be pleafant, and I do affure yon it muft be very pernicious*
to your health, i f there was nothing e tfe in it. At the battle,
o f Fagitta,, though you had no intention to retreat, yet you»;
went half a day backward) to higher ground, and purer
air, to avoid the ftench o f the field, but here in the city y o u ,
heap up carrion about your houfes,. where, is your.contU
nual refidencpj” .
“ T he Ras has given orders, l'ays- he gravely* to remove •
all the dead bodies before the Epiphany, when we g o down-
to keep that feftival, and waih away all.- this pollution in .
the clear-running water o f the, Kahha :-bur tell me now,:,
Yagoube,', is it really ppfiible that you can take fuch things
as thefe fo much to heart? You are a brave man; we all:
kn ow you are, and have feen i t : we have all blanked y o u ,,
granger as you are in this country*, fear the: little care- you
take o f y o u r fd f ; and yet, about thefe things y o u are as,--
much affected as the., moft 'cowardly-, woman, girl, or cliild
Gouldbe.’W -1 Sir, faid I, I do not know i f I am brave or n o t ; ,
but i f to fee men tortured or murdered, or to live among ;
dead -bodies-without concern, be courage, Lhave it not, not,
defire, to have it r. war ds the profeffion. o f noble minds ; it is,,
a g lorious one ;, it is-, the- fcience and.-occupation; o f kings ;,
and many w ife and m any humane men have dedicated their,
whole life to the. ftudy. o f. it- in, every- coun try ;. it foftens -
men’s manners, by obliging, them to fociety, , toaf f i f t,be-
friend, and even fitve, one, another, though at the ir,own rilk-
and danger. A barbarian o f that profeffion ihould be points
ed at. Obferve Ayto Engedan, .(who came at that very in-,
ftant into the, room), there is a young man, faid I, who, with
the bravery, has. aifo the humanity and gentlenefs o f my
countrymen thatare foldiers.”
E n g e d a n
E n g e d a n fell on his face before the king, as is ufual,
while the k in g went on ferioufly— “ War you want ; do
you, Yagoube? war you ihall have; it is not far diftant,,
and Engedan is dome to tell us how near.” They then went
into a confiderable converfation about Gufho, Powullen, and 5
the preparations they were making, and where they were; ,
with which I ihall not trouble the reader, as 1 ihall have an ■
occafion to fpeak o f the particulars afterwards as they arife. •
“ I want Canfu, fays thè k in g ; I want him to fend his men
o f Ras el Feel to Sennaar, and-to the Baharnagaih to get
horfes and fome coàts o f mail. And what-do you think o f *
fending Yagoube there ? he knows their manners and their
language, and has friends there to whom he is intending to
efcape, without fo much as afking- my leave.”— “ Pardon
me, Sir, faid I ; ,if I have ever entertained that thought, it is -
proof fufficient o f the extreme neceffity 1 am under to go.”
“ sir, fays Engedan, I have rode in the Roceob horfe ; I w ill
do fo again, i f Yagoube commands-them, and w ill ftay with
us till we try the horfe o f Begemdeiv I have eight or - t en-
coats o f mail, which I w ill give you r majefty they belonged
to my f a th e r ,Confu, and I took, them lately from tha t --
thief A bou Barea,: with whom they'were left at-my father’s
death ; but I will, tell your Majefty, I had rather fight naked c
without a coat o f mail;1 than that you fhould fend Yagoube
to Sennaar. to purchase them from thence,.for he w ill never
return.’’
R a s M ic h a e l was now-announcedfand w e made hàfte to >
get away. I would have Confu, Engedan, and your come -
here to-morrow n ight, fays thè k in g , as foon as i t is d a rk ; ;
and do not you, Yagoube, for your life, fpeak one word o f
Sennaar, rill-, you know my will-upon it. -He faid this in the
fterneft