Chapter X: Book III: Annals of Abyssinia, (8)

The tenth year of his reign, as soon as the weather permitted him, the king went into Gojam to oppose the inroads of the Djawi, a clan of the western or Boren Galla, who then were in possession of the Buco, or royal dignity, among the seven nations. But they had repassed the Nile upon the first news of the king’s march, without having time to waste the country. The king then went to winter in Bizamo, which is south of the Nile, the native country of these Galla, the Djawi.

If this nation, the Galla, has deserved ill of the Abyssinians by the frequent inroads made into their country, they must, however, confess one obligation, that in the end they entirely ruined their ancient enemy, the Mahometan king of Adel, and reduced him to a state of perfect insignificance.

Sertza Denghel then returned with his army into Dembea, where, finding the militia of that province much disaffected by communication with the Moorish soldiers settled among them from Gragnè’s time to this day, and that most of them had in their hearts forsaken the Christian religion, and were all ready to fail in their allegiance, he assembled the greatest part of them without their arms, and, surrounding them with his soldiers, cut them to pieces, to the number of 3000 men.

In the 13th year of his reign, Mahomet king of Adel marched out of his own country with the view of joining the Basha and Baharnagash. But the king, ever watchful over the motions of his enemies, surprised the Baharnagash before his junction either with Mahomet or the basha, and defeated or dispersed his army, obliging him to fly in disguise, with the utmost danger of being taken prisoner, to hide himself with the basha at Dobarwa. He then appointed Darguta, governor of Tigré, an old and experienced officer, giving him the charge of the province, and to watch the basha; and, leaving with him his wounded, (and in their place taking some fresh soldiers from Darguta) he, by forced marches, endeavoured to meet Mahomet, who had not heard of his victory over Isaac; and being informed that the king of Adel was encamped on the hither side of the river Wali, having passed it to join Isaac, the king, by a sudden movement, crossed the river, and came opposite to Mahomet’s quarters, who was then striking his tents, having just heard of the fate of the Baharnagash. Mahomet and his whole army were struck with a panic at this unexpected appearance of the king on the opposite side of the river, which had cut off his retreat to Adel. Fearing, however, there might still be an enemy behind him, and that he should be hemmed in between both, he resolved to pass, but did it in so tumultuous a manner that the king’s army had no trouble but to slaughter those who arrived at the opposite bank. Great part of the cavalry, seeing the fate of their companions at the ford, attempted to pass above and below by swimming: but, though the river was deep and smooth, the banks were high, and many were drowned, not being able to scramble up on the other side. Many were also destroyed by stones, and the lances of Sertza Denghel’s men, from the banks above; some passed, however, joining Mahomet, and leaving the rest of the army to attempt a passage at the ford, crossed with the utmost speed lower down the river without being pursued, and carried the news of their own defeat to Adel.

The whole Moorish army perished this day except the horse, either by the sword or in the river; nor had the Moors received so severe a blow since the defeat of Gragnè by Claudius. The king then decamped, and took post at Zarroder, on the frontiers of Adel, with a design to winter there and lay waste the country, into which he intended to march as soon as the fair weather returned. But it was the misfortune of this great prince, that his enemies were situated at the two most distant extremities of the kingdom. For the Galla attacked Gojam on the west, at the very time he prepared to enter Adel on the east. Without loss of time, however, he traversed the whole kingdom of Abyssinia, and came up with the Boren Galla upon the river Madge, but no action of consequence followed. The Galla, attempting the king’s camp in the night, and finding themselves too weak to carry it, retreated immediately into their own country. While returning to Dembea, he met a party of the Falasha, called Abati, at Wainadega, and entirely destroyed them, so that not one escaped.

The king was now so formidable that no army of the enemy dared to face him, and he obliged the Falasha to give up their king Radaet, whom he banished to Wadge; and the four following years he spent in ravaging the country of his enemies the Galla, in Shat and Bed, and that of the Falasha in Samen and Serkè, where he beat Caliph king of the Falasha, who had succeeded Radaet.

The Galla, in advancing towards Gojam and Damot, had over-run the whole low country between the mountains of Narea and the Nile. The king, desirous to open a communication with a country where there was a great trade, especially for gold, crossed the Nile in his way to that province, the Galla flying everywhere before him. He was received with very great joy by the prince of that country, who looked upon him as his deliverer from those cruel enemies. Here he received many rich presents; more particularly a large quantity of gold, and he wintered at Cutheny in that province, where Abba Hedar his brother died, having been blown up with gun-powder, with his wife and children. The Nareans desired, this year, to be admitted to the Christian faith; and they were converted and baptised by a mission of priests sent by the king for that purpose.

At the time he was rescuing the kingdom of Narea, Cadward Basha, a young officer of merit and reputation, lately come from Constantinople to Dawaro as basha of Masuah, had begun his command with making inroads into Tigré, and driving off a number of the inhabitants into slavery. The king, necessarily engaged at a distance, suffered these injuries with a degree of impatience; and, after having provided for the security of the several countries immediately near him, he marched with his army directly for Woggora, committing every degree of excess in his march, in order to provoke the Falasha to descend from their heights and offer him battle.

