6o4 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



well known that this king never failed in his word, or any 

 way prevaricated in his promifes. Every one, therefore,, 

 went home in as perfed: peace as if war had never been a- 

 mong them ; and BacufTa's delicacy in this refped was feen 

 a few days after ; for Hannes his brother having been 

 brought clandeflinely from Wechnc by Kafmati Gcorgis, a 

 nobleman of great confequence, they were both taken by 

 the governor of Wechne and fcnt in chains to the king. 

 The ordinary procefs would have been to put them inftant- 

 ly to death, as being apprehended in the very higheft a(5t of 

 treafon; nor would this have alarmed any perfon whatever, 

 or been thought an infradlion of the king's late promife, 

 Bacuffii, however, was of another mind. He fent the crimi- 

 nal judges, who ordinarily fit upon capital crimes, to meet 

 the two prisoners in their way to Gondar, and carried them 

 back to the foot of the moimtain of Wechne to have their 

 crimes proved, and to be tried th^re out of liis prefence and 

 inflvience, where they were both condemned, Hannes to 

 have an arm cut off, Georgis to be fent to prifon to the go- 

 vernor of Walkayt, with private orders, to put him to death; 

 both which fentences were executed, though Hannes fo far 

 recovered that he was king of Abyfllnia in my time, noti- 

 withflanding this mutilation ^ but it was a dire(5t violation 

 of the laws of the land^ 



It is faid that a difcovery, which happened in the king's 

 feigned illnefs, promoted this fudden revolution of manners; 

 In one of his fecret tours through Bcgemder, (after Tigre, 

 the mod powerful province in Abyiliuia, and by much the 

 moft plentiful) being difguifcd like a poor man, dirty and 

 fatigued with the length of the way and heat of the vrea- 

 lhcr,hc came to the houfe of a private perfon, not very rich^ 



indeed 



