The Highlands of Ethiopia Part 38

Geese and ducks swarm unmolested over the lakes of the western provinces; a few descend also to the plain. Chenalopex Egyptiacus builds its nest upon high trees on the river side in Efat. Another rare species carries on the frontal basis a thinly-feathered flexible bunch.

All the birds of this cla.s.s are strangely inapprehensive of danger when moulting or hatching. During their stay in Shoa they are occupied with both of these processes, but the rigorous proscriptions regarding food usually afford them protection.

Of _Mammalia_, the _Rodentia_ seem to have no great extension through the cultivated provinces of Shoa. One small house rat (_Eid_), and a field mouse, Otomys albicaudatus, are very obnoxious indeed to the grain, but snares and traps keep them easily down on well-managed farms.

Lepus capensis (_Dindjel_) frequents more the plains both of the low and of the up country, and does little damage. To eat of its flesh would be considered downright criminality, not less than myophagy itself. Hystrix cristata (_Shart_) lives only in abandoned termite-cones in the desert. A very rare large squirrel is found upon tamarind trees.

Cattle-breeding is, on the whole, in a more advanced state among the Galla than among the Amhara, who prefer agricultural pursuits. The common sheep (_Bug_) of Shoa is small, with coa.r.s.e black wool; the Adaiel have the Hejaz lamb, short haired, with fat tail; the Galla, a most superior tall fleecy kind, also with fat tail, and without horns.

With the latter the Amhara cross their breed. The Galla of Northern Abyssinia rear a peculiar kind with immensely long hair, commonly white; its fleece, dyed black, and then called _Lophisa_, is a dress much prized by chiefs and men of renown throughout the country. The cured skin (_Dabbalo_) of the common sheep is an indispensable part of the male dress. From the wool a kind of camlet cloth is woven. Goats (_Fial_) thrive better in the mountains; they are tall, horned, with short matted hair of many colours; in fact, quite identical with the European kind. The Adel have no breed of their own, but drive down annually from the Shoan marts vast herds into their savannas.

The Abyssinian horse (_Feras_) is small, and held in little repute. The donkey (_Aheia_), of a st.u.r.dy and strong race, is indispensable to communication and commerce, and as a beast of burthen suffers less than the camel from long privation. The mule (_Bagalo_), higher priced than the mare itself, is eminently useful in the hills, being more sure-footed and better-winded than the horse; it is, however, much better cared for. The she mules are larger and stouter, but the males are the most enduring. The breed from the horse-mare and donkey-stallion is patronised by the Abyssinians, but despised by their more warlike neighbours, the Galla, with whom the horse is a favourite.

A wild donkey (_Ya meida aheia_, neither Zebra nor Quagga), a little larger than the common a.s.s, herds in the prairies of the Adaiel country, and is timid, cautious, and swift of foot.

Bullocks (_Beri_ or _Ferita_) are similar to the Zebu, but the hump is smaller. Some Galla tribes possess a peculiar breed (_Sanga_), the horns of which attain an enormous size, and serve for bottles; from the smaller horns drinking-cups are manufactured. The calves are not used for food. No work except dragging the plough and thrashing is required of the ox.

The wild buffalo (_Gosh_), Bubalus Pegasus, fierce and as yet untamed, inhabits the forests and jungles of Bulga and Mentshar all along the river Hawash; its chase is considered one of the most dangerous pursuits of the hunter, several human lives being frequently expended on the conquest of one beast. Strepsiceros capensis (_Agazin_), and Oryx capensis (_Sala_), are hunted on the borders of the desert. In the latter species, accident sometimes causes the loss of one horn,--a fact which probably gave rise to the story of the unicorn; moreover, the parallel horns are placed so near each other, that when the animal is seen _en profile_ from a distance, it might well appear single-horned.

Gazella Mhorr wanders in large herds through the desert; Antilope Saltiana (_Medaqua_) abounds from the sea-coast to the foot of the mountains.

