Page:A voyage to Abyssinia (Salt).djvu/299

 room.) On the following day, however, to the great surprise of the company, the jester made his appearance, mounted on the shoulders of one of his attendants, in which ludicrous situation he advanced close up to the Ras, and with a very whimsical expression of features, cried out, "you can't say that I am on your carpet now." The Ras, who, like most of his countrymen, delights in humour, could not refrain from smiling, which insured the jester's forgiveness. Several other anecdotes were related to me, that displayed much originality, but they were of a description that the reader will probably forgive me for omitting.

The chief amusement of the lower class of the community during this season of festivity, consists in playing at a game called 'kersa,' which is precisely similar to the common English game of 'bandy.' Large parties meet for this purpose; the inhabitants of whole villages frequently challenging each other to the contest. On these occasions, as might be expected, the game is violently disputed, and when the combatants are pretty equally matched, it sometimes takes up the greater part of the day to decide. The victors afterwards return shouting and dancing to their homes, amidst the loud acclamations of their female friends. I also occasionally observed, at Antálo, that the vanquished were received with similar honours: and we often heard them challenging their opponents, in a friendly way, to renew the sport, though at other times, the parties engaged in these contests, fell into a violent rage, both men and women uttering the most terrible menaces, and pouring forth torrents of abuse; so that, as frequently happens in our own country, that which was begun in jest ended in blows; but, even in such cases, they are never known to attack each other with any other weapon than the sticks, or bandies, which they employ in the game. Mr. Pearce mentioned an instance which occurred in his presence, where one-half of the town of Moculla was so hotly engaged against the other, that at last the combat became very alarming, and the Ras himself was obliged to interfere, but did not succeed in parting them, till several men had been laid dead in the field. The Ras received an accidental blow in the fray, notwithstanding which, he would not, from a feeling