Narrative of Captivity in Abyssinia | Page 7

marched without a tent church, a

host of priests, defteras, and deacons, and never passed near a church
without kissing its threshold.
Though he could read and write, he never condescended to correspond
personally with any one, but was always accompanied by several
secretaries, to whom he would dictate his letters; and so wonderful was
his memory that he could indite an answer to letters received months,
nay years, before, or dilate on subjects and events that had occurred at a
far remote period. Suppose him on the march. On a distant hillock
arose a small red flannel tent--it is there where Theodore fixed his
temporary abode and that of his household. To his right is the church
tent; next to his own the queen's or that of the favourite of the day.
Then came the one allotted to his former lady friends, who travelled
with him until a favourable opportunity presented itself of sending
them to Magdala, where several hundreds were dwelling in seclusion,
spinning cotton for their master's shamas and for their own clothes.
Behind were several tents for his secretaries, his pages, his personal
attendants, and one for the few stores he carried with him. When he
made any lengthened stay at a place he had huts erected by his soldiers
for himself and people, and the whole was surrounded by a double line
of fences. Though not wanting in bravery, he never left anything to
chance. At night the hillock on which he dwelt was completely
surrounded by musketeers, and he never slept without having his
pistols under his pillow, and several loaded guns by his side. He had a
great fear of poison, taking no food that had not been prepared by the
queen or her "remplacante;" and even then she and several attendants
had to taste it first. It was the same with his drink: be it water, tej, or
arrack, the cup-bearer and several of those present at the time had first
to drink before presenting the cup to his Majesty. He made, however,
an exception in our favour one day that he visited Mr. Rassam at Gaffat.
To show how much he respected and trusted the English, he accepted
some brandy, and allowing no one to taste it before him, he
unhesitatingly swallowed the whole draught.
He was a very jealous husband. Not only did he take the precautions I
have already mentioned, but (except in the last months of his life, when
it was beyond possibility for him to do otherwise) he never allowed the

queen or any other lady in his establishment to travel with the camp.
They always marched at night, well concealed, with a strong guard of
eunuchs; and woe to him who met them on the road, and did not turn
his back on them until they had passed! On one occasion a soldier who
was on guard crept near the queen's tent, and, taking advantage of the
darkness of the night, whispered to one of the female attendants to pass
him a glass of tej under the tent. She gave him one. Unfortunately, he
was seen by a eunuch, who seized him, and at once brought him before
his Majesty. After hearing the case, Theodore, who happened to be in
good spirits that evening, asked the culprit if he was very fond of tej;
the trembling wretch replied in the affirmative. "Well, give him two
wanchas [Footnote: A wancha is a large horn cup.] full to make him
happy, and afterwards fifty lashes with the girf [Footnote: A long
hippopotamus whip.] to teach him another time not to go near the
queen's tent." Evidently, Theodore, with a large experience of the beau
sexe of his country, was profoundly convinced that his precautions
were necessary. On one of his visits to Magdala, one of the chiefs of
that amba made a complaint to him against one of the officers of the
Imperial household, whom he had caught some time before in his lady's
apartment.
Theodore laughed, and said to him, "You are a fool. Do I not look after
my wife? and I am a king."
Theodore was always an early riser; indeed, he indulged in sleep but
very little. Sometimes at two o'clock, at the latest before four, he would
issue from his tent and give judgment on any case brought before him.
Of late his temper was such that litigants kept out of his way; he
nevertheless retained his former habits, and might be seen, long before
daybreak, sitting solitary on a stone, in deep meditation or in silent
prayer. He was also very abstemious in his food, and never indulged in
excesses of the table. He rarely partook of more than one meal a day;
which was composed of injera [Footnote: The pancake loaves made of