As soon as he had heard in how favourable a manner Woodage Asahel had been received, he decamped, taking with him 400 horse and 600 foot, all chosen men, from Maitsha and Damot, and with these he advanced, by forced marches, to Gondar, where he arrived the 2d of November, to the surprise of the whole town and court, for he had already so often promised, and so often broken his word, that nobody pretended to guess more about him till they actually saw him arrived. That same evening he waited on the queen, where he made a short visit; he paid a still shorter to the king, and no business passed at either of these meetings.
The king, Socinios, was now more than ever confirmed in the belief of Asahel's information, because, notwithstanding that Fasil knew perfectly his necessities, and that for seven years he had not paid a farthing to the revenue, he still had not brought either payment, or present of any sort; and, instead of coming with a large army to give battle to Ras Michael, he arrived as in peace with scarce a body guard; and, what seemed to put the matter beyond all doubt, the very night of his arrival, upon coming from his audience, he set Welleta Selassé at liberty, and sent him to Tigrè to his uncle Ras Michael, loaded with many presents, and with every mark of respect. There were, however, about Socinios some people of wisdom enough to counsel him to take no notice of this behaviour of Fasil, which seemed to favour strongly of defiance; and he was wise enough for a short time to follow their advice. As he had, by fair means, gained Woodage Asahel, he thought he might, by pursuing the same conduct, succeed with Fasil also.
