The licentious conduct of Amda Sion had produced, in the neighbouring nations, such a contempt for his government, that, while he himself was embroiled with Honorius and the monks, one or his factors, who had been charged with his commercial interests, was robbed and assassinated by the Moors, in the pro\ ince of Ifat. Impatient to revenge this outrage, he suddenly assem bled his troops, and ordered than to rendezvous Shugura, upon the frontiers ; while, attended by only seven horsemen, he fell upon the nearest Mahometan settlements, putting all he met with to the sword. He then placed himself at the head of his army, and desolated the whole country, carrying off a prodigious booty.
The Moors, astonished by the unexpected activity of this monarch, whom they had despised as an effeminate voluptuary, assembled in great numbers to oppose him ; and, hearing that he was left with scarcely a sufficient number of soldiers to guard the camp, they resolved to attack him before break of day., imagining that he could not possibly make any effectual resistance. Fortunate ly two detachments of his army had joined him the night before : these he drew up in battle array, and, when the Moors presented themselves, he attacked them with fart, slew their gene•al with his own hand, •nci, animating his troops by his example, oboined a de , isiNe %loom . De then commanded his soldiers to ,mild hut-. for themsek es, and to sow the adjacent lands, is if he intended to continue during the rainy season in he enemy's country. Terrified at the prospect of being otallt extirpated, the Moors readily submitted to the tribute which he imposed ; and the king, already ad llred for his valour, conciliated still farther the al dons of his subjects, by distributing among them his •.in share of the plunder. Even the priests, whom he h offended, now extolled his munificence to he cliurche. and his zeal against the enemies ()lithe •oss.
Sci.r( lv fiat! the Abyssinians returned to the own I °until, w hen the Aloors prepared for another revolt. A combination was formed by Amano king of fiadea, Saber-eddin, whom Amda Sion had made governor of Fatigar. and secretly by Gimmel-eddin, governor in Dawaro. The king endeavoured to conceal his knoe, ledge of their conspiracy, that, -,.,ithout awakening their suspicions, he might prepare an army powel [Id enough to crush them. before they had time to unite their Iii, es. 'clic Moors, though full) apprised ufhi, prepara tions, facilitated by their own precipitation the comple tion of his design ; for, without any regular plan of operation, they suddenly commenced hostilities. by plun dering some Christian villages, and desti vying their churches. The royal army was despatched against the rebels in three separate detachments. .1mano, king of Hadea, who, by the advice of a conjurer, had resolved to wait in his own dominions the approach of Amda Sic'', w hom, it was decreed, he should deprive at once Of his kingdom and his life, was surprised by the gene ai of the cavalry, his army completely routed, and him self carlied prisoner to the capital. Saber-cddin was :1.!xt to an engagement by the governor of Ani• ham, who gained a decisive victory, laid waste the country, and made captives of his wife and chil r. intelligence was received, that the l'..lasho. likewise were in rebellion, and had already taken !,e field with a formidable army. By the king's corn ;.1.1nd, Traga Christos, governor of Bcgemder, assem Her: he troops of his province, with those of Gondar, and Daniot ; overtook the rebels, before they had time to commit much devastation, defeated them ith great slaughter, and forced the survivors to con ( cal themselves among their fastnesses in the moun laMs. The king himself had proceeded with a small Ic tachment of his army to Dawaro, to keep the govern or of that province in awe ; and, having now completely ofccceded in quelling the rebels, was preparing to re turn with his victorious forces, when he was informed the kings of Adel and Mara hail resolved to give him battle. Exasperated by this intelligence, he pre pared to pursue his enemies with the most signal ven geance. To give greater solemnity to his resolution, he '..tssembled the principal officers of his army, and, suf. munded by his soldiers, pronounced before a monk of rioted sanctity, and arrayed in his sacerdotal habit, a 'ong invective against the Mahometans ; recounted the unprovoked injuries which, at the instigation of the 'kings of Adel and Mara, they had committed against him ; enumerated the atrocities of which they had been guilty ; disclaimed all avaricious motives in undertak ing the war, declaring, that he would appropriate no 'par. he spoil which Was stained with the blood of his subjects, more laltrable to him than all the riches of Adel ; and concluded with swearing on the holy eu charist, that, though but twenty of his army should join him, he would not turn his back upon Add or Mara, till he had either forced them to submit as tributaries, or hail utterly extirpated them, and annihilated their re ligion. The soldiers were fired by his enthusiasm ; and, to show themselves as disinterested as their sovereign, took lighted torches in their hands, and set fire to all the rich spoil which they had acquired in the province of Fatigar. Having thus satisfied their consciences that t hey were the true soldiers oft:Mist, they set out on their march, thirstiinr, not for the v cali), but the blood of the Their ardent impetuosity was checked by the obsta cles to which their own superstition gave rise. The
