Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile/Volume 3/Book 5/Chapter 1
TRAVELS
TO DISCOVER
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
BOOK V.
Account of my Journey from Masuah to Gondar—Transactions there—Manners and Customs of the Abyssinians.
CHAP. I.
Transactions at Masuah and Arkeeko.
Masuah, which means the port or harbour of the Shepherds, is a small island immediately on the Abyssinian shore, having an excellent harbour, and water deep enough for ships of any size to the very edge of the island: here they may ride in the utmost security, from whatever point, or with whatever degree of strength, the wind blows. As it takes its modern, so it received its ancient name from its harbour. It was called by the Greeks Sebasticum Os, from the capacity of its port, which is distributed into three divisions. The island itself is very small, scarce three quarters of a mile in length, and about half that in breadth, one-third occupied by houses, one by cisterns to receive the rain-water, and the last is reserved for burying the dead.
Masuah, as we have already observed, was one of those towns on the west of the Red Sea that followed the conquest of Arabia Felix by Sinan Basha, under Selim emperor of Constantinople. At that time it was a place of great commerce, possessing a share of the Indian trade in common with the other ports of the Red Sea near the mouth of the Indian Ocean. It had a considerable quantity of exports brought to it from a great tract of mountainous country behind it, in all ages very unhospitable, and almost inaccessible to strangers. Gold and ivory, elephants and buffaloes hides, and, above all, slaves, of much greater value, as being more sought after for their personal qualities than any other sort, who had the misfortune to be reduced to that condition, made the principal articles of exportation from this port. Pearls, considerable for size, water, or colour, were found all along its coast. The great convenience of commodious riding for vessels, joined to these valuable articles of trade, had overcome the inconvenience of want of water, the principal necessary of life, to which it had been subjected from its creation.
Masuah continued a place of much resort as long as commerce flourished, but it fell into obscurity very suddenly under the oppression of the Turks, who put the finishing-hand to the ruin of the India trade in the Red Sea, begun some years before by the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, and the settlements made by the Portuguese on the continent of India.
The first government of Masuah under the Turks was by a basha sent from Constantinople, and from thence, for a time, the conquest of Abyssinia was attempted, always with great confidence, though never with any degree of success; so that, losing its value as a garrison, and, at the same time, as a place of trade, it was thought no longer worth while to keep up so expensive an establishment as that of a bashalik.
The principal auxiliary, when the Turks conquered the place, was a tribe of Mahometans called Belowee, shepherds inhabiting the coast of the Red Sea under the mountains of the Habab, about lat. 14°. In reward for this assistance, the Turks gave their chief the civil government of Masuah and its territory, under the title of Naybe of Masuah; and, upon the basha's being withdrawn, this officer remained in fact sovereign of the place, though, to save appearances, he held it of the grand signior for an annual tribute, upon receiving a firman from the Ottoman Porte.
The body of Janizaries, once established there in garrison, were left in the island, and their pay continued to them from Constantinople. These marrying the women of the country, their children succeeded them in their place and pay as Janizaries; but being now, by their intermarriages, Moors, and natives of Masuah, they became of course relations to each other, and always subject to the influence of the Naybe.
The Naybe finding, the great distance he was from his protectors, the Turks in Arabia, on the other side of the Red Sea, whose garrisons were every day decaying in strength, and for the most part reduced; sensible, too, how much he was in the power of the Abyssinians, his enemies and nearest neighbours, began to think that it was better to secure himself at home, by making some advances to those in whose power he was. Accordingly it was agreed between them, that one half of the customs should be paid by him to the king of Abyssinia, who was to suffer him to enjoy his government unmolested; for Masuah, as I have before said, is absolutely destitute of water; neither can it be supplied with any sort of provisions but from the mountainous country of Abyssinia.The same may be said of Arkeeko, a large town on the bottom of the bay of Masuah, which has indeed water, but labours under the same scarcity of provisions; for the tract of flat land behind both, called Samhar, is a perfect desert, and only inhabited from the month of November to April, by a variety of wandering tribes called Tora, Hazorta, Shiho, and Doba, and these carry all their cattle to the Abyssinian side of the mountains when the rains fall there, which is the opposite six months. When the season is thus reversed, they and their cattle are no longer in Samhar, or the dominion of the Naybe, but in the hands of the Abyssinians, especially the governor of Tigré and Baharnagash, who thereby, without being at the expence and trouble of marching against Masuah with an army, can make a line round it, and starve all at Arkeeko and Masuah, by prohibiting any sort of provisions to be carried thither from their side. In the course of this history we have seen this practised with great success more than once, especially against the Naybe Musa in the reign of Yasous I.
