92 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER) - 
Thefe people, upon all public occafions, run about the ~ 
ftreets, and on private ones, fuch as marriages, come to the 
court-yards before the houfes, where they dance, and fing 
fongs of their own compofing in honour of the day, and per- 
form all forts of antics : many a time, on his return from the 
field with victory, they had met Ras Michael, and received 
his bounty for finging his praifes, and welcoming him up- 
on his return home. The day the Abuna excommunicated 
the king, this fet of vagrants made part of the folemnity; 
they abufed, ridiculed, and traduced Michael in lampoons 
and fcurrilous rhymes, calling him crooked, lame, old, and 
impotent, and feveral other opprobrious names, which did 
not affect him near fo much as the ridicule of his perfon: 
upon many occafions after, they repeated this, and parti- 
cularly in a fong they ridiculed the horfe of Sire, who had 
run away at the battle of Limjour, where Michael cried 
out, Send thefe horfe to the mill. It happened that thefe 
wretches, men and women, to the number of about thirty 
and upwards, were then, with very different fongs, celebra- 
ting Ras Michael’s return to Gondar. The King and Ras, 
after the proclamation, had juft turned to the right to Aylo 
Mceidan, below the palace, a large field where the troops exer- 
cife. Confu and the king’s houfehold troops were before, 
and about 200 of the Siré horfe were behind; on a fignal 
made by the Ras, thefe horfe turned fhort and fell upon the 
fingers, and cut them all to pieces. In lefs than two minutes 
they were all laid dead upon the field, excepting one young 
man, who, mortally wounded, had juft ftrength enough to 
arrive within twenty yards of the king’s horfe, and there 
fell dead without fpcaking a word. 
ALL 