Hyrax Abyssinicus (_Ashkoko_), a harmless inhabitant of nooks and corners of the rocks, is common to Shoa as well as to the hills of the Adel. Bruce's Rhinoceros (_Worsisa_), combining the more striking characters of the Asiatic and African species, that is, the two horns of the latter and the plaits and folds of the former, deserves a closer investigation; it lives in the deep jungles of Mentshar, on the banks of the Hawash. Phascoch.o.e.rus Africa.n.u.s (_Erya_), the African hog, infests the woods of the warmer districts, and is a horrible-looking brute.

Hippopotamus amphibius (_Gomari_) hides its colossal frame during the day in the floods of the Hawash, the Jumma, and other large rivers and lakes. The Wato, a certain caste among the Galla, subsist upon its flesh; and the thick skin is cut into shields or whips. Elephas Africa.n.u.s (_Zihoon_) is dispersed in many small families, and destroys the plantations of sugar-cane and Juwarree along the foot of the mountains. Not the slightest attempt is made to put a stop to his ravages, the paltry weapons in use being of no avail, whilst severe loss of life follows the footsteps of the enraged animal. A small trade in ivory is notwithstanding carried on with the coast in the tusks found accidentally.

Lutra inunguis (_Devil's sheep_), rarely surprised on the banks of the river Bereza, furnishes in its body divers secret medicines to the initiated. Viverra Civetta (_Angeso_) is wild, but frequently kept in cages in the Galla countries to the south-west of Shoa. The Civet (_Dering_), taken out of the bag by means of a small spoon, and collected in cow-horns, is one of the precious articles which the slave caravans proceeding from the interior through Shoa to the coast, barter for their daily food. One Ichneumon (_Mootsheltsh.e.l.la_) robs the poultry-yard. The lion (_Anba.s.sa_), and the leopard (_Nabr_), are well-known throughout Abyssinia. The former seldom pays a visit to the hills, hunting nightly along the banks of rivers, and lurking during the day in his jungle retreats; the latter is more common, and shuns less the presence of man. Both are run down on foot by bodies of men armed solely with lances, which they shower over the slowly retreating beast under a deafening yell. The spoils are an indispensable part of a chief's dress, and objects of importation from the West; the most prized, however, is the skin of the black leopard (_Gasela_), living in and beyond Gurague.

The domestic cat is a rarity in Shoa; only great men place them as guardians in their storehouses. The dog (_Oosha_), generally a half-wild companion of the farmer, and inmate of his premises, becomes attached and useful when allowed to share the master's protection. It is taught to keep the herds in order, to catch birds, to defend property, to give warning on the approach of wild beasts. Not the tenth part of the quickly-multiplying race possess owners; but their utility as scavengers proves their safeguard. Canis Anthus (_Dahela_), a wolf-like dog and an offensive thief, frequent in Efat, is caught in pitfalls; its liver has some mysterious virtue. The jackal (_Kabbaro_), and Hyaena crocuta (_Gib_), make nightly inroads into villages and towns; they fight the dogs, and for want of other prey drag off some of these. On the borders of the low country, the night camps must be fenced round with thorns, as a protection against their inroads.

Cercocebus griseo-viridis (_Tota_), lives upon wild figs. Cynocephalus Hamadryas (_Zingiro_), the male, with the mane of a lion and a powerful frame, is very mischievous and even dangerous; it congregates in caves and fissures of the rocks. Colobus (_Guresa_), the prettiest of all monkeys, and one duly patronised by the Abyssinians on account of its retired habits, is always on the top of the highest trees, commonly on the Woira, which bears its food.

_Filfil_, an animal that throws up mole-hills, baffles all attempts to catch it. Pteropus Egyptiacus and Nycteris Thebaica (_Lelit off_, i.e.

night-bird), are harmless, but suspected inhabitants of ruined buildings. An obscure idea of a former supremacy of man over the beasts of the field causes the Abyssinian Christian to view, in a literal sense, those legends which his pious ancestors have recorded of the singular dealings of holy men with the arch-fiend; and he still figuratively personates every evil pa.s.sion of the human heart by some savage, treacherous, or subtle animal of the inferior creation.

