Engedan went away on a gallop to join the king, and we proceeded after him, nor did we receive any other message either from the king or the Ras. We returned to Koscam, very little pleased with the reception we had met with. All the town was in a hurry and confusion; 30,000 men were encamped upon the Kahha; and the first horrid scene Michael exhibited there, was causing the eyes of twelve of the chiefs of the Galla, whom he had taken prisoners, to be pulled out, and the unfortunate sufferers turned out to the fields, to be devoured at night by the hyæna. Two of these I took under my care, who both recovered, and from them I learned many particulars of their country and manners.
The next day, which was the 10th, the army marched into the town in triumph, and the Ras at the head of the troops of Tigrè. He was bareheaded; over his shoulders, and down to his back, hung a pallium, or cloak, of black velvet, with a silver fringe. A boy, by his right stirrup, held a silver wand of about five feet and a half long, much like the staves of our great officers at court. Behind him all the soldiers, who had slain an enemy and taken the spoils from them, had their lances and firelocks ornamented with small shreds of scarlet cloth, one piece for every man he had slain.
Remarkable among all this multitude was Hagos, door-keeper of the Ras, whom we have mentioned in the war of Begemder. This man, always well-armed and well-mounted, had followed the wars of the Ras from his infancy, and had been so fortunate in this kind of single combat, that his whole lance and javelin, horse and person, were covered over with the shreds of scarlet cloth. At this last battle of Fagitta, Hagos is said to have slain eleven men with his own hand. Indeed there is nothing more fallacious than judging of a man’s courage by these marks of conquest. A good horseman, armed with a coat of mail, upon a strong, well-fed, well-winded horse, may, after a defeat, kill as many of these wretched, weary, naked fugitives, as he pleases, confining himself to those that are weakly, mounted upon tired horses, and covered only with goat’s-skins, or that are flying on foot.
Behind came Gusho of Amhara, and Powussen, lately made governor of Begemder for his behaviour at the battle of Fagitta, where, as I have said, he pursued Fasil and his army for two days. The Ras had given him also a farther reward, his grand-daughter Ayabdar, lately recovered from the small-pox, and the only one of my patients that, neither by herself, her mother, nor her husband, ever made me the least return. Powussen was one of the twelve officers who, after being delivered to Lubo by the Galla, together with Mariam Barea, had fled to Michael’s tent, and were protected by him.
One thing remarkable in this cavalcade, which I observed, was the head-dress of the governors of provinces. A large broad fillet was bound upon their forehead, and tied behind their head. In the middle of this was a horn, or a conical piece of silver, gilt, about four inches long, much in the shape of our common candle extinguishers. This is called kirn, or horn, and is only worn in reviews or parades after victory. This I apprehend, like all other of their usages, is taken from the Hebrews, and the several allusions made in scripture to it arise from this practice:—“I said unto fools, Deal not foolishly; and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn”—“Lift not up your horn on high; speak not with a stiff neck[16]”—“For promotion cometh,” &c.—“But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn”—“And the horn of the righteous shall be exalted with honour.” And so in many other places throughout the Psalms.
Next to these came the king, with a fillet of white muslin about three inches broad, binding his forehead, tied with a large double knot behind, and hanging down about two feet on his back. About him were the great officers of state, such of the young nobility as were without command; and after these, the household troops.
Then followed the Kanitz Kitzera, or executioner of the camp, and his attendants; and, last of all, amidst the King’s and the Ras’s baggage, came a man bearing the stuffed skin of the unfortunate Woosheka upon a pole, which he hung upon a branch of the tree before the king’s palace appropriated for public executions.
Upon their arrival at Gondar, all the great men had waited both upon the Ras and the King. Aylo had been with them, and Ozoro Esther was removed to Gondar; but, by my advice, had left the child at Koscam. Her son Confu, though recovered of the small-pox, had evident signs of a dysentery, and took no care of himself in point of regimen, or avoiding cold.
It was now the 13th of March,and I had heard no word from Ozoro Esther, or the Ras, though removed to a house in Gondar near to Petros. I had gone every day once to see the children of Koscam; at all which times I had been received with the greatest cordiality and marks of kindness by the Iteghé, and orders given for my free admittance upon all occasions like an officer of her household. As to the rest, I never was in appearance more neglected, than in this present moment, by all but the Moors. These were very grateful for the successful attention I had shewed their children, and very desirous to have me again among them. Hagi Saleh, in particular, could not satiate himself with cursing the ingratitude of these cafers, and infidels, the Christians. He knew what had passed at Koscam, he saw what he thought likely to happen now, and his anger was that of an honest man, and which perhaps many former instances which he had been witness of might have justified, but in the present one he was mistaken.
In the evening, Negadè Ras Mahoment came to my house; he said Mahomet Gibberti was arrived, had been twice on private business with the Ras, but had not yet delivered him his presents; and he had not informed me of this, as he thought I was still at Koscam, and that Saleh his brother knew nothing of it, as he had not seen him since he came home. He also informed me that Ayto Aylo was with the Ras twice the day after he entered Gondar, and once with Mahomet Gibberti: all this was about me; and that, at Ayto Aylo’s proposal, it was agreed that I should be appointed Palambaras, which is master of the king’s horse. It is a very great office, both for rank, and revenue, but has no business attending it; the young Armenian had before enjoyed it. I told Mahomet, that, far from being any kindness to me, this would make me the most unhappy of all creatures; that my extreme desire was to see the country, and its different natural productions; to converse with the people as a stranger, but to be nobody’s master nor servant; to see their books; and, above all, to visit the sources of the Nile; to live as privately in my own house, and have as much time to myself as possible; and what I was most anxious about at present, was to know when it would be convenient for them to admit me to see the Ras, and deliver my letters as a stranger.