Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/83

Rh desired to visit the king, he was to proceed by the route of Metemeh. They reached Metemeh on 21st November, and five weeks more were lost before they heard from the emperor, whose reply was now courteous, informing them that the governors of all the districts through which they had to inarch had received orders to furnish them with every necessary. They left Metemeh on the 28th December, and on 25th January following arrived at Theodore s camp in Damot. They were received with all honour, and were afterwards sent to Kuarata, on Lake Dembea, there to await the arrival of the captives. The latter reached this on 12th March, and everything appeared to proceed very favourably. A month later they started for the coast, but had not pro ceeded far when they were all brought back and put into confinement. Theodore then wrote a letter to the Queen, requesting European workmen and machinery to be sent to him, and despatched it by Mr Flad. The Europeans, although detained as prisoners, were not at first unkindly treated ; but in the end of June they were sent to Magdala, where they were soon afterwards put in chains. They suffered hunger, cold, and misery, and were in constant fear of death, till the spring of 1868, when they were relieved by the British troops. In the meantime the power of Theodore in the country was rapidly waning. In order to support his vast standing army, the country was drained of its resources : the peasantry abandoned the fertile plains, and took refuge in the fastnesses, and large fertile tracts remained uncultivated. Rebellions broke out in various parts of the country, and desertions took place among his troops, till his army became little more than a shadow of what it once was. Shoa had already shaken off his yoke ; Godjam was virtually independent ; Walkeit and Samen were under a rebel chief; and Lasta Waag and the country about Lake Ashangi had submitted to Wagsham Gobaze, who had also overrun Tigre&quot;, and appointed Dejach Kassai his governor. The latter, however, in 1867 rebelled against his master, and assumed the supreme power of that province. This was the state of matters when the English troops made their appearance in the country. With a view if possible to effect the release of the prisoners by con ciliatory measures, Mr Flad was sent back, with some artisans and machinery, and a letter from the Queen, stating that these would be handed over to his Majesty on the release of the prisoners and their return to Massowah. This, however, failed to influence the emperor, and the English Government at length saw that they must have recourse to arms. In July 1867, therefore, it was resolved to send an army into Abyssinia to enforce the release of the captives, and Sir Robert Napier was appointed com- mander-in-chief. A reconnoitring party was despatched beforehand, under Colonel Merewether, to select the landing- place and anchorage, and explore the passes leading into the interior. They also entered into friendly relations with the different chiefs in order to secure their co-operation. The landing-place selected was Mulkutto, on Annesley Bay, the point of the coast nearest to the site of the ancient Adulis, and we are told that &quot; the pioneers of the English expedition followed to some extent in the footsteps of the adventurous soldiers of Ptolemy, and met with a few faint traces of this old world enterprise.&quot; C. R. Marl-ham. The force amounted to upwards of 16,000 men, besides 12,640 belonging to the transport service, and followers, making in all upwards of 32,000 men. The task to be accomplished was to march over 400 miles of a mountainous and little-known country, inhabited by savage tribes, to the camp or fortress of Theodore, and compel him to deliver up his captives. The commander-in-chief landed on 7th January 1868, and soon after the troops began to move forward through the pass of Senafe&quot;, and southward through the districts of Agame&quot;, Tera, Endarta, Wojerat, Lasta, and 67 Wadela. In the meantime Theodore had been reduced to great straits. His army was rapidly deserting him, and he could hardly obtain food for his followers. He resolved to quit his capital Debra Tabor, which he burned, and set out with the remains of his army for Magdala. During this march he displayed an amount of engineering skill in the construction of roads, of military talent, and fertility of resource, that excited the admiration and astonishment of his enemies. On the afternoon of the 10th of April a force of about 3000 men suddenly poured down upon the English in the plain of Arogie, a few miles from Magdala. They advanced again and again to the charge, but were each time driven back, and finally retired in good order. Early next morning Theodore sent Lieut. Prideaux, one of the captives, and Mr Flad, accompanied by a native chief, to the English camp to sue for peace. Answer was returned, that if he would deliver up all the Europeans in his hands, and submit to the Queen of England,, he would receive honourable treatment. The captives were liberated and sent away, and along with a letter to the English general was a present of 1000 cows and 500 sheep, the acceptance of which would, according to Eastern custom, imply that peace was granted. Through some misunderstanding, word was sent to Theodore that the present would be accepted, and he felt that he was now safe ; but in the evening he learned that it had not been received, and despair again seized him. Early next morning he attempted to escape with a few of his followers, but subsequently returned. The same day (13th April) Magdala was stormed and taken, and within they found the dead body of the emperor, who had fallen by his own hand. The inhabitants and troops were subsequently sent away, the fortifications destroyed, and the town burned. The queen Terunish having expressed her wish to go back to her own country, accompanied the British army, but died during the march, and her son Alam-ayahu, the only legitimate son of the emperor, was brought to England, as this was the desire of his father. The success of the expedition was in no small degree owing to the aid afforded by the several native chiefs through whose country it passed, and no one did more in this way than Prince Kassai of Tigre. In acknow ledgment of this several pieces of ordnance, small arms, and ammunition, with much of the surplus stores, were handed over to him, and the English troops left the country in May 1868. Soon after this Prince Kassai declared his independence; and in a war which broke out between him and Wagsham Gobaze, the latter was defeated, and hia territory taken possession of by the conqueror. In 1872 Kassai was crowned king of Abyssinia with great ceremony at Axam, under the title of King Johannes. In that year the governor of Massowah, Munzinger Bey, a Swiss, by com mand of the Viceroy of Egypt, marched an armed force against the Bogos country. The king solicited the aid of England, Germany, and Russia against the Egyptians, whose troops, however, were after a time withdrawn. Sir Bartlo. Frere, in the blue-book published respecting his mission tQ Zanzibar, is of the opinion that England, having regard to the passage to India by the Red Sea, should not have wholly abandoned Abyssinia. (r&amp;gt;. K.) (See Travels of Brace, 1768-73; Lord Valentia, Salt, 1809-10; Combes et Tamisier, 1835-37; Ferret et Galinier, 1839-43; Riippell, 1831-33; MM. Th. Lefebvre, A. Petit, et Quartin-Dillon, 1839-43; Major Harris; Gobat; Dr C. Beke; Isenberg and Krapf, 1839-42; Mansfield Parkyns; Von Heuglin, 1861-62; H. A. Stem, 1860 and 1868; Dr Blanc, 1868; A. Rassam, 1869; C. R. Markham, 1869; W. T. Blanford, 1870; Record of the Expedition to Abyssinia, compiled by order of the Secretary of State for War, by Major T. J. Holland and Captain H. Hozier, 2 vols. 4to, and plates, 1870; various Parliamentary Papers, 1867--68.)