The highlands of Abyssinia can, however, offer but a small number of wild animals, and even of these very few are exclusively her own. The cultivation of the greater portion of the land, the absence of extensive forests, jungles, mora.s.ses, caverns, and other places of retreat, added to the great diversity of the clime from that of the adjacent countries, which at once excludes the migratory tribes, are the causes of the fortunate contrast presented to the lowlands of the Adaiel, where the dominion of man has yet been very imperfectly established.

Appendix, Number III.

On the Coffee Tree, Tea Plant, and Cotton, of Southern Abyssinia.

Tradition a.s.signs to the countries of Enarea and Caffa the indigenous residence of the coffee tree. In Shoa Proper the cultivation and consumption are strictly interdicted, as savouring too strongly of the abhorred Mohammadan; but in proper situations it grows strong and healthy, and in all the bordering districts subject to Sahela Sela.s.sie, where the restriction is not enforced, the plantations are numerous and thriving.

Planted before the rains, the seed soon appears above the ground, and when six months old, the offspring is transferred to take the place of some worn-out tree. Water and the manure of the sheep are plentifully supplied, and the crop, which, from a full bearing adult, is generally from thirty to forty pounds, is gathered in March and April. Averaging from eight to ten feet in height, with dark shining foliage, and branches loaded with fruit, it grows luxuriantly in the valleys in any sheltered situation, delighting especially in the soil produced by a decomposition of trap rock, which has been washed down from the adjacent heights; and although taking six years to arrive at maturity, it yields a slight return on the second season of its transplantation.

The berries are in the first instance of a dark green hue, which before pulling is suffered to turn red, a white milky-looking pulp called _gullaboo_ meanwhile filling up the s.p.a.ce between the cuticle and the seed. Having been shaken and gathered from the branches, the crop is spread in the sun until the pulp becomes sufficiently dry to admit of its removal, which, by continual free ventilation out of doors, is usually the case in one month. The seeds intended for the plantation are not divested of the husk, but sown by the handful in a small plot, which is carefully manured and watered; and the (_gullaboo_), sold separately from the bean, is employed as a beverage with the decoction of the _chaat_.

For the better security of his own monopoly at the ports of Zeyla and Berbera, the Ameer of Hurrur opposes the importation of coffee into his own dominions, both from Shoa and from the country of the Galla. The plant is extensively and successfully cultivated; but the price given at Hurrur is high in comparison with that paid in Abyssinia; and the average demanded on the coast by the merchants of the former princ.i.p.ality, varying from five pence to seven pence per pound, would seem to be in unison with that customary at Ma.s.sowah in the Red Sea.

The difficulties attending the tedious road to the coast; the lazy indifferent character of the Danakil camel owners, who, regardless of the value of time, spend months upon the journey; and the fitful caprice evinced by the various chieftains though whose territories the caravan must pa.s.s--all form great obstacles to the conveyance of the cheaper produce from Abyssinia, although these might doubtless be overcome within a reasonable period by the well-directed efforts of British perseverance. In Caffa and Enarea, coffee grows wild like a weed over the rich surface of the country. The beverage is in universal use among the inhabitants; the price paid is almost nominal; and the convenience of water carriage is alone wanting towards the transportation of the product in unlimited quant.i.ties to every portion of the globe.

_Chaat_ is a shrub very extensively cultivated, both in Shoa and in the countries adjacent. It is in general use among the inhabitants as a subst.i.tute for tea, which, in all its properties and qualities, it closely resembles. The plant is said to have been brought originally from the western mountains, of which the elevation being from five to eight thousand feet, agrees with that of the Chinese tea districts, whilst the average temperature does not exceed 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a light gravelly soil it attains the height of twelve feet; and the leaves being plucked during the dry season, and well dried in the sun, fetch from one penny to two-pence the pound. They are either chewed, or boiled in milk, or infused in water; and by the addition of honey, a pleasant beverage is produced, which, being bitter and stimulative, dispels sleep if used to excess.

