Message from the Negoos.--Visit Ankobar.--The Monk Bethlehem.--
Conversation.--Bad weather.--A tattooing operation.--Interview
with Negoos.
Some few days after Karissa had visited me, an affaro came from the
palace at Ankobar, with a message that I should proceed immediately to
see the Negoos. On inquiring what circumstance had occurred to occasion
such a sudden and urgent summons, I learned that a Gypt priest had
arrived from Gondah, and that he spoke English, and for all that my
informant knew, might be an _ascar_ (a subject or servant) of my Queen.
As soon as I heard this, I was in a great hurry to be away, although,
had I consulted common prudence, I should certainly have postponed the
interview, upon the plea of the exceedingly weak state in which I was,
and the violence of fever attacks every other day, especially as the
height of Ankobar was entombed in clouds, nor had I seen its summit
for several days past. A mule, however, being procured, and certain
resting-places during the ride having been determined upon, where
friends of Walderheros or Goodaloo resided, I started early in the
afternoon, and after occupying the remainder of the day in the ascent,
I arrived at Musculo’s house by sunset. Walderheros went up to the
palace to announce my arrival, and returned in the course of half an
hour with a turbaned monk, barefooted, and with the usual soft yellow
leathern cape of his order over his shoulders. He was an elderly man,
spare and short, but he came along actively enough, and as he entered
the house, with a good English accent accosted me with, “How do you
do?” He soon gave me an account of himself and of his business in Shoa.
His present name was Bethlehem, but by birth he was an Armenian, who
had become somewhat educated in European languages and customs, by a
military service of many years with the Dutch. From other sources I
heard that he had distinguished himself greatly in several conflicts,
and had received a medal for some particularly dashing exploit. He,
however, had now forsworn the world and all its vanities, and after a
residence of several years in Abyssinia, had assumed the turban of the
clergy of the Greek Church in that country, and probably was among the
most correct in conduct, of the members of that rather lax ministry.
He sat down upon my alga, and after a few sensible observations upon
the evil of countrymen not being on good terms in a country so situated
as Shoa, and the bad effect produced upon the mind of the King by the
previous quarrels of the Embassy with their servants[12] and their
own people, he then turned the conversation upon a subject which he
said was of great interest to the Negoos, who had been talking to him
respecting it for the last two days. This was the production of indigo
in Shoa, seeds of which plant had been received from Gondah, and the
Negoos desired me to point out the situation I considered to be most
favourable for their cultivation. Judging from the character of the
country bordering upon the Ganges, its probable elevation above the
sea, and its geographical position, I had no hesitation in stating,
from the comparison, that many of the little islands of the finest
alluvial soil, situated in the bed of the Dinkee river, where it
extends in broad valleys in the neighbourhood of Farree, would be well
calculated for the interesting experiment.
Our conversation was not, however, altogether upon this subject, but
merely that I might be prepared for the interview the next day with
the Negoos, when Bethlehem was to act as interpreter. Information
respecting the state of Northern Abyssinia, as regarded differences
in the manners and customs of the inhabitants from those of Shoa, was
freely volunteered by my new acquaintance, but who was exceedingly
cautious and reserved upon political matters, so that I supposed that
the discussion was a delicate one, and that his visit to the Negoos was
connected with some business of that kind. Bethlehem is an intelligent
man, and might be made exceedingly useful, and as his knowledge of the
English language appears to give him a bias towards the interests of
this country, his probable value as an agent, must not be passed over
without being remarked. As he was nearly twice as old as myself, I
talked just as much the more in proportion, for I had no other way of
parrying the questions that his apparently careless curiosity prompted
him to make. I knew nothing of the objects for which the Embassy had
been sent to the Court of Shoa; at least nothing beyond what might
naturally be supposed--such as the extension of our commerce, and the
establishment of friendly relations with native princes; farther than
this I was quite ignorant of the purposes for which our Government had
sent political agents into Abyssinia. To learn this, was evidently the
chief object that Bethlehem had in view, during our long conversation;
but I think he went away with an impression, that I knew nothing about
it, and that the assumed mystery of my hints and suggestions was all
affectation to make him believe that my information upon the subject
was very valuable indeed. If so, I had reason to be very glad; for
after this interview, no political questions were ever asked me by any
of the agents of the Negoos; and he himself, during the interview the
next day but one, confined himself entirely to matters connected solely
with the improvements and arts, that my education would enable me to
introduce a knowledge of among his subjects.
