# Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile/Volume 4/Book 7/Chapter 2

CHAP. II.
Fasil's insidious Behaviour — Arrival at Gondar — King pases the Takeazze — Iteghe and Socinios fly from Gondar
I shall now resume the history of Abyssinia itself, so far as I was concerned in it, or had an opportunity of knowing, and this I shall follow as closely as possible, till I begin my return home through those dreary and hitherto unknown deserts of Sennaar, though not the most entertaining, yet by far the most dangerous and most difficult part of the voyage.
It was about the 20th of October that Woodage Asahel came with a strong body of horse into the neighbourhood of Gondar, and cut off all communication between the capital and those provinces to the southward of it. This occasioned a temporary famine, as his troops plundered all those they met on the road carrying provisions to the market. At first he refused to tell what his real errand was; ​but, a few days after, having passed the low country of Dembea he took post at Dingleber, on the road to Maitsha and the country of the Agows, and then he declared his only intention in coming was to join Fasil, then marching to Gondar at the head of a large army; nor was the cause of that great army, nor the reason of Fasil's coming, so sufficiently known as to free any party entirely from their apprehensions.
Sanuda, who filled the office of Ras, and the rest of that party, endeavoured to determine Asahel to enter Gondar, and pay his homage to Socinios, now king; not doubting but his example would have the effect of making others do the like, and that so by degrees they might collect troops enough to make Michael respect them, so far at least as to defer for a season his march from Tigré. They prevailed, indeed, so far as to engage Afahel to enter Gondar on the 28th of October, the day that we left it; so, by a few hours, and his taking a low road that he might plunder the villages in Dembea, we missed a meeting of the most dangerous and most disagreeable kind. After having made his usual parade, and passed his cavalry in review before Socinios, he had his public audience, where he said he came charged by Fasil to declare that he was ready to set out for Gondar, and bring with him that part of the revenue due to the king from the provinces he commanded, provided he had a man of sufficient trust to leave in his stead at home; that therefore he prayed the king to appoint him Woodage Asahel to command in the provinces of Damot, Maitsha, and Agow, in his absence.
​After the many promises and engagements Fasil had made and broken, without ever assigning the smallest reason, it may be doubted whether Socinios believed this fair tale implicitly; but his present intention being to gain Woodage, it little signified whether it was strictly true or not; he therefore received it as true. Fasil's request was granted to the full; and this robber, twenty times a rebel, bred up in woods and deserts, in exercise of every crime, was appointed to a command the third in the kingdom for rank, power, and riches; and, what was never before seen, the king went out of his palace to Deppabye, the public market-place, to see the circle of gold, called the Ras Werk, put upon his head; this, with the white and blue mantle, invests him with the dignity of Kasmati, or lieutenant-general of the king, in the province given him.
A low man, such as Asahel was, could not resist the caresses of his sovereign; he was entirely gained; and, in return, made privately to Socinios, and a few confidants, a communication of all he knew, which their natural imprudence, and private previous engagements, afterwards made public. The substance of this confidence was, that peace had been made and sworn to, in the most solemn manner, both by Michael and Fasil; that they were to restore the king, Tecla Haimanout; that they were, by their joint means, to effect, if possible, the ruin of Gusho and Powussen, governors of Begemder and Amhara; Fasil was to enjoy the post of Ras and Betwuder, and to dispose of the government of Begemder and Amhara to his friends; Ras Michael was to content himself with the province of Tigrè, as he then enjoyed it, and advance no further than the river Tacazzé, where he was to deliver the king to Fasil, and return to his ​province. Sanuda was, in the mean time, to appear as Ras by the connivance of Fasil and Michael; and, if he saw the people of the Iteghé's party resolved upon electing a king, he was to take care to choose such a one as would soon prove himself incapable of reigning, but fill the vacancy in the mean time, and prevent the election from falling upon a worthier candidate from the mountain of Wechné. Fasil, on his part, undertook by promises and proposals, and occasionally by the approach of his army, to frighten and confuse the Iteghé, and prevent a good understanding taking place between her, Gusho, and Powussen. The last article of this treaty was, that no more should be said of Joas the late king's murderer, but all that transaction was to be buried in eternal oblivion. This peace, Asahel had said, was made by the mediation of Welleta Selassé, nephew of Ras Michael, whom we have often mentioned as having been taken prisoner by Fasil at the battle of Limjour.
