Carpentering.--Fit up a study.--Worshippers of demons.--Saroitsh.--
English superstition.--Priestly benediction.--Tabeeb monasteries.--
Of their character and discipline.--Turning lathe.--Drinking
hours.--Female ornaments.--Sumptuary edict.
_August 13th._--Walderheros was occupied all day splitting and reducing
to proper dimensions the ted tree that was brought yesterday, and
of which I had determined to manufacture an English chair. Goodaloo
was also busy, as he had undertaken to make me a table, and which
he managed to do very well, after a long day’s labour. It consisted
merely of a round basket open at both extremities, made by turning thin
stripes of bamboo alternately, before and behind strong upright pieces
of the same plant. This was completed by a top being constructed of the
like material, dexterously interwoven upon a ray-like skeleton, which
was afterwards lashed tight down upon the basket pedestal with thongs
of raw hide, and in this manner an excellent round table was made,
three feet and a-half in circumference, and more than a yard high.
I managed to put up a parchment window during the day in the mud and
stick wall, over where I intended the table should stand. Conveniently
to hand, when seated upon my intended chair, I also placed against the
wall, upon stick pegs thrust through, a shelf of seven or eight short
jowharee stalks, so secured as to form a flat surface for a few books
to stand upon.
It was two days before I could manage the chair, for I had neither
hammer nor nails to work with, only a small saw and a _matrabier_, or
axe of Abyssinia, and which is identically the same in form as those
used by the Dankalli. With these, however, and a _medamager_ heated
red hot, with which I burnt the holes in the frame, after some little
trouble, I built up by degrees a very respectable-looking piece of
furniture. Walderheros admired it greatly, and soon interwove a very
convenient seat, with thongs of hide and a rope made of a long kind of
very tough grass, called _gwassia_, which grows in the _daggan_, or
high country, and is largely used by the Abyssinians in making mats,
fining sieves for flour, and baskets.
When my new chair was placed in its situation by the side of the table,
a good light falling through the parchment window, which I took care
to emblazon with sundry hieroglyphical and heraldic devices, and my
little library itself laden with my books, I considered that I had a
study complete. On the partition behind the chair, which separated my
recess in the narrow corridor between the two walls of my circular
house, from that occupied by the bedstead of Walderheros, I put up a
large map of Africa, whilst in the prolonged sweep, on the other side
of the table, was contained my own bed, and although the greatest width
of the recess was scarcely five feet, altogether when the arrangements
were complete, I considered my retreat to be very snug and comfortable.
All the portion of the inner wall of the house, in front of my chair
and table, was knocked down, and being exactly opposite to the door,
which was again opposite to the little wicket of my garden enclosure,
not only was light admitted freely into my study, but I always had a
good view, from my chair, of what was going on in the interior of my
house, and also of the neighbours who might be passing down the lane,
and who generally, whether they saw me or not, bawled out the morning
or evening salutation.
I was now gradually becoming accustomed to the circumstances of my
situation, and began to take more interest in observing man as I found
him in Shoa, but still I could not overcome my disease, although for
the sake of information, I had called into my aid nearly all native
means and medicines. To-day some pretenders to a mysterious kind
of treatment were introduced by Walderheros, with a strong request
that I should give them a trial, but on understanding that they were
professors of the black art, and undertook to dislodge the _saroitsh_,
or demons, that afflicted me, I dismissed them very summarily.
The popular belief in the existence of an inferior order of bad
spirits, is universal in Abyssinia, and to their malign influence
it is usual to ascribe every disease incidental to the human frame.
Different opinions exist as to the number of these “_saroitsh_” (_sar_,
in the singular). Some affirm there are only eight, others sixteen,
and not a few say as many as eighty. Christians, Mahomedans, and
Pagan Gallas, alike pay a kind of reverence to these evil spirits,
by observing customs to avert the consequences of their anger, when
supposed likely to be excited. In England we do exactly the same,
when certain means are adopted to avert what we term “bad luck.” I
certainly believe myself that the same idea of minor devils afflicting
man in some cases of ill health, was popular among our immediate
ancestors, and the fantastical names that appear to have been bestowed
upon them, assimilates still more closely this popular superstition
of the Abyssinians of the present day, with that of the inhabitants
of England about the time of Shakespear. Mad Tom, in “King Lear,”
affords some illustration of this, for we observe he says of himself,
“The foul fiend haunts poor Tom. _Hop-dance_ cries in Tom’s belly for
two white herrings.” From forgetfulness I neglected to note down the
names of the Abyssinian “saroitsh,” for having one day inquired what
they were, neither Walderheros nor his wife could recollect more than
six, and they could not vouch for the correctness of these, so I was
desired not to set them down, as I should have a better opportunity of
acquiring them. After that it never occurred to me, until it was too
late, that I had not again attended to the subject. One name, however,
I recollect, was “_Burr alunga_,” _silver whip_, and this is somewhat
of the same whimsical character as the name of Hop-dance; and, in my
opinion, future inquiries will show a near approach in the nomenclature
of the two countries as regards this very similar superstition. It
must be also observed that Mad Tom was afflicted with more than one,
Frateretto, Obidicut, Hobbididance, Mahu, Modo, and Flibbertigibbet,
being the several fiends whom we are told tormented him.
