PART 5
A shot burst out. Its rumble and the sight of the dead man turned the
attackers into retreat. We went farther; and when we had gone off a
significant distance, a crowd of natives gathered around the dead man. I
saw through binoculars how they examined his wound and finally, digging
a grave, buried him. Others, having watched this scene from the
mountain, were also frightened by it and didn't dare attack us. As we
passed by, they hid behind houses or, sitting on rocks at several
hundred paces from our route, they showed us the road with their spears
whenever we began to doubt which of the trails to choose to climb to the
summit. The higher we climbed, the more densely populated it became.
Near one group of houses we took a break and drank some marvelous milk
and thick kvass, which my askhers had procured.
At 12:30 we reached the crest of the mountain. I was disappointed in my
expectations. From here you could see well to the south; but to the
north, the horizon was blocked by the high Mount Say, which was about 15
versts [10 miles] from the place where I found myself. Nevertheless, I
stopped and began to plot on my plane-table the territory which opened
up from here and with surveying compass took azimuths on the salient
points. For more than an hour, I conducted this painstaking work. My
soldiers kept pestering me, to hasten our return. There was not a single
native visible on the crest of the mountain, and our bivouac was six
hours away. I just had to take several more azimuths to the northeast,
and I told the soldiers that they should calmly go back down the cliff,
and I would catch up with them very soon. There stayed with me only
Ababa, who held my mule and carried my three-eighths-inch caliber rifle,
Tekla Giyorgis, Abto Selassie, and the senior man of the convoy. The
others had already gone a hundred paces from us, and I was taking the
last azimuth, when suddenly I was surprised by a startling change which
took place in the surrounding terrain. The apparently uninhabited bushes
and bare rocks came to life. Everywhere were seen the black shapes of
armed natives. The foremost of them was now some hundred paces from me.
Our position was critical. There were only five of us, with four guns,
only 30 cartridges each for three of the guns and a hundred for mine,
and 50 for my revolver. I myself at this moment was unarmed, since I had
taken off my saber and revolver, which got in the way of my
observations. They lay several paces from me. At this minute, we were
completely in the power of the natives. The soldiers who were leaving
could not return to us in time. To leave now would mean condemning
ourselves sooner to certain death. It was necessary to quickly undertake
something which could delay the natives even a little and give time for
the rest of my men to come back to help.
"Halio!" I called out to the native who was closest to me, who, hiding
behind a tree, was approaching me. I went to met him as I was, with only
my plane-table and my compass in my hands. He stopped and, having
hidden, answered "Halio." His comrades, amazed by such a turn of events,
began to watch what more would happen.
Having approached to about five paces from the tree behind which the
native was, I stopped and began to beckon him to me. My opponent
indecisively came out of hiding and went toward me, saying "komoru",
which means "king." I reached out my hand to him, and he, in the air,
kissed it. Then I said "Dir" and, squatting, made the native squat. We
began peaceful negotiations, and time was gained. I took the warrior's
spears and, having indicated that I demanded that he lay them on the
ground, made him do that. Then I began to call the other natives near
him, who were, with curiosity, watching this scene, making them lay down
their spears, beforehand, and then kiss my hand. Soon twenty men had
gathered around. They squatted beside me. I showed them my compass, let
them listen to my watch, and finally, having called the senior man of
the convoy and having ordered him to take my place in the ceremony of
kissing hands with newly arrived natives, I myself rushed to my gun and
put it on. Now on our hillock there were already 15 Abyssinian men, and
the time had come for us to go. Having called out several times "halio"
and "dir," we, satisfied that all had turned out so successfully, began
to go back down the mountain.
Blessings to all
Biniam
Arlington,Virginia, USA