A frugal œconomical people, such as the Jews are, could not bear to see their cattle and crops destroyed in so wanton a manner before their very faces. They came, therefore, down in immense numbers to attack the king, one of the most excellent generals Abyssinia ever had, at the head of a small, but veteran army. Geshen, brother of the famous Gideon, was then king of the Jews, and commanded the army of his countrymen. The battle was fought on the plain of Woggora on the 19th of January 1594, with the success that was to be expected. Four thousand of the Jewish army were slain upon the spot; and, among them, Geshen, their unfortunate king and leader.

After this victory, Sertza Denghel marched his army into Kuara, through the country where the Jews had many strong-holds, and received everywhere their submission. Then turning to the left, he came through the country of the Shangalla, called Woombarea, and so to that of the Agows. There he heard that new troubles were meditating in Damot; but the inhabitants of that province were not yet ripe enough to break out into open rebellion.

That he might not, therefore, have two enemies at such a distance from each other upon his hands at once, this year, as soon as the rains were over, he determined to march and attack the basha. The basha was very soon informed of his designs, and as soon prepared to meet them; so that the king found him already in the field, encamped on his own side of the Mareb, but without having committed, till then, any act of hostility. He marched out of his camp, and formed, upon seeing the royal army approach; leaving a sufficient field for the king to draw up in, if he should incline to cross the river, and attack him.

This confident, rather than prudent conduct of the basha, did not intimidate the king, who being used to improve every advantage coolly, and without bravado, embraced this very opportunity his enemy chose to give him. He formed, therefore, on his own side of the Mareb, and passed it in as good order as possible, considering it is a swift stream, and very deep at that season of the year. He halted several times while his men were in the water, to put them again in order, as if he had expected to be attacked the moment he landed on the other side. The basha, a man of knowledge in his profession, who saw this cautious conduct of the king, is said to have cried out, “How unlike he is to what I have heard of his father!” alluding to the general rash behaviour of the late king Menas whilst at the head of his army.

Sertza Denghel having left all his baggage on the other side, and passed the river, drew up his army in the same deliberate manner in which he had crossed the Mareb, and formed opposite to the basha; as if he had been acting under him, and by his orders, availing himself with great attention of all the advantages the ground could afford him. The basha, confident in the superior valour of his troops, thought, now he had got the king between him and the river, that he would easily that day finish Sertza Denghel’s life and reign.

The battle began with the most determined resolution and vigour on both sides. The Abyssinian foot drove back the Turkish infantry; and the king, dismounting from his horse, with his lance and shield in his hand, and charging at their head, animated them to preserve that advantage. On the other hand, the basha, who had soon put to flight part of the Abyssinian horse with whom he had engaged, fell furiously upon the foot commanded by the king, the Turks making a great carnage among them with their sabres, and the affair became but doubtful, when Robel, gentleman of the bed-chamber to the king, who commanded the pike-men on horseback, part of the king’s household troops, seeing his master’s danger, charged the Turkish horse where he saw the basha in person, and, clearing his way, broke his pike upon an officer of the basha who carried the standard immediately before him, and threw him dead at his feet. Being without other arms, he then drew the short crooked knife which the Abyssinians always carry in their girdle, and, pushing up his horse close before the basha could recover from his surprise, he plunged it in his throat, so that he expired instantly. So unlooked-for a spectacle struck a panic into the troops. The Turkish horse first turned their backs, and a general rout followed.

The basha’s body was carried upon a mule out of the field, and struck a terror into all the Mahometans wherever it passed. It no sooner entered Dobarwa than it was obliged to be carried out at the other end of the town. Sertza Denghel was not one that slumbered upon a victory. He entered Dobarwa sword in hand, putting all the Pagans and Mahometans that fell in his way to death, and, in this manner, pursued them to the frontiers of Masuah, leaving many to die for want of water in that desert.

The king, in honour of this brave action performed by Robel, ordered what follows to be writ in letters of gold, and inserted in the records of the kingdom: “Robel, servant to Sertza Denghel, and son to Menetcheli, slew a Turkish basha on horseback with a common knife.”

Sertza Denghel, having thus delivered himself from the most formidable of his enemies, marched through Gojam again into Narea, extirpating, all the way he went, the Galla that obstructed his way to that state. He left an additional number of priests and monks to instruct them in the Christian religion; though there are some historians of this reign who pretend that it was not till this second visit that Narea was converted.

However this may be, victory had everywhere attended his steps, and he was now preparing to chastise the malcontents at Damot, when he was accosted by a priest, famous for his holiness and talent for divination, who warned him not to undertake that war. But the king, expressing his contempt of both the message and messenger, declared his fixed resolution to invade Damot without delay. The priest is said to have limited his advice still further, and to have only begged him to remember not to eat the fish of a certain river in the territory of Giba in the province of Shat. The king, however, flushed with his victory over the Boren Galla, forgot the name of the river and the injunction; and, having ate fish out of this river, was immediately after taken dangerously ill, and died on his return.

