Return to Dummakoo.

In the absence of a standing army, it is truly astonishing by what magic spell the inhabitants of these remote portions of His Majesty’s dominions are bound to his rule. Owing to the difficulties inseparable from the introduction of an armed force for their chastisement, and the inaccessible nature of their fastnesses, no situation could be more favourable to revolt and to rebellion. But it is obvious that the wily policy of government will prove successful, so long as the fear of the Galla is strong in the breast both of Christian and Mohammadan, and so long as the name of Sáhela Selássie shall continue to act as a potent talisman upon all the savage, turbulent, and refractory spirits who people his disunited empire.

During the early portion of the night, the shrill crowing, as of an hundred cocks, might have induced the belief that the wild camp stood in the neighbourhood of Ankóber, where chanticleer taxes his throat almost incessantly; but the sound to which the wild hills now rung was soon ascertained to proceed from the Amhára pickets. With a view to compensate in some measure for the brief sojourn conceded to us in the low country, we were hurried off the moment the morning star appeared, in order to beleaguer a field of reeds occupying the bed of the Casam. It was said by the governor to terminate in a cul de sac, and to be one great den of lions, no fewer than eight having fallen under the spears of the Ada?el in an attack made some years previously. Our path traversed the deep broken bed of the river, the lofty castellated walls of which, rising sternly in the moonlight, were garrisoned by a legion of baboons, and before dawn we halted on a sheet of bare rock, over which a small stream of water fell by a time-worn channel into a deep dark basin;—many hundred acres of tall waving flags, interspersed by shady tamarind trees, stretching away over the long reach beyond.

But the capabilities of the place proved to have been greatly exaggerated; and, although certainly harbouring a vast number of the felinae, it was far too extensive and too tangled—too impervious to man, and too unassailable by fire—to admit even of a chance of success. An agazin and an oryx, of which numbers fled in all directions, were hunted down by the host of retainers, aided by their dogs. A feeble attempt was then made to dislodge the inmates of the wide covert, by a general screaming and clattering of shields on the outskirts; and this notable display of venerie being concluded without any good result, the cavalcade wended its way homeward.

Mounting on the left side, with the assistance of his spear, the Amhára, when in the saddle, does not by any means ride well. Frequent falls are precluded by the high bulwarks of wood and leather which fortify his position; but his seat is awkward and ungainly: and few cavaliers can be said to possess the noble science of equitation. Whilst violently kicking with the naked shanks, and retaining the stirrup in the grasp of the great toe, they tug violently at the cruel and barbarous bit to urge the horse to speed; and the blood is presently to be seen streaming from the mouth, as the tortured animal tosses its head in agony.

The bridle is especially powerful and severe; long cheeks being attached to an indented bit, whilst a solid iron ring embraces the lower jaw, and acts like a tightened curb. The saddle is of Tartar form, and consists of two light splinters, which leave a clear space for the spine, and connect a high wooden pommel for the suspension of the shield, with a cantle equally high. Firmly sewn together with wet thongs, the tree is padded, covered with a loose skin, and furnished with stirrup-rings, just sufficiently capacious to embrace the first toe of the shoeless equestrian.

The Abyssinian horse would in England be considered under-sized, and deficient in make and bone; but the breed is hardy, enduring, and sure-footed, and, from its cheapness, might with advantage be exported to our Indian possessions. Colts reared among the Galla are deservedly held superior, the reckless character of the wild pagan rider impelling them over the most difficult ground, and thus imparting a degree of boldness and confidence which is rarely to be found in the Amhára steed. In Shoa the absence of roads precludes the use of wheeled carriages; and established custom forbidding the employment of the team in agriculture, the gelding is reserved exclusively for the saddle, whilst mares and stallions are very rarely ridden. The art of shoeing is unknown, and no attention is paid to the care of the hoof, which, being extremely hard, for a time bids defiance to the stony ground; but many of our hunters were already beginning to suffer from the want of a farrier.

The horse is by all considered a very inferior animal to the mule, whose soft agreeable pace accords much better with the general indolent habits of the Abyssinian, and whose patience and surety of foot among the steep rocky mountains are sufficiently appreciated. The prices given are consequently larger, and the care taken of the latter is proportionably greater. Whilst the steed, scantily supplied with old straw, runs in the pasture during every season of the year, the mule, on the failure of the herbage, is pampered on barley and on the best of teff fodder, and, sheltered from the cold bleak wind, remains a constant inmate of the master’s dwelling, on terms of close intimacy with the family.

Twenty-five or thirty miles within the day are rarely exceeded—the high hills to be ascended, and the deep rugged valleys to be traversed, rendering a longer stage almost impracticable.............