and generally receiving
a small fine for the use of the Church from the delinquent, he is made
the agent to restore the stolen property to the rightful owner, and the
affair is quietly hushed up amongst them.
Originally, I believe European lawyers were priests, and, perhaps,
in this portion of the duties of the clergy in Abyssinia, we have at
the present day, law practice as it existed amongst our ancestors in
an early state of society. In making wills, it may be also observed,
where a number of sons are left behind, the monks in Shoa are the only
executors, three of them being closeted with the dying father, receive
his commands, and after the celebration of the _tescar_, or funeral
feast of the deceased, they then assemble the children, and divide what
property is left, according to the verbal directions of the testator,
and from their allotment there is no appeal, even if they should
disinherit, with a single ahmulah, the son that has been supposed to
have been the greatest favourite with the father.
Tinta had made the visit to-day, to ask me if I would accompany him in
the evening to visit Abdoanarch, the new governor, who had expressed
a wish that I should call upon him. I excused myself upon the plea of
ill-health; for I did not choose that it should be supposed because
I was not upon good terms with the Embassy, that I was anxious to be
friendly with those who avowed open hostility to the English, and all
white men. Tinta naturally disliked the new governor, so soon agreed
with me that he was a cunning old fox, and that it was as well to have
as little to do with him as possible, “for,” said he, “he is older
than you, and cleverer than I am, and he will make us, _missala oolet
hiyahoitsh_, like two donkies, carry his grain to market.” Abdoanarch,
although crafty, was not clever, and his first act as governor rather
startled Sahale Selassee, for he released all the market people from
paying the usual toll, and he ought to have known that the monarch
did not bestow Aliu Amba upon him, for the purpose of purchasing
popularity among some very restless subjects, the Mahomedans of Efat.
No apparent disapprobation, however, was evinced at this, and the
smiling Abdoanarch, proud in his place of honour by the side of the
King, little suspected how admirably he was fooled to the top of his
bent, like many others of far superior education were by the master
mind that managed, like those of children, the shallow intellects that
were politically opposed to him.
The only foreigner in Shoa, whilst I was there, able to compete with
Sahale Selassee, was the Frenchman, M. Rochet d’Hericourt; him the
King liked, and yet feared, but I am afraid he will now have secured
to himself a place high in the royal confidence, whilst his daring
schemes, suited exactly to the genius of Sahale Selassee, will lead, I
am convinced, to an unlocked for revolution in the political relations
of the various petty kingdoms into which Abyssinia is at present
divided. Our Government has no idea of the ability which is now
directing French intrigues in one of the richest countries upon the
face of the earth, and which can yield within its own limits every
valuable product of the temperate and torrid zone; in that country,
to the northern limits of which the gold searching expeditions of
Mahomed Allee, successful beyond all European knowledge, have and are
continuing daily to add to his treasury, whilst to the south, the
spices and rich wares of the market of Zanzibar are now competing
with the similar productions of our East Indian possessions. Our
Government will see, too late, the Phœnician empire again established
in the north of Africa, supplied by its own inland provinces, with all
those luxuries, for which, at present, Europe is dependent upon our
possessions in Asia. At the same time, the Americans are successfully
nursing on the Eastern coast a rival market, where their vessels can be
supplied almost upon their own terms, with those products which, until
the last twenty years, were only to be obtained in English or Dutch
settlements in the East Indies. The policy of the talented Zaid Zaid,
Imaum of Muscat and of Zanzibar, towards us is apparently the most
friendly; but it is notorious, that in every indirect manner he can, he
favours more highly the interests of the United States.
Walderheros returning from market, brought a large bag of cotton,
around which the girls all thronged to pass judgment upon his
purchase. Tufts of the down-embedded seed were taken out, and pulled
to pieces, handsful were extended in the light, and after a deal of
examination it was decided “that he might have made a better bargain,
had he taken more trouble about it.” The cotton was good, but slightly
discoloured, which was attributed to the late rainy weather, as they
asserted its yellowish tint was produced by moisture, and that it had
been allowed to remain too long upon the tree. Specimens of two very
different kinds of cotton were taken out and shown to me, one very
frizzly, with short fibre, was called _Efatee tut_, Efat cotton; the
other, with a longer fibre, and more like unspun silk, was called
_Gondaree tut_, Gondar cotton, and is by far the most superior, and
none known to America or Europe equals it in excellence.