The writer of his life says, that the fatal effects of this river were afterwards experienced in the reign of Yasous the Great, at the time in which he wrote, when the king’s whole army, encamped along the sides of this river, were taken with violent sickness after eating the fish caught in it, and that many of the soldiers died. Whether this be really fact or not, I will not take upon me to decide. Whether fish, or any other animal, living in water impregnated with poisonous minerals, can preserve its own life, and yet imbibe a quantity of poison sufficient to destroy the men that should eat it, seems to me very doubtful. Something like this is said to happen in oysters, which are found on copperas beds, or have preparations of copperas thrown upon them to tinge a part of them with green. I do not, however, think it likely, that the creature would live after this metallic dose, or preserve a taste that would make it food for man till he accumulated a quantity sufficient to destroy him.

Sertza Denghel was of a very humane affable disposition, very different from his father Menas. He was stedfast in his adherence to the church of Alexandria, and seemed perfectly indifferent as to the Romish church and clergy. In conversation, he frequently condemned their tenets, but always commended the sobriety and sanctity of their lives. He left no legitimate sons, but many daughters by his wife Mariam Sena; and two natural sons, Za Mariam and Jacob. He had also a nephew called _Za Denghel_, son of his brother Lesana Christos.

It is absolutely contrary to truth, what is said by Tellez and others, that the illegitimate sons have no right to succeed to the crown. There is, indeed, no sort of difference, as may be seen by many examples in the course of this history.

Sertza Denghel at first seemed to have intended his nephew, Za Denghel, to succeed him, a prince who had every good quality; was arrived at an age fit for governing, and had attended him and distinguished himself in great part of his wars. But, being upon his death-bed, he changed his mind, probably at the instigation of the queen and the ambitious nobles, who desired to have the government in their own hands during a long minority. His son Jacob, a boy of seven years old, was now brought into court, and treated as heir-apparent, which everybody thought was but natural and pardonable from the affection of a father.

At last when he found that he was sick to death, the interest and love of his country seemed to overcome even the ties of blood; so that, calling his council together around his bed, he designed his successor in this last speech: ‘As I am sensible I am at the point of death, next to the care of my soul, I am anxious for the welfare of my kingdom. My first idea was to appoint Jacob my son to be successor; and I had done so unless for his youth, and it is probable neither you nor I could have cause to repent it. Considering, however, the state of my kingdom, I prefer its interest to the private affection I bear my son; and do, therefore, hereby appoint Za Denghel my nephew to succeed me, and be your king; and recommend him to you as fit for war, ripe in years, exemplary in the practice of every virtue, and as deserving of the crown by his good qualities, as he is by his near relation to the royal family.’ And with these words the king expired in the end of August 1595, and was buried in the island Roma.

As soon as Sertza Denghel died, the nobility resumed their former resolutions. The very reasons the dying king had given them, why Za Denghel was fitted to reign, were those for the which they were determined to reject him; as they, after so long a reign as the last, were perfectly weary at being kept in their duty, and desired nothing more than an infant king and a long minority: this they found in Jacob.

ZA DENGHEL.

From 1595 to 1604.

_Za Denghel dethroned--Jacob a Minor succeeds--Za Denghel is
restored--Banishes Jacob to Narea--Converted to the Romish
Religion--Battle of Bartcho, and Death of the King._

SERTZA DENGHEL had several daughters, one of whom was married to Kefla Wahad, governor of the province of Tigré, and another to Athanasius, governor of Amhara. These two were the most powerful men then in the kingdom. The empress and her two sons-in-law saw plainly, that the succession of Za Denghel, a man of ripe years, possessed of every requisite for reigning, was to exclude them from any share in government but a subaltern one, for which they were to stand candidates upon their own merits, in common with the rest of the nobility.

Accordingly, no sooner was Sertza Denghel dead, perhaps some time before, but a conspiracy was formed to change the order of succession, and this was immediately executed by order of this triumvirate, who sent a body of soldiers and seized Za Denghel, and carried him close prisoner to Dek, a large island in the lake Tzana, belonging to the queen, where he was kept for some time, till he escaped and hid himself in the wild inaccessible mountains of Gojam, which there form the banks of the Nile. They carried their precautions still further; and subsequent events after shewed, that these were well-grounded. They sent a party of men at the same time to surprise Socinios, but he, sufficiently upon his guard, no sooner saw the fate of his cousin, Za Denghel, than he withdrew himself, but in such a manner that shewed plainly he knew the value of his own pretensions, and was not to be an unconcerned spectator if a revolution was to happen.

In order to understand perfectly the claims of those princes, who were by turns placed on the throne in the bloody war that followed, it will be necessary to know that the emperor David III. had three sons: The eldest was Claudius, who succeeded him in the empire; the history of whose reign we have already given: The second was Jacob, who died a minor before his brother, but left two sons, Tascar and Facilidas: The third son was Menas, called Adamas Segued, who succeeded Claudius his brother in the empire; whose reign we have likewise given in its proper place.

