CHAPTERXVIII.
Start for Myolones.—​Account of the road.—​Effect of the Earthquake.—​Dangerous passage.—​Ford the Gindebal wans.—​Dubdubhee.—​Reach Myolones.—​Remarks upon taking possession of the land.
Start for Myolones.—​Account of the road.—​Effect of the Earthquake.—​Dangerous passage.—​Ford the Gindebal wans.—​Dubdubhee.—​Reach Myolones.—​Remarks upon taking possession of the land.
August 10th.—It had rained very heavily all night, and as the sky was covered with clouds, I did not feel inclined to go to Myolones. Walderheros, however, had set his mind upon it, and as the ride was a very short one, and might, perhaps, be of service in many respects, I at last consented. Walderheros had the mule ready before I could change my mind, and giving some precautions to Wallata Gabriel to look after everything well whilst we were away, and to let no one enter the house upon any pretence, off we started, Goodaloo running before, with the skin containing my bed-clothes upon his head, and Walderheros following slowly after me, having in special charge the very precious bottle of gunpowder.
We proceeded along the narrow arid winding path, that leads down the steep western slope of the rock of Aliu Amba. Here the road is deeply worn in the hard stone, so as to form a kind ofhollow way, upon each bank of which thick bushes of a large strong-leaved plant, meeting above the head of the traveller, forms an umbrageous tunnel, nearly impervious to the sun’s rays. At the bottom of the descent we crossed a stream, yellow with suspended earth, for, like most other rivers of Shoa, during the wet season, its running water is an active agent of denudation. We now slowly ascended the opposite bank of the valley, and passing through the little Christian village upon its summit, called Aitess, we then again descended to the level of another stream, along whose miry banks, crossing and re-crossing it several times in its tortuous course, we at length reached, where, in a narrow cascade, the water falls suddenly the distance of two hundred feet, with the usual rushing din of an impetuous torrent. Here the bald face of a rock, across which not the trace of a road could be perceived, projected a smooth surface of compact stone, from beneath a super stratum of a loose schistose formation of several hundred feet high, whilst below us appeared an almost perpendicular wall, with just such a sliding inclination as suggested an idea of the bridge said to be situated by some Orientalists between heaven and earth, for there required scarcely the impetus of a wish, to have slipped from life to death during the walk across. The earthquake that ushered in the rains had occasioned this obliteration of the road, for the effects of some thousands of tons of the overlyingdetritus which had been detached, with bare skeleton branches of overturned trees protruding amongst the ruins, were visible over the devastated fields of vetches and horse-beans that occupied the bottom of the large valley into which we had opened, where the stream we had previously kept along, fell over the waterfall into this the bed of the principal tributary of the Dinkee river. This fallen earth, scattered far and wide, had converted the green appearance of large tracts of cultivated lands, with the crops far advanced, to the condition and character of a freshly ploughed fallow.
I halted when I arrived at the dangerous pass, to see if there were not another passage somewhere else, and looked up and down, but saw no way available but the one back again, which, as I had come so far, I did not choose to take, so at once put the question of its practicability to my mule by urging her forward, willing to depend upon instinct not leading the animal into a position, where she was not perfectly satisfied that her preservation was well assured. The termination of the road, where its continuity had been swept away by the land-slip, was opposite and in sight; and with this encouragement, and perhaps satisfied, that her rider was a reasonable creature, and would not attempt anything impracticable, the mule did not hesitate the least, and on my intimation to proceed, began carefully to place her feet, one after the other, onthe sloping rock, and slowly entered upon the death-inviting scene. After we had started, and it was impossible to come back, as usual I began to think of the value of life, and the little courage that man really has, just sufficient to make him take the first step into peril, and then, from despair, or the recklessness of a suicide, bear himself up against all contingencies, and comes out a brave man if he lives, with the certainty of being thought a wretched fool if he is killed. With teeth set, and eyes fixed upon the yawning gulph on one side, I muttered to my mule, as if she had been my murderess, “my blood be upon your head,†and to her folly, not my own, attributed my present perilous position. Once I looked upon the other side, but there, overhanging, as if suspended by the air which it projected into, was the high black wall of the loose angular fragments of an easily fractured schistose rock, which seemed as if a thousand ton torrent of stones was suspended only whilst I passed, to follow in one rush of ruin the land-slip which, but a few mornings before, had been detached and, precipitated into the foaming river below, carrying along with it many acres of jowarhee and cotton plantations. My carefully slow mule seemed to invite the catastrophe, and it was long after I had really passed the horrible ordeal, before the conscience-stirring scene lost its repentant effect upon my mind.
