interviews with the king.
meanwhile, during the tedious fast observed by all classes in commemoration of the assumption of the holy virgin, the king continued his residence at machal-wans. on such occasions. his majesty seeks the retirement of a country seat, and subsists upon raw fish, with vegetable oil and pepper. he is moreover averse to occupy the palace at ankóber in the rainy season, when the elevated position of the isolated peak whereon it stands becomes a fearful mark for lightning, by which it is often struck; whilst huge masses of rock, loosened from the adjacent heights, come thundering into the valley, to the annihilation of every house that opposes their headlong course. the greater part of the court, however, continued to reside at the capital, and many were the demands made for presents by public officers of the state, amongst whom the abyssinian habit of begging is sufficiently rife.
“there be pleasing things in my country which are not in yours,” was the usual form of application, “and fine things in your country which are not found in mine.” well assured that no return would be accepted for what they coveted, many had recourse to a species of refinement in the art of begging—the offer of block salt—and ámole in hand, they desired that the wares brought for sale might forthwith be exposed. others tendered mamálachas, or trifling offerings, which, if once accepted, are considered to establish a claim to ready acquiescence in demands the most preposterous. broken decanters were exhibited four times over by the domestics of the royal household, who, with tears in their eyes, entreated the price of the vessel as the only means of saving them from condign punishment. a shield was never defaced, nor a mule lost, that the delinquent did not refer himself to the residency for the amount of the fine imposed; and one of the imperial footmen finally sought to place beyond all question his right to appropriate the very cloth upon the table. “i am the waiter in the great banqueting-hall,” quoth the modest applicant, “and therefore i require this cloth as a dress.”
nor were even the royal family idle during this interval. belete-shatchau, “superior to all,” a notable shrew lately divorced by the governor of mans, and daughter of the queen by a former marriage—first in order—and then worka ferri, “golden fruit,” another of the princesses royal—established their respective claims to articles of british manufacture, beads, chintz, and tinsel, by the presentation of potent hydromel in long-necked barilles, screened under wicker cases. their example was speedily followed by the illustrious queen besábesh, “thou hast increased,” who begged to be informed what “delighting things” had been brought for her acceptance. but the report of this fact being immediately conveyed to the despotic ears, his majesty lost not a moment in hinting “that it were desirable that all presents intended for the palace, should pass through his own hands.”
it is not permitted to any subject of the realm to receive the smallest gift without submitting it forthwith to the negoos, who either appropriates it with an “egzihér istikh!” “may the lord reward thee!” or accords permission to its retention; and concealment is sure to be visited, on discovery, with the severest punishment. birroo, the son of a defunct nobleman, and the especially favourite page of the king, had been appointed báldoraba, or “introducer” to the embassy, and in this dignified capacity had occasion to pay me almost daily visits with messages or commissions from the throne. dilapidated matchlocks and swivels were to be restocked by the carpenters of the european escort, musical boxes to be repaired, garments were to be embroidered, or state umbrellas to be renewed; and every task had fortunately been achieved to the entire of the royal satisfaction. before taking leave, the court favourite never failed to beg for something, and, being a pet with all, he never asked in vain; but it shortly became matter of public notoriety that he had been disgraced, and thrown into durance, upon being detected in the act of burying the dollars and other presents that he had received.
the king commanded that a portion of the gifts which had led to this disaster should be returned to me, and i entreated pardon for the juvenile indiscretion of the page. “birroo has been degraded,” replied his majesty, “but you must not be concerned thereat; for not only did he conceal from me all that you had given him, but, on being detected, swore falsely upon my own life that he had received much less than proved to be the case. i have dismissed him for ever from my presence, but his punishment is light when compared with the enormity of his transgression.” the delinquent was, however, released upon a second representation, and restored to the possession of his gun, which had been forfeited; and although not reinstated in the royal confidence, he was subsequently appointed one of the adrásh adáree, or “keepers of the great room.”
the first visit that we paid to machal-wans was on the occasion of the king’s indisposition. the high-priest, the chief eunuch, the purveyor-general, wulásma mohammad, and ten or twelve other of the courtiers, were in attendance; but they were dismissed after the customary compliments had passed; and his majesty, reclining as usual upon the throne, thus proceeded, through the interpretation of the reverend dr krapf, to detail the long catalogue of his ailments.
“you may listen. i am not now so hale as in my younger days. mine eyes trouble me day and night. i have pains in the neck. my teeth have grown long and become loose from fever, and my body has wasted away. draw nigh whilst i recount the particulars of my late illness.
“i was returning from the expedition against the rebel galla. i felt suddenly unwell. my head grew giddy. the earth turned round. it became blue under my feet. i fell from my mule. i believed myself dead. i was no longer sensible. my gun-men became afraid. they ran away to a man. the enemy made a show of attack. the army was in confusion. a governor rebelled. he sought to place his son upon the throne. the people dashed cold water over me. i recovered my senses. i was able to resume the command, and order was restored.”
priest-ridden and superstitious to the last degree, the monarch undertakes nothing without first consulting the superiors of the church, and is deterred from change of residence, or from projected military expeditions, by their prophecies and pretended dreams, which are of course modelled according to the bribes that have been received from parties interested. on two occasions only is he said to have acted in opposition to the ecclesiastical counsel. the first cost him eight hundred warriors, who were cut up by the galla during the passage of a morass, and the second the severe indisposition of which he still felt the effects.
the royal swoon, thus amusingly narrated, had been followed by the consignment to captivity for life in the dungeons of góncho, of the traitor who had so prematurely sought the elevation of his son, and who was the proprietor of the residency. medicines administered to the king are invariably tasted by the physician in the presence of the patient, and on a phial of goulard lotion being now sent to the palace for external application to the despot’s neck, it was returned in consequence of its being labelled “poison.” of this he entertains the most undisguised dread, and it was not possible to overcome his apprehensions that a drop might find its way into his mouth during the hours of repose, and so cut short his reign.
but although living in perpetual alarm of assassination, and never moving abroad without weapons concealed under his garments, or unaccompanied by a numerous and trustworthy escort. his majesty’s fears did not extend to his british guests; and during our subsequent visits to machal-wans, he hesitated not to trust us all about his person with loaded fire-arms, when none of his attendants were present. many were the curious discussions held at these confidential interviews. portraits were executed by the royal command—architectural plans prepared—and hunting expeditions or wars of extermination plotted against colonies of baboons and monkeys, the only quadrupeds of which the country can boast. magazines were exploded by means of detonating shells—seven-barrelled pistols and stick-guns for the first time introduced at court—and a liege subject of the realm was nearly shot dead by the royal hand, when clumsily making trial of an air cane, from which a wax bullet had previously been fired through the wicker table.
“my son,” quoth the king, “i am old, and have but few years more to live. i have seen many strange things from your country, but none that surpass this engine, which without the aid of gunpowder can destroy men. sorrow were it that i should have died and gone down to the grave before beholding and understanding so wonderful an invention. it is truly the work of a wise people who employ strong medicines!”