Menas had four sons; Sertza Denghel, called Melec Segued, who succeeded his father in the empire, and whose history we have just now finished; the second Aquieter; the third Abatè; and the fourth, Lesana Christos; whose son was that Za Denghel of whom we were last speaking, appointed to succeed to the throne by his uncle Sertza Denghel, when on his death-bed.

Tascar, the son of Jacob, died a minor; he rebelled against his uncle Menas, in confederacy with the Baharnagash, as we have already seen; and his army being beat by his uncle and sovereign, he was, by his order, thrown over the steep precipice of Lamalmon, and dashed to pieces. Facilidas, the second remaining son of the same minor Jacob, lived many years, possessed great estates in Gojam, and died afterwards in battle, fighting against the Galla, in defence of these possessions.

This Facilidas had a natural son named Socinios, who inherited his father’s possessions; was nephew to Sertza Denghel, and cousin-german to Za Denghel appointed to succeed to the throne; so that Za Denghel being once removed, as Jacob had been postponed, there could be no doubt of Socinios’s claim as the nearest heir-male to David III. commonly called Wanag Segued.

Socinios, from his infancy, had been trained to arms, and had undergone a number of hardships in his uncle’s wars. Part of his estate had been seized, after his father’s death, by men in power, favourites of Sertza Denghel; and he hoped for a complete restitution of them from Za Denghel his cousin, when he should succeed, for these two were as much connected with each other by friendship and affection, as they were by blood. Nor would any step, says the historian, have ever been taken by Socinios towards mounting the throne, had Za Denghel his cousin succeeded, as by right he ought.

In the mean time, he was at the head of a considerable band of soldiers; had assisted Fasa Christos, governor of Gojam, in defeating the Galla, who had over-run that province; and, by his courage and conduct that day, had left a strong impression upon the minds of the troops that he would soon become the most capable and active soldier of his time.

The queen and her two sons-in-law being disappointed in their attempt upon Socinios, were obliged to take the only step that remained in their choice, which was to appoint the infant Jacob[46] king, a child of seven years old, and put him under the tutelage of Ras Athanasius.

The empress Mariam Sena, and her two sons-in-law, had gained to their party Za Selassé, a person of low birth, native of an obscure nation of Pagans, called Guraguè, a man esteemed for bravery and conduct, and beloved by the soldiers; but turbulent and seditious, without honour, gratitude, or regard, either to his word, to his sovereign, or the interests of his country.

Jacob had suffered patiently the direction of those that governed him, so long as the excuse of his minority was a good one. But being now arrived at the age of 17, he began to put in, by degrees, for his share in the direction of affairs; and observing some steps that tended to prolong the government of his tutors, by his own power he banished Za Selassé, the author of them, into the distant kingdom of Narea.

This vigorous proceeding alarmed the empress and her party. They saw that the measure taken by Jacob would presently lead all good men and lovers of their country to support him, and to annihilate their power. They resolved not to wait till this took place, but instantly to restore Za Denghel, whom, with great difficulty, they found hid in the mountains between Gojam and Damot. And, to remove every suspicion in Za Denghel’s breast, Ras Athanasius repaired to the palace, giving Jacob publicly, even on the throne, the most abusive and scurrilous language, calling him an obstinate, stubborn, foolish boy; declaring him degraded from being king, and announcing to his face the coming of Za Denghel to supplant him. Jacob’s behaviour on so unexpected an occasion was not such as Athanasius’s rash speech led to expect. He gave a cool and mild reply to these invectives; but, finding himself entirely in his enemy’s power, without losing a moment, he left his palace in the night, taking the road to Samen, not doubting of safety and protection if he could reach his mother’s relations among those high, rocky mountains.

Fortune at first seemed to favour his endeavours. He arrived at a small village immediately in the neighbourhood of the country to which he was going; but there he was discovered and made prisoner; carried back and delivered to Za Denghel his rival, whom he found placed on his throne.

In all these cases, it is the invariable, though barbarous practice of Abyssinia, to mutilate any such pretender to the throne, by cutting off his nose, ear, hand, or foot, as they shall be inclined the patient should die or live after the operation, it being an established law, that no person can succeed to the throne, as to the priesthood, without being perfect in all his limbs. Za Denghel, as he could not adopt so inhuman a procedure even with a rival, contented himself with only banishing Jacob to Narea.

Ever since that period of Menas’s reign, when Samur, basha of Masuah, had been put in possession of Dobarwa in virtue of a treaty with Isaac Baharnagash, then in rebellion, the Catholic religion was left destitute of all support, the fathers that had remained in Abyssinia being dead, and the entry into that kingdom shut up by the violent animosity of the Turks, and the cruelties they exercised upon all missionaries that fell into their hands. The few Catholics that remained were absolutely deprived of all assistance, when Melchior Sylvanus, an Indian vicar of the church of St Anne at Goa, was pitched upon as a proper person to be sent to their relief. His language, colour, eastern air and manners, seemed to promise that he would succeed, and baffle the vigilance of the Turks.

