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 GERALD H, PORTAL 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2008 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/accountofenglishOOportrich 
 

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ENGLISH MISSION TO ABYSSINIA. 
 
AN ACCOUNT OF 
 
 THE ENGLISH MISSION 
 
 KING JOHANNIS OF ABYSSINIA 
 
 IN 1887. 
 
 GERALD H. PORTAL 
 
 Privately Printed. 
 
 WINCHESTER : 
 PRINTED BY WARREN AND SON, 85, HIGH STREET. 
 

 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTORY I 
 
 CAIRO TO MASSOWAH 6 
 
 THE JOURNEY TO THE KING - - - "15 
 
 IN THE KING'S CAMP 62 
 
 THE RETURN JOURNEY 80 
 
 APPENDIX 115 
 
 mimBB 
 
ENGLISH MISSION TO ABYSSINIA, 
 
 Introductory. 
 
 My friends have asked me to give some account of 
 the adventures of the recent English Mission to the 
 King of Abyssinia, with which I had the honour to be 
 entrusted. As I only propose to write a personal 
 narrative, and not a political treatise, I must be con- 
 tent with the bare story of our journey to and from the 
 camp of the King, with a very brief description of the 
 country through which we passed and of the people 
 with whom we came into contact. 
 
 It will be remembered that in 1883, after the receipt 
 of the news of the annihilation at Melbeis in Kordofan 
 of the Egyptian army under General Hicks Pacha, the 
 Egyptian Government, at the instance of England, came 
 to the determination to abandon the Soudan Provinces, 
 and to direct all its energies to the withdrawal of the 
 garrisons scattered throughout those vast districts. The 
 position of these garrisons was evidently most precarious, 
 but none were in more imminent danger than the 
 unfortunate soldiers quartered at Sanhit, Keren, Galabat, 
 and other fortresses along the Abyssinian frontier, who 
 now found themselves between the triumphant hordes of 
 the Mahdi on the one side and the almost equally savage 
 armies of the Negoos* on the other, despised by both, 
 
 * I should here explain that "Negoos" is the title usually given to King 
 Johannis. The word ' ' Negoos " is simply the Abyssian equivalent for the 
 English word "King." 
 
 B 
 
2 English Mission to Abyssinia, 
 
 and without the smallest hope of obtaining quarter from 
 either. To remain at their posts would be to render their 
 reduction by siege, famine, or treachery, merely a ques- 
 tion of time, while to sally forth and to endeavour to 
 reach the coast at Massowah would be a confession of 
 weakness which would infallibly cause the whole of the 
 surrounding country to declare for the Mahdi, and would 
 render their escape impossible. There was but one 
 chance of successfully carrying out the evacuation of this 
 part of the Soudan ; if the King of Abyssinia, by 
 English influence or by the offer of a suitable reward, 
 could be induced not only to abstain from attacking 
 these Egyptian garrisons, but even to grant them a safe 
 passage through his country, their eventual arrival at 
 Massowah would be not only possible but very probable. 
 It was therefore with this object that Admiral Sir William 
 Hewitt, with a large staff of English officers, and accom- 
 panied by an Egyptian plenipotentiary, proceeded to 
 meet King Johannis at Adwa, now the chief town of 
 Abyssinia, situated about 120 miles to the south-west of 
 Massowah. Without much difficulty the Negoos was 
 induced to sign a treaty, by virtue of which he promised 
 to allow the Egyptian garrisons on his frontier to retreat 
 peacefully through his dominions, and to give them a 
 safe-conduct as far as the neighbourhood of Massowah. 
 On the other hand, the places evacuated by Egypt on 
 the Abyssinian frontier, the fortresses of Galabat, 
 Amadib, Sanhit, and all the Bogos country were ceded 
 to Abyssinia, together with all the stores, arms, and' 
 munitions of war at that time collected in the different 
 arsenals. No mention is made in this treaty of Ailet, 
 
Introductory. j 
 
 Sahati, Wia, or Monkullu, the occupation of which by 
 the Italian troops became subsequently the cause of so 
 much bloodshed and expenditure both of money and life. 
 
 The treaty was, in the first instance, loyally carried 
 out on both sides. The Egyptian garrisons arrived in 
 safety at Massowah, and some hundreds of thousands of 
 Remington rifles, and millions of rounds of ammunition 
 were handed over to King Johannis together with the 
 evacuated positions. 
 