Cotton is brought to Aliu Amba, chiefly from the country around
Farree, and appears to flourish best at an elevation of between three
or four thousand feet above the level of the sea. This is in latitude
10° north. Some small plantations may be found, even so high up the
scarp of the Abyssinian table-land as six thousand feet, but these are
not productive, and yield very indifferent cotton. The young plants
require to be from three to four years old, before they bear available
crops of pods. During this time, the cotton nurseries are cultivated
with jowarhee, though I should think not upon any sound principle of
husbandry, for the ripening of the tall grain must interfere with the
full development of the lowly shrub, which is seldom more than three
or four feet high. A cotton plantation reminded me very much of the
appearance of the vineyard in the south of Europe, although the little
snowball-like tufts of the burst pods, sprinkle the dark green foliage
with numerous white spots.
My last ahmulahs having been expended, I had to send Walderheros to
market again with a dollar, whilst I directed my attention, as all
other visitors had departed, to the party now busily employed cleaning
cotton, for as soon as the supply was brought from the market, Wallata
Gabriel and her sisters, had set about preparing it for spinning. Flat
stones, something larger than bricks, with a smooth upper surface, were
placed upon the ground, my three factory girls kneeling down before
them, each with an iron rod in her hands, about twelve inches long,
and three quarters of an inch thick in the middle, and tapering to the
extremities. This instrument is called a _medamager_; and with it a
small quantity of seeded tufts of cotton, being laid upon the near end
of the stone, is rolled out; the seeds, by the pressure being forced
before the medamager, until they fall over the farther extremity of the
stone. By this simple, but very effectual process a large portion of
the cotton was soon in a state fit to be farther cleaned from dust and
other extraneous matter, and which is the next part of the process it
has to be submitted to before it is in a fit condition to be spun into
thread.
The instrument employed for this purpose is called _duggar_, and is a
large bow, the extremities of which are connected by a strong line of
catgut. The cotton to be operated upon is placed in a clean soft hide
spread upon the floor, whilst a woman, kneeling, holds the bow in the
left hand over the cotton, so that the string is just high enough to
catch the topmost fibres, whilst with the other hand, in which she
holds the smooth curved neck of a gourd-shell, she continually keeps
twanging away, each vibration of the string scattering and throwing up
quantities of the lighter filaments, whilst all heavier matter sinks,
as if in a fluid, to the bottom. The finer portions, upon the summit
of the heap, as it appears satisfactory, is taken off, and placed
carefully in a large covered basket made of mat, and a fresh supply
of the unclean cotton is added to the heap in the ox skin, when the
twanging process goes on again for a short time longer until another
interval marks the removal of more of the approved material into the
aforesaid covered receptacle. An instrument, exactly the same as the
_duggar_, is used in England by hat-makers, to clean wool and fur for
hats.
After the cotton has been cleansed in this manner, the ox skin is
removed, and the dirt and dust resulting from the operation thrown
away. The beautifully white dressed material is then taken out of the
basket and piped, by portions being twined around the medamager, which
being withdrawn, leaves a twisted lock. These, in numbers of six or
seven, are folded together into a single knot, and laid by in a clean
skin bag, until they are required for spinning into thread.
Long before Walderheros made his appearance on his return from the
market, his voice was heard in the narrow lane that led from my house.
He always made a practice of thus intimating his approach by conversing
in a loud tone with any of the neighbours who might happen to be
looking over the top of their inclosure, to examine the passers by in
the hollow way beneath. Talking as he came along, he never concluded
until after he had entered the wicket of my garden, and as he closed
it behind him, a benediction, that might have been heard to the
market-place, generally finished these conversations with his friends,
just in time to begin another with me before he had entered the house.
As he now came in he took down from his shoulder the large goat skin
bag, which formed the elegant purse for about ten pounds weight of
salt, the small change for the dollar he had been nearly two hours
employed in getting. One by one he arranged the ahmulahs in a long
row, like a lot of thin, narrow bricks, at my feet, that I might
sufficiently admire their bulky character, and compliment him upon the
excellent choice he had displayed in their selection.
His labours for the day closed with this, and the sun being nearly on
the point of setting, the cotton spinners laid aside their reels. The
father of Wallata Gabriel, Goodaloo, and Walder-Yoannes, all came in
from the market together, and fast or no fast, young and old, on my
proposal that they should taste some of my home brewed ale, a large
gambo was broached, and soon disappeared, whilst they certainly did
confine themselves to a meal of bread and cayenne _wort_, in which,
as usual, a fowl had been boiled to rags, although Wallata Gabriel,
out of a tender regard for the conscience of her religious old father,
had fished up the bones with a spoon, that he might suppose its rich
consistence depended only upon a thickening of meal.