THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 66s 



Ozoro Efther, the very young widow of Netcho, was mar- 

 ried, very much againft her own confent, to the young go- 

 vernor of Begemder, and this marriage was crowned with 

 the univerfal applaufe of court, town, and country ; for 

 Mariam Barea poiTefled every virtue that could make a 

 great man popular; and it was impomble to fee Ozoro Eft- 

 her, and hear her fpeak, without being attached to her for 

 ever after. 



Still the complaint remained, that there was no promo- 

 tion, no diftinction of merit, but through fome relation to 

 the queen-mother ; and the truth of this was foon fo appa- 

 rent, and the difcontent it occafioned fo univerfal, that no- 

 thing but the great authority Ras Welled de l'Oul, the I- 

 teghe's brother, pofteiTed, could hinder this concealed fire 

 from breaking out into a flame. 



The queen, mother to Joas, was Ozoro Wobit, a Galla. 

 Upon Joas's acceflion to the throne, therefore, a large body 

 of Galla, faid to be 1 2»o horfe, were fent as a prefent to the 

 young king as the portion of his mother. A number of 

 private perfons had accompanied thefe ; part from curiofi- 

 ty, part from defire of preferment, and part from attach- 

 ment to thofe that were already gone before them. Thefe 

 laft were formed into a body of infantry of 600 men, and 

 the command given to a Galla, whofe name was Woofhe- 

 ka ; fo that the regency, in the perfon of the queen, feemed 

 to have gained frefh force from the minority of the young 

 king Joas, as yet perfectly fubject to his mother, 



There were four bodies of houfehold troops abfolutely 



devoted to the king's will. One of thefe, the Koccob horfe, 



Vol. II. 4 P was 