 It is unnecessary to recall all the circumstances which 
 led to the occupation of Massowah by Italian troops, 
 which took place shortly after the signature of this 
 treaty. It is enough to say that the Egyptians wished 
 to evacuate the place, the Sultan, to whom it would 
 naturally revert, was not prepared to take over the 
 charge of it, the English did not want it, and the 
 Italians stepped in. Disputes soon arose between the 
 Italian Governor and the Negoos respecting the taxes 
 levied at Massowah on goods coming from, or imported 
 into, Abyssinia, in the course of which King Johannis 
 complained that the Italians failed in carrying out the 
 provisions of the treaty, in virtue of which he claimed 
 that no taxes whatever could be levied on such mer- 
 chandise. The irritation created by these and similar 
 disputes rapidly increased, and reached a dangerous 
 point when the Italians, in order to protect the caravan 
 road between Massowah and the interior, on which 
 murder and brigandage had become so common as 
 almost to put a stop to all trade, sent a couple of 
 battalions to take possession of the position of Sahati, 
 a desolate, barren place, but valuable on account of its 
 
^ English Mission to Abyssinia, 
 
 commanding the only water to be found for nearly a 
 whole day's journey along the road. At this moment 
 Ras Alula, the Abyssinian Chief governing the frontier 
 Province of Hamazen and commanding a large army 
 recruited in that Province and in Tigrd, happened to be 
 engaged in an expedition directed against the dervishes 
 concentrated near Kassala. This campaign soon ended 
 in the battle of Kofit, at which the overwhelming 
 numbers of the Abyssinians gained a hardly -won 
 victory, but at the price of an immense loss of life ; 
 nor was Ras Alula able completely to accomplish 
 the object of the expedition, i.e.^ the subjection and 
 occupation of Kassala ; the Abyssinian troops did 
 indeed enter triumphantly into the town, but it was 
 not considered prudent to remain there, and they were 
 forced to be satisfied with their empty, and perhaps 
 doubtful victory, and to return again to the protection 
 of their native mountains. 
 
 Smarting from his great loss of men, and from his 
 failure to accomplish the complete destruction of the 
 dervishes of Kassala, Ras Alula returned to find the 
 Italians in possession of Sahati. He determined to 
 assume the offensive, and in January, 1887, directed an 
 attack against the Italian works. This assault was un- 
 successful, but on the following day a small reinforcement 
 of 450 men, which was being sent from Massowah to 
 relieve the garrison of Sahati, was attacked by 10,000 
 Abyssinians under the command of Ras Alula him- 
 self, and, after a gallant and desperate resistance, was 
 massacred almost to a man. The attack was made at 
 a place called Dogali, where the road to Sahati runs 
 
Introductory. 5 
 
 through a barren plain about three quarters of a mile 
 wide, commanded on every side by rocky hills, from 
 which an incessant and well directed fire was poured 
 in upon the little band of Italians. The favourite 
 Abyssinian mode of warfare was well exemplified on 
 that day, for, despite their great superiority in numbers, 
 the Abyssinians never left their cover till hardly an 
 Italian soldier was left alive. One of the very few 
 survivors, an Italian officer, said that until there were 
 scarcely thirty Italians still capable of holding a rifle he 
 never saw even a single Abyssinian, but that an incessant 
 hail of bullets was poured down from behind every rock 
 and every tree on the neighbouring hills all around them. 
 At last came the final rush, with its invariable Abyssinian 
 accompaniments of plunder, slaughter of the wounded, 
 and mutilation of the bodies. Two days later the little 
 garrison of Sahati was withdrawn to Massowah without 
 meeting with opposition. 
 
 The universal cry for vengeance which arose on the 
 news of this massacre reaching Italy, will be remembered 
 by everybody. Preparations were at once made for an 
 expedition on a large scale, which should inflict signal 
 punishment on the Abyssinians ; the work of fortifying 
 Massowah and its suburb Monkullu was pushed on, with 
 a view to making these places impregnable to attack by 
 any force without artillery ; and measures were taken 
 for the despatch to the Red Sea of some twenty thousand 
 or thirty thousand men. The favorable season was, how- 
 ever, passing, the tropical rains and heat were beginning, 
 and it was decided to take no aggressive action till the 
 following winter. As the summer months went on, the 
 
6 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 serious nature of the undertaking which lay before Italy 
 became more and more apparent ; a war of revenge 
 could bring but little practical benefit, and would cost 
 many millions of pounds and probably many hundreds 
 of valuable lives ; in the meantime Italy's action in 
 Europe would be cramped proportionately to the magni- 
 tude of her task in Africa, and in the actual state of 
 European politics it was most desirable, and might at 
 any moment become imperatively necessary, that the 
 hands of Italy should be free. English influence was 
 supposed, and rightly supposed, to have greater weight 
 with the Negoos than that of any other Power. Her 
 Majesty's Government were willing to help their friends 
 the Italians, and it was eventually decided that an 
 English Mission should be sent to submit to King 
 Johannis certain terms on which Italy would consent 
 to refrain from any act of war. 
 
 Cairo to Massowah. 
 
 On the 17th of October, 1887, Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment decided to entrust to me the honour of taking a 
 Mission into Abyssinia, to attempt to bring about a 
 pacification between King John and the Italians, it 
 being impressed upon me at the same time that there 
 was not a moment to be lost, as the favourable season for 
 warlike operations was already commencing, and the 
 Italian Government could not undertake to refrain from 
 acts of overt hostility for more than five weeks, i.e.y till 
 
Cairo to Massowah, y 
 
 the end of November, even though I should not have 
 returned by that time. 
 
