Page:A voyage to Abyssinia (Salt).djvu/241

 Ras Welled Selassé and it was agreed between the parties, that it should take place half way up a high mountain in the neighbourhood, on which Liban was encamped. Accordingly on the 8th, the Ras, attended by about thirty of his most confidential people, ascended the mountain, and soon arrived at the place where the interview had been appointed: when it came, however, to the point, Liban, who was a very young man, became so much alarmed, through the dread he entertained of Ras Welled Selassé, that he did not dare to come down; in consequence of which, the Ras, with the daring intrepidity for which he is at all times so much distinguished, took Mr. Pearce and two of his bravest "jagonahs," or "fighting men," and advanced into the midst of Liban's camp, where they found the young chief seated on a rude stone, in front of a body of his people.

It is scarcely possible to imagine a more striking instance of the superiority which intrepid spirit and mental ability confer in a barbarous country, than that which was exhibited on the present occasion; for though the Ras was so feeble, that he could scarcely walk unsupported, and Liban, on the contrary, possessed all the strength and energy of youthful vigour, yet, on the approach of the old man, he was evidently awed, and it was some time before he could collect his thoughts sufficiently to enter upon the proposed conversation. In a short time, however, he recovered his spirits, and in the course of the discussion which ensued, it was settled that the Ras should desist from further hostility, on condition of Liban's pledging himself for the future good conduct of Gojee; the latter, on his part, accepting the guarantee, and binding himself never again to invade the Abyssinian territory during the life of the Ras.

Previously to my tracing the Ras's progress back to his capital, it may, in this place, be proper to introduce a short account of the Galla immediately under the command of these two powerful chiefs.

I have before stated my opinion, that the Galla entered Abyssinia from the south, by the way of Melinda and Patta, and upon this subject little doubt can, I conceive, be entertained, from the circumstance of the tribes still forming an uninterrupted chain to those points. Like