_August 14th._--Walderheros seeing that I defied the devil and all
his works, by dismissing with a suitable admonition his lying agents,
tried then, upon a different principle, to relieve me of the fever,
and brought me down this morning two priests from the Church of Goodis
Gorgis (St. George), which is situated on the ridge in front of
Ankobar, before we come to the denuded site of the old Church of Abbo.
These turbaned ministers of religion promised faithfully by prayers to
cure me of my harassing complaint. I shook my head in a most scandalous
manner, as I doubted the efficacy of their intercession quite as
much as I did that of the devil worshippers, but gave them the salt
notwithstanding, and after a long blessing, which I thought would never
have ended, these two holy men took their leave.
When I was at Myolones, I heard that I was not far distant from a
“goodam,” or monastery of Tabeebs. This is the name of the artificers
of Shoa, a blacksmith, a carpenter, a potter, a saddle-maker, each
being called “Tabeeb.” This has also become proverbial to particularize
a clever man by an allusion to these cunning workmen, and I suspect
that ere long the Shoans will have no other word for a sorcerer.
I heard some remarkable tales respecting them: that they lived in
common, men and women, but only met during the darkness of night,
and the consequence was, that the greatest confusion of family and
kindred ties resulted. In the day time the sexes lived, I was told, in
separate houses. There was something very mysterious about them, so
I determined as soon as the rains had subsided to visit one of their
“goodams” and judge for myself. Among other things, it was said they
were not Christians, and yet worshipped God and believed in Christ;
that they had no “tabot,” and that all the men and women were priests
and priestesses. I could, in fact, make nothing of them; sometimes I
thought they might be Jews, and then again that they were Freemasons,
whose orgies had here assumed a religious character.
I had an opportunity during to-day of making some inquiries; for one of
the inmates of the Tabeeb convent, near Myolones, called to ask me for
some medicine. He produced from beneath his tobe a drinking-horn, very
neatly made, which he presented as his memolagee. After I had given him
what he required I got Walderheros to ask him a few questions, and he
seemed quite pleased that I took an interest in the religious opinions
of the sect. He denied with a deal of indignation the common rumour of
the men and women living promiscuously; on the contrary, he insisted
that not only did a breach of chastity exclude the parties from the
community, but no married people were allowed to live among them. It
is only in the _Goodam_, or convent, this discipline is enforced,
for a Tabeeb can marry and live like the other Shoans, but he then
only visits the “Goodam,” of his relations as a stranger until, tired
of society, disabled or old, when he can again claim admission as a
brother of their order. The Tabeebs are Christians, but do not pray to
the Virgin Mary, and believe that Christ had no father, but still was a
man like ourselves. They have no “tabot,” or moveable altar (an ark),
like the other Christians of Shoa, or as they would have, I suppose, if
they were Jews. Every day in the week, except Saturday and Sunday, is a
strict fast. They have no bed to sleep upon, as they sit up all night
in their church, ranged along the wall, to which straps are secured,
and within which the people sit at prayers, so that should any one go
to sleep, he might not fall and hurt himself, or disturb the others.
The _Goodam_ is divided into two portions, one side being occupied with
the women, the other by the men, and no unnecessary communication is
permitted between the sexes. They eat and drink together once a-day
in the evening, each having a fixed portion of food. The women grind
flour, and work as do other Shoan females; the monks labour at the
forge, or in the fields belonging to their convent. The Tabeeb women
also make the earthenware vessels in the country, as all ironwork is
done by the men. There are two superiors, an aged woman who has charge
of the females, and an old man placed in authority over the males. The
Negoos is a great friend to the Tabeebs, and gives to them several oxen
during the year. Besides he has bestowed a great deal of land upon
the various monasteries of these people, of which institutions there
are no less than forty-two in Shoa. When the good man left me, I gave
him a pair of scissors in return for his drinking horn, as I now made
it a rule not to receive any memolagees. He was so delighted with my
gift, that he pressed me very much to come and see him at his convent,
as soon as ever I dared to move about, and promised me a very good
reception.
The Abyssinians in making their drinking-horns, show considerable
ingenuity, not so much in the complexity of their machinery, as in the
great simplicity of the few aids they require to turn out a very neatly
made article. A proper ox-horn being selected, it is cut into such
lengths as are required. One of these is then gradually fixed upon a
conical wooden mould; boiling water being employed to soften the horn,
and make it more readily adapt itself to the shape, it is then laid
aside for a few days, when the form becoming fixed, it is placed in the
lathe to receive a series of circular cut rings, with which the outside
is usually ornamented.
