municate you, Tecla Haimanout. And he was going on,
■when Tecla Mariam, fon o f the k in g ’s fecretary, a young
man, ftruck the Acab Saat fo violently on the face, that it
made his mouth guffi out with blood, faying, at fame time,
What ! fuffer this in the k in g ’s prefence ? Upon w hich
both Chremation and the Acab Saat were hurried out o f
the tent without being fuffered to fay mo re ; indeed the
blow feemed to have fo much difconcerted Abba Salama,
that it deprived him for a time o f the power o f fpeak-
ing.
In Abyffinia it is death to ilrike, or lift the hand to
flrike , before the k in g ; but in this cafe the provocation was
fo great, fo fudden, and unexpected, and the youth’s worth
and the infolence o f the offender fo apparent to every body,
that a flight reproof was ordered to be given-to Tecla Mariam
(by his father only) but he loft no favour for what he
had done, either with the King, Michael, or the people.
W h en the two prifoners were carried before the Ras,
he refufed to fee them, but loaded them with irons, and
committed them to' clofe cuftody. That n ight a council was
held in the king’ s tent, but it broke early up ; afterwards
another before the Ras, which fat much later ; the reafon
was, that thé firft, where the k in g was, only arranged the
bulinefs o f to-morrow, while that before the Ras confidered
all that was to be done or lik e ly to happen at any time.
On the 24th the drum beat, and the army was on their
march by dawn o f day: they halted a little after palling the
rou gh ground, and then doubled their ranks, and formed
into clofe order o f battle, the k in g leading the center; a
few
few o f his black horfe were in two lines immediately before
him,their fpears pointed upwards, his officers and nobility on
each fide, and behind him the reft o f the horfe, diftributed
in the wings, excepting prince G eorge and Ay to Confu, w h o ,
with two flriall bodies, not exceeding a hundred, fcoured,
the cpuntry, fometimes in the front, and fbmetimes in the
flank. I do not remember who commanded-the reft o f the
army, my mind was otherwife en g a g ed ; they marched clofe
and in great order, and every one trembled for the fate o f
Gondar. We palled the Mahometan, town, and encamped
upon the river Kahha, in front o f the market-place. As
fbon as we had turned- our faces to the town, our kettledrums
were brought to the front, and, after beating fome
time, two proclamations were made. The firft was, That
all thofe who had flour or barley in quantities, ihould b r in g
it that very day to a fair market, on pain o f having the ir
houfes plundered ; and that all people, foldiers, or others,
who attempted by force to take any provifions without havin
g firft paid fo r them in ready money, Ihould be hanged
upon the fpot. A bench was quickly brought, and fet under
a tree in the middle o f the m a rk e t; a judge appointed to fit
there ; a ftrong guard, and feveral officers placedround him 4
behind him an executioner, and a large coil o f ropes laid,
at his feet. The fecond proclamation was, That everybody
Ihould remain at home in their houfes, otherwife the per-
fon flying, or deferring the town, ihould be reputed a rebel,
his goods confifcated, his houfe burnt, and his family cha-
ftifed at the k in g ’s pleafure for feven years ; fo far was w e ll
and politic.
T here was at Gondar a fort o f mummers,' beingO- a mixture
o f buffoons and ballad-fingers, and pofture-mafters.
* Thefe