The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-06-16
JUSTICE IN ETHIOPIA.
THE SORCERY BY WHICH AN ASsAs-
SIN WAS TRACKED.

His Trial Before King Menelek'
Criminal Court The Abyssinial
Method Of Procedure-The sentenc,
and the Execution,
In order to get olews in difficult case
the Abyssinians resort to extraordinar,
methods In detecting criminals they en-
ploya young boy, whom they put into
certain condition of somnambulism
They coll him the liebacha.
The liebacha Is made to sleep at thu
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 olew which he follows as
one might follow footsteps upon the sand.
But before he starts out he must drink,
fasting, the magic draft" This bever-
age, like those employed by the sorcerers
of the middle ages, is composed of vegeta-
bic and animal Ingredients 1t is said that
at daybreak they add three drops of the
blood Of 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
liebacha started on the scent of an assassin
who had murdered the Abyssinian carrier
OF the French mails. The young somnam-
: bulist at first ran to the camp Of the mer-
chants. There he entered hut and 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.
terrogated, replied that man the day be-
fore took shelter there, but left at sunrise,
forgetting his gun. The gun was exam.
ined and recognized a. the one that be.
longed to the carrier. Evidently the scent
was good
The liebacha rose, ran along rapidly
and soon entered another house, where
they found that the assassin had asked for
drink and had just left The liebacha set
out in pursuit, but the horsemen, anxious
to seize the assassin and get the prize offer.
ed by Menelek, dashed at gallop along
the road and soon brought back the fugi.
tive.
A few days afterward the members Of
the French colony of Addis-Abeba were in
vited by Menelek to be present at the trial.
1t was spectacle never to be forgotten. 1t
Is in the open air that Menelek holds his
criminal court, under the perpetually blue
sky of Abyssinia. On the steps of an i'm.
mense banquet hall the emperor was squat
ted, oriental fashion. At his left was the
Frannh pnlpnv OF bic rirvh% %,I
covered with carpets, was the affa -negus 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 a
precaution against any chance of escape OF
suicide. 1t is also hoped that his two
guards by chatting with him may induce
him to confess his crime
The prisoner was little lame man.
He advanced into the vacant spot In front |
of the negus. 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. II don't want it,"
"You have committed a murder" said
the emperor. "Why did you do itp"
ITO rob, was the reply.
"Did your crime have any other motive
in viewp'
'No; I am beggar. The courier had
thalers and wanted them"
"Well, you shall be punished, said the
Emperor. "Have you anything to ask9''
Your clemency would give you immor-
al renown," pleaded tho murderer. "If
you pardon me you will be like the good
Iod."
Then the emperor turned toward the
rowd and consulted the notabilities An
I'D man advanced and declared that dur.
ng his long life he never heard of such
lreadful crime and that the criminal de-
erved to be hanged.
Another said that he should be burned.
\ third spoke loud and for a long time,
making furious gesticulations and con-
luding that II the assassin had ten lives
e should be executed ten times All were
unanimous in pronouncing the crime
bominable. Eac4 t'ne endeavored to be
s eloquent as possible, so as to attract the
ttention Of the negus. They were not
swyers, and by the way, 1t is not safe to
all a man lawyer in Abyssinia, because
lawyer" In that country means "vender
words" They were ordinary subjects
'ho had come to the trial, the jury in all
$ purity. They were graceful in their
lovements Of sincerity and indignation;
Ut like all orientals, they were too en-
hattie and extravaganza.
The affa-negus came down from the
cps, and turning toward the emperor de-
vered his address In q loud voice. lone
light &c" said he, "to Djibouti, to Mas
lua and even to the White Nile without
volunteering any trouble. Even a woman
IN travel from the land Of the Kaffa to
ondar without being molested, and yet
lis little sickly and lame man" lat these
ords the assassin rose up and looked at
20 judge with an air of defance) "killed
is courier while he was calmly sleeping. i
he crime was great; the punishment {
ust be terrible. Let it be applied"
Another judge brought the book Of the I
W, the Fetha-N egest, from which he I
nd as follows: "He who commits muir
+ and who by his crime brings scandal r
ION the city shall be burned alive" 0
But the king Of kings of Ethiopia would 0
It permit the sentence to be carried out I
cording to the ancient law. b
9 Let him be hangedr' said he. b
They took away the prisoner, and in b
rner they removed his chains Then he o
Is pinioned. The executioner, a big fell v
V with brutal face, was fully head
Ter than the prisoner. The crowd fol-
we'd him. On the way the women came
Of their little huts and uttered lugu-
Gus cries. The prisoner chatted with F
guards all the way to the market "
zee, where he was hanged. At 30 min pl
IS to 10 o'clock in the morning the SEN
ce was pronounced, and at min
IS past 10 the law was vindicated.- &c
yaro. &C
til
t is strange to notice how many old :
ssical expressions still survive in Tus- :,
y. The people still swear "By Bac- N
Isl" and "By Diana'' just as we do -
y Jove!" but when they talk of "Tom,
II Hap Il r.;. i