The Highlands of Ethiopia Part 32

Morn witnessed the dispersion to their respective quarters of governors and their levies; and before the shades of another evening had closed over the deep valley of the Airara, a breathless courier galloped through the palace-gates with the unlooked-for but welcome tidings, that the ladies of the royal harem had been discovered reposing unattended among the high fern and heather of the adjacent mountain side.

Again were the parchment faces of the wrinkled eunuchs radiant in sallow l.u.s.tre. Three hundred mules were instantly dispatched for the conveyance of the truant flock to their fold; and at midnight the m.u.f.fled damsels were consigned, amid the cracked exultations of attendants, to their wonted cages in the palace.

But the fair sister of Thavanan was not of the number, neither could any clue be obtained to her fate or condition. A small scroll had indeed been discovered on the turf, sealed and bearing the address of the ruler of Shoa--a gigantic glow-worm, attached by a single yellow hair to the envelope, having particularly attracted attention to that which it was conjectured might contain the desired information.

The curiosity of the king finally overcame the cautious scruples of the priesthood, who advised the immediate destruction of the missive. As the wax crumbled between his fingers, a roar of thunder shook the palace to its foundations, whilst a stream of black dust, pouring from the parchment to the table, gradually a.s.sumed the semblance of a pillar of sand agitated by the fierce whirl of the storm. A pungent odour impregnated the apartment, and the crackling sound of the devouring element was followed by the presence of the dread tormentor.

"I have come once again, monarch of the hard heart, to repay the debt which is still due, and, blasted like the much-injured Thavanan, thy soul may henceforward entertain some feeling of pity for thy fellow-men.

Listen to thy doom. No mercy was shown unto me, and none shall be extended to thee. Thy son, after a short reign of terror, shall fall by the hand of a slave, and die cursing the author of his existence; and thy son's son shall bear upon his disfigured countenance the searing mark of his ancestor's cruelty. My face thou shalt see no more--Spirit of the flame, perform thy task." A bright flash shot from the centre of the dark threatening column, and curled towards the king, a sickening sulphuric fume filling the presence chamber, and the necromancer vanished in the thick smoke.

Plunged for hours in a death-like stupor, Asfa Woosen was only aroused from his lethargy to bewail the loss of the left eye, which had been scorched in the socket by the contact of the fierce flame. The calamity greatly softened and influenced the actions of his after-life; and torture and mutilation grew gradually out of custom in the kingdom of Shoa.

During the reign of his grandson, the one-eyed Sahela Sela.s.sie, there dwelt in a mossy cavern, among the recesses of the forest of Mantek, a hermit of renowned sanct.i.ty. Father Peter was universally feared and beloved, but none knew from whence he derived food or nourishment. The skin of the agazin formed his humble garb, and a rude leathern girdle encircled his loins. His charms and amulets were never known to fail, and his language was not as that of other men. Crowds daily gathered round his cave in the rock to receive on their knees the benediction of the recluse; but no one had ever entered the cell, and few cared to pa.s.s it after nightfall. Moans and cries of agony then mingled with the midnight blast; and the sound of the scourge was often heard amid prayers for deliverance from the evil one.

On a fresh morning of May, when the roses and jessamine were scenting the dewy air, the wild flowers springing over the face of the green meadow, and birds warbled pleasantly amid the rich foliage, the peasants came as usual to listen to the words of other days, and to receive the blessing of the austere anchorite. But the accustomed seat was vacant, and no answer being returned to the voice of inquiry, the boldest entered the retreat. Curiously emblazoned scrolls and relics were strewed among the nooks and mouldy recesses of the damp grotto; the body of the venerable hermit was stretched in eternal slumber upon a bed of sharp stones; and the tale soon spread through the land that the holy Father Peter--now no more--was indeed the dread necromancer Thavanan, who had thus, by the continued penance of half a century, expiated his fierce act of apostasy.

Volume Two, Chapter x.x.xV.

THE REIGN OF SUPERSt.i.tION.