The lathe is nothing more than two short sticks placed in the ground,
not more than three inches high above its surface. From the centre of
each end of the mould an arm projects about six inches long, which is
armed with a bit of iron. These iron points are received in the short
stick supports, and the mould, with the horn upon it, then revolves
freely. The workman sits upon the ground, and with his feet pressed
hard against a stick, supports it in this manner against two stones,
placed at a convenient distance in front of his work. This forms a
rest for his cutting instrument, which he holds in his left hand, and
presses against the horn, whilst with his right he wheels backwards and
forwards the mould by a small catgut string bow, applied and used in
the same manner as is the same tool by many artisans in England.
Not only are drinking-horns thus fashioned (and which, I must observe,
are finished by a piece of round wood being fitted like a thin cork
into the lower and smaller end), but also earrings are turned from the
long black horn of the _sala_, a species of antelope, common in Adal
and the low countries around Abyssinia. The solid extremities of the
horns only are used, so that not more than two pair of earrings can
be made from one horn, which is at least two feet long. The earrings
are large and clumsy, but, considering the simple means employed in
making them, are not despicable works of art. Each is turned in two
pieces, not at all unlike in form and size high convex buttons, with
small straight shafts projecting from the inside centres. These shafts
are made so that one receives the other, and the earring thus formed
looks like two small wheels connected by a short axle. To receive them
into the ear a very large hole is required, and the axis of one of the
halves being first introduced, the other is fixed upon it, and the lady
then turns round, to ask how the new ornament looks.
Sometimes I have seen these horn earrings ornamented with an inlaid
star of silver, and many an hour’s labour have I had myself, letting
in little brass studs from an old box-lid into the surface in the same
manner, to please some of my female friends, who would come begging
to have their earrings thus improved in appearance. Besides these
ornaments turned from the sala horn, small black rings are cut, and I
have also seen a neat little bottle, about two inches long, turned in a
very ingenious manner, and which was intended to hold “col” (the black
oxide of antimony), with which the Mahomedans adorn their eyelids, and
the Christians employ as a medicine, applying it in the same manner.
Besides horn earrings, the Abyssinian women wear large silver ones,
sometimes weighing as much as two or three dollars each. One fashion
alone is general in Shoa, a back and front portion, each of which
invariably consists of three large beads, surmounted by a fourth. These
are fixed in the ear in a similar manner as the horn ones, and look not
unlike small bunches of grapes projecting before and behind.
Whilst I am upon this subject, I may observe that the Shoan women are
exceedingly fond of silver ornaments, and all their riches consist of
such stores. Dollars are only valued as the means of thus enabling
the possessors to adorn themselves or their women, for all the coin
of this sort which enters Shoa ultimately finds its way into the
crucible, except such as falls into the hands of the King, and which
are destined for a less useful end, these being securely packed in
jars, and deposited in caves. One hill, called Kundi, a few miles to
the north of Ankobar, is pierced by numerous subterranean passages, in
which are hidden in this manner immense treasures in gold and silver.
They are kept closed by heavy doors of iron, and the whole hill,
which is surmounted by a church, dedicated to the Virgin, is under the
care of a vast number of priests. I think it not improbable that some
excavated chambers that have been found in Egypt, and in rocks near
Jerusalem, and considered to have been intended for tombs, were in fact
the treasuries of the monarchs of these countries.
One ornament of silver, and which is worn by the women of Shoa upon
the breast, hanging from the neck by a chain, also of silver, is in
the form of a clasp, three or four inches long, and one inch broad;
upon its front surface not unfrequently is rudely engraved some simple
design in waving lines. Bracelets of silver are sometimes seen, and
with the Mahomedan women, they are invariably of that metal; but the
Christians generally wear plain ones, made of pewter, with anklets to
correspond.
Besides the little unpretending martab of blue silk, the Christian
women, if they can afford it, wear large necklaces of beads, and the
British Political Mission have greatly increased the stock of these
ornaments that is now brought into the market. Those I have seen
were made generally by a succession of loops, consisting of seven or
eight threads of different coloured seed beads, collected at certain
lengths into one string, through a large angular-cut piece of amber.
Eight or ten of these loops formed a long negligee, which, ornamented
with a large tassel of small beads, was a present suited even for the
acceptance of royalty. The Mahomedan women, on the contrary, wear
one string of beads around their necks, formed of a hundred large
and differently coloured beads, among which bright red ones seem to
be preferred. These are divided into lengths by the interposition
of pieces of amber, at least twice as long as those employed by the
Christian women in collecting together into one, the various bead
threads of their necklaces. The silver bracelets of the Islam are also
different in form from those worn by the Christians, consisting of two
or three thick silver wires, twisted upon each other, and finished
at each extremity by a beaten square head. This is looped around the
wrist, where it remains until required as security for loans, the
most important use, I think, of silver articles in Shoa, amongst all
religious denominations. No golden ornaments are ever observed among
the Shoans, for a sumptuary edict of the Negoos forbids his subjects
the use of this metal; the royal family of course being excepted.