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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Before leaving Debra Tabor, I was
told to leave everything behind in the charge of the Gaffat people,
and only take with me the few things I required for the road.
My
only pair of shoes, what from rain, sun, and climbing, had become
so thoroughly worn-out, and so hard, as to bring on a wound that
took months to heal, so that until the arrival of one of my servants
from the coast, many months afterwards, I had to walk, or rather
crawl, about on naked feet.
Life in common among men of different tastes and habits is, indeed,
dreadful. There we were, eight Europeans, all huddled up in the
same small place, a waiting-room, a dining-room, a dormitory; most
of us entire strangers before, and only united by one bond - common
misfortune. Adversity is but little fitted to improve the temper:
on the contrary, it breaks down all social habits; the more so if
education and birth do not enable the sufferer to contend against
the greatest difficulties. We feared above all things that familiarity
which creeps on so naturally between men of totally different social
positions, and leads to harsh words and contempt. We had to live
on terms of equality with one of the former servants of Captain
Cameron; we had to be quiet if some remained talking part of the
night, and put up silently with the defects of others in the hope
that our own might meet with the same leniency.
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