At last the nuisance became
intolerable, and I was obliged to keep my tent closed all day long;
whenever I left it I was surrounded by an admiring crowd. The
officers of the escort were obliged to place a guard round my tent,
and only allowed their relatives and friends to approach. Still,
these were often countless, and it was not till the dread of the
despot overcame even their love of life and health, that successful
and unsuccessful postulants returned to their homes.
On the 13th January we began our march towards the Emperor's camp,
and passed successively through the provinces of Tschelga, part of
Dembea, Dagossa, Wandige, Atchefur, Agau Medar, and Damot, leaving
the Tana Sea on our left. The three first-named provinces had a few
years before fallen under the wrath of the despot; every village
had been burnt, every crop destroyed, and the inhabitants had either
perished from famine or been absorbed into the Imperial army. A
few had just then returned to their broken-down homes, on hearing
of the pardon proclaimed by the Emperor; who, after three years,
had relented, and allowed those who still wandered in distant
provinces, destitute and homeless, to return again to the land of
their fathers. Here and there, amongst the ruins of former prosperous
villages, some half-starved and almost naked peasants were seen
erecting small sheds on the ashes of their ancestral huts, near the
land they were going again to cultivate.
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