Volume Three—Chapter Ten.

Existing Christian Remnants.

On both sides of the river Gochob, there exist in various quarters isolated communities professing the Christianity of Ethiopia, who, for a long period of years, have successfully held their position among the mountain fastnesses in the very heart of the now Pagan and Mohammadan country. One of the most remarkable of these seats is in the lake Zooai, called Láki in the Galla language, and in that of Guráguê, Chilláloo. Here, in the church of Emanuel, are deposited the holy arks, umbrellas, drums, gold and silver chairs, and other furniture belonging to all the sacred edifices of southern Abyssinia; which, with numerous manuscripts no longer extant, were here deposited by Nebla Dengel, at the period of Graan’s invasion.

Five rivers empty themselves into this lake. It is described to be a noble sheet of water, teeming with hippopotami, which frequently destroy the frail bamboo rafts employed in maintaining communication betwixt the shore and the Five Islands, Tudduchu, Debra Tehoon, Debra Seena, Goragi, and Amshoot. They are covered with lofty trees, and contain upwards of three thousand Christian houses, constructed of lime and stone. In religion, the population are said by the clergy of Shoa to have sadly degenerated; but although destitute of priests, the churches are preserved inviolate, and monks and monasteries abound.

In Guráguê, the population are almost exclusively Christian. Twelve isolated churches, previously unheard of, were discovered a few years since, on the conquest of Yeya by Sáhela Selássie; and between Gárro and Metcha, where forest commences in the south of Shoa, is a small tract peopled by Christians, who reside entirely in caves among the mountains, as a measure of security against the heathen, by whom they are compassed in on every side.

Eight days’ journey from Aiméllele on the frontier of Guráguê, is Cambát, a small mountainous province, lying due east of Zingero. With exception of a few Mohammadan rovers, this independent state is inhabited solely by Christians, who have fifteen churches, and numerous monasteries, but, like the people of Zooai, are without priests. The capital, Karempza, is constructed on the summit of a lofty hill of the same name, and Degóyey, the king, who is extremely advanced in years, is represented as a just and upright ruler, very hospitable to strangers, and a great warrior. But between Aiméllele, which is a dependency of Sáhela Selássie, and Cambát, the road passes through the Adeea and Alaba Galla, the latter governed by a queen whose notorious treachery renders the passage unsafe.

Wollámo is another Christian province under an independent sovereign, lying below Cambát to the south-eastward of Zingero, and at constant war with both these states. The country is extremely mountainous, and the inhabitants, who are purchased for twenty pieces of salt, and frequently brought by the slave-dealers to Shoa, are of a fair complexion, and speak a distinct language. Wofána is the capital, and the province is watered by a considerable river termed the Ooma—the surrounding tribes being the Koolloo, Woradda, Assoo, and Jimma. Eight days’ journey beyond Zingero is the country of Mager, the king of which is represented to be a very powerful monarch. Korchássie, which is famous for the great river Wábi, flowing to the Indian ocean, is peopled by Christians, as is Sidáma also, and both are surrounded by the heathen.

But of all the isolated remnants of the ancient Ethiopic empire to the south of Abyssinia, Susa would appear to be the most important and the most powerful. This kingdom is situated beyond Cáffa, and extends to the head of the Gitché, which rises in Chára-Nára, and is one of the principal sources of the Gochob. The rains are violent during three months of the year, and the climate is excessively cold, the elevation being much greater than that of Shoa, whilst beyond are mountains which “seem to touch the skies, and are covered with perpetual snow.”

Sugga Surroo was king over Susa. He was a Pagan; but wore a “máteb,” as many of the heathen tribes are wont to do. Hoti and Beddoo were his sons; and on his death-bed he bequeathed the sceptre to the former, who, after a reign of ten years marked by the most galling tyranny, was deposed by the people, and Beddoo elevated to the throne. Turning his attention to Christianity, which had greatly degenerated, he revived the custom of bathing the holy cross on Christmas-day, in the river Gitché, where all the surrounding Galla tribes perform the same ceremony without knowing why.