I sat all the next morning expecting the summons for me to go up to the
palace, but no messenger appearing, and symptoms of the approach of
my fever fit coming on, I sent Walderheros to Bethlehem, to represent
to the Negoos, the impossibility of my going to the palace that day,
and to ask for an interview early the next morning, that I might leave
Ankobar immediately after, for it was impossible that I could exist
many days in that city.
Oh, the weather in Ankobar! To look out of Musculo’s house was like
looking into a boiling-house in a brewery, which I presume is always
full of steam. But was it warm? had it that dryness which even the
vapour of hot water may be said to have? No; by heavens! for the
atmosphere was one heavy drizzling perpetual Scotch mist, whilst the
earth beneath was one rich surface of sloppy greasy mud. No life seemed
stirring, except occasionally, when some closely wrapped-up figure came
like a ghost emerging from a cloud, and jumping under the thatched
roof, threw off his thick cotton _legumbigalla_, and stamping the dirt
and wet off his feet and legs, loudly expostulated with the wet season
for bringing such inconveniences with its rain.
In the afternoon, Tinta came down with his Court train of servants, to
see me at Musculo’s house. I happened just then to be lying under the
influence of the ague fit, so he only remained to express his sorrow
at seeing me in such a condition, and promised that he would ask the
Negoos to receive me early in the morning, that I might not be detained
any longer in Ankobar than was absolutely necessary.
During this stay at Musculo’s house, I observed the tattooing process
by which the Shoan ladies disfigure their faces with large artificial
eyebrows of a black colour; for nearly the whole day was occupied by
Eichess ornamenting in this manner, the broadly round face of her
fat slave-girl, Mahriam. It appeared to be no joke, although, if a
ridiculous absurdity could have suspended my predisposition to the
fever paroxysm, it would have been this beautifying operation. The
whole year previously, every depilatory means by which to eradicate the
natural hairs of the eyebrows had been employed, and the pertinacious
industry with which this had been done, I noticed on my previous visit
had occasioned an expression of vacuity that was not at all wanted in
the ever-smiling expanse of countenance which Mahriam displayed over
a bust, breast, and body, so large and fat, that darkened the house
immediately if she stood a moment in the wide door-way. One half of
the right eye-brow had been done two or three days previously, a very
promising dry scab of charcoal and the natural secretion consequent
upon a sore had formed, and which was looked at by Eichess with all the
interest that a mother may be supposed to examine the progress of the
virus influence upon her recently vaccinated child. In a word, it was
pronounced to be promising very well, and the instruments and dye were
then produced to finish the business. Eichess sat upon a boss of straw,
and Mahriam knelt down before her, whilst Walderheros, to encourage
the latter to bear the pain with fortitude, told her to be sure and
recollect she was a _man_. A bundle of long white thorns, which I
recognised as belonging to the commonest kind of mimosa, were now taken
from a rag in which they were folded, and one being selected, Eichess
commenced with it a dotting kind of puncturing in the skin, along a
semicircular line, previously marked with a piece of charcoal around
the frontal edge of the orbit, and which, besides including the bald
part of the original eyebrow, was prolonged considerably towards the
lower part of the temple, and also extended to the middle of the space
between the eyes, where it met the similar delineation coming from
the other side. Blood soon flowed freely, and I could scarcely have
imagined it possible that such a punishment could be sustained for the
attainment of so unnatural an ornament. Custom must constitute the
principal part of original sin, or such barbarous attempts as these
to improve upon nature would not be persisted in from one generation
to another. The ladies of antiquity, I recollect learning when I
was a student, employed a black mineral, _stibium_, supposed to be
_plumbago_, or black lead; for the purpose, says Celsus, of making
them black browed, and this fashion, with many others, appears to have
been early introduced in to Abyssinia, either by the Greeks or Romans,
and has been continued in that country to the present day. The manner
in which a lady of fashion dresses her hair in Shoa, in a series of
close pipe-like curls, is identically the same with the head-dress
represented in the bust of Octavia, the niece of Augustus, in the
British Museum, (Chamber vi. No. 65,) and I should require no other
woodcut to illustrate this Abyssinian fashion than a drawing of that
bust.