He arrived at Masuah in 1597, and entered Abyssinia unsuspected; but the power of the Turk being much lessened by the great defeat given them by Sertza Denghel, who slew Cadward Basha, and retook Dobarwa and all its dependencies, as has been already mentioned, a very considerable part of their former dangers, the missionaries might now hope to escape. But there still remained others obstructing the communication with India, which, however, were surmountable, and gave way, as most of the kind do, to prudence, courage, and perseverance.

Accordingly, in the year 1600, Peter Paez, the most capable, as well as most successful missionary that ever entered Ethiopia, arrived at Masuah, after having suffered a long imprisonment, and many other hardships, on his way to that island; and, taking upon him the charge of the Portuguese, relieved Melchior Sylvanus, who returned to India.

Paez, however, did not press on to court as his predecessors, and even his successors constantly did, but, confining himself to the convent of Fremona in Tigré, he first set himself by an invincible application to attain the knowledge of the Geez written language, in which he arrived to a degree of knowledge superior to that of the natives themselves. He then applied to the instruction of youth, keeping a school, where he taught equally the children of the Portuguese, and those of the Abyssinians. The great progress made by the scholars speedily spread abroad the reputation of the master. First of all, John Gabriel, one of the most distinguished officers of the Portuguese, spoke of him in the warmest terms of commendation to Jacob, then upon the throne, who sent to Paez, and ordered his attendance as soon as the rainy season should be over.

In the month of April 1604, Peter, attended only by two of his young disciples, presented himself to the king, who then held his court at Dancaz, where he was received with the same honours as are bestowed upon men of the first rank, to the great discontent of the Abyssinian monks, who easily foresaw that their humiliation would certainly follow this exaltation of Petros; nor were they mistaken. In a dispute held before the king next day, Peter produced the two boys, as more than sufficient to silence all the theologians in Abyssinia. Nor can it ever be doubted, by any who know the ignorance of these brutish priests, but that the victory, in these scholastic disputes, would be fairly, easily, and completely on the side of the children.

Mass was then said according to the usage of the church of Rome, which was followed by a sermon (among the first ever preached in Abyssinia,) but so far surpassing, in elegance and purity of diction, any thing yet extant in the learned language, Geez, that all the hearers began to look upon this as the first miracle on the part of the preacher.

Za Denghel was so taken with it, that, from that instant, he not only resolved to embrace the Catholic religion, but declared this his resolution to several friends, and soon after to Paez himself, under an oath of secrecy that he should conceal it for a time. This oath, prudently exacted from Peter, was as imprudently rendered useless by the zeal of the king himself, who being of too sanguine a disposition to temporize after he was convinced, published a proclamation, forbidding the religious observation of Saturday, or the Jewish sabbath, for ever after. He likewise ordered letters to be wrote to the pope Clement VIII. and to Philip III. king of Spain and Portugal, wherein he offered them his friendship, whilst he requested mechanics to assist, and Jesuits to instruct his people.

These sudden and violent measures were presently known; and every wretch that had, from other causes, the seeds of rebellion sown in his heart, began now to pretend they were only nourished there by a love and attachment to the true religion.

Many of the courtiers followed the king’s example; some as courtiers for the sake of the king’s favour, and meaning to adhere to the religion of Rome no longer than it was a fashion at court, promoted their interest, and exposed them to no danger; others, from their firm attachment to the king, the resolution to support him as their rightful sovereign, and a confidence in his superior judgment, and that he best knew what was most for the kingdom’s advantage in its present distracted state, and for the confirmation of his own power, so intimately connected with the welfare of his people. Few, very few it is believed, adopted the Catholic faith, from that one discourse only, however pure the language, however eloquent the preacher. A hundred years and more had passed without convincing the Abyssinians in general, or without any material proof that they were prepared to be so.

However, the Jesuits have quoted an instance of this instantaneous conversion by the sermon, which, for their credit, I will not omit, though no notice is taken of it in the annals of those times, where it is not indeed to be expected, nor do I mean that it is less credible on this account.

An Abyssinian monk, of very advanced years, came forward to Peter Paez, and said in a loud voice before the king, “Although I have lived to a very great age, without a doubt of the Alexandrian faith, I bless God that he has spared me to this day, and thereby given me an opportunity of choosing a better. The things we knew before, you have so well explained, that they become still more intelligible; and we are thereby confirmed in our belief. Those things that were difficult, and which we could hardly understand, you have made so clear, that we now wonder at our own blindness in not having seen them plainly before. For these benefits which I now confess to have received, I here make my declaration, that it is my stedfast purpose, with the assistance of Almighty God, to live and die in the faith you profess, and have now preached.”

Among those of the court most attached to the king was Laeca Mariam, the inseparable companion of his good and bad fortune, who had followed his master from principles of duty and affection, without designing to throw away a consideration upon what were likely to be the consequences to himself. He was reputed, in his character and abilities as a soldier, to be equal to Za Selassé, but a very different man, compared to him in his qualities of civil life; for he was sober in his general behaviour, sparing in discourse, and much more ready to do a good office than to promise one; very affable and courteous in his manner, and of so humble and unassuming a deportment, that it was thought impossible to be real in a man, who had so often proved his superiority over others upon trial.

