W h i l e their army was thus feparated into two divifioftS,
both in great .confuiion, the king, with his referve, fell fu-
rioully upon them ; and being followed by all the reft o f
th e horfe, they puihed the r ig h t divifion (where Powuflen
•was in perfon) along the plain, but thefe retired, fighting ver
y obftinately, and often rallying. Kefla Yafous faw the great
danger to which the k in g would quickly be expofedby pur-
fuing the troops o f Begemder fo far at a diftance from his
foot, and that they would faon turn upon and overpower
him with numbers, and then furround him. He therefore,
w ith great prefence o f mind, provided for his retreat. He
drew up the heavy-armed horfe which could not gallop,
the Moors o f Ras el Feel, and the foot which were le ft behind,
and which had now recharged their firelocks before
the narrow road, and ordered Guebra Mafcal to refume his
ftation. He then twice, with great earrieftnefs, cried in a
loud voice to the foldiers, The king’s fafety depends upon
you,-Stand firm, or all-is loft. After Which, he galloped, with
a fmall body o f horfe, to join the king, clofely engaged at
a confiderable -diftance: The foot that had purfued, or
were fcattered, now came in by tens and twelves, and joined
the heavy-armed horfe, fo that we began again to fhew a
very good countenance. Among thefe* a common foldier
o f the k in g ’s houfehold, bufied in the vile praftice o f manglin
g and fpoiling the dead, found the red colours o f k in g
Theodoras ly ing upon the field, which he delivered me, upon
promife o f a reward, and which I gave a fervant o f
my own to keep till after the engagement.
At this inftant Guebra 'Mafcal came up from below the
Ibank, leaping and flourifhing his gun about his head, and
Crying, juft before my horfe, “ Now, Yagoube,ftand firm, if
i you
y ou are a man. “ Look at me, you drunken flave, faid I,
armed, or unarmed, and fay, it is not a boaft i f I count
my felf at all times a better man than you. Away to your
hiding - hole again, and for your life appear within m y
reach. Away! you are not now, as the other day,before the
■k-ing. The man cried out in a tranfport o f impatience, “ By
G -d , you don’t know what I mean ; but here they a ll come,
ftand firm, i f you are men and faying this, he ran nimbly
ofb and hid himfelf below the bank, with his lighted
match in one hand, and all ready.
It is proper, for connection’s fake, though I did not myfe
lf fee it, to relate what-had happened to the king, who had
purfued the Begemder horfe to a very confiderable diftance,
and was then at S S in the plan, when the whole army o f
the rebels that had not engaged, obferving the refiftance
made by Powuflen, and part o f the divifion which they had
left, turned fuddenly back from their flight,* and at R R
nearly furrounded the k in g and his cavalry, whom they
had now driven to the very edge o f the fteepeft part o f the
bank o f the Mariam. Kefla Yafous’s arrival, indeed, and
his exerting himfelf to the utmoft, fighting with his own
hand like any common foldier, had brought fome re lief ;
yet as freih horfe came in, there can be little doubt at thè
end, that the k in g muft have been either flain or taken
prifoner, i f Sertza Denghel, a young man o f Amhara, a relation
o f Gufho, and who had a fmall poll in the palace,
had not difmounted, and ofFered to lead the k in g ’s horfe’
down the .fteepeft o f the banks into the river. To this, however,
he received an abfolute refufal. “ I ihall die here this
day, fays the king, but while I have a man left, will never
turn my back upon'the rebels.” Sènza Denghel hearing
V ol. IV. ■ y ' this