After the painful process had concluded as regarded one eyebrow, a
mixture of powdered charcoal and water was made, and a little rag being
first dipped into this was then rubbed over the fresh wound, until
a sufficient quantity of the blacking dye had become absorbed, when
the blood was washed from her face, and Mahriam was complimented by
all for her fortitude and improved appearance. With the most simple
gratitude the well-pleased girl stoops and kisses, with an affectionate
obeisance, the hand of her indulgent mistress.
A similar operation is sometimes performed over the front part of
the gums, and upon the inner surface of the lips, where I should
conceive the most excruciating pain must be occasioned by the process.
What girls will suffer for the sake of gaining admiration is most
astonishing; but, however, they are not all so silly as this in
Shoa, for, in justice to the Tabeeb women, I must observe that this
custom is not practised among them, and the consequence is, that the
younger females of this very singular people, are the handsomest in
the country. In addition to the tattooed eyebrows it is not unusual
to observe the figure of a Geez letter ጠ, which I am told is a very
ancient Egyptian symbol expressive of the unity of the Deity. All
idea of this signification is lost, but the Abyssinians account for
the employment of this mark upon the forehead because it is said to
exert a very benign influence upon the bearer. Besides the physical
appearances which led me to consider that the Christians of the Malabar
coast of India I have seen, were emigrants from Southern Abyssinia,
was the circumstance of this very symbol being tattooed between the
eyebrows in exactly the same manner as it is borne by the Shoan women.
Before nine o’clock the next day a message came down from the palace
for me to attend upon the Negoos, and although my shoes let in water
and even mud very freely, and the drizzling fog threatened soon to wet
me to my skin, I took the long _zank_ which was given me to assist in
the ascent up the steep hill, and I started with the desperation of
a man who had given up all hopes of ever being permitted to dismount
again from death’s grey steed, disease, which, at a hard trot, for
nearly the last two years, had been carrying me towards the grave.
The palace of Ankobar lifts its thatched roofs above the summit of a
high pyramidal hill, the abrupt termination of the narrow spur-like
ridge upon which Ankobar stands. Three sides are singularly regular,
and appear as if cut into an angular pyramidal cone, that rises two
or three hundred feet above the level of the ridge to which it is
connected on the fourth side. A high stockade of splintered _ted_ winds
spirally from midway, to the last enclosure upon the top of the hill,
wherein stand the royal buildings. The lower portion of the palisades
skirt for some distance the road into Ankobar from the valley of the
Airahra, and the first house upon the elevated ridge may be said to be
the palace, for its large and rudely-formed wooden gates on the left
hand, are the first doorway perceived by the weary traveller after
having ascended to the level of the town.