The friendship of Abyssinia once secured, and the power of the Turks declining daily in Arabia, the Naybe began by degrees to withdraw himself from paying tribute at all to the basha of Jidda, to whose government his had been annexed by the porte. He therefore received the firman as a mere form, and returned trifling presents, but no tribute; and in troublesome times, or a weak government happening in Tigrè, he withdrew himself equally from paying any consideration, either to the basha in name of tribute, or to the king of Abyssinia, as share of the customs. This was precisely his situation when I arrived in Abyssinia. A great revolution, as we have already seen, had happened in that kingdom, of which Michael had been the principal author. When he was called to Gondar and made minister there, Tigré remained drained of troops, and without a governor.
Nor was the new king, Hatzè Hannes, whom Michael had placed upon the throne after the murder of Joas his predecessor, a man likely to infuse vigour into the new government. Hannes was past seventy at his accession, and Michael his minister lame, so as scarcely to be able to stand, and within a few years of eighty. The Naybe, a man of about forty-eight, judged of the debility of the Abyssinian government by those circumstances, but in this he was mistaken.
Already Michael had intimated to him, that, the next campaign, he would lay waste Arkeeko and Masuah, till they should be as desert as the wilds of Samhar; and as he had been all his life very remarkable for keeping his promises of this kind, the stranger merchants had many of them fled to Arabia, and others to Dobarwa[1], a large town in the territories of the Baharnagash. Notwithstanding this, the Naybe had not shewn any public mark of fear, nor sent one penny either to the king of Abyssinia or the basha of Jidda.
On the other hand, the basha was not indifferent to his own interest; and, to bring about the payment, he had made an agreement with an officer of great credit with the Sherriffe of Mecca. This man was originally an Abyssinian slave, his name Metical Aga, who by his address had raised himself to the post of Selictar, or sword-bearer, to the Sherriffe; and, in fact, he was absolute in all his dominions. He was, moreover, a great friend of Michael governor of Tigré, and had supplied him with large stores of arms and ammunition for his last campaign against the king at Gondar.
The basha had employed Metical Aga to inform Michael of the treatment he had received from the Naybe, desiring his assistance to force him to pay the tribute, and at the same time intimated to the Naybe, that he not only had done so, but the very next year would give orders throughout Arabia to arrest the goods and persons of such Mahometan merchants as should come to Arabia, either from motives of religion or trade. With this message he had sent the firman from Constantinople, desiring the return both of tribute and presents.
Mahomet Gibberti, Metical Aga's servant, had come in the boat with me; but Abdelcader, who carried the message and firman, and who was governor of the island of Dahalac, had sailed at same time with me, and had been spectator of the honour which was paid my ship when she left the harbour of Jidda.Running straight over to Masuah, Abdelcader had proclaimed what he had seen with great exaggeration, according to the custom of his country; and reported that a prince was coming, a very near relation to the king of England, who was no trader, but came only to visit countries and people.
It was many times, and oft agitated (as we knew afterwards) between the Naybe and his counsellors, what was to be done with this prince. Some were for the most expeditious, and what has long been the most customary method of treating strangers in Masuah, to put them to death, and divide every thing they had among the garrison. Others insisted, that they should stay and see what letters I had from Arabia to Abyssinia, lest this might prove an addition to the storm just ready to break upon them on the part of Metical Aga and Michael Suhul.
But Achmet, the Naybe's nephew, said, it was folly to doubt but that a man, under the description I was, would have protections of every kind; but whether I had or not, that my very rank should protect me in every place where there was any government whatever; it might do even among banditti and thieves inhabiting woods and mountains; that a sufficient quantity of strangers blood had been already shed at Masuah, for the purpose of rapine, and he believed a curse and poverty had followed it; that it was impossible for those who had heard the firing of those ships to conjecture whether I had letters to Abyssinia or not; that it would be better to consider whether I was held in esteem by the captains of those ships, as half of the guns they fired in compliment to me, was sufficient to destroy them all, and lay Arkeeko and Masuah as desolate as Michael Suhul had threatned to do; nor could that vengeance cost any of the ships, coming next year to Jidda, a day's sailing out of their way; and there being plenty of water when they reached Arkeeko at the south-west of the bay, all this destruction might be effected in one afternoon, and repeated once a-year without difficulty, danger, or expence, while they were watering.
Achmet, therefore, declared it was his resolution that I should be received with marks of consideration, till upon inspecting my letters, and conversing with me, they might see what sort of man I was, and upon what errand I was come; but even if I was a trader, and no priest or Frank, such as came to disturb the peace of the country, he would not then consent to any personal injury being done me; if I was indeed a priest, or one of those Franks, Gehennim, they might send me to hell if they chose; but he, for his part, would not, even then have any thing to do with it.
Before our vessel appeared, they came to these conclusions; and though I have supposed that hoisting the colours and saluting me with guns had brought me into this danger, on the other hand it may be said, perhaps with greater reason, they were the means Providence kindly used to save my life in that slaughter-house of strangers.
