On the 22d of May we were all equally desirous to resume our journey. We set out accordingly at six o’clock in the morning, ascending some hills covered, as the former ones, with trees and shrubs, utterly unknown to me, but of inexpressible beauty, and many of extraordinary fragrance. We continued ascending about three miles, till we came to the top of the ridge within sight of the lake. As we rose, the hills became more bare and less beautiful. We afterwards descended towards the passage, partly over steep banks which had been covered with bushes, all trodden down by the army, and which had made the access to the river exceedingly slippery. Here we saw the use of Mahomet’s servants, three of whom, each with a lance in one hand, holding that of his companion in the other, waded across the violent stream, sounding with the end of their lances every step they took. The river was very deep, the current, I suppose, fifty yards broader than it was at the cataract; but the banks were, for a great way on each side, almost perfectly level, though much obstructed with black stones. In the middle it was very deep, and the stream smooth, so that it was apparent our horses must swim. For my part I did not like the smooth stones at the bottom, as a fall there would have been irrecoverable; and my horse was shod with iron, which is not usual in Abyssinia. I therefore resolved to swim where I could not wade, and, wrapping my cloaths in a bundle, I gave them to a servant, who carried them over on his head. I then waded in, and found the water unexpectedly cold. Mahomet rode on a mule by my side, sometimes swimming, sometimes walking. I attempted to sound up towards the lake, and found it deeper there. I returned, therefore, being unwilling to try experiments, and, committing myself to the stream, swam to the other side, much comforted by the assurance that no crocodile passed the cataract.
The beasts having got over, the men followed much quicker; many women, going to join the army, swam over, holding the tails of the horses, and we were all on the other side before twelve o’clock, the beasts a good deal tired with the passage, the steepness of the access to it, and the still greater depth on the other side. For my part, I thought we could not have gone on to Tsoomwa, but it was carried against me. Tsoomwa is about twelve miles distant; and I suppose it was not much past three o’clock when we arrived there, which was very fortunate, as we had scarcely pitched our tents before a most terrible storm of rain, wind, and thunder overtook us. My tent was happily placed in one respect, being on a flat on the lee-side of a hill, and sheltered from the storm; but, on the other hand, the water ran so plentifully from above as quite to overflow it on the inside till a trench was dug to carry it off.
Ras Michael had burnt nothing at Tsoomwa, though there was a house of Powussen’s in the place, built by his father. But that dissembler, to prevent the worst, and carry on the farce to the uttermost, had sent many bags of flour for the use of the King and the Ras, which were to be distributed to the army in case they wanted.
From the passage to Tsoomwa, all the country was forsaken; the houses uninhabited, the grass trodden down, and the fields without cattle. Every thing that had life and strength fled before that terrible leader, and his no less terrible army; a profound silence was in the fields around us, but no marks as yet of desolation. We kept strict watch in this solitude all that night. I took my turn till twelve, as I was the least fatigued of any. Netcho had picquets about a quarter of a mile on every side of us, with fire-arms to give the alarm.
On the 23d, about three in the morning, a gun was heard on the side towards the passage. This did not much alarm us, though we all turned out. In a few minutes came Ayto Adigo, (not the Shum of Karoota, already mentioned, who left us at the Gomara,) but a young nobleman of Begemder of great hopes, one of the gentlemen of the king’s bed-chamber, and consequently my colleague. He intended to have brought four horses to the king, one of which he had drowned, or rather, as I afterwards understood, throttled in passing the Nile at the mouth of the lake; and two men, the king’s servants, had perished there likewise. He came in great hurry, full of the news from Begemder, and of the particulars of the conspiracy, such as have been already stated. With Ayto Adigo came the king’s cook, Sebastos, an old Greek, near seventy, who had fallen sick with fatigue. After having satisfied his inquiries, and given him what refreshment we could spare, he left Sebastos with us, and pursued his journey to the camp.
On the 24th, at our ordinary time, when the sun began to be hot, we continued our route due south, through a very plain, flat country, which, by the constant rains that now fell, began to stand in large pools, and threatened to turn all into a lake. We had hitherto lost none of our beasts of carriage, but we now were so impeded by streams, brooks, and quagmires, that we despaired of ever bringing one of them to join the camp. The horses, and beasts of burthen that carried the baggage of the army, and which had passed before us, had spoiled every ford, and we saw to-day a number of dead mules lying about the fields, the houses all reduced to ruins, and smoking like so many kilns; even the grass, or wild oats, which were grown very high, were burnt in large plots of a hundred acres together; every thing bore the marks that Ras Michael was gone before, whilst not a living creature appeared in those extensive, fruitful, and once well-inhabited plains. An awful silence reigned everywhere around, interrupted only at times by thunder, now become daily, and the rolling of torrents produced by local showers in the hills, which ceased with the rain, and were but the children of an hour. Amidst this universal silence that prevailed all over this scene of extensive desolation, I could not help remembering how finely Mr Gray paints the passage of such an army, under a leader like Ras Michael—
At Derdera we saw the church of St Michael, the only building which, in favour of his own name, the Ras had spared. It served us then for a very convenient lodging, as much rain had fallen in the night, and the priests had all fled or been murdered. We had this evening, when it was clear, seen the mountain of Samseen. Our next stage from Derdera was Karcagna, a small village near the banks of the Jemma, about two miles from Samseen. We knew the king had resolved to burn it, and we expected to have seen the clouds of smoke arising from its ruins, but all was perfectly cool and clear, and this very much surprised us, considering the time he had to do this, and the great punctuality and expedition with which his army used to execute orders of this kind. As we advanced, we had seen a great number of dead mules and horses, and the hyænas so bold as only to leave the carcase for a moment, and snarl as if they had regretted at seeing any of us pass alive.