Having got safely over this delicate pass ofabout one hundred yards long, I turned round to look after Walderheros. I found he had not dared to attempt it until he saw that I had reached the end of the road, when he came cautiously along, making no reply to my loud shout of caution that he should take care of the bottle. He looked perfectly satisfied, however, when he saw himself landed upon sound ground again, after a little spring over the two or three last feet of the distance, impatient even then of peril impending. Away we went, talking over the rash feat, and determined not to come back that way again if we could help it. A little reaction, too, consequent upon the excitement had taken place, and I no longer felt fatigued as I had done before, but proceeded in much better spirits. The hill, or a prolonged height of Lomee, was now crossed, covered almost entirely with fields of the common horse-bean, whose grey blossoms perfumed the whole neighbourhood. Generally, the fields were quite green with young grain but a few inches high, and through these our road lay for nearly an hour, when, by a gradual descent, we found ourselves upon the edge of a coarse gravel bank, that in this situation had been cut into a perpendicular cliff, about thirty feet high, by the action of the confined, impetuous river that rushed around its base. The river is here called “Gindebal wans,†the tree-eating stream, and is singularly characteristic, like most other Abyssinian names oflocalities. Here, in the little reaches that alternated with rough stone waterfalls, were numerous trunks of the sigbar, ted, and “waira,†or wild olive tree, which had been brought down from the forests that surround its remotest sources. Through the dark green mass of foliage could be observed, in several places, broadly cut channels, produced by the crashing boulders from the edge of the table land behind, detached by the late earthquake, and it is such an agent, rather than the denuding effect of the stream itself, that occasions such vast numbers of these trees that are annually floated down the “Gindebal wans.â€
I considered that it would be hopeless to attempt fording this stream, for although above it widened considerably, and was spread over a rocky cascade, still between the huge stones that there appeared above its surface, wide channels existed, and however shallow the water might be, the swiftness of the current would have turned a man over like a leaf. At all events the mule would not take me over, and so I sat down whilst Walderheros was looking out for the ford, leaping from stone to stone, and instructed by Goodaloo, who, on the other side, was shouting out directions, which were very indistinctly heard amidst the noise of the torrent. His appearance alone demonstrated the possibility of the passage, but seeing him in a very short time joined by Walderheros,who, for a few moments had disappeared, I got up to see what success I might have. Walderheros having given the bottle containing the gunpowder to Goodaloo, returned to assist me, and I soon found that by a very indirect mode of progress, successively leaping in different directions, the opposite bank was being gained. The mule came clattering after me, jumping like a cat, her four feet occupying sometimes the summit of a stone not the size of a dinner-plate, and sometimes scratching up on to a high rock, as if she had strong claws rather than smooth horny hoofs. I kept a sharp look out behind, for though she was making use of me as a guide, she came so fast that, occasionally, a very summary kind of ejectment precipitated me forward, to make room for her upon the stone.
After reaching the opposite bank we all sat down to rest ourselves, previous to commencing an ascent before us, that if not so steep, seemed to promise to be as long as that of Tchakkah. As I looked up I could not help expostulating with Walderheros for having persuaded me, ill as I was, to undertake a journey which I had calculated would only occupy me an hour, and here we had now been that time, and by his own confession we were not half way yet. Some consolation was afforded by the sun breaking out, and enlivening me by its warmth and brightness. I mounted my mule again, and with a desperate resignation faced the rugged steep. Half an hour we were climbingthis stone ladder before we reached the little town upon its summit, called Dubdubhee. In one of the best houses the mother of Walderheros lived, so here it was resolved to stay and breakfast, having, after the usual Abyssinian custom, brought the meal with us. Of course, I alone partook, as the observance of the fast required my servants to abstain from food until evening.
