ABSTRACT
The Abyssinians, as a nation, are a strong, robust, and wiry race. Accustomed from early childhood to simple diet and constant exposure to the open air, their system becomes inured to privations, and impervious to the various ills which afflict humanity in a more artificial state of society. The most prevalent diseases are fever and dysentery, but these seldom assume the malignant character they exhibit in the “ kolla ” or low countries. Leprosy, scrofula and scorbutic affections, which hasten hundreds and thousands to premature decay and death, cannot be regarded as indigenous to the climate, since they are either the cruel legacy of dissolute parents, or the natural consequence of filthy habits and a vicious course of life. The disease, which may justly be styled national, is the “ Teenia” or tape-worm. This complaint, from which scarcely one in a hundred is exempt, has hitherto baffled philosophical inquiry and ingenious speculation. The theory that assigns its probable cause to a too liberal indulgence in the use of raw meat is contradicted by the natives, who allege that its cause must be in the water and air, as otherwise numbers of herbivorous animals would not be exposed to its attacks. Happily I escaped this national scourge, and can, therefore, offer no experimental opinion on the disputed question; but I am inclined to believe that broundo, cayenne pepper sauce, tedge and dallah, are far more to blame for it than the murmuring rivulet and the soft cool breeze. Nature has kindly provided various remedies against this loathsome disease. A small grain, called “ In-quoquo” was found to be an infallible antidote by the agents of Bishop Gobat; but the natives, with perverse obstinacy, consider the temporary relief effected every two months by a potent dose of kosso more conducive to health than an effectual and radical cure. But, in dilating on the ills the Ethiopian is heir to, the Bouda and Zar must not be forgotten, since they occupy a most prominent place in the catalogue of evils which torture the brown-skinned children of the sun. Of the two, the Bouda, or sorcerer, as the word signifies, is the most dreaded. His powers in the black art are reported to be of a most varied character. At one time he will enslave the objects of his malice ; at another he will subject them to nameless tortures; and not unfrequently his vengeance will even compass their death. Like the Genii and Efrets of the Arabian Nights, the Bouda invariably selects those possessed of youth and talent, beauty and wit, on whom to work his evil deeds. Those most profound in magic skill are the Jews, the inhabitants of Damot, some Godjamees, and the workers in iron and brass, a trade almost exclusively monopolized by the poor despised Falashas .A variety of charms have been invented to counteract the Bouda’s power, but the most potent and expensive are the amulets written by pious debterahs, and worn round the neck. The dread of the sorcerer has introduced a whole tribe of exorcists, who pretend to be able both to conjure the evil spirit, and also to detect his whereabout ; and these are, accordingly, held in great awe by the people. Their traffic resembles in every respect that of the highwayman; with this difference only, that the one, in bold and unblushing language, calls on his victim to stand and deliver, and the other stealthily creeps into the midst of a troop of soldiers or amongst a convivial party of friends, and pronounces the mystical word Bouda .The uncouth appearance and sepulchral voice of the exorcist everywhere produce the deepest sensation, and young and old, men and women, gladly part with some article to get rid of his hated and feared presence. If, as sometimes happens, one or two less superstitious individuals object to these wicked exactions, the exorcist has a right to compel every one present to smell an abominable concoction of foul herbs and decayed bones, which he carries in his pouch; those who unflinchingly inhale the offensive scent are declared innocent, and those who have no such strong olfactory nerves are declared Boudas, and shunned as allies of the Evil One. In the time of Goshu Beru’s rule in Godjam hundreds were executed on the suspicion of being Boudas; and even King Theodoros, till within the last few years when he began to study God’s Word, continually sanctioned these judicial murders.