Since passing the Nile I found myself more than ordinarily depressed; my spirits were sunk almost to a degree of despondency, and yet nothing had happened since that period more than was expected before. This disagreeable situation of mind continued at night while I was in bed. The rashness and imprudence with which I had engaged myself in so many dangers without any necessity for so doing; the little prospect of my being ever able to extricate myself out of them, or, even if I lost my life, of the account being conveyed to my friends at home; the great and unreasonable presumption which had led me to think that, after every one that had attempted this voyage had miscarried in it, I was the only person that was to succeed; all these reflections upon my mind, when relaxed, dozing, and half oppressed with sleep, filled my imagination with what I have heard other people call the horrors, the most disagreeable sensation I ever was conscious of, and which I then felt for the first time. Impatient of suffering any longer, I leaped out of bed, and went to the door of the tent, where the outward air perfectly awakened me, and restored my strength and courage. All was still, and at a distance I saw several bright fires, but lower down, and more to the right than I expected, which made me think I was mistaken in the situation of Karcagna. It was then near four in the morning of the 25th. I called up my companions, happily buried in deep sleep, as I was desirous, if possible, to join the king that day. We accordingly were three or four miles from Derdera when the sun rose; there had been little rain that night, and we found very few torrents on our way; but it was slippery, and uneasy walking, the rich soil being trodden into a consistence like paste.
About seven o’clock we entered upon the broad plain of Maitsha, and were fast leaving the lake. Here the country is, at least a great part of it, in tillage, and had been, in appearance, covered with plentiful crops, but all was cut down by the army for their horses, or trodden under foot, from carelessness or vengeance, so that a green blade could scarcely be seen. We saw a number of people this day, chiefly straggling soldiers, who, in parties of threes and fours, had been seeking, in all the bushes and concealed parts of the river, for the miserable natives, who had hid themselves thereabouts; in this they had many of them been successful. They had some of them three, some of them four women, boys and girls, who, though Christians like themselves, they nevertheless were carrying away into slavery to sell them to the Turks for a very small price.
A little before nine we heard a gun fired that gave us some joy, as the army seemed not to be far off; a few minutes after, we heard several dropping shots, and, in less than a quarter of an hour’s time, a general firing began from right to left, which ceased for an instant, and then was heard again as smart as ever, about the occasion of which we were divided in opinion.
Netcho was satisfied that Woodage Asahel, from Samseen, had fallen upon Ras Michael at Karcagna, to prevent his burning it, and that Fasil had strongly reinforced him that he might be able to retard the army’s march. On the other hand, having been informed by Ayto Adigo, that news were come to Gondar that Fasil had left Buré, and that Derdera was the place agreed on by Gusho and Powussen to shut up Michael on the rear, I thought that it was Fasil, to make good his part of his promise, who had crossed the Nile at Goutto, and attacked Ras Michael before he suffered him to burn Samseen. Indeed we all agreed that both opinions were likely to be true, and that Fasil and Woodage Asahel would both attack the king at the same time. The firing continued much in the same way, rather slacker, but apparently advancing nearer us; a sure sign that our army was beaten and retreating. We, therefore, made ourselves ready, and mounted on horseback, that we might join them. Yet it was a thing appeared to us scarcely possible, that Fasil should beat Ras Michael so easily, and with so short a resistance.
We had not gone far in the plain before we had a sight of the enemy, to our very great surprise and no small comfort. A multitude of deer, buffaloes, boars, and various other wild beasts, had been alarmed by the noise and daily advancing of the army, and gradually driven before them. The country was all overgrown with wild oats, a great many of the villages having been burnt the year before the inhabitants had abandoned them; in this shelter the wild beasts had taken up their abodes in very great numbers. When the army pointed towards Karcagna to the left, the silence and solitude on the opposite side made them turn to the right to where the Nile makes a semi-circle, the Jemma being behind them, and much overflowed. When the army, therefore, instead of marching south and by east towards Samseen, had turned their course north-west, their faces towards Gondar, they had fallen in with these innumerable herds of deer and other beasts, who, confined between the Nile, the Jemma, and the lake, had no way to return but that by which they had come. These animals, finding men in every direction in which they attempted to pass, became desperate with fear, and, not knowing what course to take, fell a prey to the troops. The soldiers, happy in an occasion of procuring animal food, presently fell to firing wherever the beasts appeared; every loaded gun was discharged upon them, and this continued for very near an hour. A numerous flock of the largest deer met us just in the face, and seemed so desperate, that they had every appearance of running us down; and part of them forced themselves through, regardless of us all, whilst others turned south to escape across the plain.
The king and Ras Michael were in the most violent agitation of mind: though the cause was before their eyes, yet the word went about that Woodage Asahel had attacked the army; and this occasioned a great panic and disorder, for everybody was convinced with reason that he was not far off. The firing, however, continued, the balls flew about in every direction, some few were killed, and many people and horses were hurt; still they fired, and Ras Michael, at the door of his tent, crying, threatening, and tearing his grey locks, found, for a few minutes, the army was not under his command. At this instant, Kasmati Netcho, whose Fit-Auraris had fallen back on his front, ordered his kettle-drums, to be beat before he arrived in the king’s presence; and this being heard, without it being known generally who we were, occasioned another panic; great part of the army believed that Powussen and Gusho were now at hand to keep their appointment with Fasil, and that Netcho and I were his Fit-Auraris. The king ordered his tent to be pitched, his standard to be set up, his drums to beat, (the signal for encamping) and the firing immediately ceased. But it was a long while before all the army could believe that Woodage Asahel had not been engaged with some part of it that day. Happily, if near at hand, he did not lay hold of this favourable opportunity; for I am convinced, if, just before our arrival, he had attacked Michael on the Samseen side, with 500 horse, our whole army had fled without resistance, and dispersed all over the country.
Here I left Kasmati Netcho, and was making my way towards the king’s tent, when I was met by a servant of confidence of Kefla Yasous, who had that day commanded the rear in the retreat, a very experienced officer, brave even to a fault, but full of mildness and humanity, and the most sensible and affable man in the army. He sent to desire that I would come to him alone, or that I would send one of the Greeks that followed me. I promised to do so, after having answered most of the questions that he bade his servant ask of me. After this I searched for Strates and Sebastos, who had been sick upon the road.