Achmet's father had been Naybe before, and, of course, the sovereignty, upon the present incumbent's death, was to devolve on him. And what made this less invidious, the sons of the present Naybe had all been swept away by the small-pox; so that Achmet was really, at any rate, to be considered as his son and successor. Add to this, the Naybe had received a stroke of the palsy, which deprived him of the use of one of his sides, and greatly impeded his activity, unless in his schemes of doing ill; but I could not perceive, when intending mischief, that he laboured under any infirmity. All this gave Achmet sovereign influence, and it was therefore agreed the rest should be only spectators, and that my fate should be left to him.
Achmet was about twenty-five years of age, or perhaps younger; his stature near five-feet four; he was feebly made, a little bent forward or stooping, thin, long-faced, long-necked; small, but tolerably well-limbed, agile and active enough in his motions, though of a figure by no means athletic; he had a broad forehead, thick black eye-brows, black eyes, an aquiline nose, thin lips, and fine teeth; and, what is very rare in that country, and much desired, a thick curled beard. This man was known to be very brave in his person, but exceedingly prone to anger. A near relation to the Baharnagash having said something impertinent to him while he was altering the pin of his tent, which his servant had not placed to his mind, in a passion he struck the Abyssinian with a wooden mallet, and killed him on the spot and although this was in the Abyssinian territory, by getting nimbly on horseback, he arrived at Arkeeko without being intercepted, though closely pursued almost to the town.
It was the 19th of September 1769 when we arrived at Masuah, very much tired of the sea, and desirous to land. But, as it was evening, I thought it adviseable to sleep on board all night, that we might have a whole day (as the first is always a busy one) before us, and receive in the night any intelligence from friends, who might not choose to venture to come openly to see us in the day, at least before the determination of the Naybe had been heard concerning us.
Mahomet Gibberti, a man whom we had perfectly secured, and who was fully instructed in our suspicions as to the Naybe, and the manner we had resolved to behave to him, went ashore that evening; and, being himself an Abyssinian, having connections in Masuah, dispatched that same night to Adowa, capital of Tigrè, those letters which I knew were to be of the greatest importance; giving our friend Janni (a Greek, confidential servant of Michael, governor of Tigrè) advice that we were arrived, had letters of Metical Aga to the Naybe and Ras Michael; as also Greek letters to him from the Greek patriarch of Cairo, a duplicate of which I sent by the bearer. We wrote likewise to him in Greek, that we were afraid of the Naybe, and begged him to send to us instantly some man of confidence, who might protect us, or at least be a spectator of what should befal us. We, besides, instructed him to advise the court of Abyssinia, that we were friends of Metical Aga, had letters from him to the king and the Ras, and distrusted the Naybe of Masuah.
Mahomet Gibberti executed this commission in the instant, with all the punctuality of an honest man, who was faithful to the instructions of his master, and was independent of every person else. He applied to Mahomet Adulai, (a person kept by Ras Michael as a spy upon the Naybe, and in the same character by Metical Aga); and Adulai, that very night, dispatched a trusty messenger, with many of whom he was constantly provided. This runner, charged with our dispatches, having a friend and correspondent of his own among the Shiho, passed, by ways best known to himself, and was safely escorted by his own friends till the fifth day, when he arrived at the customhouse of Adowa, and there delivered our dispatches to our friend Janni.
At Cairo, as I have already mentioned, I met with my friend father Christopher, who introduced me to the Greek patriarch, Mark. This patriarch had told me, that there were of his communion, to the number of about twenty, then in Abyssinia; some of them were good men and becoming rich in the way of trade; some of them had fled from the severity of the Turks, after having been detected by them in intimacy with Mahometan women; but all of them were in a great degree of credit at the court of Abyssinia, and possessing places under government greatly beyond his expectation. To these he wrote letters, in the manner of bulls from the pope, enjoining them, with regard to me, to obey his orders strictly, the particulars of which I shall have occasion to speak of afterwards.
Janni, then at Adowa in Tigré, was a man of the first character for good life and morals. He had served two kings of Abyssinia with great reputation, and Michael had appointed him to the customhouse at Adowa, to superintend the affairs of the revenue there, while he himself was occupied at Gondar. To him the patriarch gave his first injunctions as to watching the motives of the Naybe, and preventing any ill-usage from him, before the notice of my arrival, at Masuah should reach Abyssinia.
Mahomet Adulai dispatched his messenger, and Mahomet Gibberti repaired that same night to the Naybe at Arkeeko, with such diligence that lulled him asleep as to any prior intelligence, which otherwise he might have thought he was charged to convey to Tigrè; and Mahomet Gibberti; in his conversation that night with Achmet, adroitly confirmed him in all the ideas he himself had first started in council with the Naybe. He told him the manner I had been received at Jidda, my protection at Constantinople, and the firman which I brought from the grand signior, the power of my countrymen in the Red Sea and India, and my personal friendship with Metical Aga. He moreover insinuated, that the coasts of the Red Sea would be in a dangerous situation if any thing happened to me, as both the sherriffe of Mecca and emperor of Constantinople would themselves, perhaps, not interfere, but would most certainly consider the place, where such disobedience should be shewn to their commands, as in a state of anarchy, and therefore to be abandoned to the just correction of the English, if injured.