The virtues of the _chaat_ are equally to be appreciated with those of the _yerba mate_, recently introduced into England from Brazil and Paraguay. It is already known under the appellation of "Celastrus edulis," and belongs to Pentandria Monogynia _Linn_, and to the natural family of Celastrineae, or to that sub-family of the Rhamneae, which have in the flower the stamens alternating with the petals. The family of Rhamneae, namely, the genus Rhamnus itself, supplies to the poorer cla.s.ses in China a subst.i.tute for tea, and is known under the name of Rhamnus Theezaus _Linn_.

[The _chaatt_ may thus be characterised:--Frutex inermis; foliis oppositis, petiolatis, oblongis, serrato-dentatis, glabris. Calyx minimus, persistens. Petala 5. Stamina 5-petalia alternantia. Fructus superus, oblonge baccatus, 5-locularis, polyspermus, vel abortive monospermus. Inflorescentia axillaris, cymosa: cymi dichotome stipulati. The plant supplying the Paraguay tea is a species of ilex, and belongs to the same family of Celastrineee, sub-order Aquifoliaceae.]

Cotton of two kinds grows in the sequestered nooks of the eastern face of the mountains of Shoa, and in the valleys at the extreme foot of the range; but from the superior luxuriance of the plant, and the amount of crop produced in the lower situations, the natural climate would appear to exist in those sheltered spots, which in atmosphere much resemble the more favoured parts of Western India. The Efat shrub varies, according to the locality and supply of water, from three feet in height to upwards of seven, and usually a.s.suming the form of a pyramid, extends its lower branches to a width equal to the stature--the size of the leaves, and the soft and yielding nature of the stem, imparting a strong external resemblance to the Bourbon cotton. Eight and nine inches in circ.u.mference are not unfrequently attained; and the advantages of a very productive crop twice in each year, the existence of the plant during five seasons, and the heavy return of the particularly fine wool during the very first, award to the species a most deserving pre-eminence.

[Gossypium Efatense. Seeds completely covered with a close down.

Cotton white; capsules 3-celled, 3-valved; flowers small, with a red fundus; leaves 3 to 5-lobed; lobes ac.u.minated.]

The indigenous plant of Efat is not, however, so much esteemed as that from Gondar, which, instead of rising tall and straight from the ground, a.s.sumes a spreading dwarfy appearance. The wool is considered superior, and the cloth produced is softer and more elastic, but its existence is limited to three years. Both are planted indiscriminately in the same field, although, when gathered, the crops are preserved unmixed; and after the fifth year the Efat shrub is cut over close to the ground, which is then ploughed up, and sown with wheat or other grain, when, on the removal of the harvest the young cotton shoots are well above the ground, and will yield during two further seasons.

[Gossypium Gondarense. Seeds sprinkled with short hairs. Cotton white; capsules 3-celled, 3-valved; flowers large, yellow; leaves 3 to 5-lobed; lobes commonly obtuse.]

The seed, having been placed for some time in wood-ashes, is well rubbed with red earth before planting; and wherever the locality is favourable to irrigation, water is not spared. The pod, when ripe, is cut with a knife, the husk removed, and the wool deposited in a bag, with the utmost care to exclude extraneous matter. One full bearing bush produces twice during the twelve months between four and five pounds of raw stuff.

End of Volume II.

Volume 3, Chapter I.

THE HOUSE OF SOLOMON.

Ethiopia is the cla.s.sical appellation for Abyssinia, or Habesh, the most ancient as well as the greatest monarchy in Africa. It is by the latter t.i.tle that the inhabitants themselves, and all their circ.u.mjacent neighbours, still distinguish the highlands included between Nubia and the sources of the blue Nile; and the limits of the Christian empire, governed by the sovereigns of Axum, formerly extended over wide tracts of country, now peopled by heathen and stranger nations.