This discovery, dangerous as it might have been in other times and circumstances, from the weakness of the present government, had no consequences hurtful to any concerned in it. Sanuda, who was not present when Asahel revealed the secret, affected to laugh at it as an improbable fiction; and though this whole scheme of treachery was confirmed part by part, yet it was so deeply laid, and so well supported, that, even when discovered, it could not be prevented, till, step by step, it was carried into execution.
Fasil was encamped at Bamba, as we have already mentioned; he had discharged all those savage Galla that he had brought from the other side of the Nile.
The king, Socinios, was now more than ever confirmed in the belief of Asahel's information, because, notwithstanding that Fasil knew perfectly his necessities, and that for seven years he had not paid a farthing to the revenue, he still had not brought either payment, or present of any sort; and, instead of coming with a large army to give battle to Ras Michael, he arrived as in peace with scarce a body guard; and, what seemed to put the matter beyond all doubt, the very night of his arrival, upon coming from his audience, he set Welleta Selassé at liberty, and sent him to Tigrè to his uncle Ras Michael, loaded with many presents, and with every mark of respect. There were, however, about Socinios some people of wisdom enough to counsel him to take no notice of this behaviour of Fasil, which seemed to favour strongly of defiance; and he was wise enough for a short time to follow their advice. As he had, by fair means, gained Woodage Asahel, he thought he might, by pursuing the same conduct, succeed with Fasil also.
The next day Fasil, pursuing the same line of conduct appointed Adera Tacca Georgis, a creature of his own, Fit-Auraris to the king. None of these preferments Socinios could be brought to comply with; so that when these noblemen came to do homage for their respective places, Socinios absolutely refused to receive them, or difplace Kasmati Sanuda. This involved the king in still greater ​difficulties, for he thereby broke his word with Fasil, who had done nothing more than Socinios gave him authority to do. On the other hand, Selassé Barea was brother to Ayto Aylo, the queen's greatest counsellor and confident; equal to his brother both in wisdom, integrity, and riches, and in the favour of the people, but much more ambitious and desirous of governing, consequently more dangerous when disobliged.
Socinios, who did not believe that Sanuda was treacherously urging him to his ruin, continued obstinate in rejecting Fasil's appointment, and all fell immediately into confusion. Troops flocked in from every quarter, as upon a signal given. Ayto Engedan, in discontent, with a thousand men sat down near Gondar on the river Mogetch; his brother Aylo, at Emfras, about 15 miles further, with double that number; Ayto Confu, his cousin-german, with about 600 horse, lay above Koscam for the protection of Ozoro Esther, his mother, and the Iteghé his grandmother — all were in arms, though upon the defensive.
In this situation of things I arrived at Gondar on the 19th of November, but could not see the queen, who had retired into her apartment under pretence of devotion, but rather from disgust and melancholy, at seeing that every thing, however the contrary might be intended, seemed to conspire to bring about the return of Ras Michael, the event in the world she dreaded most. I found with Ozoro Esther the Acab Saat, Abba Salama, who, as we have already observed, had excommunicated her uncle Kasmati Eshté, and afterwards contrived his murder, and had also had a very principal share in that of Joas himself. It was he that Fasil ​Fasil said had sent to him to desire that I might not be allowed to proceed to the head of the Nile, and that from no other reason but a hatred to me as a Frank. We bowed to each other as two not very great friends, and he immediately began a very dry, ill-natured, admonitory discourse, addressed, for the greatest part, to Ozoro Esther, explaining to her the mischief of suffering Franks to remain at liberty in the country and meddle in affairs. I interrupted him by a laugh, and by saying, If it is me, father, you mean by the word Frank, I have, without your advice, gone where I intended, and returned in safety; and as for your country, I will give you a very handsome present to put me safely out of it, in any direction you please, to-morrow—the sooner the better.