Not a monk is there in any of the lone monasteries of Shoa, not a hermit of the many in her cold mountains, not a dwarf nor a decrepit priest who has renounced the society of his fellow-men, but enjoys the reputation of being fully competent to blast the harvest at pleasure, to poison the fountain, and to render the able-bodied incapable. The thoughts of all cla.s.ses move in a dense atmosphere of superst.i.tion. Talismans, written in mystic characters, if mixed with the seeds and leaves of potent witch plants, gathered by the hand of the forest recluse, afford a feeling of security which is not to be extracted from the pages of the Gospel; nor does any one ever venture to mount his mule without a preservative against the spear of the bandit, or the sharp knife of the heathen.

Savage man, obtaining only through the medium of his own wishes and imagination a glimmering idea of the invisible and supreme Power, seeks some tangible object of veneration, and some ostensible source of protection. Thus the Abyssinian, whose vague religious ideas afford him but small consolation in the hour of tribulation, and but little reliance of security or deliverance in the day of danger and distress, reposes implicit faith in the doctrine of amulets, which present a substance stamped with a mystic and supernatural character, and one capable of being attached individually to himself. The arms and neck are therefore clothed in a perfect panoply of charms against the influence of every misfortune and disease, whether experienced or antic.i.p.ated; and the _tulsim_, which is a worked zone studded with minute leathern pockets, containing sacred spells enveloped in double and treble wrappers, encircles the waist of every man, woman, and child, throughout the Christian dominions of Sahela Sela.s.sie, who himself reposes firm faith in their efficacy.

The influence of the evil eye exercises a strong control over the minds of all. Bad spirits are believed to roam about the earth and the waters, and to occupy houses after dark, whence the Amhara never ventures to throw fluid on the ground, lest the dignity of some unseen elf should be violated. The _Beza_, or sacrifice for the sick, is considered lawful and efficacious, and is frequently resorted to. The bullock, as the type of the invalid, after being driven round his couch amid singing and clamour, is slaughtered outside the threshold; or an egg is turned thrice towards the head of the patient, and then broken beside him. Saint Michael is, by many of the more ignorant, supposed to be the Almighty. The Virgin Mary is considered the creatress of the world; and _Sunday_ is understood to have been a saint of surpa.s.sing sanct.i.ty, greatly superior both to Saint George and to Saint Michael, on which account he claims one day out of the seven, whereas other saints enjoy their festival only once during the month.

No Amhara will venture to destroy a serpent save on Sat.u.r.day or Sunday, when the sight of one of these reptiles is deemed a favourable omen. In common with the heathen Galla, the Christians of Shoa make annual votive sacrifices in June to _Sar_, the evil spirit--notwithstanding its strict prohibition by royal proclamation. Three men and a woman, who understand how to deal with the Evil One, having a.s.sembled at the place appointed, proceed to perform the ceremony in a house newly swept. A ginger-coloured hen, a red she-goat, or a male Adel goat with a white collar, is sacrificed; and the blood of the victim, having been mixed with grease and b.u.t.ter, is secretly placed during the night in a narrow alley, when all who step therein are supposed to receive the malady of the invalid, who is thus restored to perfect health. During a visit some years ago to Motat.i.t, the king perceived evidences of this pagan ceremony in the streets; and tracing the rite to a wealthy individual, who had caused it to be performed in order to free himself of disease, the honour of true religion was speedily vindicated by the transfer to the royal coffers of all the worldly substance of the delinquent.

Under cover of the night, a thread of cotton yarn is often stretched by the hired sorcerer completely round some devoted tenement; and the extremities having been connected by means of an iron link, well imbued in blood, the walls and doorposts are freely sprinkled and bedaubed with gore. Day dawns upon the incantation, which is believed to be the work of the Devil himself; and among all the a.s.sembled mult.i.tude, who consider that some heavy calamity, if not instant death, would follow the act, there is not to be found one individual sufficiently bold to remove the spell, and thus deliver the inmates from its withering influence. Since the king's arrival in the capital, the appearance of the b.l.o.o.d.y finger on the wall had thrown the inhabitants into the deepest consternation; and to the astonishment of every by-stander, a missionary of the Church of England tore away the charm without any evil consequences following his rashness. That very night, however, the defeated necromancer planned an attack to rob the clergyman's premises, and it was only defeated by the extra vigilance preserved in consequence of the exposure of the impostor.

