NEW EMPIRE OF ABYSSINIA. 151 



fi'om twenty to thirty fusileers, clothed in the Arab fashion, perfectly disciplined, 

 and commanded by a large fine young man, mth a red caftan and a m.uslin turban. 

 This sort of Malek-Adhel is nothing less than !N"aib Mohammed, prince of Arkiko 

 and nominal sovereign of Maparua ; although a Mussulman and a vassal of the 

 Pasto, he holds in fief 16 villages of Abyssinia on the side of Halai. The prince 

 of Arkiko has come to the camp, it is said, to solicit the confirmation of this infeu* 

 dation, -which is very ancient, as it is mentioned by Bruce. 



" The defiling lasts four hours, 4,000 men at least had passed. 1 experience a 

 certain satisfaction in seeing this mass of men, in its apparent confusion, obeying 

 evidently an active and powerful direction. It is indeed the army of order, 

 hastening on to put an end to the last attempts of a selfish and incorrigible feu- 

 dality. Such, at least, is the general impression. About 4 o'clock, the ITegus 

 gives the signal for departure by crossing the bridge : I follow him on foot as he 

 and we climb quickly the steep side of the right bank, to avoid the crowd which 

 encumbers the road called the imperial {Negtia Mangad.) It is one of the pranks 

 of this untiring walker to impose those severe walks upon those whom he admits 

 to his rude friendship. We encamp a league further on, in a charming prairie, 

 on the brink of a limpid river which is called, I know not why, the Black "Water 

 {Tokom Ohha.) My tent was scarcely pitched when I saw a column of 200 or 

 300 men coming towards the quarters of the Kegus and uttering great cries of 

 joy. I approach and I see a huge lion, pierced twice by a lance in the side, and 

 borne upon a litter ; the vanqisher arrives in triumph upon the shoulders of his 

 comrades, while his right side is bleeding from four wounds caused by a blow ot 

 the lions paw. He is a little soldier of no great appearance. The Negus gives 

 him 80 talaris, a fortune for a poor foot-soldier. 



" Feb. 12. "We began this morning to leave the low grounds {Rolla) and to 

 climb the plateau of Aghitta, upon which we encamped about 10 o'clock. I em- 

 brace at one glance a thrilling panorama. At my feet, and at an imposing depth, 

 a network of verdant and woody valleys is visible where the silver thread of the 

 Trul winds along ; a curtain of intricate woods robs me of the sight of the dark 

 channel in which the Blue Nile rolls and roars, where bounds the cataract of 

 Alata, so well described by Bruce. To the S.E. rises an isolated peak, which has 

 a romantic and sinister name, Asnola-Negus (the King of the Vampires). It is 

 there, the Abyssinians say, that the crowd of the bonda, half-vampires, half-ulche- 

 wolves assemble, the heroes of a thousand tales which recall entirely the legends 

 of Hungaiy. 



Feb. 16. We are encamped on the top of the sierra of Aroid-Buruid while an 

 intense cold prevails. From this height I can see 5 hours march towards the 

 west, enveloped by the mist, the hills of Sakala, from the middle of which flows 

 the triple source of the sacred river. This source was discovered within the last 

 three centuries by P. Paez and fellow travellers, and was seen again by Bruce in 

 1'772. I would willingly add my name to these great ones ; but the district of 

 Lakala is in the power of the rebels, and the smiling valley of the Gumara, which 

 we entered some hours afterwards has not consoled me for this disappoiniment." 



I follow no further my personal memories, noted day by day, and I resume the 

 record of military transactions. Everything promised success as far as the 



