k of day still finds the worshippers assembled, and every evening
without fail, as the sun sinks to rest, their loud prayer (beginning
with _Abba! Abba!_ Lord! Lord!) twice wakes the echoes."[71]

Their well kept houses are presided over by their women, diligent and
modest. Polygamy is unknown. There are agriculturists and artisans,
representatives of every handicraft: smiths, tailors, potters, weavers,
and builders. Commerce is not esteemed, trading with slaves being held
in special abhorrence. Their laws permit the keeping of a slave for only
six years. If at the expiration of that period he embraces their
religion, he is free. They are brave warriors, thousands of them having
fought in the army of Negus Theodore.

It must be confessed that intellectually they are undeveloped. They have
a sort of Midrash, which apparently has been handed down from generation
to generation by word of mouth. The misfortunes they have endured have
predisposed them to mysticism, and magicians and soothsayers are
numerous and active among them. But they are eager for information.

King Theodore protected them, until missionaries poisoned his mind
against the Falashas. In 1868 he summoned a deputation of their elders,
and commanded them to accept Christianity. Upon their refusal the king
ordered his soldiers to fire on the rebels. Hundreds of heads were
raised, and the men, baring their breasts, cried out: "Strike, O our
King, but ask us not to perjure ourselves." Moved to admiration by their
intrepidity, the king loaded the deputies with presents, and dismissed
them in peace.

The missionaries--Europe does not yet know how often the path of these
pious men is marked by tears and blood--must be held guilty of many of
the bitter trials of the Falashas. In the sixties they succeeded in
exciting Messianic expectations. Suddenly, from district to district,
leapt the news that the Messiah was approaching to lead Israel back to
Palestine. A touching letter addressed by the elders of the Falashas to
the representatives of the Jewish community at Jerusalem, whom it never
reached, was found by a traveller, and deserves to be quoted:

"Has the time not yet come when we must return to the Holy Land and Holy
City? For, we are poor and miserable. We have neither judges nor
prophets. If the time has arrived, we pray you send us the glad tidings.
Great fear has fallen upon us that we may miss the opportunity to
return. Many say that the time is here f