The drum of the water kelpie is heard by the credulous native in the echo of every roaring cataract, and the wretch drowning in the swollen torrent is believed to be dragged under the overwhelming wave as the favourite food of the malicious spirit of the deep. Divers plants and herbs possess properties and qualities the most baneful; and a bunch of the _Fegain_ gra.s.s, if skilfully cast upon the person of an obnoxious enemy, produces dire disease and speedy death. Sorcerers and necromancers attaining the respectable age of four and five hundred years exist in numbers in many parts of the land, flitting through the air, and riding upon the wings of the wind; and unbidden and invisible guests, such as Thavanan the Tormentor, enter the banqueting hall, to rob the festive board of its choicest viands.

Hid from mortal gaze, and realising upon earth all the delights of paradise, the magic village of Dooka Stephanos forms the never-failing topic of all wonder-loving souls, and the poetic fancy of Abyssinia has been fairly exhausted in descriptions of this rare scene of blissful enjoyment. "Its sleep-inviting groves and gra.s.sy lawns are situated on the overflowing Nile; and there, released from the shackles of wedlock, beautiful females abound. Potent liquors pour on in never-drying streams, and the earth yields her spontaneous fruits without care or labour. But shrouded in magic mist, these Elysian fields open their portals only to those mortals of commanding form and handsome features, on whom the glance of favour has been cast by the bewitching inmates of the enchanted garden. Human endeavour is ineffectual to unriddle the mystery in which it is enveloped; and the dread art of the sorcerer and his most potent talismans, prove alike unavailing to loosen the spell for the advantage of those on whom Dame Nature has bestowed a crooked figure, or even an ill-starred visage."

As in the dark ages, dwarfs are nevertheless treated with considerable respect, and regarded with the utmost fear. Many of the most learned and praiseworthy in the land are to be found among those who have been created during nature's freaks. The monarch's father confessor, a perfect Asmodeus in appearance, is of extremely diminutive stature, but he is possessed of singular good feeling, and forms a gratifying contrast to the majority of his countrymen. The chiefs and n.o.bles often select their secretaries and household priests with reference to their bodily imperfections; and the most erudite sage in the capital, whose charms and talismans are esteemed all-powerful, and who knoweth every plant from the "cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that springeth out of the wall," sustains his character for wisdom and for lore, as much by the deformity of his appearance as by the brilliancy of his understanding.

Sickness and misfortune are usually ascribed to the influence of the evil eye of the _Booda_, or sorcerer. Long consultations are held to discover from whose sinister glace the calamity has emanated; and when suspicion has gradually settled into conviction, the most implacable hatred is conceived towards the delinquent; and although concealed under that garb of indifference which the savage can so successfully a.s.sume, yet the opportunity of revenge is never suffered to pa.s.s unheeded in after-life. Hailoo, the father of Oubie, the Nero-like Dedjasmach of Tigre, added much to his previous notoriety by the extermination of all the _Boodas_ who fell within his murderous reach. Superst.i.tion exulted in reeking hecatombs of human victims; and the love and veneration of his subjects knew no bounds on his last summary act of collecting together and roasting to death thirteen hundred miserable wretches, who were suspected to possess, and to have exerted with success, the influence of "the evil eye."

By the credulous Abyssinian, every blacksmith and worker in iron is held to be endowed with supernatural powers, and to be able to transform himself at pleasure into the likeness of a wolf or a hyena. It is a common practice amongst this cla.s.s of handicrafts to fasten a metal collar about the neck of the whelps of those animals, and turn them loose; when the badge being retained through life, and occasionally seen, the fabulous stories in circulation are strengthened in the eyes of the uninitiated.

