Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-03-25
JUSTICE IN ETHIOPIA.
THE SORcERY BY WHICH AN ASSAS-
SIN WAS TRACKED.
His Trial Before King MeneIek'E
Criminal Court The Abyssinian
Method of Procedure-The Sentence
and the Execution.


In order to get clews in difficult cases
the Abyssinians resort to extraordinary
methods. In detecting criminals they en-
plOy young boy, whom they put into a
certain condition of somnambulism
They call him the liebacha.
The liebacha is made to sleep at the
scene of the crime Early in the morning
the seance begins. During the night he
is supposed to have become thoroughly i'm
pregnated with the fluids which the Grim
inal left in the astral atmosphere. Conse-
quently he has clew which he follows as
one might follow footsteps upon the sand
But before he starts out he must drink,
fasting, the magic draft This beyer
age, like those employed by the sorcerers
OF the middle ages, is composed of vegeta-
bic and animal ingredients It is said that
at daybreak they add three drops of the
blood of a male child.
When the liebacha has taken this
strange morning cocktail, he becomes ex-
ira lucid He sets out on his journey, fol
lowed by an anxious crowd watching all
his movements. Some time ago your cor
respondent had the privilege of seeing
Hebacha started on the scent of an assassin
who had murdered the Abyssinian carrier
of the French mails The young sonnam-
bulist at first ran to the camp of the mer-
mere nc tlltttftu a nut anu rest
ed. The crowd understood that the Grim
inal had stopped there, and, as "a matter of
fact, the woman of the house, on being in
tcrrogated, replied that man the day be-
fore took shelter there, but left at sunrise,
forgetting his gun. The gun was exam
ined and recognized as the one that be-
lOnged to the carrier Evidently the scent
was good
The licbachs rose, ran along rapidly
and soon entered another house, where
they found that the assassin had asked for
a drink and had just left. The licbacha set
out in pursuit, but the horsemen, anxious
to seize the assassin and get the prize offer
ed by Mcnclck, dashed at gallop along
the road and soon brought back the fugi-
tive
a few days afterTard the members of
the French colony of Addis-Abcba were in
y;ted by Menelck to be present at the trial.
1t was spectacle never to be forgotten. 1t
Is in the open air that Menclek holds his
criminal court, under the perpetually blue /
sky of Abyssinia. On the steps of an i'm /
mensc banquet hall the emperor was squat /
ted, oriental fashion. At his left was the 4
French colony, at his right, seated on steps .
covered with carpets, was the alta -ncgus or .
'mouth Of the king, as he is called, the .
chief justice of the empire. Below him
were the judges with their white turbans,
and all around, forming "A semicircle on
each side Of the tribunal, were the specta-
tors The criminal was brought forward /
According to the Abyssinian custom he
was chained To- two freemen. This is
precaution against any chance of escape or
suicide 1t is also hoped that his two
guards by chatting with him may induce
him to confess his crime
The prisoner was "A little. lame man.
He advanced into the vacant spot in front /
of the ncgus. He knew the fate that /
awaited him, but he appeared to be per
fectly calm and looked placidly into the .
face Of him who was about To judge him. !
Heaven save your cried an Abyssin-
ian.
Keep your prayer for yourself, =" replied
the prisoner. Il don { want it
You have committed murder" said
the emperor. why did you do its''
ITO rob, was the reply.
Did your crime have any other motive
in vicwF''
mo; 1 am beggar. The courier had
thalcrs and l wanted them"
well, you shall be punished, said the
emperor. Have you anything to ask?'
Your clemcncy would give you inmor-
tai renOwn," pleaded the murderer. IF
you pardon me you will be like the good
God -
Then the emperor turned toward the
crowd and consulted the notabilities. An
old man advanced and declared that dur
ing his long life he never heard of such
dreadful crime and that the criminal de-
served to be hanged.
Another said that he should be burned
A third spoke loud and for a long time,
making furious gesticulations and con-
that if the assassin had ten lives
he should be executed ten times. All were
in prOnOuncing the crime
abominable. Each one endeavorcd to be
as eloquent as possible. as to attract the
attention Of the negus. They were not
lawyers, and, 10y the way. it is not safe to
call man = lawyer in Abyssinia, because
lawyer in that country means 'vender
of words. " They were ordinary subjects
who had come to the trial, the jury in all
its purity. They were graceful in their
of sincerity and indignation;
but, like all orientals, they We're too en-
phatic and extravagant.
The affa- negus came down from the
steps, and turning toward the emperor de-
livered his address in a loud voice. ''One
might CO." said he, Ito Djibouti, to Mas
saua and even to the White Nile without
any trouble. Even a woman
can travel from the land Of the kaffa to
Gondar without being molested, and yet
this little, sickly and lame man" (at these
words the assassin rose up and looked at
the judge with an air of defiance) killed !
this courier while he was calmly sleeping. Z /
The crime WAS great; the punishment ,
must be terrible Let it Ice applied.
Another judge brought the book of the /
law, the =" Fetha- Ncgcst," from which he
read as follows: He who commits a muir
der and who by his crime brings scandal
upon the city shall be burned alive"
But the king of kings of Ethiopia would
not permit the sentence 10 be carried out ,
to the ancient law.
Let him be hangedr' said he
They took away the prisoner, and in a 8
corner they removed his chains Then he
was pinioned- The executioner a big fell j
low with brutal face, was fully "A head
taller than the prisoner. The crowd fol-
lowed him On the way the women came
put of their little huts and uttered Iugu-