This man, a true royalist, was one of those that embraced the Catholic religion that day, probably following the example of the king; and this, in the hands of wicked men their enemies, became very soon a pretence for the murder of both; for Za Selassé, impatient of a rival in any thing, more especially in military knowledge, began to hold seditious assemblies, and especially with the monks, whom he taught to believe what the king’s conduct daily confirmed, that the Alexandrian faith was totally reprobated, and no religion would be tolerated but that of the church of Rome.

Gojam, a province always inveterate against any thing that bore the smallest inclination to the church of Rome, declared against the king; and, before he went to join his associates, the traitor, Za Selassé, in a conference he had with the Abuna Petros, proposed to him to absolve Za Denghel’s subjects and soldiers from their oaths of allegiance to their sovereign. The Abuna, a man of very corrupt and bad life, very hearty in the cause, and an enemy to the king, was staggered at this proposal; not that he was averse to it, because it might do mischief, but because he doubted whether any such effect would follow it as Za Selassé expected; and he, therefore, asked what good he expected from such a novelty? when this traitor assured him, that it would be most efficacious for that very reason, because it was then first introduced: the Abuna forthwith absolved the soldiers and subjects of Za Denghel from their allegiance, declaring the king excommunicated and accursed, together with all those that should support him, or favour his cause.

I must here observe, that, though we are now writing the history of the 17th century, this was the first example of any priest excommunicating his sovereign in Abyssinia, except that of Honorius, who excommunicated Amda Sion for the repeated commission of incest. And the doubt the zealot Abuna Petros had of its effect as being a novelty, which fact the Jesuits themselves attest, shews it was a practice that had not its origin in the church of Alexandria. Neither had these curses of the Abuna any visible effect, till Za Selassé had put himself at the head of an army raised in Gojam. The king was prepared to meet him, and ready to march from Dancaz.

Za Denghel immediately marched out into the plain of Bartcho, and in the way was deserted, first by Ras Athanasius, then by many of his troops; and, by this great desertion in his army, found the first effects of the Abuna’s curses, insomuch, that John Gabriel, a Portuguese officer of the first distinction, advised the king to retire in time, and avoid a battle, by flying to strong-holds for a season, till the present delusion among his subjects should cease. But the king, thinking himself dishonoured by avoiding the defiance of a rebel, resolved upon giving Za Selassé battle, who, being an able general, knew well the danger he would incur by delay.

It was October 13th 1704 that the king, after drawing up his army in order of battle, placing 200 Portuguese, with a number of Abyssinian troops, on the right, took to himself the charge of the left, and called for Peter Paez to give him absolution; but that Jesuit was occupied at a convenient distance in Tigré, by his exorcisms destroying ants, butterflies, mice, locusts, and various other enemies, of much more importance, in his opinion, than the life of a king who had been blindly, but directly conducted to slaughter by his fanatical preachings.

The battle began with great appearance of success. On the right, the Portuguese, led by old and veteran officers, destroyed and overturned every thing before them with their fire-arms: but on the left, where the king commanded, things went otherwise, for the whole of this division fled, excepting a body of nobility, his own officers and companions, who remained with him, and fought manfully in his defence. Above all, the king himself, trained to a degree of excellence in the use of arms, strong and agile in body, in the flower of his age, and an excellent horseman, performed feats of valour that seemed above the power of man: but he and his attendants being surrounded by the whole army of Za Selassé, and decreasing in number, were unable to support any longer such disadvantage.

Laeca Mariam, solicitous only for the king’s safety, charging furiously every one that approached, was thrust through with a lance by a common soldier who had approached him unobserved. The king, desirous only to avenge his death, threw himself like lightning into the opposite squadron, and received a stroke with a lance in his breast, which threw him from his horse on the ground. Grievous as the wound was, he instantly recovered himself, and, drawing his sword, continued to fight with as much vigour as ever. He was now hemmed in by a ring of soldiers, part of whom, afraid of encountering him, remained at a distance, throwing missile weapons without good direction or strength, as if they had been hunting some fierce wild beast. Others, wishing to take him prisoner, abstained from striking him, out of regard to his character and dignity; but the traitor, Za Selassé, coming up at that instant, and seeing the king almost fainting with fatigue, and covered with wounds, pointed his lance, and, spurring his horse, furiously struck him in the middle of the forehead, which blow threw the king senseless to the ground, where he was afterwards slain with many wounds.

The battle ended with the death of Za Denghel; many saw him fall, and more his body after the defeat; but no one chose to be the first that should in any way dispose of it, or care to own that they knew it. It lay in this abject state for three days, till it was buried by three peasants in a corner of the plain, in a little building like a chapel (which I have seen) not above six feet high, under the shade of a very fine tree, in Abyssinia called _sassa_: there it lay till ten years after, when Socinios removed it from that humble mausoleum, and buried it in a monastery called Daga, in the lake Dembea, with great pomp and magnificence.