On the 20th, a person came from Mahomet Gibberti to conduct me on shore. The Naybe himself was still at Arkeeko, and Achmet therefore had come down to receive the duties of the merchandise on board the vessel which brought me. There were two elbow-chairs placed in the middle of the market-place. Achmet sat on one of them, while the several officers opened the bales and packages before him; the other chair on his left hand was empty.
He was dressed all in white, in a long Banian habit of muslin, and a close-bodied frock reaching to his ancles, much like the white frock and petticoat the young children wear in England. This species of dress did not, in any way, suit Achmet's shape or size; but, it seems, he meant to be in gala. As soon as I came in sight of him, I doubled my pace: Mahomet Gibberti's servant whispered to me, not to kiss his hand; which indeed I intended to have done. Achmet stood up, just as I arrived within arm's length of him; when we touched each other's hands, carried our fingers to our lips, then laid our hands cross our breasts: I pronounced the salutation of the inferior Salam Alicum! Peace be between us; to which he answered immediately, Alicum Salam! There is peace between us. He pointed to the chair, which I declined; but he obliged me to sit down.
In these countries, the greater honour that is shewn you at first meeting, the more considerable present is expected. He made a sign to bring coffee directly, as the immediate offering of meat or drink is an assurance your life is not in danger. He began with an air that seemed rather serious: "We have expected you here some time ago, but thought you had changed your mind, and was gone to India."—"Since sailing from Jidda, I have been in Arabia Felix, the Gulf of Mocha, and crossed last from Loheia."—"Are you not afraid," said he, "so thinly attended, to venture upon these long and dangerous voyages.?"—"The countries where I have been are either subject to the emperor of Constantinople, whose firman I have now the honour to present you, or to the regency of Cairo, and port of Janizaries—here are their letters—or to the sherriffe of Mecca. To you, Sir, I present the sherriffe's letters; and, besides these, one from Metigal Aga your friend, who, depending on your character, assured me this alone would be sufficient to preserve me from ill-usage so long as I did no wrong: as for the dangers of the road from banditti and lawless persons, my servants are indeed few, but they are veteran soldiers, tried and exercised from their infancy in arms, and I value not the superior number of cowardly and disorderly persons."
He then returned me the letters, saying, "You will give these to the Naybe to-morrow; I will keep Metical's letter, as it is to me, and will read it at home." He put it accordingly in his bosom; and our coffee being done, I rose to take my leave, and was presently wet to the skin by deluges of orange flower-water showered upon me from the right and left, by two of his attendants, from silver bottles.
A very decent house had been provided; and I had no sooner entered, than a large dinner was sent us by Achmet, with a profusion of lemons, and good fresh water, now become one of the greatest delicacies in life; and, instantly after, our baggage was all sent unopened; with which I was very well-pleased, being afraid they might break something in my clock, telescopes, or quadrant, by the violent manner in which they satisfy their curiosity.
Late at night I received a visit from Achmet; he was then in an undress, his body quite naked, a barracan thrown loosely about him; he had a pair of calico drawers; a white coul, or cotton cap, upon his head, and had no sort of arms whatever. I rose up to meet him, and thank him for his civility in sending my baggage; and when I observed, besides, that it was my duty to wait upon him, rather than suffer him to give himself this trouble, he took me by the hand, and we sat down on two cushions together.
"All that you mentioned," said he, "is perfectly good and well; but there are questions that I am going to ask you which are of consequence to yourself. When you arrived at Jidda, we heard it was a great man, a son or brother of a king, going to India. This was communicated to me, and to the Naybe, by people that saw every day the respect paid to you by the captains of the ships at Jidda. Metical Aga, in his private letter delivered to the Naybe last night by Mahomet Gibberti, among many unusual expressions, said, The day that any accident befals this person will be looked upon by me always as the most unfortunate of my life. Now, you are a Christian, and he is a Mussulman, and these are expressions of a particular regard not used by the one when writing of the other. He says, moreover, that, in your firman, the grand signior stiles you Bey-Adzé, or Most Noble. Tell me, therefore, and tell me truly, Are you a prince, son, brother, or nephew of a king? Are you banished from your own country; and what is it that you seek in our's, exposing yourself to so many difficulties and dangers?"
"I am neither son, nor brother of a king. I am a private Englishman. If you, Sidi Achmet, saw my prince, the eldest, or any son of the king of England, you would then be able to form a juster idea of them, and that would for ever hinder you from confounding them with common men like me. If they were to choose to appear in this part of the world, this little sea would be too narrow for their ships: Your sun, now so hot, would be darkened by their sails; and when they fired their terrible wide-mouthed cannon, not an Arab would think himself safe on the distant mountains, while the houses on the shore would totter and fall to the ground as if shaken to pieces by an earthquake. I am a servant to that king, and an inferior one in rank; only worthy of his attention from my affection to him and his family, in which I do not acknowledge any superior. Yet so far your correspondents say well: My ancestors were the kings of the country in which I was born, and to be ranked among the greatest and most glorious that ever bore the crown and title of King. This is the truth, and nothing but the truth. I may now, I hope, without offence, ask, To what does all this information tend?"
