CHAPTERXIII.
Custom of giving Memolagee.—Sugar boiling.—Success.—Gratify the Negoos.—Receive house.—Claims of kindred.—Remarks upon intestate property.—The two brothers of late owner.—Removal to new residence.
Custom of giving Memolagee.—Sugar boiling.—Success.—Gratify the Negoos.—Receive house.—Claims of kindred.—Remarks upon intestate property.—The two brothers of late owner.—Removal to new residence.
A customexists in every Abyssinian court, which requires that no one shall go empty handed into the presence of royalty. Every visitor to the Negoos of Shoa in this manner brings with him some present, which, after having been registered by an officer appointed for that purpose, is deposited at the feet of the monarch. In return, it is expected that some request on the part of the inferior is to be graciously acceded to, and if what is asserted be true, the Negoos is obliged by the law of custom to consent to whatever is asked, should he accept, in the first instance, the proffered gift. A monstrous exaggeration of this system of presenting gifts, to be returned by some greater amount of property, is, at all events, practised very considerably, by the Abyssinians, upon ignorant strangers, for the custom is not confined to an interchange of favours with royalty, but is general also among all classes. I have myself frequentlybeen imposed upon, or at least have had attempts made to impose upon me in this manner, when ridiculously small presents were offered, and then on my acceptance followed some exorbitant request. A memolagee of eggs, for example, would usher in a modest demand for as many dollars; when, from a calculation I have frequently made, one of the latter would purchase one thousand eggs, at the rate of five eggs for a needle, of which two hundred could be bought for a dollar. Again, a jar of ale, containing about five gallons, which would cost the third of an ahmulah, or salt-piece, or the third of two-pence halfpenny, would be deemed quite a sufficient gift to ask in return a slave girl, or a mule. To prevent all mistakes, after I had discovered that I had given considerable offence, in some cases, by refusing what had been demanded, I made it a rule to know previously to my accepting it, what was the object for which the memolagee was offered, and even then it was very seldom I would consent to give more than the market value of the pumpkins, water melons, and smuggled honey, which generally constituted these propitiatory offerings.
The memolagee I had prepared for this visit to the Negoos, at Ankobar, was about two pounds of sugar which I had managed to manufacture from cane growing in the neighbourhood of Aliu Amba. I calculated upon the effect that such a present would have upon the naturally sagacious mind ofthe gifted monarch of Shoa, and that the usefulness of such an article, introduced as a manufactured product of his own country, would strike him as being of more importance than many richer presents, the use and value of which he could not, from the circumstances of his situation, have any idea of.
On my arrival in Shoa, I found that the Wallasmah Mahomed cultivated sugar-cane in a valley, at the foot of the prison hill of Guancho, and that he supplied the table of the Negoos with it as a sweetmeat, small pieces being cut off with a knife, and masticated as I have seen the inhabitants of Ceylon enjoying it. Whilst staying at Miriam’s house, I conceived the project of boiling down some sugar as a mode of employing myself when confined indoors by the fever, or the wet weather. For this purpose I sent Walderheros to the Wallasmah with a canister of gunpowder as a memolagee for some sugar-cane, and got in return as much as my zealous servant could stand under, considering that he had to carry the bundle upon his head and shoulders for nearly six miles, along roads of no ordinary kind in the wet season, for that rich, greasy, slipperiness of surface, where toes well stuck into the mud, alone admits of any chance of the barefooted wayfarer, pulling himself up the steep “banks and braes” he has to surmount.
Possessing no means of crushing the cane properly, I was obliged to have resort to simply pounding it in a large wooden mortar, two or three of which,of different sizes, are generally to be found in every house in Shoa. Miriam, her son, Walderheros, and myself occupied ourselves one day peeling and slicing the long stalks before we could place the cut-up cane in the mortar, and then we were employed two days more in triturating it, during which process a little water was added to take up the saccharine juice, and to free it, according to my idea, more readily from the cane. Two handsful of the beaten mass were then placed at a time, in one of my towels, which being folded up, the two extremities were collected together, and by dint of a great deal of twisting and screwing by two of us, we managed to force out the liquid portion, leaving a hard round ball of woody fibrous substance, which, however, had been pounded sufficiently fine to receive and retain, very visibly, the diaper pattern of the cloth in which it was strained. These refuse cakes were very greedily eaten by some goats, and I dare say, such food would be highly nutritious to animals. The expressed juice having been received into my copper cooking vessels, they were placed uncovered upon a low fire, where they continued until more than one-half of the liquid portion was driven off. The remainder was then poured into some shallow earthenware dishes, which, with stones carefully placed under the lower edges of the vessels, to obviate the inconvenient slope, were exposed upon the conical roof of the house, to the evaporating influence of the temporaryand dodging glimpses of sunshine, that struggled through the vast number of clouds, which at this season of the year obscured the sky.
