This beautiful bird was the first subject that suffered the loss of liberty, after the king and whole army had vindicated theirs, had passed the Nile in circumstances scarcely within the bounds of credibility, had escaped all the deep-laid schemes of Fasil, and by a train of accidents almost miraculous, passed triumphantly on before him after the battle of Limjour, having joined Kefla Yasous, advanced and encamped at Dingleber the 28th of May 1770. This bird, who from the nobleness of his kind was appositely enough thought to be a type of the king, fell by a fate, in which he still more resembled him, overpowered by the strength and number of a species of birds in character infinitely below him. It has been repeatedly observed in the course of my narrative, that an inconceivable The beasts and birds unmolested have the country to themselves, and increase beyond all possible conception. The slovenly manner of this savage people, who after a battle neither bury friends nor enemies, the quantity of beasts of burden that die perpetually under the load of baggage, and variety of mismanagement, the quantity of offal and half-eaten carcases of cows, goats, and sheep, which they consume in their march for their sustenance, all furnish a flock of carrion sufficient to occasion contagious distempers, were there not such a prodigious number of voracious attendants, who consume them almost before putrefaction. In their voracious stomachs lies the grave of the bravest soldier, unless very high birth or office, or very extraordinary affection in their attendants, procure them a more decent, though more uncommon fate, a sepulchre in a neighbouring church-yard. There is no giving the reader any idea of their number, unless by comparing them to the sand of the sea. While the army is in motion they are a black canopy, which extend over it for leagues. When encamped, the ground is discoloured with them beyond the sight of the eye, all the trees are loaded with them. I need not say that these are all carrion birds, such as the vulture, kite, and raven, that is a species to which nature has refused By what accident this small eagle, who was not a carrion bird, came among these cowardly and unclean feeders, is more than I can say; but it met the fate very common to those who assort with bad company, and those of sentiments and manners inferior to their own. One of these, a kite, vulture, or raven, I know not which, struck the poor eagle down to the ground just before the door of the king’s tent, and hurt him so violently, that he had scarcely strength to flutter under the canopy where the king was sitting; pages and officers of the bed-chamber soon seized him. It was not long before they made the application that the king was to be dethroned by a subject, and Fasil was in everybody’s mouth. The omen was of the kind too unpleasant to be dwelt upon; the sensible people of the attendants hurried it away, and it of course came to me with all the circumstances of the accident, the moral of that tale, and twenty prophecies that were current to confirm it. I confess my own weakness; at first it made a strong impression upon me. In the moment the passage of Shakespeare came into my mind, ———“On Tuesday last, “A falcon tow’ring in his pride of place, “Was by a mousing owl hawk’d at and kill’d.” And this recollection occupied my mind so forcibly, that I stood for a moment speechless, and as it were rivetted to the ground. This behaviour, unusual in me, who used always After sketching his genteel and noble manner while alive, our unfortunate prisoner found his death by the needle, was put out of sight, and carried to Gondar, where the drawing was finished. He was altogether of a dark brown, or chesnut, leading to black. The whole length, from the extremity of the tail to the nose, was two feet four inches. The breadth, from wing to wing, four feet six inches. He was very lean, and weighed something less than five pounds. The fourth feather of his wing after the three largest, was white. The feathers of the lower side of his tail were of a bluish brown, checkered with white, and those of the upper side of the tail were black and white alternately. His thighs were thick-covered with feathers, and so were his legs, down to the joining of the foot. His feet were yellow, with strong black claws. The inside of his wings was white, with a mixture of brown. His leg, from the joining of the foot, was three inches. His beak, from the point to where the feathers reached, was two inches and a quarter. The length of his crest from the head to the longest feather, five inches. The eye was black, with a cast of fire colour in it, the iris yellow, and the whole eye exceedingly beautiful. He seemed wonderfully tame, or rather sluggish, but whether that was from his nature or London Publish’d Feb.y 10.th 1790 by G. Robinson & Co. |