"To your safety," said he, "and to your honour, as long as I command in Masuah;—to your certain death and destruction if you go among the Abyssinians; a people without faith, covetous, barbarous, and in continual war, of which nobody yet has been able to discover the reason. But of this another time."
"Be it so," said I. "I would now speak one word in secret to you, (upon which every body was ordered out of the room): All that you have told me this evening I already know; ask me not how: but, to convince you that it is truth, I now thank you for the humane part you took against these bloody intentions others had of killing and plundering me on my arrival, upon Abdelcader governor of Dahalac's information that I was a prince, because of the nour that the English ships paid me, and that I was loaded with gold."
Ullah Acbar! (in great surprise) "Why, you was in the middle of the sea when that passed."
"Scarcely advanced so far, I believe; but your advice was wise, for a large English ship will wait for me all this winter in Jidda, till I know what reception I meet here, or in Abyssinia. It is a 64 gun ship; its name, the Lion; its captain, Thomas Price. I mention these particulars, that you may inquire into the truth. Upon the first news of a disaster he would come here, and destroy Arkeeko, and this island, in a day. But this is not my business with you at present.
It is a very proper custom, established all over the east, that strangers should make an acknowledgement for the protection they receive, and trouble they are to occasion. I have a present for the Naybe, whose temper and disposition I know perfectly,—(Ullah Acbar! repeats Achmet).—I have likewise a present for you, and for the Kaya of the Janizaries; all these I shall deliver the first day I see the Naybe; but I was taught, in a particular manner, to repose upon you as my friend, and a small, but separate acknowledgement, is due to you in that character. I was told, that your agent at Jidda had been inquiring everywhere among the India ships, and at the broker of that nation, for a pair of English pistols, for which he offered a very high price; though, in all probability, those you would get would have been but ordinary, and much used; now I have brought you this separate present, a pair of excellent workmanship; here they are: my doubt, which gave rise to this long private conversation, was, whether you would take them home yourself; or, if you have a confidential servant that you can trust, let him take them, so that it be not known; for if the Naybe"
"I understand every thing that you say, and every thing that you would say. Though I do not know men's hearts that I never saw, as you do, I know pretty well the hearts of those with whom I live. Let the pistols remain with you, and shew them to nobody till I send you a man to whom you may say any thing, and he shall go between you and me; for there is in this place a number of devils, not men; but, Ullab Kerim, God is great. The person that brings you dry dates in an Indian handkerchief, and an earthen bottle to drink your water out of, give him the pistols. You may send by him to me any thing you choose. In the mean time, sleep sound, and fear no evil; but never be persuaded to trust yourself to the Cafrs of Habesh at Masuah."
On the 20th of September a female slave came and brought with her the proper credentials, an Indian handkerchief full of dry dates, and a pot or bottle of unvarnished potter's earth, which keeps the water very cool. I had some doubt upon this change of sex; but the slave, who was an Abyssinian girl, quickly undeceived me, delivered the dates, and took away the pistols destined for Achmet, who had himself gone to his uncle, the Naybe, at Arkeeko.
On the 21st, in the morning, the Naybe came from Arkeeko. The usual way is by sea; it is about two leagues straight across the bay, but somewhat more by land. The passage from the main is on the north side of the island, which is not above a quarter of a mile broad; there is a large cistern for rain-water on the land-side, where you embark across. He was poorly attended by three or four servants, miserably mounted, and about forty naked savages on foot, armed with short lances and crooked knives.
The drum beat before him all the way from Arkeeko to Masuah. Upon entering the boat, the drum on the land-side ceased, and those, in what is called the Castle of Masuah, began. The castle is a small clay hut, and in it one swivel-gun, which is not mounted, but lies upon the ground, and is fired always with great trepidation and some danger. The drums are earthen jars, such as they send butter in to Arabia; the mouths of which are covered with a skin, so that a stranger, on seeing two or three of these together, would run a great risk of believing them to be jars of butter, or pickles, carefully covered with oiled parchment.
All the procession was in the same stile. The Naybe was dressed in an old shabby Turkish habit, much too short for him, and seemed to have been made about the time of Sultan Selim. He wore also upon his head a Turkish cowke, or high-cap, which scarcely admitted any part of his head. In this dress, which on him had a truly ridiculous appearance, he received the caftan, or investiture, of the island of Masuah; and, being thereby representative of the grand signior, consented that day to be called Omar Aga, in honour of the commission.