Abyssinians believe, that the world is possessed, during the night, by certain genii unfriendly to mankind, dis turbed by the slightest motion, and implacable in their revenge. To such a degree does the dread of these spirits prevail, that an Abyssinian will not venture, at night, even to throw a little water out of a basin, lest it should t iolate the dignity of some vindictive elf. The Moors deride these superstitious fears, and frequently turn them to their own advantage. Protected by a verse of the Koran, sewed up in leather, and worn round their neck or al ills, they bid defiance to the power of the most malignant genius, and engage without scruple in any nocturnal enterprise. In their wars with the Abyssinians, night is their favourite season of attack ; and, in the present campaign, they resolved to avoid a pitched battle, and to harass the king's army in the dark. The troops of Anida Sion. though they had always the advan tage, were soon out by these nightly skirmishes ; and, on the commencement of the rainy season, insisted on being allowed to return. A prince of such a martial disposition, naturally resented a proposal which betray ed their deficiency in steadiness and discipline. He therefore desired his officers to acquaint them, that, if they were afraid of rains, he would conduct them to Adel, where there were none ; and that, for his own part, he had resolved not to quit the field, while there was one village in his dominions that did not acknow ledge him as sovereign. On hearing this the army again set forward ; hut, being still harassed by the nightly attacks of the Moors, the spirit of mutiny began once more to prevail. The eloquence of the king brought them back to a sense of their duty ; but imme diately afterwards he was seized with a violent fever, which seemed to threaten his life. While, in consequence of his illness, the soldiers expected every moment an order to return, they accidentally received intelligence, that an army of 40,000 Moors was advancing towards them, and was then at no great distance from the camp. The king, though now free from fever, was so excessive ly feeble, that he fainted while his servant was employed in putting on his armour. His resolution, however, was unalterable ; and, after recovering from his swoon, he addressed his soldiers in a speech full of enthusiasm, exhorting them to confide in the righteousness of their cause, and in the continuance of that favour which they had hitherto experienced from heaven. Animated by this address, his soldiers were now only solicitous, that, in his present feeble state, he should not expose his per son in battle ; and he promised to comply with their re quest. But the whole army *as soon thrown into con sternation, by a report that the Moors had poisoned the wells, and enchanted all the streams in front of the camp. Though a priest of great sanctity was employed to dis enchant the waters, and a river was consecrated by the name of Jordan, the soldiers not only refused to advance, hut resolved immediately to return home. The king rode through the ranks in the most violent agitation, and conjured them to remember their former valour, and the solemn oaths by which they had repeatedly bound themselves to remain true to the cause of their sovereign and their religion. Finding that his arguments produced no effect, he begged, that those who were unwilling to fight, would only stand in their places as spectators of the bravery of their comrades. He then ordered the master of the horse, with only five others, to attack the left wing of the enemy ; while lie himself, with a small party of his servants, made a furious onset on the right. His valour was crowned with success. Weak as he then was, he slew with his own hand the two leaders of the right wing; his son, who fought on the left, des patched another officer of rank ; and the soldiers, ashamed of their conduct, and alarmed for the safety of their valiant monarch, rushed furiously to his rescue. The centre and left wing of the enemy was entirely de feated ; the right wing, consisting chiefly of Arabians, retreated in a body ; but, ignorant of the country, enter ed a deep valley, surrounded by perpendicular rocks, which were thickly covered with wood. Amda Sion, perceiving their situation, attacked them with a few of his troops in front, while others rolled great stones upon diem from the top of the rocks; and thus, being tillable either to resist or escape, they all perished to a man. Another division of the army was sent, under the com mand of the master of the horse, in pursuit of the rest of the Moors. They found these unhappy people, ex hausted by the fatigues of the combat and of flight, lying by the side of a water, which they lapped like dogs ; and, in this helpless situation, they were slaugh tered without resistance by the relentless conquerors. Wearied at length with murder, they made prisoners of the few who survived. Among these were Said: king of Mara, and his queen; the former of whom was hanged by the order of Amda Sion, the latter hewn to pieces by the soldiers, and her body given to the clogs.