At this instant Ayto Confu came into his mother's apartment, caught the last words which I had said, and asked of me, in a very angry tone of voice, Who is he that wishes you out of the country?—"I do, sincerely and heartily, said I, for one; but what you last heard was in consequence of a friendly piece of advice that Abba Salama here has been giving me."—"Father, father, says Confu, turning to him very sternly, do you not think the measure of your good deeds is yet near full? Do you not see this place, Kasmati Eshté's house, surrounded by the troops of my father Michael, and do you still think yourself in safety, when you have so lately excommunicated both the King and Ras? Look you, says he, turning to his mother, what dogs the people of this country are; that Pagan there, who calls himself a Christian, did charitably recommend it to Fasil to rob or murder Yagoube, a stranger offending nobody, when he got him among his Galla in Damot: this did not suc
I left Confu with his horses and men; and, though it was now late, I went to the camp to pay my compliments to Fasil. Having no arms, I was very much molested both in going and coming, under various pretences; I was afterwards kept waiting about half an hour in the camp without seeing him; he only sent me a message that he would see me on the morrow. However, we met several friends we had seen at Bamba, and from them we learned at length what we shortly had heard from Ayto Confu, that Woodage Asahel had sent a party to intercept and rob us; and it was that party which was called the five Agows, who had passed Fasil's army the night after we left Kelti. They told us that the Lamb said they were Agows, not to alarm us, but that he knew very well who they were, and what was their errand; and that, the night after he left us, he got upon their track by information from three country men whom they had robbed of some honey, surrounded them, and, in the morning, had attacked them west of Geesh, and, though inferior in number, had slain and wounded the whole party as dexterously as he had promised to us at our last interview.
I sent a small present to our friend the Lamb, in token of gratitude to him, and delivered it to three people, that I might be sure one of them would not steal it, and took Fasil's guarantee to see it delivered; but this was upon a fol[40]lowing day. I resolved to remain at Koscam in the house the Iteghé had given me, as it was easy to see things were drawing to a crisis, which would inevitably end in blood.
It was not till the 23d of November I first saw the Iteghé. She sent for me early in the morning, and had a large breakfast prepared: Ayto Confu and Ayto Engedan were there; she looked very much worn out and indisposed. When I came first into her presence, I kneeled, with my forehead to the ground. She put on a very serious countenance, and, without desiring me to rise, said gravely to her people about her, "There, says she, see that madman, who in times like these, when we the natives of the country are not safe in our own houses, rashly, against all advice, runs out into the fields to be hunted like a wild beast by every robber, of which this country is full."
