The next morning, being the 25th, about eight o’clock, I went to Powussen’s tent. His camp was on the Kahha, near the church of Ledata, or the Nativity. After waiting near an hour, I was admitted; two women sat by him, neither handsome nor cleanly dressed; and he returned me my gun and sword, which was followed by a small present on my part. This, says he, turning to the women, is a man who knows every thing that is to come; who is to die, and who is to live; who is to go to the devil, and who not; who loves her husband, and who cuckolds him.”—“Tell me then, Yagoube, says one of the women, will Tecla Haimanout and Michael ever come to Gondar again?”—“I do not know who you mean, Madam, said I; is it the king and the Ras you mean?”—“Call him the King, says the other woman in half a whisper; he loves the king.”—“Well, aye, come, let it be the king then, says she; will the King and Ras Michael ever come to Gondar?”—“Surely, said I, the king is king, and will go to any part of his dominions he pleases, and when he pleases; do you not hear he is already on his way?”—“Aye, aye, by G—d, says Powussen, no fear he’ll come with a vengeance, therefore I think it is high time that I was in Begemder.” He then shrugged up his shoulders, and rose, upon which I took my leave. He had kept me standing all the time; and when I came to Koscam I made my report as usual to the Iteghé, who laughed very heartily, though the king’s arrival, which was prophecied, was likely to be a very serious affair to her.
That very day, in the evening, came a servant from Ras Michael, with taunts and severe threats to the queen, to Powussen, and Gusho; he said he was very quickly bringing the king back to Gondar, and being now old, intended to pass the rest of his life in Tigré; he, therefore, hoped they would await the king’s coming to Gondar, and chuse a Ras for his successor from among themselves, as he understood they were all friends, and would easily agree, especially as it was to oblige him.
On the 27th, Gusho and Powussen waited upon the queen to take their leave. They declared it was not their intention to stay at Gondar, merely to be alternately the subject of merriment and scoffing to Michael and to Fasil, and upon this they immediately set out on their way home, without drum or trumpet, or any parade whatever.
Immediately after, arrived another servant from Fasil to the queen, desiring that Powussen and Gusho might halt at Emfras, adding, that he had just then begun his march from Buré, and would be at Gondar in a few days. Gusho and Powussen did accordingly halt there, and were detained for the space of six weeks, amused by false pretences and messages, in very uncomfortable quarters, till their armies disbanded, the soldiers, from hunger and constant rains, deserted their leaders, and went every man to his home.
In the beginning of August the queen came to Gondar, and sat on the throne all day. She had not been there these three years, and I sincerely wished she had not gone then. It was in meditation that day to chuse a new king; she was present at that deliberation, and her intention was known to place a son of Aylo, Joas’s brother, a mere infant, upon the throne. All those that were in fear of Michael, and it was very general at that time, cried out against an infant king at such a critical period; but, old as that princess was, the desire of reigning had again returned.
Upon the return of the Iteghé that night to Koscam, Sanuda held a council of the principal officers that had remained at Gondar, and fixed upon one Welleta Girgis, a young man of about 24 years of age, who had, indeed, been reputed Yasous’s son, but his low life and manners had procured him safety and liberty by the contempt they had raised in Ras Michael. His mother, indeed, was of a noble origin, but so reduced in fortune as to have been obliged to gain her livelihood by carrying jars of water for hire. The mother swore this son was begot by Yasous, and as that prince was known not to have been very nice in his choice of mistresses, or limited in their number, it was, perhaps, as likely to be true as not, that Welleta Girgis was his son. He took the name of Socinios. On the morning after, the new king came to Koscam, attended by Sanuda and his party, with guards, and all the ensigns of royalty. He threw himself at the Iteghé’s feet, and begged her forgivenness if he had vindicated the rights of his birth, without her leave or participation; he declared his resolution to govern entirely by her advice, and begged her to grant his request and come to Gondar, and again take possession of her place as Iteghé, or regent of the kingdom.