The presence of any Christian emblem, or portion of Holy Writ, is supposed sufficient to neutralise the labours of the Vulcan. No metal can be welded within sight of the cross; and should any sc.r.a.p of the Bible be worn on the person of the by-standers, the desired figure can never be imparted. Of this belief an instance was afforded shortly after our return from Angollala, when a bar of iron was to be transformed into a tire for the wheel of a gun-carriage. The small draft of air created by a pair of primitive native bellows proving of none avail, the smiths declared aloud that the phenomenon arose from some holy charm. Badges and emblems, spells and amulets, were cast aside by all; but the labour was renewed without any better effect, and the artisans stood aghast. A pair of British forge bellows were now produced, and the a.s.sembly were requested to don their paper armour, and to stand round the anvil. The potent blast poured from the nozzle, and under the brawny arm of one of the European soldiers, the sparks flew far and wide. In five minutes the work was completed, to the dismay of the Abyssinian magicians, who came privately to request of me that no further public exhibition of the sort might thenceforth be made, lest their name and their glory should be extinguished throughout the land.

Volume Two, Chapter x.x.xVI.

EXCURSION ALONG THE NORTH-WESTERN FRONTIER OF EFAT.

The disparaging reflections cast by the chivalrous people of Shoa, in consequence of our refusal to slaughter defenceless pagans during the murderous expedition to Entotto, rendered it imperative that some decided step should be taken by which to wipe out the stain, and restore the tarnished l.u.s.tre of the British name. The destruction of an adult elephant, which is reckoned equivalent to that of forty Galla, is an achievement that had not been accomplished within the memory of the present age, although mentioned in traditions connected with the exploits of the most renowned Ethiopic warriors. I accordingly solicited permission to visit the distant wilderness of Giddem, on the northern frontier of Efat, in the dense forests of which the giant of the mammalia was reported to reside--a pretext which further afforded plausible grounds for exploring a portion of the country reputed to be amongst the most fertile and productive in Abyssinia.

The king opened his eyes wider than usual at this unprecedented application. "My children," he returned deliberately, "how can this be?

Elephants are not to be slain with rifle b.a.l.l.s. They will demolish you; and what answer am I then to give? The gun is the medicine for the Galla in the tree, but it has no effect upon the _zihoon_." [Elephant.]

Finding me resolved, however. His Majesty's most gracious permission was finally accorded to depart forthwith, and orders were issued to a royal messenger who was appointed to accompany us, commanding the governors of provinces through which the route lay, to afford every a.s.sistance in their power to "the strong strangers of the Negoos." But all a.s.sertions relative to the possibility of destroying the monarch of the forest were still received with an incredulous shake of the head; and whilst not the smallest expectations were entertained at court of the success of the Gyptzis, the greatest ridicule attended an undertaking which, by all cla.s.ses at the capital, was considered certain to prove alike foolhardy, dangerous, and futile.

Instructions had been issued that the king's guests were to be conducted by the royal road over the Gorabela mountain, a singular mark of condescension, partaken but by few in the realm. This permission enabled us to enjoy a most extensive panorama from the heather-grown heights. Mamrat reared her stupendous head perpendicularly from the dark-wooded bosom of the valley, and seemed half buried in the clouds.

The palisaded buildings of the palace covering the slope of its isolated hill frowned in pride over the numberless circular houses of the straggling eastern metropolis. Clumps of the sombre juniper, and spreading cossos hung with red garlands of mast, formed vistas on every side. On the one hand rose the lofty blue range of Bulga, and on the other the eye ranged uncontrolled over the boundless plains of the savage Adaiel, spread out below like a great chart, and embracing a prospect of many hundred square miles. In the centre soared the stern crater of Abida--the beacon which, in days long gone, marked the dominions of the proud emperors of Ethiopia, when, according to the traditionary couplet, "their sceptre swayed from Azulo to the Bas.h.i.+lo, and from Errur to Gondar."