Two standards of white silk, striped with red, were carried before him to the mosque, from whence he went to his own house to receive the compliments of his friends, in the afternoon of that day I went to pay my respects to him, and found him sitting on a large wooden elbow-chair, at the head of two files of naked savages, who made an avenue from his chair to the door. He had nothing upon him but a coarse cotton shirt, so dirty that, it seemed, all pains to clean it again would be thrown away, and so short that it scarcely reached his knees. He was very tall and lean, his colour black, had a large mouth and nose; in place of a beard, a very scanty tuft of grey hairs upon the point of his chin; large, dull, and heavy eyes; a kind of malicious, contemptuous, smile on his countenance; he was altogether of a most stupid and brutal appearance. His character perfectly corresponded with his figure, for he was a man of mean abilities, cruel to excess, avaricious, and a great drunkard.I presented my firman.—The greatest basha in the Turkish empire would have risen upon seeing it, kissed it, and carried it to his forehead; and I really expected that Omar Aga, for the day he bore that title, and received the caftan, would have shewn this piece of respect to his master. But he did not even receive it into his hand, and pushed it back to me again, saying, "Do you read it all to me word for word."—"I told him it was Turkish; that I had never learned to read a word of that language."—"Nor I either," says he; "and I believe I never shall." I then gave him Metical Aga's letter, the Sherriffe's, Ali Bey's, and the Janizaries letters. He took them all together in both his hands, and laid them unopened beside him, saying, "You should have brought a moullah along with you. Do you think I shall read all these letters? Why, it would take me a month." And he glared upon me, with his mouth open, so like an idiot, that it was with the utmost difficulty I kept my gravity, only answering, "Just as you please; you know best."
He affected at first not to understand Arabic; spoke by an interpreter in the language of Masuah, which is a dialect of Tigré; but seeing I understood him in this, he spoke Arabic, and spoke it well.
A silence followed this short conversation, and I took the opportunity to give him his present, with which he did not seem displeased, but rather that it was below him to tell me so; for, without saying a word about it, he asked me, where the Abuna of Habesh was? and why he tarried so long? I said, The wars in Upper Egypt had made the roads dangerous; and, it was easy to see, Omar longed much to settle accounts with him.
I took my leave of the Naybe, very little pleased with my reception, and the small account he seemed to make of my letters, or of myself; but heartily satisfied with having sent my dispatches to Janni, now far out of his power.
The inhabitants of Masuah were dying of the small-pox, so that there was fear the living would not be sufficient to bury the dead. The whole island was filled with shrieks and lamentations both night and day. They at last began to throw the bodies into the sea, which deprived us of our great support, fish, of which we had ate some kinds that were excellent. I had suppressed my character of physician, fearing I should be detained by reason of the multitude of sick.
On the 15th of October the Naybe came to Masuah, and dispatched the vessel that brought me over; and, as if he had only waited till this evidence was out of the way, he, that very night, sent me word that I was to prepare him a handsome present. He gave in a long list of particulars to a great amount, which he desired might be divided into three parcels, and presented three several days. One was to be given him as Naybe of Arkeeko; one as Omar Aga, representative of the grand signior; and one for having passed our baggage gratis and unvisited, especially the large quadrant. For my part, I heartily wished he had seen the whole, as he would not have set great value on the brass and iron.
As Achmet's assurance of protection had given me courage, I answered him, That, having a firman of the grand signior, and letters from Metical Aga, it was mere generosity in me to give him any present at all, either as Naybe or Omar Aga, and I was not a merchant that bought and sold, nor had merchandise on board, therefore had no customs to pay. Upon this he sent for me to his house, where I found him in a violent fury, and many useless words passed on both sides. At last he peremptorily told me, That unless I had 300 ounces of gold ready to pay him on Monday, upon his landing from Arkeeko, he would confine me in a dungeon, without light, air, or meat, till the bones came through my skin for want.
An uncle of his, then present, greatly aggravated this affair. He presented that the Naybe might do what he pleased with his presents; but that he could not in any shape give away the present due to the janizaries, which was 40 ounces of gold, or 400 dollars; and this was all they contented themselves to take, on account of the letter I brought from the port of janizaries at Cairo; and in this they only taxed me the sum paid by the Abuna for his passage through Masuah. I answered firmly,—"Since you have broken your faith with the grand signior, the government of Cairo, the basha at Jidda, and Metical Aga, you will no doubt do as you please with me; but you may expect to see the English man of war, the Lion, before Arkeeko, some morning by day-break."—"I should be glad," said the Naybe, "to see that man at Arkeeko or Masuah that would carry as much writing from you to Jidda as would lie upon my thumb nail; I would strip his shirt off first, and then his skin, and hang him before your door to teach you more wisdom."—"But my wisdom has taught me to prevent all this. My letter is already gone to Jidda; and if, in twenty days from this, another letter from me does not follow it, you will see what will arrive. In the mean time, I here announce it to you, that I have letters from Metical Aga and the Sherriffe of Mecca, to Michael Suhul governor of Tigrè, and the king of Abyssinia. I, therefore, would wish that you would leave off these unmanly altercations, which serve no sort of purpose, and let me continue my journey." The Naybe said in a low voice to himself, "What, Michael too! then go your journey, and think of the ill that's before you." I turned my back without any answer or salutation, and was scarce arrived at home when a message came from the Naybe, desiring I would send him two bottles of aquavitæ. I gave the servant two bottles of cinnamon-water, which he refused till I had first tasted them; but they were not agreeable to the Naybe, so they were returned.All this time I very much wondered what was become of Achmet, who, with Mahomet Gibberti, remained at Arkeeko: at last I heard from the Naybe's servant that he was in bed, ill of a fever. Mahomet Gibberti had kept his promise to me; and, saying nothing of my skill in physic, or having medicines with me, I sent, however, to the Naybe to desire leave to go to Arkeeko. He answered me surlily, I might go if I could find a boat; and, indeed, he had taken his measures so well that not a boat would stir for money or persuasion.