I soon came up with them, and was more surprised than I had been for several days, to see them both lie extended on the ground; Strates bleeding at a large wound in his forehead, speaking Greek to himself, and crying out his leg was broken, whilst he pressed it with both his hands below the knee, seemingly regardless of the gash in his head, which appeared to me a very ugly one, so that I, of course, thought his leg was still worse. Sebastos was lying stretched along the ground, scarcely saying any thing, but sighing loudly. Upon my asking him whether his arm was broken? he answered feebly, that he was a dying man, and that his legs, his arms, and his ribs were broken to pieces. I could not for my life conceive how this calamity had happened so suddenly, for I had not been half an hour absent talking to Kefla Yasous’s servant; and, what seemed to me still stranger, every body around them were bursting out into fits of laughter.
Ali Mahomet’s servant, who was the only person that I saw concerned, upon my asking, told me that it was all owing to prince George, who had frightened their mules. I have already hinted that this prince was fond of horsemanship, and rode with saddle, bridle, and stirrups, like an Arab; and, though young, was become an excellent horseman, superior to any in Abyssinia. The manner that two Arabs salute one another, when they meet, is, the person inferior in rank, or age, presents his gun at the other, about 500 yards distance, charged with powder only; he then, keeping his gun always presented, gallops these 500 yards as fast as he can, and, being arrived close, lowers the muzzle of his gun, and pours the explosion just under the other’s stirrups, or horse’s belly. This they do, sometimes twenty at a time, and you would often think it was impossible somebody should escape being bruised or burnt.
The prince had learned this exercise from me, and was very perfect at the performance of it. We had procured him a short gun, with a lock and flint instead of a match, and he shot not only justly, but gracefully on horseback. He had been out after the deer all the morning; and hearing that I was arrived, and seeing the two Greeks riding on their mules, he came galloping furiously with his gun presented, and, not seeing me, he fired a shot under the belly of Strates’s mule, upon the ground, and wheeling as quick as lightning to the left, regardless of the mischief he had occasioned, was out of sight in a moment, before he knew the consequences.
Never was compliment worse timed or relished. Strates had two panniers upon his mule, containing two great earthen jars of hydromel for the king; Sebastos had also some jars and pots, and three or four dozen of drinking-glasses, likewise for the king; each of the mules was covered with a carpet, and also the panniers; and upon the pack-saddle, between these panniers, did Strates and Sebastos ride. The mules as well as the loading belonged to the king, and they only were permitted to ride them because they were sick. Strates went first, and, to save trouble, the halter of Sebastos’s mule was tied to Strates’s saddle, so the mules were fastened to and followed one another. Upon firing the gun so near it, Strates’s mule, not used to compliments of this kind, started, and threw him to the ground; it then trampled upon him, began to run off, and wound the halter around Sebastos behind, who fell to the ground likewise amongst some stones. Both the mules then began kicking at each other, till they had thrown off the panniers and pack-saddles, and broke every thing that was brittle in them. The mischief did not end here, for, in struggling to get loose, they fell foul of the mule of old Azage Tecla Haimanout, one of the king’s criminal judges, a very old, feeble man, and threw him upon the ground, and broke his foot, so that he could not walk alone for several months afterwards. As soon as I had pitched a tent for the wounded, and likewise dressed Tecla Haimanout’s foot, I went to Kefla Yasous, while the two Mahomets proceeded to the Ras with their money.
The moment I came into the tent, Kefla Yasous rose up and embraced me. He was sitting alone, but with rather a chearful than a dejected countenance; he told me they were all in great concern, till Ayto Adigo’s arrival, at a report which came from Gondar that we had fought with Guebra Mehedin, and had all been slain. I informed him every thing I knew, or had heard, but he had better intelligence than I in every article but this last, fresh news having arrived the night before by way of Delakus. He said, the rebellion of Gusho and Powussen was certain; that the King and Ras knew every circumstance of it, and that Court-ohha was the place appointed with Fasil to meet and cut them off; he had not heard of Woodage Asahel’s march, but seemed to give full credit to it; he said it was certain, likewise, that Fasil had advanced towards Maitsha; but where his quarters were he did not know, probably they were not at a great distance. He complained violently of his march, and of the number of beasts which they had lost; he wished also that Fasil would be induced to give battle where they were encamped, as his horse would probably be of little use to him among so many torrents and rivers, and must suffer considerably in their advancing hither.
I asked him whither they were now marching? He said, that, as soon as the news of the conspiracy were known, a council was held, where it was the general opinion they should proceed, briskly forward, and attack Fasil alone at Buré, then turn to Gondar to meet the other two; but then they had it upon the very best authority that great rain had fallen to the southward; that the rivers, which were so frequent in that part of the country, were mostly impassable, so there would be great danger in meeting Fasil with an army spent and fatigued with the difficulty of the roads. It was, therefore, determined, and the Ras was decidedly of that opinion, that they should keep their army entire for a better day, and immediately cross the Nile, and march back to Gondar; that they had accordingly wheeled about, and that day was the first of their proceeding, which had been interrupted by the accident of the firing. Kefla Yasous offered me all sorts of refreshments, and I dined with him; he sent also great abundance for my servants to my tent, lest I should not have yet got my appointments from the king. I then went directly to my own tent, where I found all that belonged to me had arrived safe, under the care of Francisco; and having now procured clothes, instead of those taken from me by Guebra Mehedin, I waited upon the king, and staid a considerable time with him, asking much the same questions Kefla Yasous had done. I would have paid my respects to the Ras also, but missed him, for he was at council.
It was on the 26th of May, early in the morning, that the army marched towards the Nile. In the afternoon we encamped, between two and three, on the banks of the river Coga, the church Abbo being something more than half a mile to the north-west of us.
Next morning, the 27th, we left the river Coga, marching down upon the Nile; we passed the church of Mariam-Net, as they call the church of St Anne. Here the superior, attended by about fifty of his monks, came in procession to welcome Ras Michael; but he, it seems, had received some intelligence of ill-offices the people of this quarter had done to the Agows by Fasil’s direction; he therefore ordered the church to be plundered, and took the superior, and two of the leading men of the monks, away with him to Gondar; several of the others were killed and wounded, without provocation, by the soldiers, and the rest dispersed through the country.