The porters at the royal lodge were on the alert, and adjurations by the king's life were not wanting to deter our advance to the Airara. "_Bu Negoos_," "_Bu Sahela Sela.s.sie amlak_," were talismanic words energetically vociferated, and a heavy staff was thumped across the path in earnest of its being closed to plebeian transit. But where is the Abyssinian who is proof against bribery and corruption? Beads will force a pa.s.sage when the mandate of the throne is received with incredulity, and the dollars of Maria Theresa, if possessing all the requisite marks, will insure partic.i.p.ation even in a crown monopoly.

An exceedingly steep path conducts to the summit of the Chaka; but it is here paved throughout with boulders, so supported at intervals by transverse beams, as to form a succession of clumsy steps, const.i.tuting the only made road in the kingdom of Shoa. The heather ceases with the Gorabela mountain; and from the summit of the now bare range the route we were to follow strikes off near the residence of a petty governor, who bears the singular name of "_Mout bai nore legne_."

"Oh, that there were no death for me!" is the interpretation thereof; but judging from the appearance of the lord of the manor, who numbers some threescore years, he is not likely long to find his wish realised.

Engaged in earnest conversation with the old man, was Ayto Guebroo, who, in consequence of inability to check the repeated rebellions of the Loomi, by whom he so recently was wounded, had at last been deprived of his government and of his silver sword, and was on his way to the presence of the despot in deep disgrace.

The Abyssinian verdure is singularly evanescent, a month without a shower being sufficient to dry up the rich herbage, and to darken the hue of the foliage; but the "rain of Bounty," which usually falls in February, giving a fresh impulse to vegetation, the hills and valleys again teem with abundance. November was fast drawing to a close, and the aspect of the country generally was brown and withered. The best pastures were covered with the sleek beeves swept off from Finfinni, and the cornfields were yellow with the royal crops now under the sickle, whilst in the numerous thres.h.i.+ng-floors muzzled oxen were already treading out the grain.

Our route led across Motat.i.t and the Toro Mesk, through dales and over hills ab.u.t.ting upon the face of the bluff frontier of Shoa, in which are the sources of many of the more distant tributaries to the blue Nile.

Never was there a tract more dest.i.tute of birds or wild animals, a few plovers and larks, with some of the more common species of _Rodentia_, being the only objects of natural history observed during a march of twelve miles, which led to the halting ground in the centre of the little village of Asophee, opposite to the frowning mountain Kooromania.

Under our flimsy cotton awnings, the night proved intensely cold; and on resuming the journey at an early hour the ensuing morning, over a swelling country thickly dotted with Christian hamlets, we found the more sheltered pools by the road-side covered with a thin coating of ice, the first witnessed since our arrival in Abyssinia. At the village of Amarague, hospitable entertainment had been prepared by Ayto Egazoo, whose name signifies, "May they buy." This notable warrior had, prior to the late foray, introduced himself to me, somewhat k-propos of his t.i.tle, by an ingenious but abortive attempt to sell an unsound horse.

Dismounting on the right side from the identical straw-coloured steed, he now placed himself, with shoulders bared, in the middle of the road, and by the life of the king adjured us to enter his abode, in order to partake of a sheep that had been expressly slaughtered.

Wulleta Sela.s.sie, his comely partner, daughter to s.h.i.+s.h.i.+go, the governor of Shoa-meda, had kindled in the dark hall the fiercest of fires, and immediately on the termination of complimentary inquiries, an ox-hide being spread, the heavy door was barred to exclude the evil eye. Raw collops having been steadily rejected, bones, singed in a somewhat cannibal-like fas.h.i.+on, were rapidly circulated by the attentive host.