If, however, he look over the precipices to the right, the whole way
up, he will perceive hundreds of the thatched roofs of little circular
houses, in which the greater number of the Royal slaves and servants
reside with their families. These descend by a quick succession of
little gardened terraces to the meadow-like but limited plateau that
intervenes some distance, before the actual bed of the Airahra river
is gained. If the traveller looks from his elevated position in this
direction, and if it be a bright day, a splendid prospect extends
before him. Houses, the straw tops of which he could jump down upon, so
steep is the descent, conceal the view of those which are immediately
below; but jutting beyond these, fringe-like enclosures of the
thick foliage of the _shokoko-gwoman_ and the _amharara_ trees, and
low-thatched roofs buried in gardens of the broad-leaved _ensete_ or
_koba_ banana plant, appear, falling rapidly to the undulating broad
meadow, studded with numerous little eminences, where solitary, but
snug-looking farmhouses are sheltered by tall flat-topped mimosas or
the pine-like growing ted. Partial glimpses, of the winding Airahra
beyond; here, where it meanders sluggishly through a verdant mead, or
there, where a silver column marks a distant fall; the opposite grey
cliffs of the Tchakkah range, dotted with dark green clumps of the huge
crimson-flowering _cosso_, all aid in filling up the background of a
picture of real beauty and of apparent peace, upon which the eye and
mind can dwell for hours untired, contemplating with a pleased sympathy
of delight, upon a scene that appears so adapted for a practical
experiment of Utopian colonization, the object of which should be the
fullest development of human happiness and excellence.
I did not stop to-day, except when violent palpitation of the heart and
the greatest oppression in breathing obliged me to come to a stand to
recover myself after climbing up some stairs formed of the trunks of
trees, that placed me upon a level position or landing-place; several
of which aids in the steep ascent, characterize the King’s highway into
Ankobar. Leaning upon Walderheros, I turned under the arch-way of the
first gate, and passed through a narrow court, or partition, between
two succeeding enclosures. Then beneath another gate-house, over which
the clanking of chains needed no interpretation from my servant that
it was the Royal prison for the temporary confinement of culprits. In
the sheltered passage thus formed, I sat upon a huge stone to rest,
whilst a long string of donkeys descended, coming from the storehouses
above, where they had been delivering grain and berberah for the use
of the palace. A long irregular series of wooden steps in a winding
curve along the side of the hill, brought us to the last enclosure
upon the summit. Here a little wicket leads to a high terrace-walk,
having on one side a long row of palisades, and on the other, a clear
and open view of the broad and deep valley of the Airahra, whilst
before the visitor, stands a rude stone arch, but of what character,
its architect, Demetrius, would be at a loss to say; this occupies the
whole width of the terrace-walk, or about eighteen feet wide, and is
from twelve to fifteen feet high. The gateway is about six feet wide
and about nine feet high, and is closed by one large door, in which a
lesser one for ordinary purposes is cut. After staying a short time
in a little shed near the first wicket, and in which the porter is
sheltered from the weather, Tinta appeared at the gate of Demetrius,
and called me to come immediately, and in a very few moments I was
introduced into a small room, where, upon a raised iron hearth, a good
fire was burning. Here, on his usual throne, a white cloth covered
alga, the Negoos was reclining, and in close conversation with the monk
Bethlehem, who, sitting cross-legged on an ox-skin below, seemed to
have been giving his opinion upon four or five rifles that lay before
him upon the floor.
After the usual salutations were made, and an ox-skin had been spread
for me, Walderheros, Tinta, and other attendants who had accompanied me
into the room, were ordered to withdraw, and I began to suspect some
political matters were to be the topic of our conversation. “Kaffu
wobar,” (fevers are bad things,) said the monarch, which Bethlehem
translated rather unnecessarily, but it commenced my examination as to
the relative merits of gun-barrels. I had to describe how they were
manufactured; what was the differences between the plain and twisted;
in what manner the grooves on the rifle were made; and whether long or
short barrels were most economical for service. As regarded the latter
query, the monarch showed his quickness in detecting any anomaly, or
apparent contradiction; for having before asserted that the best gun
he had showed me to-day was a strong two-ounce rifle, double-barreled,
I said that the long Arab matchlock barrel was most inconvenient by
reason of its great weight, when he instantly took the rifle and placed
it in my hands, to show me that it was at least twice the weight of the
one I now contemned.
From guns the conversation changed to the subject of dyes, which
appeared to be of the next importance in the mind of Sahale Selassee.