She then made me a sign to rise, which I did, and kissed her hand. "Madam, said I, if I did this, it was in consequence of the good lessons your majesty deigned to give me."—"Me! says she, with surprise, was it I that advised you, at such a time as this, to put yourself in the way of men like Coque Abou Barea, and Woodage Asahel, to be ill-used, robbed, and probably murdered?"—"No, said I, Madam, you certainly never did give me such advice; but you must own that every day I have heard you say, when you was threatened by a multitude of powerful enemies, that you was not afraid, you was in God's hands, and not in theirs. Now, Madam, Providence has hitherto protected you: I have, in humble imitation of you, had the same Christian confidence, and I have succeeded. I knew I was in God's hands, and therefore valued not the bad intentions of all the robbers
"It was mine, says the queen, while any thing was mine; but Michael took it and gave it to Coque Abou Barea, and since, it has paid me nothing. Fasil has sent for him about the affair of Yagoube, as he says, and has ordered him to come in the same manner that he himself is come in private; but forbid him to bring his army with him, in order that no means of relief may be possible to this devoted country." Large tears flowed down her venerable face at saying these words, and shewed the deep-rooted fear in her heart, that Michael's coming was decreed without possibility of prevention. "I wonder, says Ayto Engedan, laughing, to divert her, if Coque Abou Barea is the same good Christian that you and Yagoube are; if he is not, nothing else will save him from the hands of Confu and me; for we both want horses and mules for our men, and he has good ones, and arms too, that belonged to my father."—"And both of you, says the queen, are as bad men as either Woodage Asahel or Coque Abou Barea." At this moment the arrival of Fasil was announced, and we were all turned out, and went to breakfast. I saw him afterwards going out of the palace. He saluted me slightly, and seemed much pre-occupied in mind. He only desired me to come to Gondar next morning, and he would speak to me about Coque Abou Barea; but this the Iteghé refused to permit me to do, so I remained at Koscam.
Fasil, although he did not deny that he had made peace with Ras Michael, yet, to quiet the minds of the people, always solemnly protested, that, so far from coming to Gondar, ​he never would consent to his crossing the Tacazzé; and this had, with most people, the desired effect; for all Gondar loved Tecla Haimanout as much as they detested Socinios; but the bloodshed, and cruelty that would certainly attend Michael's coming, made them wish for any government that would free them from the terror of that event. On the other hand, Socinios, though now perfectly persuaded of Fasil's motives, had not deserted his own cause; he had sent Woodage Asahel, fortified with all his authority, into Maitsha, in order to raise a commotion there; ordered it to be proclaimed to the whole body of Galla in that province, that if they would come to Gondar, and prevent the arrival of Ras Michael, and bring their Bouco (or sceptre) along with them, they should have the election of their own governor, and not pay any thing to the king for seven years to come; and, besides, he had ordered Powussen of Begemder to endeavour, by a forced march, to surprise Fasil, then at Gondar, attended by a few troops. Mean time, he dissembled the best he could; but, as he had very shrewd people to deal with, it was more than probable his secret was early discovered.
Every hand being now armed, and all measures taken, as far as human foresight could reach, it was impossible to defer any longer the coming to blows in some part or other. On the 23d, at night, advice was received from Adera Tacca Georgis, an officer of Fasil in Maitsha, that he had attacked Woodage Asahel, who had collected a number of troops, and was endeavouring to raise commotions; and, after an obstinate combat, he had defeated him, and slain or wounded most of his followers: that Asahel himself, wounded twice with a lance, had, by the goodness of his horse, escaped, and joined Powussen in Begemder.
Socinios now saw that he was from henceforward to look upon Fasil as an enemy. Orders were accordingly given to shut the gates of the palace, and to station a number of troops in the different courts and avenues leading to the king's apartment. No person was to be admitted to the king without examination. The drums were beat, and constant guard kept; and three hundred Mahometans taken into his service as musketeers; a measure that gave great offence.
Fasil had taken up his residence in the house which belonged to the office of Ras, at the other end of the town; and, to shew his contempt for the king, was very slightly guarded, his army remaining encamped under the palace. One thing at this time seemed particularly remarkable; a drum was heard to beat in the house where Fasil was; whereas it is an invariable rule, that no drum is suffered to beat in the capital any where but in the house where the king resides. It was said that king Yasous, second son to the Iteghé, or queen-mother, and father to Joas, had left two sons by a slave of the queen; indeed he had so many by low people, that very little care was taken of them, not even that of sending them to the mountain Wechné. One of
It was then towards the end of November, when, by mediation of the Abuna, the Queen, and the Itcheguè, peace was unexpectedly made between Socinios and Fasil; the latter swearing allegiance to Socinios as to his only sovereign, and the Abuna pronouncing excommunication upon either of them which should become the enemy of the other. What was the intention of this farce I never yet could learn; for the very next day Fasil deprived Gusho and Powussen of their governments of Amhara and Begemder, which was an express proof that his intention still was to restore Tecla Haimanout. The doors of the king's palace were again immediately shut, and signs of hostilities commenced as before.