How well I recollect my querulous anxiety, and the patient watchfulness of Walderheros, as all day long we were obliged to be on the expectant quick move, to bring out of the passing showers these evaporating dishes, and which, at length, we were obliged to submit to the continued action of a slow fire indoors to effect our object, for we discovered, that what between the moisture in the air, and the frequent falls of rain the season was not at all propitious for sugar making. In the end we succeeded in obtaining about two pounds of very excellent brown sugar, as the result of our joint labours, and very well pleased all parties were with their success.
It was curious to observe the interest that was taken in the process by the inhabitants of Aliu Amba, nearly all of whom visited me during the three or four days we were employed, and not a few insisted upon helping us. Of these latter, Walderheros was especially jealous, as he wished all the honour and glory as the actual manufacturer to devolve upon himself, giving me only the credit of knowing how it should be done, and of directing him. When the sugar had crystallized and assumed the shape of the much-desired luxury, a new class of visitors then came begging for a little as a medicine for their sick children, and thesebecame so numerous, and I could not well refuse their request, that at last Walderheros, in despair, complained to Tinta, who had all along been much interested in the success of the experiment, and who immediately came, and advised me to put the sugar into his charge, if I wished to save any for the Negoos.
Here I must observe, that although the very simple art of extracting the sugar from the cane was unknown to the inhabitants generally of Shoa, still a few visitors from Ankobar, and a messenger from the Negoos, who had been sent to Aliu Amba on purpose to learn if the rumour was true which had reached the palace, that I was engaged in this manufacture, had seen Shoan sugar before. These assured me that the French traveller, M. Rochet d’Hericourt, when he was in Shoa, had made sugar for the Negoos, so that although I observed on this occasion great ignorance of a simple but important art among the Shoans, still I do not wish to be understood as claiming the honour of having first introduced sugar-making into their country.
It was fortunate for me that I had thus turned my attention to subjects likely to benefit the good people of Shoa, for as it so happened, in the middle of the night, I was attacked with a paroxysm of fever so violent that it quite disabled me for the rest of the next day, and prevented me making any attempt to proceed to Ankobar. As, however, I had sent word by the messenger of the Negoosthat I was coming, and my balderabah Tinta had arranged everything for our starting together by sunrise, I considered that it would be as well to send my servant with the sugar, and a verbal message to the Negoos, stating why I could not attend myself in person. Tinta also considered, that circumstanced as I was, it would be the best plan for me to adopt, and readily agreed to accompany Walderheros, and explain my wishes respecting the house. After a little conversation, we also fixed upon the one most likely to suit me, and they then departed with the sugar, which I had packed up for them in an old tin powder-canister.
They returned early in the afternoon attended by a long train of Tinta’s servants, and three palace affaroitsh, bearing presents of wheaten bread, honey, and a jar of preserved butter called “natta kibbee,” the only kind that can be obtained in Shoa during the times of the rains.
The reception of my balderabah and envoy, Walderheros, at the palace had been most nattering, and my request for a house complied with immediately by the gratified monarch, who also ordered one of the affaroitsh to remain in Aliu Amba to see me comfortably settled in my new quarters.