On the 29th of October the Naybe came again from Arkeeko to Masuah, and, I was told, in very ill-humour with me. I soon received a message to attend him, and found him in a large waste room like a barn, with about sixty people with him. This was his divan, or grand council, with all his janizaries and officers of state, all naked, assembled in parliament. There was a comet that had appeared a few days after our arrival at Masuah, which had been many days visible in Arabia Felix, being then in its perihelion; and, after passing its conjunction with the sun, it now appeared at Masuah early in the evening, receding to its aphelion. I had been observed watching it with great attention; and the large tubes of the telescopes had given offence to ignorant people.
The first question the Naybe asked me was, What that comet meant, and why it appeared? And before I could answer him, he again said, "The first time it was visible it brought the small-pox, which has killed above 1000 people in Masuah and Arkeeko. It is known you conversed with it every night at Loheia; it has now followed you again to finish the few that remain, and then you are to carry it into Abyssinia. What have you to do with the comet?"
Without giving me leave to speak, his brother Emir Achmet then said, That he was informed I was an engineer going to Michael, governor of Tigré, to teach the Abyssinians to make cannon and gunpowder; that the first attack was to be against Masuah. Five or six others spoke much in the same strain; and the Naybe concluded by saying, That he would send me in chains to Constantinople, unless I went to Hamazen, with his brother Emir Achmet, to the hot-wells there, and that this was the resolution of all the janizaries; for I had concealed my being a physician.
I had not yet opened my mouth. I then asked, If all these were janizaries; and where was their commanding officer? A well-looking, elderly man answered, "I am Sardar of the janizaries."—"If you are Sardar, then," said I, "this firman orders you to protect me. The Naybe is a man of this country, no member of the Ottoman empire." Upon my first producing my firman to him, he threw it aside like waste-paper. The greatest Vizir in the Turkish dominions would have received it standing, bowed his head to the ground, then kissed it, and put it upon his forehead. A general murmur of approbation followed, and I continued,—"Now I must tell you my resolution is, never to go to Hamazen, or elsewhere, with Emir Achmet. Both he and the Naybe have shewed themselves my enemies; and, I believe, that to send me to Hamazen is to rob and murder me out of sight."—"Dog of a Christian!" says Emir Achmet, putting his hand to his knife, "if the Naybe was to murder you, could he not do it here now this minute?"—"No," says the man, who had called himself Sardar, "he could not; I would not suffer any such thing. Achmet is the stranger's friend, and recommended me to-day to see no injury done him; he is ill, or would have been here himself."
"Achmet," said I, "is my friend, and fears God; and were I not hindered by the Naybe from seeing him, his sickness before this would have been removed. I will go to Achmet at Arkeeko, but not to Hamazen, nor ever again to the Naybe here in Masuah. Whatever happens to me must befal me in my own house. Confider what a figure a few naked men will make the day that my countrymen ask the reason of this either here or in Arabia." I then turned my back, and went out without ceremony. "A brave man!" I heard a voice say behind me, "Wallah Englese! True English, by G—d!" I went away exceedingly disturbed, as it was plain my affairs were coming to a crisis for good or for evil. I observed, or thought I observed, all the people shun me. I was, indeed, upon my guard, and did not wish them to come near me; but, turning down into my own gateway, a man passed close by me, saying distinctly in my ear, though in a low voice, first in Tigré and then in Arabic, "Fear nothing, or, Be not afraid." This hint, short as it was, gave me no small courage.
I had scarcely dined, when a servant came with a letter from Achmet at Arkeeko, telling me how ill he had been, and how sorry he was that I refused to come to see him, as Mahomet Gibberti had told him I could help him. He desired me also to keep the bearer with me in my house, and give him charge of the gate till he could come to Masuah himself.
