A Narrative Of Captivity In Abyssinia With Some Account Of The Late Emperor Theodore, His Country And People By Henry Blanc
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The Whole Island
Is Well Wooded, Covered With The Most Luxuriant Vegetation, Dotted
With Numerous And Prosperous Villages, And Proudly Boasts Of Four
Old And Revered Churches - The Shrines Of Many Devoted Pilgrims.
We
spent the night in the heart of the picturesque island - the ideal
of an earthly abode.
Alas! we knew only some time afterwards that
the passage of the white men caused tears and distress among the
Arcadian inhabitants of that peaceful land. The inhabitants of the
island had been ordered to supply us with 10,000 dollars. The chiefs,
almost despairing of being able to raise so large a sum, made a
powerful appeal to their friends and neighbours; painted in true
colours the wrath of the despot should he learn that his request
had not been complied with, and the wilderness that would then
replace their rich and happy isle. The eloquence of some, and the
threats of others, were equally successful. All the savings of years
were brought to the chiefs; silver rings and chains - the dower and
fortune of many a young maiden - were added to the newly spun shama
of the matron: all were reduced to poverty, and were trembling;
though they smiled whilst making the sacrifice of all their worldly
goods. How they must have cursed, in the bitterness of their grief,
the poor white strangers who were the innocent cause of all their
misfortunes!
The following morning we started for Kourata, the distance and
inconvenience being about the same as on the preceding day.
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