The next morning was a very busy one for Walderheros, as from my illness everything had devolved upon him. He had first to arrange with two surviving sisters of the late owner of the house, who came forward to claim sundry articlesof furniture that had remained in the house after the death of their brother. In Shoa, when a man dies, leaving no male heirs, the King takes all that he died possessed of; even the widow and female children have no claim to anything but that which is granted to them by the justice and compassion of the monarch. These relations are, however, so far considered, that a small “memolagee” only is expected, and they are then generally allowed to retain the personal property of the deceased, but the landed estate is always retained and granted to some other male servitor capable of bearing arms. This concession, small as it is, does not extend to other ties of kindred, for a person dying and leaving only sisters or brothers, all kinds of property possessed by the deceased is seized by the governor of the town in which he had resided, for the benefit of the Negoos, and an account of all such intestate property is annually drawn up by that officer. When a governor himself dies, before his successor takes office, an inventory of every thing contained in a large store house is made, and sometimes all the articles, generally household furniture, are taken to be examined by the Negoos, who, retaining the most valuable himself, returns the remainder to the charge of the new governor. From these repositories are rewarded minor meritorious acts, and sometimes the things are exposed to sale by a kind of auction, and thus disposed of. It is notunusual for household furniture and utensils, instead of being carried to thegimjon bait, the King’s store house, the only public building found in the towns and villages of Shoa, to be allowed to remain in the house to which they have belonged, and in that case, the next holder upon whom the King has conferred it, comes in for these conveniences. It was so in my case, for I found that I had not only obtained possession of a house, but found it ready furnished also. One little drawback from my apparent good fortune was the circumstance that everything was in such a dilapidated and rotten condition, that I was not surprised at the governor not insisting upon such rubbish being taken to that general repository, the “gimjon bait.” The fact is, the good people of Shoa manage, as in every other country, to remedy by some conventional subterfuge any political or social injustice; and here, where the descent of property is diverted from its natural course by an arbitrary custom, the evil is counteracted by the exchange, during illness, of everything valuable in furniture or household utensils with near relations, for the most worthless description of the same articles, so that in case of death the Negoos gets a very sorry collection as the heir-at-law to the deceased.
No sooner did Tinta proceed to the house to put Walderheros in possession, than the two women, sisters of the late possessor, came forward, andimproving upon the general system, of making the exchange of old worn out things for nearly new ones, they now appealed to a cloud of witnesses, who took part with them, to testify that many of the jars, baking pans, and instruments for clearing and spinning cotton that were in the house, absolutely belonged to them, and which at various times they had lent to their deceased brother. Tinta, to prove his devotion to me, for being now considered to be in great favour with the Negoos, my friendship was valuable, demurred to the claims of the women; but Walderheros, who knew me a little better, put an end to their vociferous claims, and recommending them to see me upon the subject, said it would probably be all settled satisfactorily without a complaint being made to the Negoos, which had been threatened by Tinta.
The market value of every thing that formed their claim did not amount to half a dollar, but as the matter seemed to interest all the inhabitants of the town, it must have been considered of some importance in their eyes, so when they came to appeal to me, and I fully understood, by the interpretation of some Arabs resident in Aliu Amba, what it was that was required, I told the two women they had my consent to take away whatever they chose, only to be quick about it, so that on the morrow I might enter upon my new possession without any more trouble.
July 23d.—This morning, my house havingbeen well swept and dusted, I was summoned by Walderheros to come and superintend all other arrangements myself. I managed to walk down from Miriam’s, and a new large alga, or bedstead, had been sent from the King’s store for my use. It was placed for the present in the garden, an ox skin, as usual, being spread over it, so I had nothing to do but to throw myself upon it, and as my boxes and cooking utensils were brought in, direct Walderheros where to place them. Fortunately, no rain fell this day, and my new neighbours, anxious to testify their happiness to have me among them, kept thronging into the garden, amusing themselves also by surveying the premises, suggesting repairs and improvements with the most officious good feeling possible. As all the inhabitants around were Mahomedans, several of my visitors sent to their houses for their gourd shell water pipes, and placing large stones beneath them, took up their several positions in a semicircle around the front of my bed. Miriam, to whom I had given three dollars, pleasingly surprised at receiving so much, seemed most anxious that I should be comfortably settled in my new residence, her son helping Walderheros in arranging everything properly, whilst she busied herself preparing coffee for my numerous visitors.
I was tired and worn out by the time sunset sent them to their several homes, and left me to move into the house, where I sat upon one of my boxesuntil the alga had been forced into a narrow recess between the double walls, and my bed reported by the indefatigable Walderheros to be at length ready for me to retire to rest. The pretty wife of Sheik Tigh had brought me some teff bread for supper, as she expected there would be a deal too much for us to do on the first day of my removal, not to feel obliged to any one taking the trouble of baking off our hands. The “wort,” or cayenne soup being also prepared, after a light Abyssinian supper, I slept better than I expected, or could have hoped for.