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village by almost every man that saw us. They frequently entreated the gentlemen of the embassy to allow them the honour of being their hosts; and sometimes laid hold of their bridles, and did not permit them to pass till they had promised to breakfast with them on some future day, and even confirmed the promise by putting their hands between theirs.

From the nature of the country, the charms of which were heightened by novelty, and by the expectations we formed of the sights and incidents which we should meet with among so wild and extraordinary a people, it may be supposed that these morning expeditions were pleasing and interesting. Our evening rides were not less delightful, when we went out among the gardens round the city, and admired the richness and repose of the landscape, contrasted with the gloomy magnificence of the surrounding mountains, which were often involved in clouds and tempests, while we enjoyed the quiet and sunshine of the plain. The gardens are usually embellished with buildings, among which the cupolas of Mahommen tombs make a conspicuous figure. The chief objects of this nature are a lofty and spacious building, which ends in several high towers, and, at a distance, has an appearance of grandeur, which I believe it does not preserve on a nearer view; a garden house, which has once been splendid, erected by Ali Merdaun Khaun, a Persian nobleman, who has filled the country from Meshhed to Dehli with monuments of his taste and magnificence; and

some considerable tombs and religious edifices, more remarkable from their effect in enlivening the prospects of the groves, with which they are surrounded, than for any merit of their own.

THE MAKOOA NEGROES.

(From Mr. Salt's Voyage to Abyssinia)

The Makooa, or Makooana, as they are often called, comprise a people consisting of a number of very powerful tribes lying behind Mosambique, which extend northward as far as Melinda, and southward to the mouth of the river Zambezi, while hordes of the same nation are to be found in a south-west direction, perhaps almost to the neighbourhood of the Kaffers bordering on the Cape of Good Hope. A late traveller in that settlement mentions them as a tribe of Kaffers, and says the name is derived from the Arabic language, signifying"workers in iron." In this he is surely mistaken, as the Makooa are Negroes, which the Kaffers are not, and as there is no word in Arabic bearing such a signification. Still his notice of the name is satisfactory, as it tends to prove that such a people has been heard of by the Kaffers, which thus establishes the link of connection between the tribes of the Cape and the Mosambique.

The Makooa are a strong athletic race of people, very formidable, and constantly in the habit of making incursions into the small tract of territory which the Portuguese possess on the coast.

Their enmity is inveterate, and is confessed to have arisen from the shameful practices of the traders who have gone among them to purchase slaves. They fight chiefly with spears, darts, and poisoned arrows; but they also possess no inconsiderable number of musquets, which they procure in the northern districts from the Arabs, and very frequently, as the Governor assured me, from the Portuguese dealers themselves; who, in the eager pursuit of wealth, are thus content to barter their own security for the gold, slaves, and ivory, which they get in re

turn.

These obnoxious neighbours have latterly been quiet, but in their last incursion they advanced with such a force into the peninsula of Cabaçeiro, as actually to oblige the Portuguese to quit the field. In their progress they destroyed the plantations, burnt the slave-huts, and killed or carried off every person who fell into their hands. They penetrated even into the fort of Mesuril and threw down the image of St. John which was in the chapel, plundered the one adjoining the Governmenthouse, and converted the priest's dress in which he celebrates mass into a habit of ceremony for their chief. This occurred about three years ago, and most clearly evinces the very weak and precarious state of this settlement.

The only force on an adequate scale which the Portuguese have to oppose these marauders, is derived from the alliance of certain tribes on the coast, who speak the same language as the Makooa, but who early fell under the jurisdic tion of the Arabs. These were

conquered by the Portuguese soon after the settlement of the colony, and were bound to render military service, besides the payment of a tribute in kind, which is now often commuted by the trifling present of a few limes. These tribes are ruled by chiefs, styled Sheiks, whose appointment depends on the Governor of Mosambique. Several of them are very powerful, and have, extensive jurisdiction, but their support is not much to be relied upon, from their rarely acting in unison.

