Volume Three—Chapter Eight.
Unexplored Countries to the South.
Divided into endless houses, the majority of the independent Oromo tribes, to the south of Shoa, are governed by hereditary chieftains; and it is only where the Moslem slave-dealer has successfully commenced the work of conversion to the creed promulgated by the Prophet, that this wild heathen race have been brought to bow the neck to the yoke of kings. Of this Enárea affords a most striking example, for there one-half of the entire population have abandoned idolatry, whilst despotism has taken root, and flourishes under a line of Mohammadan rulers.
Surrounded on all sides by lofty mountains, this kingdom embraces an extensive table-land, which separates the waters to the north and south, and ranks among the most elevated regions of Africa. Menchilla, stretching from east to north-west, is the principal range, and a spur to the south-west is described as joining the so called Mountains of the Moon. Sáka, the capital, contains from ten to twelve thousand inhabitants, mixed Pagans and Mohammadans, who inhabit houses of a circular form, somewhat better constructed than those of the Amhára.
Sáeed was the son of Ascári, a Mohammadan, and his sister Elikkee wedding a Galla, bore a son, Téso, who was brought up in idolatry, and conquered Enárea. His son Bóko also died a Pagan; but Bófo, “the serpent,” who succeeded on the death of his father, was converted to Islamism by Mootár, his uncle, the nephew of Elikkee. Abba Bókibo, the present and fourth monarch, is represented to be just and merciful, but his ancestors were monstrous and relentless tyrants, who “caused rivers of blood to flow, and slew the people like cows.” Arrayed in a black mantle of goat’s hair, His Majesty dispenses justice in the market-place, sitting on the trunk of a tree with a bullock’s hide spread beneath his feet. Sáka contains upwards of one thousand moolahs; but in the absence of mosques, prayers are held at the tomb of Bófo, the first convert to the faith. Twice during each year, great military expeditions are undertaken, which rarely extend beyond eight or ten days. Every soldier carries a small supply of bread, and trusts for further subsistence to pillage and plunder. Many bloody battles are annually fought with the surrounding tribes, and wide tracts of country thus annexed to the royal possessions.
The Agállo, Yelloo, Betcho, Sudécha, Chora, and Nono, are all subject to the Suppéra, or king, of Enárea, whose sway extends to the Sóddo, Metta, and Maleema Galla, about the sources of the Háwash, which rises in Adda-Berga. Limmoo, whereof the capital is Sobitcha, is a province annexed of old to Enárea; and Abba Bókibo, desirous of subjugating Gooderoo, and the countries to the north as far as the Nile, sent to propose an alliance with Dedjasmach Góshoo, the ruler of Gojam. “You sell slaves,” was the reply of the Christian potentate, “and are a Mohammadan to boot. It cannot be.” One hundred horns of civet and fifty female slaves which had been sent by the Suppéra, were nevertheless accepted, and thirty matchlocks, with persons versed in the use of firearms, were forwarded in return.
Little sickness of any sort prevails, and mendicants, the pest of Abyssinia, are said to be unknown in the land. The wild vine flourishes, and bears abundance of grapes. The “gosso” tree, which attains a vast height, is covered during the season with delicious berries, and is ascended by means of the tendrils of the vine bound around the stem. Coffee grows wild in every wood, to the height of eight and ten feet, and bends under the load of fruit. A large skin full is purchased for twopence-halfpenny sterling, and the decoction, prepared as in Europe, is invariably presented to the stranger, as is an infusion of the “chaat,” a coarse species of the tea-plant, which there flourishes spontaneously, and is cultivated in Shoa.
The civet cat is a native of Enárea, and being caught in gins, is kept in the house and fed on meat and boiled maize. The cages are daily placed before the fire preparatory to the operation of removing the secretion, which is performed with a wooden spoon. A lump about the size of a small filbert is yielded at each baking, and it forms a considerable article of export. Myrrh and frankincense are also produced in great quantities, and are employed in religious ceremonies, burnt sacrifices of incense being made to the guardian genius.