Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/210

 As the Abyssinian sovereigns are theoretically autocrats, so the governors of provinces, landholders, and the shum or "chiefs" of each village, have also the right to do as they please, being responsible only to their superiors. Nevertheless there is a code of laws, the "King's Guide," attributed to Constantine, and which certainly dates from the period when Byzantine influence preponderated in the Eastern world. According to this code, which contains many ordinances of the Pentateuch and extracts from the laws of Justinian, the father has the right of life or death over his children, as the king has over his subjects. The rebellion of the son against the father, or of the vassal against his lord, is punished by blinding or death; the blasphemer or liar, taking the name of God or of the king in vain, is punished with the loss of his tongue; the thief loses his right hand; the assassin is delivered up to the family of the murdered man and killed in the same way as he disposed of his victim, but if the crime was involuntary, blood-money must be accepted. The amputated limbs of prisoners are always baked under their eyes and returned to them steeped in butter, so that they can preserve them to be buried with the rest of the body, and thus rise unmutilated on the last day. Smoking is forbidden, "because tobacco originated in the tomb of Arius," and fanatic chiefs have caused the lips of transgressors to be cut off. Chiefs rarely condemn anyone to prison, which consists of a chain with a strong ring at each end, one being fixed to the prisoner's right wrist, the other to the left hand of his gaoler, who thus becomes a captive himself; accordingly he strives promptly to get rid of his unwelcome companion either by a compromise or by an absolute judgment. When one Abyssinian wishes to complain of another, he attaches his toga to that of his adversary, who cannot get released without pleading guilty. He must follow his accuser before the judge, and, both uncovering the back and shoulders so as to await the blows which will fall upon one or the other, beg for the magistrate's decision. Each conducts his own defence, as it is thought disgraceful to employ a third person to plead, the title of lawyer being considered an insult. The Abyssinians of ten appeal to a child to judge between them: being himself innocent, the child is held as the best judge of good and evil. After having gravely listened to the suitors and the witnesses, he pronounces sentence, which all receive with the greatest deference, and which is occasionally accepted as a definite judgment between the parties. Slavery still exists in Abyssinia, but it affects the blacks alone, who constitute but a small portion of the population. The master has not the right of life and death over his slave, and would even be liable to capital punishment by selling him. After some years' service the slave usually receives his liberty, together with sufficient implements and money necessary for his support. On becoming a freedman he increases the importance of his former master. Before their enforced conversion all the traffic in human flesh was carried on by the Mussulmans. Like