I was dining with Ozoro Esther, when a messenger arrived from Coque Abou Barea, with a complaint to the queen that he was on his march to Gondar, to pay his allegiance to Socinios, and bring him the tribute of his province, when he received a message from Fasil to return the greatest part of his troops; but that, desiring to be as useful as possible in preventing the coming of Michael, he so far disobeyed that order as to bring with him a considerable body of the best of his soldiers, sending the rest home under the
In the mean time Powussen had not disregarded the request of Socinios. He had attempted to surprise Fasil, but could not pass Aylo, who was at Emfras, without falling upon him first, which he did, dispersing his troops with little resistance. Upon the first intelligence of this, Fasil proclaimed Tecla Haimanout king; and, striking his tents, sat down at Abba Samuel, a collection of villages about two miles from Gondar, inviting all people, that would escape the vengeance of Ras Michael, to come and join him, and leave Gondar. From this he retreated near to Dingleber, on the side of the lake, and intercepted all provisions coming to Gondar, which occasioned a very great famine, and many poor people died.
Hitherto I had no intercourse with Socinios, never having been in his presence, but when the Galla, the murderer of Joas, was tried; nor had I any reason to think he knew me, or cared for me more than any Greek that was in Gondar; but I had a good friend at court, who waked when I slept, ​and did not suffer me to pass unknown; this was the Acab Saat, Salama, who had instigated the king, on the 5th of December, in one of his drunken fits, to set out from the palace in the night, attended by a number of banditti, mostly Mahometans, to plunder several houses; he slew one man, as it was said, with his own hand: among these devoted houses mine happened to be one, but I was then happily at Koscam. The next was Metical Aga's, one of whose servants escaped into a church-yard, the other being slain. The leader of this unworthy mob was Confu, brother to Guebra Mehedin. Every thing that could be carried away was stolen or broken; among which was a reflecting telescope, a barometer, and thermometer; a great many papers and sketches of drawings, first torn, then burnt by Confu's own hand, with many curses and threats against me.
The next day, about nine o'clock, I had a message to come to the palace, where I went, and was immediately admitted. Socinios was sitting, his eyes half closed, red as scarlet with last night's debauch; he was apparently at that moment much in liquor; his mouth full of tobacco, squirting his spittle out of his mouth to a very great distance; with this he had so covered the floor, that it was with very great difficulty I could chuse a clean place to kneel and make my obeisance. He was dressed like the late king, but, in every thing else, how unlike! my mind was filled with horror and detestation, to see the throne on which he sat so unworthily occupied. I regarded him as I advanced with the most perfect contempt: Hamlet's lines described him exactly:— ​THE SOURCE QF THE NILE. 47
A murtherer and a villain :
A flave, that is not twentieth part the tithe
Of your preceding lord ; a vice of kings ;
A cutpurfe of the empire, and the rule,
That from a Ihelf the precious diadem ftole
And put it in his pocket ;
A king of fhreds and patches..
Shakespeare..
It requires fomethingof innate royalty to perfonate a king.
