The whole of the land they had received had not been put
under cultivation, and, a few days before, Comfou spoke to the Ras
about it, who advised him to sow some tef, as, with the prevailing
scarcity, he would be happy to reap a second harvest. Comfou approved
of the idea, and asked the Ras to send him a servant on the morning
of the 5th, to allow him to pass the gates. The Ras agreed. On that
very morning Meshisha went to the Ras, and told him that he also
wanted to sow some tef, and asked him to allow him to go down. The
Ras, who had not the slightest suspicion, granted his request. Both
had that morning sent down several of their servants to weed the
fields, and, not to excite suspicion, had sent their wives by another
gate, also under the same pretence. As the Gallas often attacked
the soldiers of the garrison at the foot of the mountain, the
door-keepers were not surprised to see the two officers well armed
and preceded by their mules; nor did they take much notice of the
bags their followers carried, when they were told that it was tef
they were going to sow, a statement moreover corroborated by the
Ras's servant himself. Off they started in open daylight, meeting
many of the soldiers of the mountain on the way down. Arrived, at
the fields, they told their servants to follow them, and made
straight for the Galla plain.
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