It was about the 10th of August that an accident happened, which it was generally thought would have determined Fasil to come to Gondar. A common woman, wife of a Galla at Tchelga, a town upon the frontiers of Sennaar, being at variance with her husband, upbraided him with being the person that, with his own hand, had assassinated the late king Joas. This Galla was immediately seized and sent to Gondar, and was examined before the queen, where I was present. He, with very little hesitation, declared, That, on a night immediately after the battle of Azazo, he was sent for to Ras Michael, who gave him some money and large promises, on condition that he would undertake to murder the king that night. The persons present were Laeca Netcho, and his two sons, Nebrit Tecla and his two sons, Shalaka Becro relation to the present king, and Woldo Hawaryat a monk of Tigré The prisoner said, he was afraid, if he should refuse, they would murder him for the sake of secrecy. He further said, that they had given him spirits to drink till he was intoxicated, and then delivered to him the keys of the apartments where Joas was confined, and they all went with him to the palace; they found the unfortunate king alone, walking in his apartment, very pensive, and, though at the late hour of twelve at night, dressed in his usual habit. Two of Laeca Netcho’s sons attempted to put a cord round his neck, but the king, being young and strong, shewed a disposition to defend himself, and wrested the cord out of the murderers hands; upon which Zor Woldo (the name of the Galla) struck him a violent blow with a bludgeon on the head, which felled him to the ground: The others then, with a short cord, strangled him, the monk, Woldo Hawaryat, crying, dispatch him quickly; after this they carried the body to the neighbouring church of St Raphael, where a grave, or rather hole, was ready, into which they threw it with the clothes just as he was. The prisoner said, That, when they were carrying the king’s body out of the palace into the church-yard, over a breach in the church-yard wall, they were challenged by a person, who asked them what they were about? to which they replied, Burying a stranger who died that day of a pestilential fever.
Immediately upon this confession, the Galla was carried out and hanged upon the daroo-tree before the king’s gate. Many condemned this hasty execution, but many likewise thought it prudent; for he had already named a great part of the people about the queen as accessary to the death of her son.
I have said his name was Zor Woldo; he was of the race of Galla, called Toluma, on the borders of Amhara; he had been formerly a servant to Kasmati Becro; was of small stature, thin and lightly made; his complexion a yellowish black, and singularly ill-favoured. When under the tree, he acknowledged the murder of the king with absolute indifference; nor did he desire any favour, or shew any fear of death. Zor Woldo’s examination and declaration were sent immediately to Fasil, who, as usual, promised to come to Gondar quickly. The body of Joas was raised also, and laid in the church (in his clothes, just as he was dug up) upon a little straw; his features were easily distinguishable, but some animal had ate part of his cheek.
The day after, I went from Koscam to Gondar without acquainting the Iteghé, and took a Greek called Petros with me; he had been chamberlain to Joas. We went about eleven o’clock in the forenoon to the church of St Raphael, expecting to have seen many as curious as ourselves, but, by reason of the atrociousness of the act, now for the first time known to be true, and the fear of Ras Michael threatening Gondar every day, not a living soul was there but a monk belonging to the church itself, who kept the key. It was thought criminal to know what it was apparent Michael had wished to conceal. Petros no sooner saw his master’s face than, saying, It is he! he ran off with all the speed possible: for my part, I was shocked at the indecent manner in which the body was exposed; it affected me more than the murder itself, for it appeared as if it had been thrown down upon the ground, the head, arms, and legs lying in all sorts of directions, and great part of his haunch and thigh bare. I desired the monk to lock the door, and come along with me to Petros’s house. Petros was a merchant who sold carpets, and such sort of goods used in the country, which he brought from Cairo. It was full an hour before we could make him behave sensibly, or deliver me a small Persian carpet, such as Mahometans use to pray upon, that is about seven feet long and four feet broad, and a web of coarse muslin, which I bought of him. I told the priest (for Petros absolutely refused to return to the church) how to lay the body decently upon the carpet, and to cover his face and every part with the muslin cloth, which might be lifted when any body came to see the corpse.