Prince George had sent immediately in the morning to put me in mind that I had promised, in the king’s tent at Lamgué, under Emfras, to ride with him in his party when in Maitsha. He commanded about two hundred and fifty chosen horse, and kept at about half a mile’s distance on the right flank of the army. I told the king the prince’s desire; who only answered, dryly enough, “Not till we pass the Nile; we do not yet know the state of this country.” Immediately after this, he detached the horse of Siré and Serawé, and commanded me with his own guards to take possession of the ford where the Fit-Auraris had crossed, and to suffer no mule or horse to pass till their arrival.
There were two fords proposed for our passage; one opposite to the church Boskon Abbo, between the two rivers Kelti and Aroossi, (on the west of the Nile,) and the Coga and Amlac Ohha from the east; it was said to be deep, but passable, though the bottom was of clay, and very soft; the other ford proposed was higher up, at the second cataract of Kerr. It was thought of consequence to chuse this ford, as the Kelti, (itself a large and deep river) joined by the Branti, which comes from the westward of Quaquera, brings, in the rainy season, a prodigious accession of water to the Nile; yet, below this, the guides had advised the Ras to pass, and many found it afterwards a sound bottom, very little deeper, with level ground on both sides. We arrived about four on the banks of the Nile, and took possession in a line of about 600 yards of ground.
From the time we decamped from Coga it poured incessantly the most continued rain we ever had yet seen, violent claps of thunder followed close one upon another, almost without interval, accompanied with sheets of lightning, which ran on the ground like water; the day was more than commonly dark, as in an eclipse; and every hollow, or foot-path, collected a quantity of rain, which fell into the Nile in torrents. It would have brought into the dullest mind Mr Hume’s striking lines on my native Carron—
The Abyssinian armies pass the Nile at all seasons. It rolls with it no trees, stones, nor impediments; yet the sight of such a monstrous mass of water terrified me, and made me think the idea of crossing would be laid aside. It was plain in the face of every one, that they gave themselves over for lost; an universal dejection had taken place, and it was but too visible that the army was defeated by the weather, without having seen an enemy. The Greeks crowded around me, all forlorn and despairing, cursing the hour they had first entered that country, and following these curses with fervent prayers, where fear held the place of devotion. A cold and brisk gale now sprung up at N. W. with a clear sun; and soon after four, when the army arrived on the banks of the Nile, these temporary torrents were all subsided, the sun was hot, and the ground again beginning to become dry.
Netcho, Ras Michael’s Fit-Auraris, with about 400 men, had passed in the morning, and taken his station above us in little huts like bee-hives, which the soldiers, who carry no tents, make very speedily and artificially for themselves, of the long, wild oats, each straw of which is at least eight feet long, and near as thick as an ordinary man’s little finger. He had sent back word to the king, that his men had passed swimming, and with very great difficulty; that he doubted whether the horses, or loaded mules, could cross at any rate; but, if it was resolved to make the trial, they should do it immediately, without staying till the increase of the river. He said both banks were composed of black earth, slippery and miry, which would become more so when horses had puddled it; he advised, above all, the turning to the right immediately after coming ashore, in the direction in which he had fixed poles, as the earth there was hard and firm, besides having the advantage of some round stones which hindered the beasts from slipping or sinking. Instead, therefore, of resting there that night, it was resolved that the horse should cross immediately.
The first who passed was a young man, a relation of the king, brother to Ayamico killed at the battle of Banja; he walked in with great caution, marking a track for the king to pass. He had gone upon rather solid ground, about twice the length of his horse, when he plunged out of his depth, and swam to the other side. The king followed him immediately with a great degree of haste, Ras Michael calling to him to proceed with caution, but without success. Afterwards came the old Ras on his mule, with several of his friends swimming both with and without their horses on each side of him, in a manner truly wonderful. He seemed to have lost his accustomed calmness, and appeared a good deal agitated; forbade, upon pain of death, any one to follow him directly, or to swim over, as their custom is, holding their mules by the tail. As soon as these were safely ashore, the king’s household and black troops, and I with them, advanced cautiously into the river, and swam happily over, in a deep stream of reddish-coloured water, which ran without violence almost upon a level.
Each horseman had a mule in his hand, which swam after him, or by his side, with his coat of mail and head-piece tied upon it. My horse was a very strong one, and in good condition, and a servant took charge of my mule and coat of mail, so that, being unembarrassed, I had the happiness to get safe and soon over, and up the path to the right without great difficulty, so had most others of the cavalry who swam along with us; but the ground now began to be broken on both sides of the passage, and it was almost as difficult to get in, as it was to scramble up the bank afterwards.
It is impossible to describe the confusion that followed; night was hard upon us, and, though it increased our loss, it in great measure concealed it; a thousand men had not yet passed, though on mules and horses; many mired in the muddy landing-place, fell back into the stream, and were carried away and drowned. Of the horse belonging to the king’s household, one hundred and eighty in number, seven only were missing; with them Ayto Aylo, vice-chamberlain to the queen, and Tecla Mariam the king’s uncle, a great friend of Ras Michael’s, both old men.
The ground on the west side was quite of another consistence than was that upon the east, it was firm, covered with short grass, and rose in small hills like the downs in England, all sloping into little valleys which carried off the water, the declivity being always towards the Nile. There was no baggage (the tent of the Ras and that of the king excepted) which had as yet come over, and these were wet, being drenched in the river. The Fit-Auraris had left, ready made, two rafts for Ozoro Esther, and the other two ladies, with which she might have easily been conducted over, and without much danger; but the Ras had made Ozoro Esther pass over in the same manner he had crossed himself, many swimming on each side of her mule. She would have fain staid on the east side, but it was in vain to remonstrate. She was with child, and had fainted several times; but yet nothing could prevail with the Ras to trust her on the other bank till morning. She crossed, however, safely, though almost dead with fright. It was said he had determined to put her to death if she did not pass, from jealousy of her falling into the hands of Fasil; but this I will by no means vouch, nor do I believe it. The night was cold and clear, and a strong wind at north-west had blown all the afternoon. Guebra Mascal, and several of Ras Michael’s officers, had purposely tarried behind for gathering in the stragglers. The river had abated towards mid-night, when, whether from this cause, or, as they alledged, that they found a more favourable ford, all the Tigré infantry, and many mules lightly loaded, passed with less difficulty than any of the rest had done, and with them several loads of flour; luckily also my two tents and mules, to my great consolation, came safely over when it was near morning. Still the army continued to pass, and those that could swim seemed best off. I was in the greatest distress for the good Ammonios, my lieutenant, who was missing, and did not join us till late in the morning, having been all night busy in seeking Ayto Aylo, the queen’s chamberlain, and Tecla Mariam, who were his great companions, drowned probably at the first attempt to pass, as they were never after heard of.
