and inclination, united to Gusho, and had served Michael only through fear, from attachment to the king, so that Gusho and Ayabdar were the only citizens in whom the inhabitants of Gondar confided. Powussen, and the rest, were looked upon as free-booters in their inclinations, at least by the townsmen; very little better than Michael, or his troops of Tigrè. From the moment the town was invested, and indeed in the field, before Gusho had taken the lead, and though neither Ayabdar nor Powussen were his friends, all Gondar was at his command; and in it an army infinitely superior in number and riches, now they had got such a chieftain, to all the Confederates put together, and Michael's army added to them. Gusho, a man of great understanding, born and bred in Gondar, knew this perfectly well, and that he alone was looked up to as the father of his country. He knew, moreover, that he could not ruin Michael so effectually as to lodge him safely in Gondar, amidst a multitude of enemies, and blockade him there before he had time for resources. He therefore detached Ayto Tesfos, the very day he arrived before the town, after Darien, Basha of Belessin, whom Ras Michael had sent before him into Woggora to effect a passage through that province into Tigrè by fair means, promises, and presents. Tesfos came up with Darien before he had time to enter upon his commission, and, having beaten and taken him prisoner, raised all Woggora in arms against Michael, so that not a man could longer pass between Tigrè and Gondar. No person from the rebel army had yet entered Gondar. The king's secretary, Azage Kyrillos, a relation of Gusho, had gone to his camp the day of his arrival. The same day the kettle-drums were brought to the brink of Kahha, and a proclamation made. That all soldiers of the province of Tigrè, or who had bore arms under Ras Michael, should, on the morrow before mid-day, bring their arms, offensive and defensive, and deliver them on a spot fixed upon near the church of Ledeta, to commissaries appointed for the purpose of receiving them; with further intimation to the inhabitants of Gondar, That any arms found in any house in that town, after noon of the day of proclamation, should subject the owner of such house and arms to death, and the house, or houses, to be razed to their foundation.