difficulty, he has only to call upon me *, and I will help him."

Hannes, besides his age, was very feeble in strength; and having had no conversation but with monks and priests, this had debilitated his mind as much as age had done his body. He could not be persuaded to take any share in government. The whole day was spent in psalms and prayers; but Ras Michael had brought from the mountain with him two sons, Tecla Haimanout the eldest, a prince of fifteen years of age, and the younger, called George, about thirteen.

Guebra Denghel, a nobleman of the first family in Tigre, had married a daughter of Michael, by one of his wives in that province. By her he had one daughter, Welleta Selasse, whom Michael, in the beginning, while Joas and he were yet friends, had destined to be queen, and to be married to him. Hannes was of the age only to need a Shunnamite; and Welleta Selasse, young and beautiful, and who merited to be something more, was destined as this sacrifice to the ambition of her grandfather. A kind of marriage, I believe, was therefore made, but never consummated. She lived with Hannes some months in the palace, but never took any state upon her. She was a wife and a queen merely in name and idea. Love had, in that frozen composition, as little share as ambition; and those two great temptations, a crown and a beautiful mistress, could not animate Hatze Hannes to take the field to defend them. Every possible method was taken by Michael to overcome his relucttance, and to do away his fears. All was vain; he wept, hid himself, turned monk, demanded to be sent

What made the ridicule here was, Michael was older than the king, and could not stand alone.

again to Wechne; but absolutely refused marching with the army.

Michael, who had already seen the danger of leaving a king behind him while he was in the field, finding Hannes inexorable, had recourse to poison, which was given him in his breakfast; and the Ras, by this means, in less than six months became the deliberate murderer of his two sovereigns.

Succeeds his Father Hannes-His Character and prudent Behaviour-Cultivates Michael's Friendship-Marches willingly against Fasil-Defeats him at Fagitta-Description of that Battle.

TECLA HAIMANOUT succeeded his father. He was a prince of a most graceful figure, tall for his age, rather thin, and of the whitest shade of Abyssinian colour, for such are all those princes that are born in the mountain. He was not so dark in complexion as a Neapolitan or Portugueze, had a remarkably fine forehead, large black eyes, but which had something very stern in them, a straight nose, rather of the largest, thin lips, and small mouth, very white teeth and long hair. His features, even in Europe, would have been thought fine. He was particularly careful of his hair, which he dressed in a hundred different ways. Though he had been absent but a very few months from his native mountain, his manners and carriage were those of a prince, that had sat from his infancy on an hereditary throne. He had an excellent understanding, and prudence beyond his years. He was said to be naturally of a very warm temper, but this he had so

perfectly subdued, as scarcely ever to have given an instance of it in public. He entered into Ras Michael's views entirely, and was as forward to march out against Fasil, as his father had been averse to it.

From the time of the accession of Hannes to the throne, Tecla Haimanout called Michael by the name of father; and during the few slight sicknesses the Ras had, he laid by all his state, and attended him with an anxiety well becoming a son. At this time I entered Abyssinia, and arrived in Masuah, where there was a rumour only of Hatze Hannes's illness.

The army marched out of Gondar on the 10th of November 1769, taking the route of Azazo and Dingleber. Fasil was at Bure, and had assembled a large force from Damot, Agow, and Maitsha. But Welleta Yasous, his principal officer, had brought together a still larger one, from the wild nations of Galla beyond the Nile; and this not without some difficulty. The zibib, or bullet, which had destroyed so many of them at Azazo, had made an impression on their minds, and been reported by their countrymen as a circumstance very unpleasing. These wild Pagans, on that account, had, for the first time, found a reluctance to invade their ancient enemies, the Abyssinians.

Fasil, to overcome this fear of the zibib, had loaded some guns with powder, and fired them very near at some of his friends, which of course hurt nobody. Again he had put ball in his gun, and fired at cattle afar off; and these being for the most part slightly wounded, he inferred from thence that the zibib was fatal only at a distance, but that if they galloped resolutely to the mouth of the gun, the grape could do no more than the first gun he fired with powder had done to those he had aimed at.

As soon as Fasil heard that Michael was on his march, he left Bure and advanced to meet him, his

wish being to fight him, if possible, before he should enter into those rich provinces of the Agows, whence he drew the maintenance of his army, and expected tribute. Michael's conduct warranted this precaution. For no sooner had he entered Fasil's government, than he laid waste Maitsha, destroying every thing with fire and sword. The old general, indeed, being perfectly acquainted with the country, and with the enemy he was to engage, had already fixed upon his field of battle, and measured the stations that would conduct him thither.

Instead of taking up the time, after the two first days, with spreading the desolation he had begun, by forced marches he came to Fagitta, considerably earlier than Fasil expected. This field that Michael had chosen was rocky, uneven, and full of ravines in one part, and of plain smooth turf on the other, which divisions were separated by a brook full of large

stones.

The Nile was on Ras Michael's left, and in this rugged ground he stationed his lances and musquetry; for he never made great account of his horse. Two large churches, St Michael and St George, planted thick with cedars, and about half a mile distant from each other, were on his right and left flanks, or rather advanced farther before his front. A deep valley communicated with the most level of these plains, descending gently all the way from the celebrated sources of the Nile, which were not more than half a

day's journey distant. Michael drew up his army

be

hind the two churches, which were advanced on his right and left flanks, and among the cedars of these he planted 500 musqueteers before each church, whom the trees perfectly concealed; he formed his horse in front, knowing them to be an object the Galla did not fear, and likely to lead them on to charge