The principal chiefs among these are the Sheiks of Quintangone, St. Cûl, and the Sovereign of Sereima. The latter was at this time a queen, and much attached to the Portuguese, being then on a visit at Mosambique: she commands a large district, and can bring fifteen hundred men into the field. The Sheik of Quintangone is still more powerful: his district lies north of Mosambique, and he is said to command four or five thousand men capable of bearing arms. His predecessor was for a long time at enmity with the Portuguese, and frequently committed great ravages in the peninsula of Cabaçeiro, which bentered by way of Saué Sout length he fell into the hands of a Portuguese detachment, and was, by the order of the ruling governor, shot off from the mouth of a cannon, an example which was thought necessary to strike the neighbouring chieftains with awe. To the south of Mosambique lies the district of St. Cûl, which supplies about three thousand fighting men. The Sheik of this district died about a month before I arrived at Mosambique, and a suc

At

cessor

cessor had not been appointed, as the Governor did not feel himself sufficiently acquainted with the state of affairs to sanction the person who had assumed that situation without farther inquiry.Even the united force of these chiefs is scarcely adequate to resist the furious attacks of the Makooa. In addition to the bodily strength of the Makoon, may be added the deformity of their visage, which greatly augments the ferocity of their aspect. They are very fond of tattooing their skins, and they practise it so rudely, that they tometimes raise the marks an eighth of an inch above the surface. The fashion most in vogue is to make a stripe down the forehead along the nose to the chin, and another in a direct angle a cross from ear to ear, indented in a peculiar way, so as to give the face the appearance of its having been sewed together in four parts. They file their teeth to a point, in a manner that gives the whole set the appearance of a coarse saw, and this operation, to my surprise, does not injure either their whiteness or durability. They are likewise extremely fantastic in the mode of dressing their hair; some shave only one side of the head, others both sides, leaving a kind of crest extending from the top to the nape of the neck, while a few are content to wear simply a knot on the top of their foreheads. They bore the gristle of the nose, and suspend to it ornaments made of copper or of bone. The protrusion of their upper lip is more conspicuous than in any other race of men I have seen, and the women in particular consider it as so necessary a feature to beauty, VOL. LVII.

that they take especial care to elongate it by introducing into the centre a small circular piece of ivory, wood, or iron, as an additional ornament. The form of the females approximates to that of the Hottentot women, the spine being curved and the hinder parts protruding; and indeed, to say the truth, it is scarcely possible to conceive a more disagreeable object to look at than a middle-aged woman belonging to a tribe of the Makoo3.

Wild as the Makooa are in their savage state, it is astonishing to observe how docile and serviceable they become as slaves, and when partially admitted to freedom, by being enrolled as soldiers, how quickly their improvement advances, and how thoroughly their fidelity may be relied on.Among other inquiries, I was anxious to learn whether they entertained any notion of a Deity; if they do, it must be an extremely obscure one, as they have no other word in their language to express the idea but "wherimb," which signifies also the sky. This remark is equally applicable to the Monjou, who in the same way apply the word "molungo," sky, to their imperfect apprehension of the Deity.

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The Makooa are fond of music and dancing, and are easily made happy with the sound of the tomtom, yet, like all savages, their unvaried tones and motions soon fatigue European attention. They have a favourite instrument called

Ambira,' the notes of which are very simple yet harmonious, sounding to the ear, when skilfully managed, like the changes upon bells. It is formed by a number 2 M

of

of thin bars of iron of different lengths, highly tempered, and set in a row on a hollow case of wood, about five inches square, closed on three sides, and is generally played upon with a piece of quill. One of these instruments which I brought to England has twenty of these bars. There is another described in Purchas that had only nine, which also differs in some other respects from the one I have just mentioned. As the description of this in old English is charaeteristic, I shall here give it to the reader." Another instrument they have called also 'Ambira,' all of iron wedges, flat and narrow, a span long, tempered in the fire to differing sounds. They are but nine set in a row, with the ends in a piece of wood as in the necke of a viole, and hollow, on which they play with their thumbe nailes, which they weare long therefore, as lightly as men with us on the virginals, and is better musicke."

THE RAS OF ABYSSINIA.

(From the same.)

