Part 1 of 16: Adowa after the Rain

On arrival at Adowa, I found the place comparatively sweet again, nothing offensive in the atmosphere, as the heavy rains had washed the human bones completely bare, and instead of a festering mass of humanity, the skulls shone as white balls over the landscape; the fields were covered with beautiful mushrooms, but their round shape put me so much in mind of baby skulls, that I shuddered at the very thought of eating them, although they are one of my favorite vegetables.

A CALL TO ARMS
I had hardly been in Adowa a couple of hours before I heard the beat of a drum and a man crying out. On going to the street door to see what was the matter, I found it was a proclamation from Ras Aloula calling everyone to arms, and that further instructions would be given as to the meeting place, but ten days provisions were to be got ready.

The man who had brought the proclamation was standing by his horse which was nearly spent, its legs all of a straddle, its head down and tail in the air, and had it to have travelled a little further it would certainly have dropped dead. The whole of the neighbours, men, women, and children were out of their houses in a moment, and in a few minutes several other horsemen appeared with fresh animals, and they were given a copy of the proclamation, and were told that the order was only good as far as a certain district, which included about twenty-five miles east of Adowa.

The men mounted and departed in different directions, making their horses go at the highest speed, and so news went abroad to every hamlet in the district. I do not think five minutes elapsed from the time of the first beat of the drum sounded until the new messengers were out of the town, and I could quite understand the rapid way in which news travels in the country, and how soon a large fighting force can be assembled. In the more densely populated areas, a call to arms is known from its centre within a radius of one hundred and fifty miles, or over a distance of three hundred miles in less than twenty-four hours.

TEN DAYS PROVISIONS
I watched the householders preparing to take the field; one had not enough flour ground for a ten days supply so he sent to a neighbour’s house to procure some, which was given without the slightest hesitation; another neighbour’s wife came in to help bake the thick cakes of bread called “hambesha,” which keep longer than the thin angara; red pepper was put into a small cow-horn, and a supply of dried meat was taken out of the store, and another cow-horn was filled with butter, and in an incredibly short time the soldier was ready to start, his horse having been fetched from the water meadow and saddled, and a shamma, knife for grass cutting, and his provisions tied in a goat or sheep skin were fastened on his saddle.

The rifle was taken from the wall, the cartridge belts round the waist and over the left shoulder put on, and the sword girt to the right side, and with a sheep skin over the shoulders, the man was off to the market green to see if he was the first unit on parade, ready to take the field. I went down to see the muster, and about twenty men were already assembled on horseback, about one hundred mules, and a good many on foot; another messenger from Hassena shortly arrived, and a rendezvous was given for Legumti church, some twelve miles to the south-west, for ten o’clock next morning, and the men went back to their homes for the night.

RAS ALULA APPEARS
Soon after, Ras Aloula appeared with about three hundred men, and the Nebrid of Axum, King Menelek’s agent, was seen coming from the direction of Axum with about thirty followers. The Ras sent a messenger to me to come and see him next morning at the church of our Saviour and I went off to dinner delighted at seeing a sight that few strangers have had the chance of witnessing.

Next morning I found Ras Aloula busily engaged before sunrise in getting everything ready for the campaign, which he told me privately was to be against Ras Sebhat, the prince of Agame, who had revolted against the King and Ras Mengesha, because he was not satisfied about his tribute, and that he should not be allowed to govern the whole of his province according to his own ideas, and he refused to give the two minor rulers, the Choum-Agamie and Hagos Teferi, their share of the taxation.

I wanted to accompany Ras Aloula and see the fun, but he would not let me on any consideration, and told me to make the best of my way to Macalle; so I accordingly started, and soon after getting away, the weather that had been fine broke up again and we only got over the Farras Mai stream in time....

About five miles further we were stopped by the choum of Chelunko near his village and told that it was unsafe to proceed, and that he had orders to detain me until the country quieted down. I pleaded I was in a hurry, and that Ras Mengesha was waiting for me, and he informed me that he had already sent a messenger on to Macalle to tell the Ras that I was detained owing to the road not being safe.

I remained at this camp for six days... The feast of the Holy Cross was commencing, and on the first night of the festival, the Choum and his people came to visit me, each carrying a lighted torch and singing a weird song as they approached. I thought this was an excellent opportunity for asking him [permission] to leave, and I got permission to leave the next morning...

It was a lovely calm morning, such a contrast to the storm of the afternoon before, and the view towards the west was lovely; the Semien range with its snow top was clearly visible; the Ghiva, which is here in a flat open valley, was running a silver thread below us, and the limestone and forest-covered sides of the Gheralta mountain lay in front of us...

The storm had evidently been one blessing as it had killed millions of young locusts, and even the big ones that could fly had such a washed-out and battered appearance that they would never be able to do any more injury to the crops, and their feeding days were over.

ABBI ADDI (from an earlier visit)
Abbi-Addi is most picturesque, and I enjoyed my stay there in spite of the terrific thunderstorms which occurred daily. Abbi-Addi has been the headquarters of the rulers of Tembein since the earliest ages of Abyssinian history. The plateau is about three quarters of a mile in breadth, and on it are found the church and the residences of the Ras and the upper classes. The rest of the population live on the lower clefts in the plateau, and the houses nestle thickly on the tree-covered lower slopes and amongst the giant boulders which have fallen away from the mountain.

I met at Abii-Addi the late King Johannes' jester, a very small dwarf, only three feet five inches in height. He was over fifty years of age, and a very interesting well informed man when not jesting. He was married to a woman much over average height, and his children were all good sized ones, and his two younger brothers were also fine men, and stood greatly in awe of him as he made them work very hard.

On one occassion he told me he had hidden in a sack of grass, and listened to a meeting of conspirators, and when they had gone to sleep, he went off and told King Johannes, and they were all arrested the same night, and all accused each other of treachery.

THE SNOW CAPPED SEMEIN RANGE -
The view from Abbi-Addi of the Semien range was very grand. After a cold night, the northern crest of Ras Dashen, the highest peak, was covered with snow which used to extend perhaps as much as 1,500 feet down the slopes. For three whole days, when the sun was nearly always obscured, the snow covered a very large area of the range, and once late in the afternoon, the sun came out quite brightly, and the view of the snow clad range was lovely.

ON TO MEQELLE -
We started next morning in our best clothes across the plateau for Macalle. Nearing the town I recognized the figure of my friend the dwarf, Balambaras Marou, coming along the road, followed by several small boys that were evidently annoying him as he would occasionally stoop down and pick up a stone to throw at them, and they would then run away and keep just out of reach.

When he came up to me he said that he wanted a ride. I suggested he should get on the Italian mule between two boxes, and by clambering up a rock by the side of the road he managed to take a flying leap on to the baggage and seated himself cross leg between the boxes which he immediately commenced hammering as if they were kettle-drums, and at the same time singing a war song.

With the dwarf heading our procession we proceeded to Ras Mengesha's palace where we received a hearty welcome...