It was the 17th o f May, at night, the attempt had been,
made on the Ras’s iife ; and the 18th was fpent in excommunication
before the Abuna ; and, in the evening, Michael
received intelligence, that Ayto Tésfos, from the mountains
o f Samen, and Heraclius and Samuel Mammo, from Wal-
k a y t and Tzegadé, were both preparing to join the rebels
with a confiderable force. We were now arrived at the fata
l field o f Serbraxos, as we had endeavoured to pafs it, but
in vain ; nothing now remained but to try to which fide
the devil (the father o f lies) had been forced to tell the
truth, or whether he had yet told it to either. Darion, a
principal man o f BelelTen, and Guigarr o f Lafta, joined the
Ras’s army about noon, bringing with them 1200 m en, chiefl
y horfemen, good troops, and they were jo y fu lly received.
A council was "held with all the great officers that even
in g , and the order o f battle fixed upon for next day. Kef-
îa Yafous, with the beft o f the foot from Tigré, with the
k in g ’s houfehold troops, the Shoa horfe, and the Moors o fRas
el Feel, with their libds, ■{in all not amounting to 10,000
men, but the flower o f the army) compofed the left wing,
in the center o f which was the k in g in perfon, the heavyarmed
black horfe before him, and the officers and nobility
furrounding him : Guebra Chriftos, and Kafmati Tesfos
o f Sire, commanded the center, in which was Darion and
Guigarr’s cavalry, for the Lafta men, though o f different
fides, could never be prevailed upon to fight againft one
another, fo inftead o f being with the k in g againft Begemder
and Lafta, they were placed in the center againft Guiho and
Amhara. The right o f the k in g ’s army was commanded
b y Welleta Michael and Billetana Gueta Tecla, oppofed to
the left w ing o f the rebels under Kafmati Ayabdar, who
the left w in g o f the rebels, under Kafmati Ayabdar, who
had lately received large reinforcements from Gojam, by
means o f the Iteghe, who well kn ew him to be an inveterate
enemy to Ras Michael, and one who would never
make peace with him.
I h a v e often heard it ob'ferved by officers o f ikill and experience,
that nothing is more difficult to defcribe than a
battle, and that as many defcriptions as are given o f it, they
generally difagree, and feem as many different battles. To
this I ffiall. add, that I find as great difficulty in g iv in g an
idea o f the ground on which a battle was fought, which
perhaps is nor the cafe with profeffional men ; and though
I defcribe nothing but what I faw, and what my horfe pafll
ed over, ftill I very much doubt i f I can make m y fe lf intelligible
to my readers. The h ill o f Serbraxos was neither
very high nor fteep, unlefs on the north arid eaft, where it
was almoft a precipice. It was riot a mountain joined with
others, as the bed o f a torrent, that ran very rapidly from
Beleflen fouth o f Mariam-Ohha, divided it from thefe
mountains. The weft fide o f it Hoped gently to a large
plain,.which extended to the bririk o f the lake Tzana, arid
Upon this our rear was encamped. The S. W. fide o f this
hill was like the former, and about h a lf a mile from it
came an elbow, o f the river Mariam, fo called from a church
in the plain: on this fide o f the hill our center was encamped
with the king, Abuna, and the princelies ; whilft on the
fouth face (which looked down a valley) was Ras Michael
and the van o f the army t the hill here was confiderably
fteeper, and I have already faid ended with the precipice on
the north. Along the bottom o f this fouth face o f the hill
la y the fmall ftream called Deg-Ohha, which flood in pools
V o l . IV. tut 1 ’ a n d