The greatest part of the foot, however, crossed in the night; and many were of opinion that we had mistaken the passage altogether, by going too high, and being in too great a haste; the banks, indeed, were so steep, it was very plain that this could never have been an accustomed ford for cavalry. Before day-light the van and the center had all joined the king; the number, I believe, that had perished was never distinctly known, for those that were missing were thought to have remained on the other side with Kefla Yasous, at least for that day. Kefla Yasous, indeed, with the rear and all the baggage of the army, had remained on the other side, and, with very few tents pitched, waited the dawn of the morning.
It happened that the priests of the church of Mariam Net, in the confusion, had been left unheeded, chained arm to arm, in the rear with Kefla Yasous, and they had began interceding with him to procure their pardon and dismission. He was a man, as I said, of the greatest affability and complacency, and heard every one speak with the utmost patience. These priests, terrified to death lest Michael should pull their eyes out, or exercise some of his usual cruelties upon them, which was certainly his intention by bringing them with him to Gondar, frankly declared to Kefla Yasous what they apprehended. They said that they had never known a ford there before, though they had lived many years in the neighbourhood, nor had ever heard of one at Kerr, the first cataract, which the guides had persuaded the rather of the two; they did believe, therefore, that Michael’s guides had deceived him on purpose, and that they intended the same thing by him to-morrow, if he attempted to pass at Kerr. They told him further, that, about three days before Michael had arrived in the neighbourhood of Samseen, they had heard a nagareet beat regularly every evening at sun-set, behind the high woody hill in front, whereon was the church of Boikon Abbo; that they had seen also a man the day before who had left Welleta Yasous, Fasil’s principal officer and confident, at Goutto, waiting the arrival of some more troops to pass the Nile there, whence they doubted not that there was treachery intended.
The sagacious and prudent Kefla Yasous weighed every word of this in his mind, and, combining all the circumstances together, was immediately convinced that there had been a snare laid by Fasil for them. Entering further into conversation with the priests, and encouraging them with assurances of reward instead of punishment, he inquired if they certainly knew any better ford below. They answered him they knew of no ford but the common one of Delakus, about eight miles below; that it was true it was not good, and it was deeper than ordinary, as the rainy season had begun early, but that it was so perfectly fordable that all the country people had gone with asses loaded with butter and honey, and other provisions, for the market of Gondar last week; from whence they inferred that he could easily ford it, and safely, even with loaded mules. They advised him farther, as the night was dry, and the rain fell generally in the day, to lose no time, but to collect his troops, weary as they were, as soon as possible, and send the heavy baggage before; that there was no river or torrent in their way, but Amlac Ohha, which, at that time of night, was at its lowest, and they might then pass it at their leisure, while he covered them with his troops behind; that in such case they might all be safe over the ford by the time the sun became to be hot in the morning, about which hour they did not doubt he would be attacked by Welleta Yasous. They said farther, that, though they could claim little merit, being prisoners, by offering to be his guides, yet he might perhaps find his use in the measure, and would thereby prove their faith and loyalty to the king.
Although all this bore the greatest shew of probability, and the lives of the informers were in his hands, that cautious general would not undertake a step of so much consequence, as to separate the rear of the army from the king, without further inquiry. There was then in his camp, waiting the event of next day, two of the guides who had brought them to this ford; a third had gone over the river with Ras Michael. There was likewise in his camp a servant of Nanna Georgis, who had arrived some days before with information to Ras Michael. The two guides pretended to be Agows, consequently friends to the king. He called these into his presence, and ordered them to be put in irons, and then sent for the servant of Nanna Georgis. This man immediately knew the one to be his countryman, but declared the other was a Galla, both of them servants of Fasil, and then living in Maitsha.
Kefla Yasous immediately ordered the Kanitz Kitzera (the executioner of the camp) to attend, and having exhorted them to declare the truth for fear of what would speedily follow, and no satisfactory answer being given, he directed the eyes of the eldest, the Galla, to be plucked out; and he continuing still obstinate, he delivered him to the soldiers, who hewed him to pieces with their large knives in presence of his companion. In the mean time the priests had been very earnest with the young one, the Agow, to confess, with better success; but this execution, to which he had been witness, was more prevailing than all their arguments. Upon promise of life, liberty, and reward, he declared that he had left Fasil behind a hill, which he then shewed, about three miles distant, in front of the king’s army, and had gone down to Welleta Yasous, who was waiting at Goutto ready to pass the Nile: that they were sent forward to decoy the king to that passage, under the name of a ford, where they expected great part of the army would perish if they attempted to pass: that Fasil was to attack such part of the king’s army as should have passed as soon as it appeared upon the heights above the river, but not till, by the firing on the east side, he knew that Welleta Yasous was engaged with the rear, or part of the army, which should still remain on that side separated by the river: that they did not imagine Ras Michael could have passed that night, but that to-morrow he would certainly be attacked by Fasil, as his companion, who had crossed with Ras Michael, was to go directly to Fasil and inform him of the situation of the King, the Ras, and the army.