When I got up and flood before him, he feemed to be rather difconcerted, and not prepared to fay any thing to me. There were few people there belides fervants, moiV men of confideration having left Gondar, and gone with Fafd. After two or three fquirts through his teeth, and a whifper from his brother Chremation, whom I had never before feen—" Wherefore is it, fays he, that you who are z. great man, do not attend the palace ? you were conftantly withTecla Haimanout, the exile, or ufurper, in peace and war i : you ufcd to ride with him, and divert him with your tricks on horfeback, and, I believe, ate and drank with him. Where is all that money you got from Ras el Feel, of. which province, I am told, you are flill governor, though you conceal it ? How dare you keep Yafme in that govern- ment, and not allow Abd eljeileel, wiio is my Have, appoint- ed to enter and govern that province ?" I waited patiently till he had faid all he had to fay, and made a flight in- clination of the head. I anfwered, " I am no great man, even in my own country ; one proof of this is my being here in yours. 1 arrived in the time of the late king, and Ilwas recommended to him by his friends in Arabia. You
are ​are perfectly well-informed as to the great kindness he did all along shew me, but this was entirely from his goodness, and no merit of mine. I never did eat or drink with him; it was an honour I could not have been capable of aspiring to. Custom has established the contrary; and for me, I saw no pleasure or temptation to transgress this custom, though it had been in my option, as it was not. I have, for the most part, seen him eat and drink; an honour I enjoyed in common with his confidential servants, as being an officer of his household. The gold you mention, which I have several times got from the late King and Ras el Feel, I constantly spent for his service, and for my own honour. But at present I am neither governor of Ras el Feel, nor have I any post under heaven, nor do I desire it. Yasine, I suppose, holds his from Ayto Confu his superior, who holds it from the king by order of Ras Michael, but of this I know nothing. As for tricks on horseback, I know not what you mean. I have for many years been in constant practice of horsemanship among the Arabs. Mine, too, is a country of horsemen; and I profess to have attained to a degree not common, the management both of the lance and of fire-arms; but I am no buffoon, to shew tricks. The profession of arms is my birth-right derived from my ancestors, and with these, at his desire, I have often diverted the king, as an amusement worthy of him, and by no means below me."—"The king! says he in a violent passion, and who then am I? a slave! Do you know, with a stamp of my foot I can order you to be hewn to pieces in an instant. You are a Frank, a dog, a liar, and a slave! Why did you tell the Iteghé that your house was robbed of 50 ounces of gold? Any other king but myself would order your eyes to be ​pulled out in a moment, and your carcase to be thrown to the dogs."
What he said was true; bad kings have most executioners. I was not, however, dismayed; I was in my own mind, stranger and alone, superior to such a beast upon a throne. "The Iteghé, said I, is at present at Koscam, and will inform you if I told her of any gold that was stolen from me, except a gold-mounted knife which the late king gave me at Dingleber the day after the battle of Limjour, and which was accidentally left in my house, as I had not worn it since he went to Tigrè." He squirted at this moment an arch of tobacco-spittle towards me, whether on purpose or not I do not know. I felt myself very much moved; it narrowly missed me. At this instant an old man, of a noble appearance, who sat in a corner of the room next him, got up, and, in a firm tone of voice, said, "I can bear this no longer; we shall become a proverb, and the hatred of all mankind. What have you to do with Yagoube, or why did you send for him? he was favoured by the late king, but not more than I have seen Greeks or Armenians in all the late reigns; and yet these very people confess, in their own country, they are not worthy of being his servants. He is a friend, not only to the king, but to us all: the whole people love him. As for myself, I never spoke to him twice before; when he might have gone to Tigrè with Michael his friend, he staid at Gondar with us: so you, of all others, have least reason to complain of him, since he has preferred you to the Ras, tho' you have given him nothing. As for riding, I wish Yagoube had just rode with you as much as with Tecla Haimanout, and you spent as much time with him as your predecessor did; last night's disgrace
All the time of this harangue Socinios's eyes were mostly shut, and his mouth open, and slavering tobacco; he was rolling from side to side scarcely preserving his equilibrium. When Sanuda stopt, he began with an air of drollery, "You are very angry to-day, Baba." And turning to me, said, "Tomorrow, see you bring me that horse which Yasine sent you to Koscam; and bring me Yasine himself, or you will hear of it; slave and Frank as you are, enemy to Mary the virgin, bring me the horse!" Sanuda took me by the hand, saying in a whisper, "Don't fear him, I am here; but go home; next time you come here you will have horses enough along with you." He, too, seemed in liquor; and, making me a sign to withdraw, I left the king and his minister together with great willingness, and returned to Koscam to the Iteghé, to whom I told what had passed, and who ordered me to stay near Ozoro Esther, as in her service, and go no more to the palace.