The grief which the death of Za Denghel occasioned was so universal, and the odium it brought upon the authors of it so great, that neither Za Selassé nor Ras Athanasius dared for a time take one step towards naming a successor, which the fear of Za Denghel, and the uncertainty of victory, had prevented them from doing by common consent before the battle. There was no doubt but that the election would fall upon Jacob, but he was far off, confined in the mountainous country of Caffa in Narea. The distance was great; the particular place uncertain; the way to it lay through deserts, always dangerous on account of the Galla, and often impassable.

JACOB.

From 1604 to 1605.

_Makes Proposals to Socinios, which are rejected--Takes the
Field--Bad Conduct and Defeat of Za Selassé--Battle of Debra
Zeit--Jacob defeated and slain._

During the interim, Socinios appeared in Amhara, not as one offering himself as a candidate to be supported by the strength and interest of others, but like a conqueror at the head of a small but well-disciplined army of veteran troops, ready to compel by force those who should refuse to swear allegiance to him from conviction of his right.

The first step he took was to send Bela Christos, a nobleman of known worth, to Ras Athanasius then in Gojam, stating to him his pretensions to succeed Za Denghel in the kingdom, desiring his assistance with his army, and declaring that he would acknowledge the service done him as soon as it was in his power. Without waiting for an answer, at the head of his little army he passed the Nile, and entered Gojam. He then sent a second message to Ras Athanasius, acquainting him that he was at hand, and ordering him to prepare to receive him as his sovereign.

This abrupt and confident conduct of Socinios very much disconcerted Ras Athanasius. He had as yet concerted nothing with his friend Za Selassé, and it was now late to do it. There was no person then within the bounds of the empire that solicited the crown but Socinios, and he was now at hand, and very much favoured by the soldiers. For these reasons, he thought it best to put a good face upon the matter in his present situation. He, therefore, met Socinios as required, and joined his army, as if it had been his free choice, and saluted him king in the midst of repeated chearful congratulations of both armies now united.

Having succeeded in this to his wish, Socinios lost no time to try the same experiment with Za Selassé, who was then in Dembea, the province of which he was governor. To him he sent this message, “That God by his grace having called him to the throne of his ancestors, he was now on his march to Dembea, where he requested him to prepare his troops to receive him, and dispose them to deserve the favours that he was ready to confer upon all of them.” Za Selassé remained for a while as if thunder-struck by so peremptory an intimation. Of all masters he most wished for Jacob, because, from experience, he thought he could govern him. Of all masters he most feared Socinios, because he knew he possessed capacity and qualities that would naturally determine him to govern alone. After having concerted with his friends, he sent Socinios answer, “That not having till now known any thing of his claims or intentions, he had sent an invitation to Jacob into Narea, whose answer he expected; but that, in case Jacob did not appear, he then would receive Socinios with every mark of duty and affection, and hoped he would grant him the short delay to which he had inadvertently, though innocently, engaged himself.”

This answer did in no shape please Socinios, who dispatched the messenger immediately with this declaration, “That he was already king, and would never cede his right to Jacob, who was deposed and judged unworthy to reign; no nor even to his father Melec Segued, though he should rise again from the grave, and claim the throne he had so long sat upon.”

Za Selasse, easily penetrating that there was no peace in Socinios’s intentions, first imprisoned the messenger, and, instead of another answer, marched instantly with his whole army to surprise him before he had time to take his measures. And in this he succeeded. For Socinios being at that instant overtaken by sickness, and not knowing what trust to put in Athanasius’s army, retired in haste to the mountains of Amhara; while Athanasius also withdrew his troops till he should know upon what terms he stood both with Za Selassé and the king.

Still no return came from Jacob. The winter was nearly past, and not only the soldiers, but people of all ranks began to be weary of this interregnum, and heartily wished for their ancient form of government. They said, That since Jacob did not appear, there could be no reason for excluding Socinios, whose title was undoubted, and who had all the qualities necessary to make a good king.

Za Selasse, seeing this opinion gained ground among his troops, and fearing they might mutiny and leave him alone, made a virtue of necessity: he dispatched an ambassador to acknowledge Socinios as his sovereign, and declare that he was ready to swear allegiance to him. Socinios received this embassy with great apparent complacency. He sent in return a monk, in whom he confided, a person of great worth and dignity, to be his representative, and receive the homage of Za Selassé and his army. On the news of this monk’s approach, Za Selassé sent on his part ten men, the most respectable in his camp, to meet this representative of the king, and conduct him into the camp, where Za Selassé, and all his troops, did homage, and swore allegiance to Socinios. Feasts and presents were now given in the camp, as is usual at the accession of a new king to the throne, and all the army abandoned themselves to joy.

These good tidings were immediately communicated both to Socinios and Ras Athanasius. But, in the midst of this rejoicing, a messenger came from Jacob, informing Za Selassé that he was then in Dembea; that he had conferred upon him the title of Ras and Betwudet, that is, had made him the king’s lieutenant-general throughout the whole empire. Za Selassé, in possession of the height of his wishes, and making an ample distribution among his troops, determined immediately to march and join Jacob in Dembea; but first he wrote privately to the ten men that had accompanied the monk to Socinios, that they should withdraw themselves as suddenly and privately as possible before the coming of Jacob was known. Eight of these were lucky enough to do so; two of them were overtaken in the flight and brought back to Socinios, who ordered them to immediate execution.