The mother of Walderheros lived with a second husband, by whom she had had several children. Her first husband, the father of Walderheros, occupied a farm a short distance from Myolones, and he also had married again, and had another numerous family by his second wife; so what between both parents, my servant was very well off for parental and fraternal relations, a thing, too, which he considered to be a great advantage; especially as all parties were still on the very best of terms.
From Dubdubhee, the road to Myolones was along a narrow ridge, similar, in many respects, to that in front of Ankobar, and it was not until the shallow circular valley of Myolones spread below us in full sight, that we commenced a short descent into it; having first passed close to the side of the grove of the new church of St. Michael, the cone-like thatched roof of which was terminated by a wooden cross, on the top, and on the two arms of which were fixed ostrich eggs; these eggs, by-the-by, are favourite ornaments of Abyssinian churches; one that I hadbrought up to Shoa with me from the Adal country had been begged from me by Tinta, who presented it as a desirable offering, to the priests of the church of St. George, on the road from Aliu Amba to Ankobar.
The palace, a number of long thatched residences, enclosed by a strong stockade, and surrounded with ted and wild olive trees, occupied the left side of the valley, as we approached from the east. A little spur, projecting into the valley, affords a convenient perch, and the side opposite to us was dotted with white tobed courtiers, and numerous individuals passing and repassing, formed a lively scene. The heights of Kundi and Mamrat behind, enveloped in fogs, and the sun struggling through a thick bank of clouds, made everything seem uncomfortable, which impression was aided considerably when I dismounted, and found I had to walk some distance up the palace hill on a moist, soddy turf, that seemed to hold water like bog-moss.
My arrival was soon notified to the Negoos whilst I was invited into a large new building of the usual character, constructed outside of the palace enclosures, and which was intended for the accommodation of the numerous train of attendants, guards, and guests that now followed his Majesty; and which, having greatly increased by the successes of his arms and his reputation for wisdom, had rendered it necessary to enlarge considerably all the royal residences since he had come to thethrone. The palace of Myolones, however, had been erected for his own use, numbers of individuals having been dispossessed of their holdings to make room for this favourite retirement of Sahale Selassee; for once or twice during the year the ordinary public business is suspended, and here the monarch indulges in a short relaxation for fourteen or fifteen days.
As I was told two or three times of the manner in which the people who previously held the land had been driven from Myolones, I made particular inquiries to learn if any injustice had marked this course, for I felt naturally so inclined to respect the character of Sahale Selassee, that I was jealous of allowing myself to be deceived by false appearances, into the belief that he was the admirable character I could not help taking him to be.
Walderheros’ own father was one of those who were thus ejected, but when I asked him what return he had received, said promptly that his present farm had been given to him in exchange, and seemed perfectly satisfied with the conduct of the Negoos. Goodaloo also represented that every one so removed was more than compensated for their loss. I had, therefore, no reason to suppose that the fair fame of Sahale Selassee had been tarnished at all by this transaction, for although any opposition to the wishes of the Negoos would, I have no doubt, have been severely punished, and summary ejectment have been enforced, yet I do notsee how any frail human being, educated a despotic monarch, could help feeling angry should his presumed rights be questioned in such a manner by a subject. I contend, therefore, that no injustice was committed in the apparently arbitrary taking possession of the valley of the Michael wans, when the previous possessors of the land were remunerated, as that is all our own Parliament demands on the occasion of carrying out any public works.
When William Rufus formed the New Forest in Hampshire, his situation and circumstances were as nearly parallel as possible with those of the present King of Shoa, yet we are told that he did not observe towards the ejected inhabitants, that justice which characterized the proceedings of the Abyssinian monarch.