Kefla Yasous sent two of his principal officers, with a distinct detail of this whole affair, to the king. It being now dark, they swam the river on horseback, with much more difficulty and danger than we had done, and they found Ras Michael and the king in council, to whom they told their message with every circumstance, adding, that Kefla Yasous, as the only way to preserve the army, quite spent with fatigue, and encumbered with such a quantity of baggage, had struck his tent, and would, by that time, be on his march for the ford of Delakus, which he should cross, and, after leaving a party to guard the baggage and sick, he should with the freshest of his men join the army. The spy that had passed with Michael and the king was now sought for, but he had lost no time, and was gone off to Fasil at Boskon Abbo. Kefla Yasous, having seen all the baggage on their way before him, did, as his last act, perhaps not strictly consistent with justice, hang the poor unfortunate informer, the Agow, upon one of the trees at the ford, that Welleta Yasous, when he passed in the morning, might see how certainly his secret was discovered, and that consequently he was on his guard.
On the 28th he crossed Amlac Ohha with some degree of difficulty, and was obliged to abandon several baggage-mules. He advanced after this with as great diligence as possible to Delakus, and found the ford, though deep, much better than he expected. He had pitched his tent on the high road to Gondar, before Welleta Yasous knew he was decamped, and of this passage he immediately advised Michael refreshing his troops for any emergency.
About two in the afternoon Welleta Yasous appeared with his horse on the other side of the Nile, but it was then too late. Kefla Yasous was so strongly posted, and the banks of the river so guarded with fire-arms, down to the water-edge, that Fasil and all his army would not have dared to attempt the passage, or even approach the banks of the river.
As soon as Ras Michael received the intelligence, he dispatched the Fit-Auraris, Netcho, to take post upon the ford of the Kelti, a large river, but rather broad than deep, about three miles off. He himself followed early in the morning, and passed the Kelti just at sun-rise, without halting; he then advanced to meet Kefla Yasous, as the army began to want provisions, the little flour that had been brought over, or which the soldiers had taken with them, being nearly exhausted during that night and the morning after. It was found, too, that the men had but little powder, none of them having recruited their quantity since the hunting of the deer; but what they had was in perfect good order, being kept in horns and small wooden bottles, corked in such a manner as to be secured from water of any kind. Kefla Yasous, therefore, being in possession of the baggage, the powder, and the provisions, a junction with him was absolutely necessary, and they expected to effect this at Wainadega, about twenty miles from their last night’s quarters. The ground was all firm and level between Kelti and the Avoley, a space of about 15 miles.
Ras Michael halted after passing the Kelti, and sent on the Fit-Auraris about five miles before him; he then ordered what quantity of flour, or provisions of any kind could be found, to be distributed among the men, and directed them to refresh themselves for an hour before they again began their march, because they might expect soon to engage with Fasil. The day being clear, and the sun hot, those that the cold affected, from the passage of last night, began to recover their former health and agility; their clothes were now all dry, clean washed, and comfortable; and had it not been for the fatigue that remained from the two last days, and the short allowance to which they were reduced, perhaps there were few occasions wherein the army was fitter for an engagement. Being now disembarrassed from dangerous rivers, they were on dry solid ground, which they had often marched over before in triumph, and where all the villages around them, lying in ruins, put them in mind of many victorious campaigns, and especially the recent one at Fagitta over this same Fasil. Add to all this, they were on their way home to Gondar, and that alone made them march with a tenfold alacrity. Gondar, they thought, was to be the end of all their cares, a place of relaxation and ease for the rest of the rainy season.
It was between twelve and one we heard the Fit-Auraris engaged, and there was sharp firing on both sides, which soon ceased. Michael ordered his army immediately to halt; he and the king, and Billetana Gueta Tecla, commanded the van; Welleta Michael,and Ayto Tesfos of Siré, the rear. Having marched a little farther, he changed his order of battle; he drew up the body of troops which he commanded, together with the king, on a flat, large hill, with two valleys running parallel to the sides of it like trenches. Beyond these trenches were two higher ridges of hills that ran along the side of them, about half a musket-shot from him; the valleys were soft ground which yet could bear horses, and these hills, on his right and on his left, advanced about 100 yards on each side farther than the line of his front. The gross of these side-divisions occupied the height; but a line of soldiers from them came down to the edge of the valleys like wings. In the plain ground, about three hundred yards directly in his front, he had placed all the cavalry, except the king’s body-guards drawn up before him, commanded by an old officer of Mariam Barea. As prince George was in the cavalry, he strongly solicited the Ras at least to let him remain with them, and see them engage; but the Ras, considering his extreme youth and natural rashness, called him back, and placed him beside me before the king. It was not long before the Fit-Auraris’s two messengers arrived, running like deer along the plain, which was not absolutely flat, but sloped gently down towards us, declining, as I should guess, not a fathom in fifteen.
Their account was, that they had fallen in with Fasil’s Fit-Auraris; that they had attacked him smartly, and, though the enemy were greatly superior, being all horse, except a few musqueteers, had killed four of them. The Ras having first heard the message of the Fit-Auraris alone, he sent a man to report it to the king; and, immediately after this, he ordered two horsemen to go full gallop along the east side of the hill, the low road to Wainadega, to warn Kefla Yasous of Fasil’s being near at hand; he likewise directed the Fit-Auraris to advance cautiously till he had seen Fasil, and to pursue no party that should retreat before him.
The King, the Ras, and the whole army, began to be in pain for Kefla Yasous; and we should have changed our ground, and marched forward immediately, had we not heard the alarm-guns fired by Fit-Auraris Netcho, and presently he and his party came in, the men running, and the horses at full gallop. Ras Michael had given his orders, and returned to the presence of the king on his mule; he could not venture among horse, being wounded in the middle of the thigh, and lame in that leg, but always charged on a mule among the musquetry. He said shortly to the king, “No fear, Sir, stand firm; Fasil is lost if he fights to-day on this ground.”
Fasil appeared at the top of the hill. I have no guess about the number of such large bodies of troops, but, by those more used to such computations, it is said he had about 3000 horse. It was a fine sight, but the evening was beginning to be overcast. After having taken a full view of the army, they all began to move slowly down the hill, beating their kettle-drums. There were two trees a little before the cavalry, that were advanced beyond our front. Fasil sent down a party to skirmish with these, and he himself halted after having made a few paces down the hill. The two bodies of horse met just half way at the two trees, and mingled together, as appeared at least, with very decisive intention; but whether it was by orders or from fear, (for they were not overmatched in numbers) our horse turned their backs and came precipitately down, so that we were afraid they would break in upon the foot. Several shots were fired from the center at them by order of the Ras, who cried out aloud in derision, “Take away these horses and send them to the mill.” They divided, however, to the right and left, into the two grassy valleys under cover of the musquetry, and a very few horse of Fasil’s were carried in along with them, and slain by the soldiers on the side of the hill. On the king’s side no man of note was missing but Welleta Michael, nephew of Ras Michael, whose horse falling, he was taken prisoner and carried off by Fasil.