The scarlet colour of our country I told him required not vegetables
for its production, but either insects or minerals; and I suppose
Bethlehem had previously explained this to him, as he seemed satisfied
with my statement without farther question. Indigo, I was able to
promise him that I would undertake to cultivate, and make serviceable
to his people by teaching them how to manufacture the dye, if that I
recovered my health after the rains subsided, and which it was expected
they would in the middle of this month (September). He inquired very
particularly into the process, and I explained it to him as well as
I could, and he complimented me by saying, that my services in thus
extending a knowledge of useful arts among his children (subjects)
would be of more value than all the rich gifts that had been brought
to him by the commander (our ambassador). I was then asked for some
medicine for his brother who was sick, Bethlehem interpreting the whole
conversation that took place upon this subject.
FOOTNOTES:
[12] Major Harris, in his “Highlands of Ethiopia,” has
made the following assertions:--“In utter abhorrence
of the country and its inhabitants, the Moslem
servants who accompanied the Embassy from India all
took their departure, willing to brave the dangers
and difficulties of a long journey through the
inhospitable deserts of Adaîel, rather than prolong a
hateful sojourn in Abyssinia. One half of the number
were murdered on their way down, and the places of
all long remained empty.” This is most unjust both to
the Dankalli and the Abyssinian, for of the twenty
native and Arab servants, independent of the two tent
Lascars mentioned as having accompanied the Mission,
eight only were dismissed in Shoa--Sultaun, Hadjji
Abdullah, Allee Chous, Berberah Allee, Abbas, Mahudee,
Hadjji Ohmed, and an Indian boy, whose name I have
forgotten. These servants had been led to expect, on
their arrival in Abyssinia, the payment of the high
wages which, in some of their cases, had alone induced
them to accompany the Mission through Adal. Their
disappointment may be conceived when they were then
informed that a moiety only of their wages would be
paid to them in Shoa, and that the remainder would
run on in arrears until their return to Aden. This
injustice, as it was conceived to be, was resented,
and the discharge of these eight, in this remote
country, was the consequence. The unfortunate servants
appealed to the Negoos for redress, who condescended
(but without avail) to intercede for their return to
the Mission. This affront to the royal dignity was
never forgotten, whilst a very injurious prejudice
was raised by the conduct that was pursued by our
representative with reference to the non-performance
of the engagements entered into with these men. This
being followed shortly afterwards by the infliction of
corporeal punishment upon a soldier for a breach of
martial law, when no other kind of discipline was even
pretended to be kept up, astonished the Abyssinians
not a little, and gave the finishing blow to all
popular respect for English civilization, or wishes
for any connexion whatever with our country.
But this is not all. Of the eight discharged servants,
instead of the whole of these men showing any
abhorrence of the country, the greater part of them
took to themselves wives, and upon what little they
had saved lived near me in Aliu Amba. Three of them
however (Hadjji Ohmed, Mahudee, and the Indian boy),
were induced to attempt a passage to the sea-coast.
The Kafilah they accompanied was attacked on the
eastern bank of the Hawash by the Takalee tribe. The
Indian boy was slain, but Hadjji Ohmed and Mahudee,
being mounted, fled different ways; the former
fortunately found protection and shelter for more
than a month with Omah Batta’s sub-division of the
Sidee Ahbreu tribe, whilst Mahudee contrived to reach
a much more distant portion of Adal, the country of
Chur-Chur, on the road to Hurrah from Shoa. Here he
also remained several weeks, receiving the greatest
attention and kindness, and finally was restored,
as was also Hadjji Ohmed, to the _Negoos_ of Shoa,
who rewarded their _Adal_ entertainers for their
hospitality to British subjects.
It may be naturally supposed that the author of the
“Highlands of Ethiopia” was ignorant of these facts,
but this is impossible, for Mahudee, who had visited
Chur-Chur, was reinstated in his situation as
horsekeeper to Major Harris himself, in return for the
interesting information it was supposed he could give
of the little-known country where he had been living.