How far the edict penetrated we do not know and, in any event, ingrained prejudices and superstitions are not easily eradicated by decree. It was significant, however, that a European had come to defend the rights of one of Ethiopia's oppressed minorities and had secured a promise of redress on behalf of the emperor's Jewish subjects which they could never have achieved for themselves.

His mission to the capital accomplished, so far as was possible, Faitlovitch set out for the coast and his return to Europe, not by the comparatively easy way to Djibouti but by the far more strenuous route through Eritrea. First, he went to Debra Libanos, at the request of the emperor, who had taken up his quarters there, to complete arrangements for the book on Abyssinia which he had been asked to write and to obtain the royal laisser-passer for his homeward journey through Tigrai. From there he went to Ankober, the former royal capital of Shoa, in order to visit the villages in the neighbourhood belonging to the Tabibans. He found the members of this community deeply suspicious and reluctant to answer his questions. He concluded, however, that they were a breakaway sect who had become completely separated from the Falashas of Dembea and now lived ostensibly as Christians. He believed that they were the descendants of Falashas who had been brought to Shoa towards the end of the seventeenth century to be employed as craftsmen. They had retained a number of Falasha customs, including observance of the Sabbath, purification and circumcision on the eighth day after birth.