A few minutes after this, arrived a messenger from Fasil, a dwarf, named Doho, a man always employed on errands of this kind; it is an intercourse which is permitted, and the messenger not only protected, but rewarded, as I have before observed; it is a singular custom, and none but shrewd fellows are sent, very capable of making observations, and Doho was one of these. He told the Ras to prepare immediately, for Fasil intended to attack him as soon as he had brought his foot up: Doho further added a request from his master, as a mark of his duty, that the king might not change his dress that day, lest he might fall into the hands of some of the stranger troops of Galla, who might not know him otherwise, or shew the proper respect to his person. The Ras, I was told afterwards, for he was too far before us to hear him, laughed violently at this compliment. “Tell Fasil, says he, to wait but a few minutes where he now is, and I promise him that the king shall dress in any way he pleases.” When Doho’s message was told to the king, he sent back answer to Ras Michael, “Let Doho tell Fasil from me, that, if I had known those two trees had been where they are, I would have brought Welleta Gabriel, Ozoro Esther’s steward, to him; by which he very archly alluded to the battle of Fagitta, where that drunkard, shooting from behind a tree, and killing one Galla, made all the rest fly for fear of the zibib.”
Doho being thus dismissed, the whole army advanced immediately at a very brisk pace, hooping and screaming, as is their custom, in a most harsh and barbarous manner, crying out Hatzé Ali! Michael Ali! But Fasil, who saw the forward countenance of the king’s troops, and that a few minutes would lay him under necessity of risking a battle, which he did not intend, withdrew his troops at a smart trot over the smooth downs, returning towards Boskon Abbo. It seems, as we heard afterwards, he was in as great anxiety about the fate of Welleta Yasous, of whom he had no intelligence, as we had been for that of Kefla Yasous; and he had got as yet no intelligence till he had taken Welleta Michael prisoner; he had heard no firing, nor did he consequently know whether Kefla Yasous had passed the Nile with the Ras or not; he had, therefore, left his camp, and marched with his horse only to take a view of Michael, but had no sort of intention to give him battle; and he was now very much exasperated against both Gusho and Powussen, by whom he saw plainly that he had been betrayed.
This is what was called the battle of Limjour, from a village burnt by Ras Michael last campaign, which stood where the two trees are; the name of a battle is surely more than it deserves. Had Fasil been half as willing as the Ras, it could not have failed being a decisive one. The Ras, who saw that Fasil would not fight, easily penetrated his reasons, and no sooner was he gone, and his own drums silent, than he heard a nagareet beat, and knew it to be that of Kefla Yasous. This general encamped upon the river Avoley, leaving his tents and baggage under a proper guard, and had marched with the best and freshest of his troops to join Michael before the engagement. All was joy at meeting, every rank of men joined in extolling the merit and conduct of their leaders; and, indeed, it may be fairly said, the situation of the king and the army was desperate at that instant, when the troops were separated on different sides of the Nile; nor could they have been saved but by the speedy resolution taken by Kefla Yasous to march without loss of time and pass at the ford of Delakus, and the diligence and activity with which he executed that resolution.
Although a good part of Kefla Yasous’s soldiers were left at the Avoley, the Ras, as a mark of confidence, gave him the command of the rear. We were retreating before an enemy, and it was, therefore, the post of honour, where the Ras would have been himself, had not Kefla Yasous joined us. We soon marched the five miles, or thereabout, that remained to the Avoley, and arrived just as the sun was setting, and there heard from the spies that Welleta Yasous with his troops had retired again to Goutto, after having been joined by Woodage Asahel. There again were fresh rejoicings, as every one recovered their baggage and provisions, many rejoined their friends they had given over as lost at the passage, and the whole army prepared their supper. All but Ras Michael seemed to have their thoughts bent upon sleep and rest; whilst he, the most infirm and aged of the army, no sooner was under cover of his tent than he ordered the drum to beat for assembling a council. What passed there I did not know; I believe nothing but a repetition of the circumstances that induced Kefla Yasous to advance to Delakus, for, after supper, just before the king went to bed in the evening, a man from Kefla Yasous brought the four priests of Mariam Net, who had been the guides to the ford at Delakus. The king ordered meat to be set before them, but they had done very well already with Kefla Yasous, and, therefore, only took a small piece of bread and a cup of bouza, the eating and drinking in presence of the king being an assurance that their life was safe and pardon real. They had then five ounces of gold, and several changes of clothes given to each of them, and the king took them to Gondar with him, to provide for them there, out of the reach of the revenge of Fasil, and placed them in the church of Hamar Noh116.
The army marched next day to Dingleber, a high hill, or rock, approaching so close to the lake as scarcely to leave a passage between. Upon the top of this rock is the king’s house. As we arrived very early there, and were now out of Fasil’s government, the king insisted upon treating Ras Michael and all the people of consideration. A great quantity of cattle had been sent thither from Dembea by those who had estates in the neighbourhood, out of which he gave ten oxen to Ras Michael, ten to Kefla Yasous, the same number to several others, and one to myself, with two ounces of gold for Strates and Sebastos to buy mules; but they had already provided themselves; for, besides the two they rode upon of mine, they and my servants had picked up four others in very good condition, whose masters had probably perished in the river, for they were never claimed afterwards.
Just as the king sat down to dinner an accident happened that occasioned great trepidation among all his servants. A black eagle117 was chased into the king’s tent by some of the birds of prey that hover about the camp; and it was after in the mouth of every one the king would be dethroned by a man of inferior birth and condition. Every body at that time looked to Fasil: the event proved the application false, though the omen was true. Powussen of Begemder was as low-born as Fasil, as great a traitor, but more successful, to whom the ominous presage pointed; and, though we cannot but look upon the whole as accident, it was but too soon fulfilled.
