I was then taken to an inner apartment, where, to my great surprise, instead of Ayto Confu, I saw his mother, Ozoro Esther, sitting on a couch, and at her feet the secretary's daughter, the beautiful Tecla Mariam; and, soon after, the secretary himself, and several others belonging to the court. After having made a profound obeisance, "Ozoro Esther, said I, I cannot speak for surprise. What is the meaning of your having left Gondar to come into this wilderness? As for Tecla Mariam, I am not surprised at seeing her; I know she at any time would rather die than leave you; but that you have both come hither without Ayto Confu, and in so short a time, is what I cannot comprehend."--"There is nothing so strange in this, replied Ozoro Esther; the troops of Begemder have taken away my husband, Ras Michael, God knows where; and, therefore, being now a single woman, I am resolved to go to Jerusalem to pray for my husband, and to die there, and be buried in the Holy Sepulchre. You would not stay with us, so we are going with you. Is there any thing surprising in all this?" "But tell me truly, says Tecla Mariam, you that know every thing, while peeping and poring through these long glasses, did not you learn by the stars that we were to meet you here?"--"Madam, answered I, if there was one star in the firmament that had announced to me such agreeable news, I should have relapsed into the old idolatry of this country, and worshipped that star for the rest of my life." Breakfast now came in; the conversation took a very lively turn, and from the secretary I learned that the matter stood thus: The king, restoring the villages to the Iteghé, according to the stipulation of his last treaty with Powussen, thought that he might so far infringe upon it, from gratitude to Ras Michael, as to give part of the number to Ozoro Esther, the Iteghé's daughter; and Ayto Confu, going to Tcherkin to hunt, he took his mother along with him to put her in possession; for the Iteghé's people were not lambs, nor did they pay much regard to the orders of the king, nor to that of the Iteghé their mistress, at all times, farther than suited their own convenience. We now wanted only the presence of Ayto Confu to make our happiness complete; he came about four, and with him Ayto Engedan, and a great company. There was nothing but rejoicing on all sides. Seven ladies, relations and companions of Ozoro Esther, came with Ayto Confu; and I confess this to have been one of the happiest moments of my life. I quite forgot the disastrous journey I had before me, and all the dangers that awaited me. I began even to regret being so far in my way to leave Abyssinia for ever. We learned from Ayto Confu, that it had been reported at Gondar that we had been murdered by the peasants of Gimbaar, but the contrary was soon known. However, Engedan and he had set the lesser village on fire in their passage, and laid a contribution of eleven ounces of gold upon the two larger.