68 THEODORE II. AND THE 



of Kassa's prestige depended on his personal valour, and this advan- 

 tage Beurrou might easily have disputed with him. The young 

 «hief, irritated, retired to his inaccessible rock (jamba) of Djibsela, 

 and awaited the attack, which, for any one who knew the conqueror, 

 it was not difficult to foresee. The latter, in fact, soon showed him- 

 self. Beurrou, immediately changing his tactics, quitted the avibcy 

 leaving his wife in command, and descended to the plain, commenc- 

 ing a war of skirmishes, about which Kassa did not give himself a 

 moment's anxiety. He surrounded the amla, and brought to the 

 foot of the fortress the brother of the lady castellan, notifying her 

 that her brother's life depended upon her submission. Kassa had a 

 thorough knowledge of the ideas of his country, and was well aware 

 that conjujal affection would' give way before ties of blood ; more- 

 over, the lady had before been taken from a loved husband, and for- 

 cibly married to Beurrou. She surrendered Djibsela, merely stipu- 

 lating that she should not be given up to Beurrou and should see him 

 no more. After having pillaged Djibsela and the surrounding coun- 

 try, Kassa set out in pursuit of his enemy, overtook him and offered 

 battle. But the soldiers of Beurrou laid down their arms, and their 

 chief, discouraged, did the same. Thereupon a whimsical scene took 

 place that one might imagine was an imitation of that between the 

 Black Prince and King John, had Kassa been a scholar. He invited 

 Beurrou to sup with him, treating him with respectful courtesy, 

 calling him my lord (ieneta), and offering him to drink with his own 

 hands. The dream was a short one, and the awaking sudden. At 

 the end of the repast, Beurrou was put in irons, and sent to the 

 state prison of Sar-Amba (1854), 



All central Abyssinia was subdued. All that remained in opposi- 

 tion to the fortunate son of Hailo Mariam was old Oubie, in bia 

 vice-royalty of Tigre, and it would hardly be to know Kassa to think 

 that he was the man to stop half-way. Did he, from that period, 

 think of the divine mission that later he attributed to himself, and 

 which has been the mainspring of all his actions during the best 

 years of his reign ? This I do not know : at any rate, he mentioned 

 it to nobody. With the cunning viceroy the struggle was about to 

 enter upon a train of negociation and diplomatic perfidy, for the 

 right understanding of which we must refer to an earlier period and 

 a higher theme. 