In the evening of the 29th arrived at Dingleber two horsemen from Fasil, clad in habits of peace, and without arms; they were known to be two of his principal servants, were grave, genteel, middle-aged men; this message had nothing of Doho’s buffoonery. They had an audience early after their coming, first of the Ras, then of the King. They said, and said truly, that Fasil had repassed the Kelti, was encamped on the opposite side, and was not yet joined by Welleta Yasous. Their errand was, to desire that the Ras might not fatigue his men by unnecessarily hurrying on to Gondar, because he might rest secured of receiving no further molestation from Fasil their master, as he was on his march to Burè. They told the Ras the whole of the conspiracy, as far as it regarded him, and the agreement that Powussen and Gusho had made with their master to surround him at Derdera: they mentioned, moreover, how sensible Fasil was of their treason towards him; that, instead of keeping their word, they had left him to engage the King and the Ras’s whole force at a time when they knew the greatest part of his Galla troops were retired to the other side of the Nile, and could be assembled with difficulty: That if the Ras by chance had crossed at Delakus, as Kefla Yasous had done, instead of embarrassing his army among the rivers of Maitsha, and crossing the Nile at that most dangerous place near Amlac-Ohha, (a passage never before attempted in the rainy season) the consequence would have been, that he must have either fought at great disadvantage with an inferior army against the Ras, or have retired to Metchakel, leaving his whole country to the mercy of his enemies. Fasil declared his resolution never again to appear in arms against the king, but that he would hold his government under him, and pay the accustomed taxes punctually: he promised also, that he would renounce all manner of connection with Gusho and Powussen, as he had already done, and he would take the field against them next season with his whole force, whenever the king ordered him. The messengers concluded, with desiring the Ras to give Fasil his grand-daughter, Welleta Selassé, in marriage, and that he would then come to Gondar without distrust.
At the audience they had of the king the same night, they added, That Fasil could not trust Ras Michael, he broke his word so often, and had so many reservations and evasions in his promises.
The Ras, though he did not believe all this, made no difficulty in agreeing to every thing that they desired. He promised the grand-daughter; and, as an earnest of his believing the rest, the king’s two nagareets were brought to the door of the tent, where, to our very great surprise, we heard it proclaimed, “Fasil is governor of the Agow, Maitsha, Gojam, and Damot; prosperity to him, and long may he live a faithful servant to the king our master!”—This was an extraordinary revolution in so small a space of time. It was scarce 43 hours since Fasil had laid a scheme for drowning the greater part of the army in the Nile, and cutting the throats of the residue on both sides of it; it was not twenty-four hours, since he had met us to fight in open field, and now he was become the king’s lieutenant-general in four of the most opulent provinces of Abyssinia. This was produced, however, by the necessity of the times, and both parties were playing at the same game who should over-reach the other. Fasil’s messengers were magnificently cloathed, and it was first intended they should have gone back to him; but, after reflection, another person was sent, these two chusing to go to Gondar with the king to remain hostages for Fasil’s word, and to bring back his investiture from thence to Burè. The whole camp abandoned itself to joy.
Late in the evening Ozoro Esther came to the king’s tent. She had been ill, and alarmed, as she well might, at the passage of the Nile, which had given her a more delicate look than ordinary; she was dressed all in white, and I thought I seldom had seen so handsome a woman. The king, as I have mentioned, had sent ten oxen to Ras Michael, but he had given twenty to Ozoro Esther; and it was to thank him for this extraordinary mark of favour that she had come to visit him in his tent. I had for some time past, indeed, thought they were not insensible to the merit of each other. Upon her thanking the king for the distinction he had shewn her, Madam, said he, your husband Ras Michael is intent upon employing, in the best way possible for my service, those of the army that are strong and vigorous; you, I am told, bestow your care on the sick and disabled, and, by your attention, they are restored to their former health and activity; the strong active soldier eats the cows that I have sent to the Ras; the enfeebled and sick recover upon yours, for which reason I sent you a double portion, that you may have it in your power to do double good. After this the room was cleared; and she had an audience alone for half an hour. I doubt very much whether Ras Michael had any share in the conversation; the king was in the very gayest humour, and went to rest about twelve. The Ras loved Ozoro Esther, but was not jealous.
I had violent threatenings of the ague, and had gone to bed full of reflections on extraordinary events that, in a few hours, had as it were crowded upon one another. I had appointed Fasil’s servants to come to my tent in the evening. I understood a council had been called, to which Welleta Kyrillos, the king’s historiographer, had been sent for, and instructed how to give an account of this campaign of Maitsha, the passage of the Nile, and the meeting with Fasil at Limjour. Kefla Yasous’s march to Delakus, and passage there, were ordered to be written in gold letters, and so was Fasil’s appointment to Damot and Maitsha. From this authentic copy, and what I myself heard or observed, I formed these notes of the campaign.
On the 30th of May nothing material happened, and, in a few days, we arrived at Gondar. The day before we entered, being encamped on the river Kemona, came two messengers from Gusho and Powussen, with various excuses why they had not joined. They were very ill received by the Ras, and refused an audience of the king. Their present, which is always new clothes to some value, was a small piece of dark-blue Surat cloth, value about half-a-crown, intended as an affront; they were not suffered to sleep in the camp, but forwarded to Fasil where they were going.
The 3d of June the army encamped on the river Kahha, under Gondar. From the time we left Dingleber, some one or other of the Ras’s confidential friends had arrived every day. Several of the great officers of state reached us at the Kemona, many others met us at Abba Samuel. I did not perceive the news they brought increased the spirits either of the King or the Ras; the soldiers, however, were all contented, because they were at home; but the officers, who saw farther, wore very different countenances, especially those that were of Amhara.
I, in particular, had very little reason to be pleased; for, after having undergone a constant series of fatigues, dangers, and expences, I was returned to Gondar disappointed of my views in arriving at the source of the Nile, without any other acquisition than a violent ague. The place where that river rises remained still as great a secret as it had been ever since the catastrophe of Phaeton:—