At this time certain intelligence was received that Ras Michael was arrived in Lasta with Guigarr, Shum, or chief of the clan called Waag, once a mortal enemy to Michael, though now at peace with him, and serving him as his con ​ductor. Through his country is the only passage from Tigrè to Begemder and Belessen, and many armies have perished by endeavouring to force it. Michael and the king now passed under the protection of Guigarr, notwithstanding Powussen had many parties among the other clans that wished to prevent him. On the 15th of December he forded the Tacazzè, and turned a little to the left, as if he intended to pass through the middle of Begemder, though he had really no such design, but only to bring Powussen to an engagement. Seeing this was not likely, and only tended to waste time, he pursued his journey straight towards Gondar, not in his usual way, burning and destroying, but quietly, correcting abuses, and regulating the police of the country through which he passed, for he was yet in fear.
The news of his having passed the Tacazzé determined Socinios and the Iteghé to fly; and they set out accordingly. Socinios directed his flight, first towards Begemder, but, the next day, turned to the right, through Dembea, and joined the queen at Azazo, where great altercations and disputes followed between them. The queen had engaged the Abuna to attend her, and that prelate had consented, upon receiving fifteen mules and thirty ounces of gold, which were paid accordingly: But when the queen sent, the morning of her departure, to put the Abuna in mind of his promise, his servants stoned the Iteghé's messenger, without suffering him to approach the house, but they kept the mules and the gold. The queen continued her flight to Degwassa, near the lake Tzana, and sent all that was valuable that she had brought with her, into the island of Dek.
Michael's province. Confu and Sanuda having joined, entered Gondar, and took possession of the king's house, and put a stop to these excesses and robberies which had become very frequent since the Iteghe's flight.
One day, while I was sitting at Koscam, Yasme entered the court before the house, and, coming into the room, fell down and kissed the ground before me, after the manner they salute their superior. He told me he came from Ayto Confu, who ordered him to do homage to me as usual for the province of Ras el Feel, and that I was to come to him directly, and go out to meet the king, for several of his people were already arrived at Gondar. I sent him back to Ayto Confu with my respectful thanks, declined accepting of any office till I should see the king; and, as he himself had named the place to be Mariam Ohha, I thought it was my duty to stay till he came there.
In the mean time the unfortunate Socinios continued his flight, in company with the queen, till they came to ​the borders of Kuara, her native country. Those who made Socinios a king had never made him a friend. It was here suggested, that his presence would infallibly occasion a pursuit which might endanger the queen, her country, and all her friends. Upon this it was resolved to abandon the unworthy Socinios to the soldiers, who stript him naked, giving him only a rag to cover him, and a good horse, and with these they dismissed him to seek his fortune.
After a short stay in Kuara, the queen turned to the left towards Bure. All Maitsha assembled to escort her to Fasil, while he led her through Damot to the frontiers of Gojam, where she was received in triumph by her daughter Ozoro Welleta Israel, and Ayto her grandson, to whom half of that province belonged, and with them she rested at last in safety, after a long and anxious journey.
On the 21st of December a message came to me from Ozoro Esther, desiring I would attend her son Confu to meet the king, as his Fit-Auraris had marked out the camp at Mariam-Ohha; observing, that I had a very indifferent knife or dagger in my girdle, (that which I had received from the king being stolen, when my house was plundered) with her own hands she made me a present of a magnificent one, mounted with gold which she had chosen with that intention, and laid upon the feat beside her. She told me she had already sent to acquaint her husband, Ras Michael, how much she had been obliged to me in his absence, both for my attention to her and her eldest son, who had been several times sick since his departure, and that I might expect to receive a kind reception,