"Take the eye," he repeated, coaxingly, to each in turn, presenting at the same time betwixt his finger and thumb the extracted orb of the deceased mutton--"do, the eye is the daintiest part. No!--well you _must_ eat this marrow," crus.h.i.+ng the uncooked shank with a grinding-stone handed by a slave girl, and extending the splintered fragments to be sucked. Overflowing b.u.mpers of sour beer having been filled in a gloomy corner at a huge earthen jar, each horn was tasted by the cup-bearer from the hollow of his palm, in demonstration of the absence of poison. The surplus repast, fluid as well as solid, quickly disappeared under the united efforts of the retinue; and a bead necklace having been hung about the neck of the lady's hopeful son and heir, we finally effected our escape from the ovenlike apartment, with the aid of divers promises made to both master and mistress, and sundry pieces of silver disbursed to silence a host of importunate menials.

Ayto Egazoo rode forth, in accordance with etiquette, "to see the party off." From the courtyard of his snug but dirty domicile, Tegulet, and the blue hills of Argobba and of the Wollo Galla, bounded the extensive prospect. Regaining the road, we crossed in succession the Tekroos-Bado, Moosh, and Goodawurud rivers, all remote sources of the blue Nile. On the banks of the latter stands the monastery of Saint George, famous as having been left unmolested when the district was in the hands of the Galla, many of whom are even said to have been converted to Christianity. Goodawurud was the t.i.tle of a potent chieftain, who, with Merkurri, Amadich, and Logo, held the country after Graan's desolating visit, until expelled by Asfa Woosen; and a considerable portion of the revenues are now applied to the maintenance of the monastery of Medak, whose superior, the Alaka Amda Zion, has charge of the heir presumptive.

Nothing could exceed the beauty of the position selected by the cowled fraternity of Saint George; large bands of whom, lounging away their hours of idleness beneath the funereal junipers in which the retreat is deeply embosomed, were for once aroused from listless apathy by the pa.s.sing cavalcade of white strangers. The land swarms with friars, monks, and anchorites, who are habited in yellow dresses, as the badge of poverty, or in the prepared skin of the antelope. Usually licentious in their manners, they roam through the country a perfect pest and plague to society. Men become monks at any period of life. Those who are afflicted with grievous sickness, vow that in event of recovery they will abandon the world, and transfer all their moveables to the church.

The rich often deliver over their property to their children, who are bound to support them until death. The poor subsist upon the bounty of the king and of the community; and many never enter the cells of the monastery at all, but with their wives reside at ease in their own homes, having a.s.sumed the counterfeit piety of the order solely for the sake of defrauding their creditors--since, however deeply involved, all former scores may be cleared off with the ease and rapidity of the most indulgent court of insolvency, by the simple process of "putting on angels' clothing."

The skin of the Agazin is usually adopted as the garb of humiliation; and this emblem, together with the unwashed person, is intended to commemorate the legend of their great founder Eustathius, who boasted of having performed no ablution during a long term of existence, and who miraculously crossed the river Jordan, floating securely upon his greasy cloak. The prophet Samuel is also sometimes referred to as affording another notable example of the advantage extended by the mantle of hide, in the a.s.serted fact of his having sailed seven days across a great sea, borne in safety, with his disciples, upon his leathern robe.

Throughout Shoa, lakes are believed to form the great rendezvous of evil spirits; and in one called Nugareet-fer, at the foot of the hills, the drum of the water kelpie is frequently heard, to the no small terror of the superst.i.tious auditors. Shortly after crossing the stony bed of the Daimadamash, a road branches off to Angollala and Debra Berhan, past the monastery of Maskalie Ghedam, a t.i.tle signifying "My cross is a convent." Beyond the Dewasha, a second strikes northward to Gondar, past the seat of government of Zenama Work, the Queen-dowager, which occupies a beautifully rounded tumulus styled Zalla Dingai, "The rolling stone."

"Bad people," saith the tradition attached to this spot, "were one day seated upon a rock that formerly occupied the summit of the hill. They were telling lies, and busied in contriving tricks by which to circ.u.mvent their neighbours. Suddenly the ma.s.s gave way, and all who sat thereon, being precipitated into the deep torrent that rolls beneath to join the river Mofa, were crushed to atoms for their evil doings."