Hoti was exiled in Goma; and having contrived to raise three hundred cavalry, he set out to recover his throne, but was pursued and slain by Abba Rébo. Beddoo is brother to Bálee, the Queen of Cáffa; and it is now six years since he gave his daughter Shásh in marriage to the King of Enárea, through whose country a constant traffic has since been carried on with Northern Abyssinia—numbers of muskets and matchlocks being annually imported, and exchanged for civet, ivory, gold dust, horses, and slaves.

The road being thus opened, the priests proceeded to Gondar to the patriarch of the Abyssinian church, who breathed the breath of the Holy Ghost into a leathern bag, which was safely conveyed back to Susa, and hung up in the cathedral. Ecclesiastics in great numbers have been since ordained by the process of opening this bag, and causing a puff to pass across the face. They are distinguished by antique robes and silver mitres, and the churches and religious observances would appear to be similar in every respect to those of Shoa.

The King of Susa is described as a tall, fair, and very handsome man of five and thirty, without beard or moustaches, and wearing the hair in the bushy wig-like form of the Amhára. He carries state umbrellas of yellow silk, surmounted by golden globes, wears a sword with a massive golden scabbard, and bears a shield decorated with radii and crosses of the same metal. The government is not despotic. No subject can be put to death unless condemned by the judges. Property is free; and there is no restriction upon dress save in the article of gold, to wear which is the exclusive privilege of royalty.

Bonga is the principal town and capital of Susa; and there the king principally resides, in a stone house of two stories. His queen is Meytee, but he has besides “concubines as numerous as the hairs of the head.” The banqueting-hall is a long building similar to those of Sáhela Selássie, and it is the scene of similar revels. His Majesty presides daily at the feast, but is concealed from the gaze of his carousing subjects by an intervening curtain, whilst the Dedj Agafári, styled “Gubburchu,” acts as master of the ceremonies. Public audience is daily given, when the decisions of the judges are confirmed or annulled from a raised throne of solid gold concealed by velvet draperies.

Susa is a kingdom of much greater extent than Shoa, but in manners and customs nearly similar. The monarch is approached with shoulders bared, and three prostrations to the earth. On the festival of Máskal an annual review takes place at Boorétta. Oxen are then slain for the soldiery, and each warrior receives a jar of beer from the royal cellars. The herald proclaims the approaching expedition to the sound of the nugáreet. The foray resembles that of the Amhára rabble—the same lack of discipline on the march—the same band of flutes and kettle-drums—the same female culinary establishment. The warriors are similarly armed, and adopt the green sprig of asparagus in token of deeds of blood; and the only existing difference would appear to be, that the booty captured in war is not monopolised by the crown.

Tribute is paid to Beddoo by the chiefs of many surrounding Countries, and principally by the Shankela with tattooed breasts. He annually extends his dominions by murderous inroads, directed chiefly against the Sooroo, a tribe of naked negroes inhabiting the wild valleys of Sása. The Gumroo, a wild people clothed in hides, and rich in flocks and herds, are also frequently invaded, and hundreds swept into captivity. The chief mountain ranges of Susa are Decha, Gobo, and Saadee; and the principal rivers are the Gitché, Chéso, and Adiyo. Large slave caravans pass through the realm at all seasons from the most remote parts of the interior, the Mohammadan rovers being frequently absent from one to two years.

The costume of the male portion of the population consists of a robe of striped red and blue cotton in alternate bands, with tight trousers and a loose kilt of the same colours and material. The hair is worn en “goferi,” as in Shoa, unless after the slaughter of a foe, when it is braided in long tresses like the ancient Egyptians. Copper and ivory bracelets decorate the successful warrior; and a ring of silver is worn in the ear by those who have slain the giant amongst mammalia.