Ras Athanasius, seeing the prosperous turn that Jacob’s affairs had taken, renounced his oath to Socinios, and repaired to Jacob at Coga, while Socinios retired into Amhara at the head of a very respectable army, waiting an opportunity to repay Jacob for his ambition, and Athanasius and Za Selassé for their treason and perjury towards him.

Although Jacob was now again seated on the throne, surrounded by the army and great officers of the empire, his mind was always disturbed with the apprehension of Socinios. In order to free himself from this anxiety, he employed Socinios’s mother in an application to her son, with an offer of peace and friendship; promising, besides, that he would give him in property the kingdoms of Amhara, Walaka, and Shoa, and all the lands which his father had ever possessed in any other part of Abyssinia. Socinios shortly answered, “That what God had given him, no man could take from him; that the whole kingdom belonged to him, nor would he ever relinquish any part of it but with his life. He advised Jacob to consider this, and peaceably resign a crown which did not belong to him; and the attempting to keep which, would involve him and his country in a speedy destruction.”

Upon this defiance, seeing Socinios implacable, Jacob took the field, and was followed by Za Selassé. But this proud and insolent traitor, who never could confine himself within the line of his duty, even under a king of his own choosing, would not join his forces with Jacob, but vain-gloriously led a separate army, subject to his orders alone. In this manner, having separate camps, choosing different ground, and sometimes at a considerable distance from each other, they came up with Socinios in Begemder. Jacob advanced so near him that his tent could be distinctly seen from that of Socinios, and, on the morrow, Jacob and Za Selassé, drawing up their armies, offered Socinios battle.

That wise prince saw too well that he was overmatched; and, though he desired a battle as much as Jacob, it was not upon such terms as the present. He declined it, and kept hovering about them as near as possible on the heights and uneven ground, where he could not be forced to fight till it perfectly suited his own interest.

This refusal on the part of Socinios did but increase Za Selassé’s pride. He despised Jacob as a general, and thought that Socinios declining battle was owing only to the apprehension he had of his presence, courage, and abilities. He continued parading with the separate army, perfectly intoxicated with confidence and an imaginary superiority, neglecting all the wholesome rules of war rigidly adhered to by great generals for the sake of discipline, however distant they may be from their enemy.

It was not long before this was told Socinios, who soon saw his advantage in it, and thereupon resolved to fight Za Selassé singly, and watch attentively till he should find him as far as possible from Jacob. Nor did he long wait for the occasion; for Za Selassé, attempting to lead his army through very uneven and stony ground, called _the Pass of Mount Defer_, and at a considerable distance from Jacob, Socinios attacked him while in the pass so rudely, that his army, entangled in broken and unknown ground, was surrounded and almost cut to pieces. Za Selassé, with a few followers, saved themselves by the goodness of their horses, and joined the king, being the first messengers of their own defeat.

Jacob received the news of this misfortune without any apparent concern. On the contrary, he took Za Selassé roundly to task for having lost such an army by his misconduct; and from that time put on a coolness of carriage towards him that could not be bruiked by such a character. He made direct proposals to Socinios to join him, if he could be assured that his services would be well received. Socinios, though he reposed no confidence in one that had changed sides so often, was yet, for his own sake, desirous to deprive his rival of an officer of such credit and reputation with the soldiers. He therefore promised him a favourable reception; and, a treaty being concluded, Socinios marched into Gojam, followed by Jacob, and there was joined by Za Selassé whom Jacob had made governor of that province.

Jacob, not knowing how far this desertion might extend, and to shew Socinios the little value he set upon his new acquisition, immediately advanced towards him, and offered him battle. This was what Socinios very earnestly wished for; but, as his army was much inferior to Jacob’s, he seemed to decline it from motives of fear, till he had found ground proper for his army to engage in with advantage.

Jacob, sensible of the great superiority he had, (historians say it was nearly thirty to one) grew every day more impatient to bring Socinios to an engagement, fearing he might retreat, and thereby prolong the war, which he had no doubt would be finished by the first action. Therefore he was anxious to keep him always in sight, without regarding the ground through which his eagerness led him. Several days the two armies marched side by side in sight of each other, till they came to Debra Tzait, or the Mountain of Olives. There Jacob halted; he then advanced a little further, and seeing Socinios encamped, he did the same in a low and very disadvantageous post on the banks of the river Lebart.

Socinios having now obtained his desire, early in the morning of the 10th of March 1607 fell suddenly upon Jacob cooped up in a low and narrow place, which gave him no opportunity of availing himself of his numbers. Jacob soon found that he was over-reached by the superior generalship of his enemy. Socinios’s troops were so strongly posted, that Jacob’s soldiers found themselves in a number of ambushes they had not foreseen, so that, fighting or flying being equally dangerous to them, his whole army was nearly destroyed in the field, or in the flight, which was most ardently and vigorously followed till night, with little loss on the part of Socinios.