From the preceding narrative of affairs it will appear, that, on my former journey I had entertained an erroneous opinion respecting the character of the Ras, as, at that time, I conceived that he owed his elevation more "to his cunning than to his strength of character." In this I was undoubtedly mistaken; since he is

distinguished still more for his in trepidity and firmness than by the policy with which he has uniformly ruled the country under his command; having been successfully engaged in upwards of forty battles, and having evinced on these occasions even too great a disregard of his own personal safety in action.

At the time of Mr. Bruce's arrival in the country, in 1770, Ras Welled Selassé was a young man of some consequence about the court, so that, considering him at that time to have been three or four and twenty, his age must, at the period of my last visit to the country, have amounted to about sixty-four; a point somewhat difficult of proof from the extreme delicacy which existed of making any inquiries of this description among his followers.— The first situation he held of any importance, and which undoubtedly led to his greatness, was that of Balgudda, or protector of the salt caravans, which come up from the plains of Assa Durwa; an office always conferring considerable consequence on its possessor, owing to his being entitled to a duty on every load of salt imported into the country, and from the power which it gives him of withholding this very necessary article of consumption as well as of barter, from the interior provinces. This situation he received during the short government of his father, Kefla Yasous, over the province of Tigré. On the return of Ras Michael* to the command, he

fled

• The following anecdotes respecting this extraordinary man may prove acceptable ts every reader, who admires the very ably drawn character given of him by Mr. Bruce.

"On

fled to the fastnesses bordering on the salt plains, where he remained, carrying on a predatory warfare until the death of "the old lion," as the formerly is emphatically styled in the country.

During this period, while Ras Michael was seeking his life, he challenged any two chiefs in the army opposed to him to fight on horseback; and, two men of distinguished bravery having been made choice of for the purpose, he went down into the plain to meet them, and killed both with his own hand; possessing, notwithstanding his small and delicate form, such peculiar skill in the management of two spears on horseback, that it was said in the country to be unequalled. This unexampled exploit raised his character as a warrior to the highest pitch; and the particulars of the combat still continue to form a favourite topic of conversation among his followers.

On the succession of Degusmati Gabriel to the command of the province of Tigré, Welled Selassé was induced by many insidious promises held out to him, to return to Adowa, where, in spite of the most solemn protestations to

the contrary, he was thrown into irons. The day on which this occurrence took place, he has since, with a sort of religious superstition, considered as the most unfortunate in his life: He did not, however, long remain in confinement; for, by the connivance of his keeper, Gueta Samuel, he shortly after made his escape and retired to the country of the Galla, who on this occasion received him with open arms.

The Death of Dejus Gabriel soon followed, when he returned once again to Enderta, and being joined by some of his friends, made himself master of that province, and in the following year entered Tigré; where, having in several battles overcome Guebra Mascal, he raised himself to the high situation of Governor of all the provinces eastward of the Tacazze. Once possessed of this high power, he successively es poused the claims of Ayto Solomon, the son of Tecla Haimont and of Tecla Georgis, his brother, whom, in spite of the combined forces of the chiefs of Amhara, he carried to Gondar and placed on the throne, being in return confirmed by both these Emperors in the high

"On one occasion, when playing at chess, he hastily made out an order for 5000 do!Jars to be given to a chief, for some service that he had performed, instead of 500, which was the usual allowance: and, on the circumstance being mentioned to him by his steward, he turned round quickly and answered, 'I have said it,-let it be so,the angel Michael hath sent it to him." "A chief of some note having confessed to a priest that he had committed a murder, the latter, in hopes of receiving a reward, disclosed it to the relations, and, in consequence, the former was seized and taken before Ras Michael. What is the evidence? said the Ras. The priest stepped forward, and declared that he had repeatedly declared the fact to him. Ras Michael, without hesitation, gave the order, take him to his death.' The relations immediately laid hold of the chief, and were in the act of forcing him away, when the old man, with one of his terrible looks, cried out, not that man, but the priest, who has dared to reveal the secrets disclosed to him in confession,' and he was instantly led out to execution." Ras Michael had so poor an opinion of what the priests could do for a man in his last moments, that he said, when on his death-bed, “Let not a priest come near me: if a man cannot make up his own account, how shall weak men like these do it for him?”

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