After fording the Goor river, and ascending a high ridge, the Queen's white palace forms a striking object in the landscape; and beyond it is a square eminence, where, under the eye of the erudite Alaka Woldab, the reigning monarch pa.s.sed his earlier years, until the a.s.sa.s.sination of his sire opened to him the accession. From this point we obtained an extensive view over Geshe and Efrata, with the Great Saka mountains stretching towards the Nile. A little further on the heather-grown range suddenly terminates in an abrupt descent of full three thousand feet, at the foot of which lies the rugged province of Efat, blending into the blue plains of the Adaiel. The great beacon Azulo, with the wide crater of Abida, hazy and hot, were visible in the east. Afrubba, and the high hills of the Ittoo Galla, rose in the distance, and a perfect chaos of rude disjointed mountains lay piled towards Ankober, seeming as though they had been gathered from many countries, and pitched together by giant handfuls, to fill up the deep intervening chasm.

Hitherto the road had been rough and stony--the eminences steep and bare; and after pa.s.sing the sombre groves of Saint George, the only redeeming feature was the church dedicated to "Our Lady," reposing quietly amid the rich foliage of the "cosso," and other large-leafed forest trees. In many respects the face of the country now resembled the sides of the great Indian Ghauts--ma.s.ses of light brown, chequered with pale yellow; but stubble or standing corn in every accessible nook and corner usurped the place of the wild gra.s.s, with which nature so prodigally clothes the mountain scenery of the East. Numerous parties, consisting of twenty or thirty peasants, carrying on their heads bales of coa.r.s.e cotton cloth as tribute to the king, pa.s.sed us at intervals-- the sword by their side and the spear in their hand, indicating that the frontier along which they journeyed was in a far from settled state.

This tract of high land, which forms the watershed between the Nile and the Hawash, is richly cultivated and abundantly irrigated--a fresh stream, on its course to the former river, intersecting the western side of the range, and forming a deep valley every second or third mile.

After leaving the Goor, however, the face of the country, becoming more sterile, is covered with heather, and for the last few miles to the top of the Turmaber pa.s.s, neither village nor cultivation is to be seen.

During the descent, which pa.s.ses through a gap in the precipitous trap rocks, and is steeper and even worse than that of the Chaka, the bleak and lofty peaks of Aramba, Gaifaiyetto, Woti, Mamrat, Kondie, and Wofasha, are severally revealed to view; these forming a continuation of the great mountain range which fortifies the whole eastern frontier of Shoa, from Bulga to Worra Kaloo, and extends thence through Ambasel, Yedjow, and Lasta, to Simien, the highest point of Abyssinia. From the foot of this pa.s.s the road leads across the Telunko, close to Debra Sena, a small eminence covered as with an inverted bowl, by a dense, cabbage-shaped clump of junipers, concealing Saint George's church--a celebrated shrine for the performance of vows and orisons, which is visited from great distances. Hence the route winds to the bottom of a deep wooded dell, rich in botanical specimens, where the clear stream of the Telunko is again crossed, to the face of a steep acclivity leading to Dokaket, the ancient capital of Emmaha Yasoos, third monarch of Shoa.

The sun was dipping below the opposite range as a halt was proclaimed by the King's guide at the house of Ayto Abaiyo Gurwa, the governor of the district, whose hospitality proved unbounded. For a full hour he continued shouting and scolding, ordering and countermanding; and whilst he expressed the greatest mortification at my declining to appropriate two fat oxen, in addition to liberal supplies of sheep, bread, mead, and beer, he was with difficulty prevailed upon to accept a present that I had prepared in acknowledgment; a piece of self-denial rarely experienced at the hands of a native of Southern Abyssinia.

"But," he added, "henceforth you may know me as your friend; therefore send to me frequently, and I will tell you when I have any concern.

Wolda Mariam, my henchman, who is here, is in my confidence.