The early history of Habesh is lost in the fogs of fable. In the Chronicles styled Kebra za Negest, "the glory of the kings," a romance which pretends to be a faithful repository of the past, Ittopia is modestly stated to have divided with Romia the dominion of the world, received in direct inheritance from Adam.--"Their rulers were both descended from Shem, who was nominated the lineal descendant of Noah, whence all the globe north of Jerusalem belonged unto the former, and all south to the latter!"

This record is believed to have been discovered in the church of Saint Sophia, and it claims for the present royal family descent from the queen of Sheba, whose visit to king Solomon is stated to have placed the sceptre in the hands of the tribe of Judah, with whom it has remained until the present day; and from the peasant to the despot this legend is firmly believed by every native of Abyssinia.

"The queen of Ethiopia," saith the Chronicle, "whose name was Maqueda, had heard from the merchant Tamerin of the wisdom and the glory of king Solomon; and resolving to visit him in his own country, she proceeded to the land of Israel with all the rich presents that her empire could afford."

After a season the royal lady returned; and her son Menilek, the result of her visit to the greatest potentate of the age, was born, and in due time transmitted to his august sire, that he might be duly instructed in all the mysteries of Jewish law and science. Having been anointed king under the name of David, he returned to his native land, with a large suite of the n.o.bles of Israel, and a band of her most learned elders under the direction of Ascarias, the son of Zadok the High Priest.

But previously to his setting out, the gates of the temple of Jerusalem were left unguarded, and the doors miraculously opened in order to afford an opportunity, which was not neglected, of stealing and carrying away the holy ark of Zion and the tables of the law. To queen Maqueda also is attributed the inhuman treatment since experienced by the royal princes, for on resigning the reins of authority to her son, about nine hundred and seventy years before the birth of Christ, she caused a solemn obligation to be sworn by all, that henceforward no female should hold sway in the land; and that those princes of the blood-royal upon whom the crown did not devolve, should, until the succession opened to them, or during their natural term of existence, be kept close prisoners on a lofty mountain; a cruel and despotic enactment, which, through a long succession of ages, was jealously observed.

The Emperor of Ethiopia early adopted the t.i.tle of Negoos, or Negash; and the coast of the Indian ocean towards Sofala was held by his deputy with the style of Bahr Negash, "the King of the Sea,"--a vicegerent with the same t.i.tle, governing Yemen, which from the earliest times down to the Mohammadan conquest of Arabia belonged to Abyssinia. The family of Menilek ibn Hakim are stated in the Kebra za Negest to have worn the crown in uninterrupted felicity until the year of our Lord 960, when an event occurred which nearly obliterated that dynasty, and first spread anarchy, violence, and oppression throughout the once happy realm.

Christianity became the national religion of Abyssinia in the beginning of the fourth century. The Falashas, descendants of the Jews, who are believed to have accompanied Menilek from Jerusalem, had meanwhile waxed extremely powerful, and refusing to abandon the faith of their forefathers, they now declared independence. Electing a sovereign of their own creed, they took possession of the almost impregnable mountain fastnesses of Simien, where their numbers were augmented by continual accessions from the Jews who were expelled from Palestine and from Arabia. Under the constant t.i.tles of Gideon and Judith, a succession of kings and queens held a limited sway until, in the middle of the tenth century, the Princess Esther, styled, by the Amhara, Issat, which signifies "fire," a woman of extraordinary beauty and talent, conceived the design of subverting the religion, and with it the existing order of succession in the empire. A fatal epidemic had swept off the Emperor, and spread desolation through court and capital. Del Naad, who had been nominated to the crown, was of tender years; and Esther, deeming no opportunity more favourable, surprised the rock Damo, on which, by virtue of the existing statute, the other scions of the royal house were confined, and having ma.s.sacred the whole, five hundred in number, proclaimed herself the queen over Abyssinia.

