CHAP. II.
Reception at Tcherkin by Ozoro Esther, &c.—Hunting of the Elephant, Rhinoceros, and Buffalo.
The impatient Welleta Yasous would only give me time to see my quadrant and other instruments safely stowed, but hurried me through a very narrow and crooked path up the side of the mountain, at every turn of which was placed a great rock or stone, the station for musquets to enfilade the different stages of the road below, where it was strait for any distance. We at last reached the outer court, where we found the chamberlain Ammonios, whom Welleta Yasous had spoken of as being still at Gondar; but this did not surprise me, as he told me at the tent that Ayto Confu was arrived. I saw here a great many of my old acquaintance whom I had known at Ozoro Esther's house at Gondar, and who all welcomed me with the greatest demonstrations of joy, as if I had come from a long journey.
I was then taken to an inner apartment, where, to my great surprise, instead of Ayto Confu, I saw his mother, Ozoro Esther, sitting on a couch, and at her feet the secretary's daughter, the beautiful Tecla Mariam; and, soon after, the secretary himself, and several others belonging to the court. After having made a profound obeisance, "Ozoro Esther, said I, I cannot speak for surprise. What is the meaning of your having left Gondar to come into this wilderness? As for Tecla Mariam, I am not surprised at seeing her; I know she at any time would rather die than leave you; but that you have both come hither without Ayto Confu, and in so short a time, is what I cannot comprehend."—"There is nothing so strange in this, replied Ozoro Esther; the troops of Begemder have taken away my husband, Ras Michael, God knows where; and, therefore, being now a single woman, I am resolved to go to Jerusalem to pray for my husband, and to die there, and be buried in the Holy Sepulchre. You would not stay with us, so we are going with you. Is there any thing surprising in all this?"
"But tell me truly, says Tecla Mariam, you that know every thing, while peeping and poring through these long glasses, did not you learn by the stars that we were to meet you here?"—"Madam, answered I, if there was one star in the firmament that had announced to me such agreeable news, I should have relapsed into the old idolatry of this country, and worshipped that star for the rest of my life." Breakfast now came in; the conversation took a very lively turn, and from the secretary I learned that the matter stood thus: The king, restoring the villages to the Iteghé, according to the stipulation of his last treaty with Powussen, thought that he might so far infringe upon it, from gratitude to Ras Michael, as to give part of the number to Ozoro Esther, the Iteghé's daughter; and Ayto Confu, going to Tcherkin to hunt, he took his mother along with him to put her in possession; for the Iteghé's people were not lambs, nor did they pay much regard to the orders of the king, nor to that of the Iteghé their mistress, at all times, farther than suited their own convenience.
We now wanted only the presence of Ayto Confu to make our happiness complete; he came about four, and with him Ayto Engedan, and a great company. There was nothing but rejoicing on all sides. Seven ladies, relations and companions of Ozoro Esther, came with Ayto Confu; and I confess this to have been one of the happiest moments of my life. I quite forgot the disastrous journey I had before me, and all the dangers that awaited me. I began even to regret being so far in my way to leave Abyssinia for ever. We learned from Ayto Confu, that it had been reported at Gondar that we had been murdered by the peasants of Gimbaar, but the contrary was soon known. However, Engedan and he had set the lesser village on fire in their passage, and laid a contribution of eleven ounces of gold upon the two larger.
Ayto Confu's house at Tcherkin is built on the edge of a precipice which takes its name from the mountain Amba Tcherkin. It is built all with cane very artificially, the outer wall being composed of fascines of canes, so neatly joined together as not to be penetrated by rain or wind. The entry is from the south side of it, very crooked and difficult, half way up the rock. On the east, is a very plentiful spring, which furnishes the house with excellent water. Yet, after all, this house, though inaccessible, is not defensible, and affords very little safety to its master; for the Shangalla, with flax, or any thing combustible, tied to the point of their arrows, would easily set it on fire if they once approached it; and the Abyssinians with guns could as easily destroy it, as, on such occasions, they wrap their balls in cotton wads. The inside of the state-rooms were hung with long stripes of carpeting, and the floors covered with the same.
There is great plenty of game of every sort about Tcherkin; elephants, rhinoceroses, and a great number of buffaloes, which differ nothing in form from the buffaloes of Europe or of Egypt, but very much in temper and disposition. They are fierce, rash, and fearless of danger; and, contrary to the practice of any other creature not carnivorous, they attack the traveller and the hunter equally, and it requires address to escape from them. They seem to be, of all others, the creature the most given to ease and indulgence. They lie under the most shady trees, near large pools of water, of which they make constant use, and sleep soundly all the day long. The flesh of the female is very good when fat, but that of the male, hard, lean, and disagreeable. Their horns are used in various manners by the turners, in which craft the Abyssinians are very expert. In the woods there are many civet cats, but they know not the use of them, nor how to extract the civet. The Mahometans only are possessed of this art.