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[HISTORICAL] A- In Those days we see departing a caravan of merchants by the Tigray that lead to the Shoa 54 chained slaves. Those poor creatures don't make other that curse the destiny, to invoke the death, to curse against the owners! But they are, for these merchants, nothing but a goods, a herd to convert itself in coins; and they despair in vain between harrowing stages of tenderness, being ripped from their relatives. Meanwhile in the country are awaited with large anxiety the results for the hunting to the slaves. The arrived news are not happy. Thirty five young warriors, among which many notables of the same country, surprised from the Shangalla (*population of the plan), they have lost the life and together (thing for the blackmen even more serious) shotguns and cartridges. The Head goes almost every day, accompanied from his court, above to a hill to explore the submitting burnt villages of the unlucky Koirò and, little expert in the use of the telescope, he often asks, to see well, the help of Vannutelli. These heads do not dream that raids, from that they extract a lot without to run any risk, satisfying themselves to contemplate the effects from very distant. Finally those courageous return with beyond 400 chained slaves, all boys and women. The adults were killed, according to the usual one, because of their repugnance to the slavery. How much pity seeing mothers with thir own child to the chest and chained; poor old women whipped to blood; and hear torn children, starving, whisper hopeless and to call with voice of plant the parents! Unheard-of atrocities! When the timely moment arrives for the raid, the Heads collect the men; nor they are treated of them; each soldier provides to if same how is able better. The shipping is gotten ready in secret, because the unfortunate that they are wanted to rob are picked of unexpected and without defence. In the invaded villages all is put to iron and fire; the inhabitants they are part killed, or horribly mutilated; and part, made slaves, they are led away as unruly crowd almost to similarity of the buffalos in the Roman country: they aren't stimulated with goads, but they are sometimes struck without pity, if, old and tired, they slow down the step; they are compelled to bend the shoulders under the weight of the kidnapped stuff, and sometimes to follow naked the trot of the horses. We have seen with our eyes some unweaned children bound, like a burden, to the back of the prisoners, or dangling from the saddle of the kidnappers, squeezed with ropes that sink in their soft bodies, tearing them. The emasculation is not often saved nor to the dead, nor to the living persons. The warriors gain so renown of braves only when can raise upwards, hung up to the shotgun or to the spear, the vile document that awaited of an emasculated hostile one! Who they commands is him quite worthy of them, fierce like a wild beast because of an empty stomach length. Fraudulent, liars, violent, these conquerors leave behind themselves, like the horse of Attila did, ash and death. And of such shameful deeds lead glorious work of like pride, exalting with proud emphasis! "Unduma- they say -garbiccia Sidama" (All slaves of the Amhara) since in this, like in many other Galla's countries, also the Amhara are called Sidama, that is to say foreigners. The subjected people or tributary are for such manner terrified; but sometimes their one suffering is too much, so the torture wins the fear, and they rebel: rebellion that cost unfortunately unheard of novelties tortures. The hunting to the slaves is made every year in all of the countries subordinate of the Shoa, that confine with the blackmen of the plan. B- "...the theft and the brigandism, how nearby all of the barbaric people, is a natural thing, and none left himself to escape the good occasions. The raids come down to the man hunting. It is difficult to get the hang of the horrors committed in these raids: villages they are burnt, inhabitants they are massacred, the livestock it is stolen, and all what has value; but, how we have said, the main purpose is the man hunting. It always happens then everybody put into practice the main rat of the women and of the children surprised in the forests distant from their villages. The victims belong to the black tribes of the neighboring plains. To increase the price, often they make eunuchs the young slaves." Introduction: March, the 17th 1897, the second shipping of Vittorio Bottego, who went back after two years of exploration in the region of the Rodolfo Lake (today Turkana Lake), it was attached and massacred from the warriors of the 'degiacc of Abyssinia': Giotè. The limbs of the shipping they were unaware of the happened war between Italy and Ethiopia, ended with the victory of this last in Adwa one year before, and of the successive peace of Addis-Abeba, where was not mentioned their existence; so it was legitimate aside of the Abyssinian to attach them as hostile soldiers. The sole surviving were, besides some Ascari (local inhabitants recruited in the Italian troops) three of whom were emasculated to become slaves of the wives of Giotà; the abyssinian Bottego's woman, whose destiny nobody has nomore known; his own server Mohammed killed 'cause some years before he had his right hand cut off by the Amhara, so he could not be a good slave; the second-lieutant of the armed forces Carlo Citerni and the sub-lieutant of navy Lamberto Vannutelli, they had safe the life because believed medicals, because of the quantitative one of medicinal found in their personal effects, and because useful goods to carry to the negus Menelik II, in Addis-Abeba. This happened after 98 days in chains, the 22nd of June. The initial pieces are part of their book: "Omo-Viaggio di esplorazione nell'Africa Orientale"("Omo river-Explorative journey into the Eastern Africa"), the piece A was a part abolished by the Foreign Ministry; likely in order to not clash the negus-neghesti Menelik II and his wife emperess Taitoo, always hostile with wetern fireigners; together the photograph of six little Arussi girls completely nude, in the chap.XVIII(Imprisonment). It has remained forgotten in the files of the Società Geografica Italiana until 1980. The piece B is part of the chap.XIX (The region of the imprisonment).
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