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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After The Flight Of
Ras Ali, Begemder At Once Acknowledged Him, And Caused Him To Be
Looked Upon As The Future Ruler Of The Land.
Theodore was well aware
of the difficult game he had to play, but believed his precautions
were such that he would inevitably succeed.
At first he was all
smiles; chiefs were rewarded, peasants flattered; his stay would
be short; every day he expected he would leave. The annual tribute
was paid; Theodore gave handsome presents to the chiefs, honoured
many with silk shirts, and swore that as soon as the cannons his
Europeans were casting should be completed, he would start for
Godjam, and with his new mortars destroy the nest of the arch-rebel
Tadla Gwalu. He invited, all the chiefs to reside in his camp during
his stay, to rejoice his heart. They were his friends, when so many
rose against him. Would they advance him a year's tribute? could
they not provide more liberally for the wants of his army? He was
going away for a long time, and would not for years trouble them
for tribute or supplies. The chiefs did their best; every available
dollar, all the corn and cattle the peasants could spare, found its
way into Theodore's treasury and camp. But the peasants at last got
tired, and would not listen any longer to the entreaties of their
chiefs. Good words Theodore perceived would be of no avail any more,
so he adopted an imperious, menacing tone. One after the other, on
some good ground, he imprisoned the chiefs; but it was only
to test their fidelity: they would, he knew get for him what he
wanted, and then he would not only release them, but treat them
with the greatest honour. The poor men did their best, and the
peasants, in order to obtain the deliverance of their chiefs, brought
all they had as a ransom. At last, both chiefs and peasants found
that all their efforts failed to satisfy their insatiable master.
This state of things lasted for more than eight months, and during
that period, first by plausible and honeyed words, afterwards by
intimidation, he kept himself and army without difficulty and without
trouble. He made no expeditions during that time, except one against
Gondar. He hated Gondar - a city of merchants and priests, always
ready to receive with open arms any rebel: any robber chief might
sit undisturbed in the halls of the old Abyssinian kings and receive
the homage and tribute of its peaceful inhabitants. Several times
before Theodore had vented his rage on the unfortunate city; he had
already more than once sent his soldiers to plunder it, and the
rich Mussulman merchants had only saved their houses from destruction
by the payment of a large sum. It was no more the famous city of
Fasiladas, nor the rich commercial town that former travellers had
described; confidence could no longer dwell under the repeated
extortions of king and rebel, nor could the metropolis of Abyssinia
afford to answer the repeated calls made upon its wealth. But still
the forty-four churches stood intact, surrounded by the noble trees
that gave to the capital such a picturesque appearance; no one had
dared extend a sacrilegious hand to those sanctuaries, and until
then Theodore himself had shrunk from such a deed. But now he had
made up his mind: the gold of Kooskuam, the silver of Bata, the
treasures of Selassie should refill his empty coffers; her churches
should perish with the doomed city: nothing would he leave standing
as a record of the past, not a dwelling to shelter the people he
despised.
On the afternoon of the 1st of December, Theodore started on his
merciless errand, taking with him only the elite of his army, the
best mounted and the best walkers amongst his men. He never halted
until he came, the next morning, to the foot of the hill on which
Gondar is built - a march of more than eighty miles in less than
sixteen hours. But though he suddenly pounced upon his enemy, it
was too late; the news of his approach had spread faster. The joyous
elelta resounded from house to house; the anxious and terrified
inhabitants desired to appear happy in presence of the dire calamity
such a visit presaged. The rebel's deputy had left the palace in
time, and accompanied by a few hundred horsemen, awaited, at some
distance from the town, the result of Theodore's coming. He had not
long to wait. The invaders searched every house, plundered every
building, from the churches to the poorest hut, and drove away
before them like cattle the 10,000 remaining inhabitants of that
large city. Then, the work of destruction began: fire spread from
house to house, the churches and palace, the only remarkable buildings
the country possessed, became a heap of blackened ruins. But the
priests looked sullen; some entreated, others murmured, a few were
bold enough to curse; at an order given by Theodore, hundreds of
aged priests were hurled into the flames. But his insatiate fury
demanded fresh victims. Where were the young girls who had welcomed
his entrance. Was it not their joyous shouts that had scared away
the rebel? "Let them be brought!" cried the fiend, and these young
girls were thrown alive into the fire!
The expedition had been successful; Gondar was utterly destroyed.
Four inferior churches only had escaped destruction. Gold, silks,
dollars were now abundant in the royal camp. Theodore was received
on his return to Debra Tabor with all the triumphal honours bestowed
on a victor; the Gaffat people went to meet him with lighted torches;
and compared him to the pious Hozekiah. If Theodore's star had been
dim before this wanton barbarity, it disappeared altogether from
that day: all went against him - success never attended him more.
The burning of Gondar increased immensely the power of the rebels.
They advanced steadily and cautiously, seizing district after
district, until whole provinces acknowledged their sway, and all
joined in anathematizing the sacrilegious monarch who had not
hesitated to destroy churches that even the Mussulman Gallas had
respected.
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