I soon saw the treachery of the Naybe. He had not, indeed, forbid me to go and see his nephew, but he had forbid any boat to carry me; and this I told the servant, appealing to the Sardar for what I said in the divan of my willingness to go to Arkeeko to Achmet, though I positively refused to go to Hamazen. I begged the servant to stop for a moment, and go to the Sardar who was in the castle, as I had been very essentially obliged to him for his interposition at a very critical time, when there was an intention to take away my life. I sent him a small present by Achmet's servant, who delivered the message faithfully, and had heard all that had passed in the divan. He brought me back a pipe from the Sardar in return for my present, with this message, That he had heard of my countrymen, though he had never seen them; that he loved brave men, and could not see them injured; but Achmet being my friend, I had no need of him. That night he departed for Arkeeko, desiring us to shut the door, and leaving us another man, with orders to admit nobody, and advising us to defend ourselves if any one offered to force entrance, be they who they would, for that nobody had business abroad in the night.
I now began to resume my confidence, seeing that Providence had still kept us under his protection; and it was not long when we had an opportunity to exercise this confidence. About 12 o'clock at night a man came to the door, and desired to be admitted; which request was refused without any ceremony. Then came two or three more, in the name of Achmet, who were told by the servant that they would not be admitted. They then asked to speak with me, and grew very tumultuous, pressing with their backs against the door. When I came to them, a young man among them said he was son to Emir Achmet, and that his father and some friends were coming to drink a glass of aracky (so they call brandy) with me. I told him my resolution was not to admit either Emir Achmet, or any other person at night, and that I never drank aracky.
They attempted again to force open the door, which was strongly barricaded. But as there were cracks in it, I put the point of a sword through one of them, desiring them to be cautious of hurting themselves upon the iron spikes. Still they attempted to force open the door, when the servant told them, that Achmet, when he left him the charge of that door, had ordered us to fire upon them who offered to force an entrance at night. A voice asked him, Who the devil he was? The servant answered, in a very spirited manner, That he had greater reason to ask who they were, as he took them for thieves, about whose names he did not trouble himself. "However," says he, "mine is Abdelcader, (the son of somebody else whom I do not remember). Now you know who I am, and that I do not fear you; and you, Yagoube, if you do not fire upon them, your blood be upon your own head. The Sardar from the castle will soon be up with the rest." I ordered then a torch to be brought, that they might have a view of us through the cracks of the door; but Abdelcader's threat being fully sufficient, they retired, and we heard no more of them.
It was the 4th of November when the servant of Achmet returned in a boat from Arkeeko, and with him four janizaries. He was not yet well, and was very desirous to see me. He suspected either that he was poisoned or bewitched, and had tried many charms without good effect. We arrived at Arkeeko about eleven, passed the door of the Naybe without challenge, and found Achmet in his own house, ill of an intermitting fever, under the very worst of regimens.He was much apprehensive that he should die, or lose the use of his limbs as Emir Achmet had done: the same woman, a Shiho, and a witch, was, he said, the occasion of both. "If Achmet, your uncle, had lost the use of his tongue, said I, it would have saved him a great deal of improper discourse in the divan." His head ached violently, and he could only say, "Aye! aye! the old miscreant knew I was ill, or that would not have happened." I gave Achmet proper remedies to ease his pains and his stomach, and the next morning began with bark.
This medicine operates quickly here; nay, even the bark that remains, after the stronger spiritous tincture is drawn from it, seems to answer the purpose very little worse than did the first. I staid here till the 6th in the morning, at which time he was free from the fever. I left him, however, some doses to prevent its return; and he told me, on the 7th, he would come to Masuah with boats and men to bring us with our baggage to Arkeeko, and free us from the bondage of Masuah.
Upon the 6th, in the morning, while at breakfast, I was told that three servants had arrived from Tigrè; one from Janni, a young man and slave, who spoke and wrote Greek perfectly; the other two servants were Ras Michael's, or rather the king's, both wearing the red short cloak lined and turned up with mazarine-blue, which is the badge of the king's servant, and is called shalaka. Ras Michael's letters to the Naybe were very short. He said the king Hatzè Hannes's health was bad, and wondered at hearing that the physician, sent to him by Metical Aga from Arabia, was not forwarded to him instantly at Gondar, as he had heard of his being arrived at Masuah some time before. He ordered the Naybe, moreover, to furnish me with necessaries, and dispatch me without loss of time; although all the letters were the contrivances of Janni, his particular letter to the Naybe was in a milder stile. He expressed the great necessity the king had for a physician, and how impatiently he had waited his arrival. He did not say that he had heard any such person was yet arrived at Masuah, only wished he might be forwarded without delay as soon as he came.To us Janni sent a message by a servant, bidding us a hearty welcome, aknowledging the receipt of the patriarch's letter, and advising us, by all means, to come speedily to him, for the times were very unsettled, and might grow worse.
In the afternoon I embarked for Masuah. At the shore I received a message from the Naybe to come and speak to him; but I returned for answer, It was impossible, as I was obliged to go to Masuah to get medicines for his nephew, Achmet.
- ↑ Supposed from its name to have been formerly the capital of the Dobas.