ANT ALO 
373 
One of these consisted in the imitation of the behaviour of a 
chief in battle, who had not been remarkable for his courage. At 
first he came in very pompously ; calling out in an overbearing 
manner to his soldiers, and vaunting what he would do when the 
enemy approached. He then mimicked the sound of horns heard 
from a distance, and the low beating of a drum. At hearing this, 
he represented the chief, as beginning to be a little cautious, and to 
askquestions of those around him,whether they thought the enemy 
were strong. This alarm he continued to heighten in proportion as 
the enemy advanced, until at last he depicted the hero as nearly 
overcome by his fears ; the musquet trembling in his hand, his 
heart panting, and his eyes completely fixed, while, without being 
conscious of it, his legs began to make a very prudent retreat. 
This part of his acting excited among the spectators its due share 
of contempt, when, dexterously laying hold of the circumstance, 
he afiTected to be ashamed of his cowardice, mustered up his whole 
stock of courage, and advanced, firing his matchlock at the same 
moment in a direction exactly contrary to that in which the 
enemy was supposed to stand, when, apparently frightened at the 
noise of his own gun, he sank down on his knees and begged for 
mercy : during this time the expression of his face was inimit- 
able, and, at the conclusion, the whole of the spectators burst 
into a shout of admiration. 
In another representation, he imitated the overstrained polite- 
ness of an Amharic courtier, paying a first visit to a superior. On 
coming in, he fell on his face and kissed the ground, paying 
most abject compliments to the chief, and, on being invited to 
sit down, placed himself with well-feigned humility close to the 