The females are described as being fairer and more comely than their frail sisters of Shoa. They wear red and blue striped trousers, reaching mid-leg, with a loose shift and a robe, also party-coloured, the former enclosed by a zone of beads. The hair is dressed, like that of the Amhára, in the shape of a beehive, with minute rows of elaborate curls; but the odour of rancid butter with which these are clotted, is somewhat alleviated by the liberal application of oil of cloves.

Marriage is celebrated without the intervention of the priesthood, and polygamy is universally exercised at the discretion of the man according to his worldly substance. The contracting parties simply pledge fidelity, and in event of subsequent separation, the lady carries off her portion. Every house possesses its slaves; but those both of king and subject are permitted to work for themselves one day out of the seven. All occupation is interdicted on the Sabbath, as well as on the festivals of Gabriel, Michael, and Georgis, which are the only saints’ days observed in Susa.

The language spoken is quite distinct from that of the Galla, from the Amháric, and from the ancient Geez or Ethiopic. It possesses a written character. The houses are constructed upon a circular plan of wattle and thatch. All classes are warriors, well mounted, and frequently engaged in the chase—large packs of dogs being kept for the purpose of hunting the rhinoceros, buffalo, elephant, lion, leopard, giraffe, zebra, and ostrich, which, with many other animals new to natural history, are said to abound. Bridles are manufactured of the skin of the hippopotamus, with which the rivers teem, and numbers of them are slain by the wandering Wáto.

Raw flesh, eaten with pepper, butter, and wheaten bread, forms the principal diet. Edible fruits are abundant. Citrons, nutmeg, ginger, coffee, and tea, grow wild over the whole country. The two latter are taken by the Christians of Susa, as is also snuff; but tobacco is not inhaled. The grape vine is indigenous and extensively cultivated; and the Outoo, the Gondweiyo, and the Goddo, are described as aromatic trees, of which the flowers, possessing the richest perfume, are dried, pulverised, and amalgamated with civet—the cats producing which are kept in every house, fed on raw beef, and placed before the fire, as in Enárea.

Amongst the manifold superstitions of the people of Susa, a new knife, before being used for cutting meat, must be blown upon by the priest. Witchcraft has a firm hold upon every mind; and many a luckless worker in iron is with his whole family condemned to be burnt alive in his house, as an atonement for evil deeds. Theft is punished by sewing up the culprit in a green hide, when he is suspended by the heels in the market-place, with the stolen property about his neck, until the contraction of the drying skin at length puts a period to his sufferings—a refinement this upon the cruelty of the Emperor Maximin.

The particulars that I have embodied in this and the two preceding chapters have been gathered from the concurrent testimony of numerous individuals of various tribes, ages, and religions, who have either visited or were natives of the countries referred to, and who, after attaining to manhood, had been borne away in slavery. Together with their own language they retained a perfect recollection of the land of their birth, and of all that had befallen them since the loss of liberty—a loss by many dated from a very recent period, and which had resulted either from the lawless violence of the freebooter, or from the unrestrained cupidity of mercenary relatives. Making due allowance for superstition and geographical ignorance, the fullest credit may be accorded—minute cross-examinations of individuals who could have held no previous communication with each other having corroborated every point.

Shedding the clearest light over the countries more immediately adjacent to Shoa, the evidence collected becomes less and less distinct as the lands and tribes under consideration verge towards the distant edge of the horizon. It is important to know that the Gochob, in its upper course, is occupied by so powerful a Christian people, whose sovereign exercises over the destinies of the surrounding Gentiles an influence which, if properly directed, could be made to check the rapid spread of Islamism, instead of fostering the traffic in human beings. The extensive wildernesses beyond Susa may be concluded to form the barrier betwixt the unfruitful land of Nigritia and the fair provinces occupying the most elevated regions of Africa. Seneca relates that two centurions, who were sent by Nero Caesar to explore the head of the Nile, were recommended by the King of Ethiopia to the nearest kings beyond; and that after a long journey they came “even unto the further countries, to immense morasses, the end of which neither the natives themselves did know, nor any body else may hope to find.”