The sole surviving prince of his race was hurried by the Amhara n.o.bility into the distant and loyal province of Shoa; and the reins of government pa.s.sed into the hands of a Christian family of Lasta, styled Zegue, with whom they remained until the thirteenth century. During the administration of Naakweto Laab, the last of this dynasty, Tekla Haimanot the monk, a native of Abyssinia, was created Abuna, [Abuna, or more properly Aboon, signifies "our father"] or Primate of Ethiopia. He had previously founded in Shoa the celebrated monastery of Debra Libanos, and was a man celebrated alike for the purity of his life, the soundness of his understanding, and his devotion to his country.

Obtaining extraordinary influence over the mind of the king, he prevailed upon him, for conscience-sake, to resign a crown which could never be purified from the stain of usurpation. The banished line of Solomon, content with the dominion of Shoa, had made no effort towards the recovery of their ancient boundaries; but by a treaty now concluded, Yekweno Amlak was restored to the throne of his ancestors. Naakweto Laab was to retain Lasta in perpetual independence, with the golden stool, the silver kettle-drums, and other insignia of royalty, whilst one third of the realm was permanently ceded to the Primate for the maintenance of his ecclesiastical dignity, and for the support of the clergy, convents, and churches. This was styled the "Era of Part.i.tion;"

and it formed a stipulation, that the functions of Archbishop should in future be vested in none save a Copt, appointed from Cairo by the chair of Saint Mark.

Volume 3, Chapter II.

THE LINEAGE OF SHOA.

Thus affairs continued until the sixteenth century, when the invasion of Mohammad Graan led to the total dismemberment of the Ethiopic empire; and Shoa, amongst other of the richer provinces, was overrun and colonised by the Galla hordes. Nebla Dengel, the emperor of Gondar, fell by the hand of the Moslem conqueror. Faris, the son of Dilbonach, by a daughter of the house of Solomon, held a Ras-ship under the crown, in the stronghold of Dair, and from his son Sumbellete sprang Nagasi, the first monarch of Efat, who was born at Amad Washa, the capital of Agamcha, and a century and a half ago held his capital in Mans. Prior to the conquest of that province, which was followed by the gradual subjugation of Shoa and its present dependencies, this prince occupied a lofty fortress in the Yedjow country, where some of his descendants still remain. From it are visible the high and impregnable mounts Ambasel and Geshama; the latter of which fastnesses, in the more remote periods of Ethiopic splendour, had served as a place of confinement for the younger brothers of the reigning emperor; whilst the former is in the hands of an independent ruler, whose ancestress becoming the mistress of the Christian governor, the father of the Delilah contrived, during the celebration of her nuptials, to surprise the garrison, and put every man to the sword.

Nagasi repaired in due time to Gondar, to be formally invested by the Emperor; but after receiving at the royal hands twelve "nugareet," he died suddenly. To one of his four sons he bequeathed on his death-bed a shield, to a second a spear, to a third a ring, and to Sabastiye, his favourite child, a war-steed which he had always ridden to the combat.

The youths were summoned to court in order that they might receive their legacies; and on opening an amulet attached to the horse's neck, it was found to contain the will and testament of the deceased, nominating Sabastiye the successor to his possessions.

This prince reigned twenty-five years, and was succeeded by Abiye, his eldest son, who after fifteen years was gathered to his fathers at Aramba, which he had wrested from the Areeo Galla. Emmaha Yasoos, who succeeded next, and reigned thirty-two years, introduced several matchlocks from Gondar, conquered Ankober, and removed his capital thither from Dokaket. At the period of his accession, the sorcerers predicted that if one Arkaradis should be appointed minister, the empire would be doubled. Diligent search was made throughout the realm, but a mendicant was the sole individual of that name who could be found. He was duly inducted into office; and his first step was to revive among the circ.u.mjacent Galla an ancient prophecy, that when fires should be seen on the summits of the three loftiest peaks of the great barrier range, their possessions would be overrun by the Christians. After the lapse of a few months, Arkaradis caused beacon-fires to be kindled during the night on the crests of Kondie, Ankober, and Mamrat; upon beholding which many of the heathen fled, and without a blow being struck, sundry districts were appended to Shoa.