 My first step was to ask permission to take with me 
 Mr. Beech, A.V.S., then serving in the Egyptian Army, 
 whom, of all my acquaintances in Egypt, I considered to 
 be the best adapted for the sort of work which lay before 
 us. Throughout our expedition I never ceased to con- 
 gratulate myself on my good fortune in having secured 
 his invaluable assistance and companionship. I then 
 engaged the services of an interpreter, named Ahmed 
 Fehmy, a most respectable Egyptian of some education, 
 who had lived for two years on the borders of Abyssinia, 
 and said he could both write and speak Amharic fluently. 
 He had accompanied Prince Hassan as interpreter in 
 the ill-fated Egyptian Expedition against Abyssinia in 
 1876. I also took with me my English servant, named 
 Hutchisson, who volunteered to accompany me in spite 
 of the gloomy picture of the dangers and troubles before 
 us which I drew for his edification, and who, I may at 
 at once add, behaved throughout with the greatest pluck, 
 self-possession, and cheerfulness under difficulties. 
 
 It had been impressed upon me that the greatest 
 secrecy was to be observed about my Mission ; except 
 the members of H. M.'s Agency not a soul was to know 
 anything about it. Our preparations were therefore made 
 with much mystery and many precautions : candles, tea, 
 and other stores were purchased in small instalments, 
 and at different shops ; the ammunition and tent were 
 supposed to be wanted for a shooting expedition ; and 
 our passages on the steamer from Suez to Massowah 
 were booked in the name of my servant Hutchisson 
 " and three friends." 
 
8 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 In three days everything was ready, and I left Cairo 
 at 6 p.m. on the 19th October for Alexandria, to meet 
 the English steamer from Brindisi, which was bringing 
 letters from the Queen and Lord Salisbury, accrediting 
 me to King John, and certain presents for the King and 
 Ras Alula, for which I had telegraphed to England a 
 week before. 
 
 The presents for the Negoos consisted of a sword of 
 honour, a Winchester repeating rifle and 500 rounds of 
 ammunition, and a very large and excellent telescope, 
 with its stand, suitable equally for astronomical and 
 terrestrial purposes. For Ras Alula there was another 
 Winchester repeating rifle with ammunition in a hand- 
 some case, and for Ras Aria Selassie, the King's son, 
 another sword of honour. In taking over the long 
 wooden tin-lined cases containing these presents from 
 the Captain of the P. and O. steamer, the thought struck 
 me that these would indeed be awkward loads for a 
 mule to carry in a mountainous country, but I little 
 foresaw the amount of anxiety, trouble, and imprecations 
 both loud and deep, of which they, especially the tele- 
 scope, were destined later to be the cause. 
 
 Leaving Alexandria by the Indian mail train, I 
 arrived at Suez on the evening of the 20th, where I found 
 Beech, Hutchisson, and Ahmed Fehmy, who had just 
 arrived from Cairo with all the stores and baggage of 
 the Expedition. The next day we embarked on board 
 the Egyptian S. S. " Narghileh," a small, dirty, greasy- 
 looking steamer, bound for Jeddah, Suakin, and Masso- 
 wah, in which we very soon discovered that our travelling 
 companions consisted of cockroaches and other smaller 
 
Cairo to Massowah, p 
 
 animals innumerable, a flock of sheep, a few cows, many 
 cocks, hens, turkeys, and geese, a dozen of the evil- 
 looking Greek adventurers who always appear like 
 vultures round a dead carcase whenever there is a 
 possibility of a campaign in North Africa, a discharged 
 convict, and, to crown all, about a hundred Arab pilgrims 
 bound for Mecca, picturesque perhaps at a considerable 
 distance, but on closer inspection decidedly offensive 
 both to the eye and nose ; full of fanaticism and vermin. 
 
 It was not to be expected that I would be able to 
 embark at Suez without being recognized, and many 
 were the indiscreet questions which I had to parry as 
 best I could as to my destination and the object of my 
 journey ; it is to be feared that both Beech and I came 
 well under the definition of diplomatists as "men who 
 were sent to lie abroad for the good of their country." 
 
 The "Narghileh" would not have been worthy of 
 Egypt if she had started at the advertised time, so we 
 were not surprised to find ourselves still at Suez at 
 sunset instead of having got under weigh at mid-day. 
 At last, however, with much creaking and splashing, 
 swearing and shouting, we got clear of the jetty, and the 
 crazy old tub rolled solemnly down the Gulf of Suez at 
 her extreme speed of five knots an hour. 
 
 Next day we touched at the quarantine station of 
 Tor, where it appeared that there was nothing to dis- 
 embark nor to take on board, but two or three hours 
 were wasted, apparently because the Captain wished to 
 have a chat and a friendly cigarette with a friend. From 
 Tor we proceeded in the same stately fashion to Yembo, 
 a small village on the Arabian coast, where one passenger 
 
io English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 was to be embarked. But here a difficulty arose — 
 Yembo could not be found ! The crew of the " Nar- 
 ghileh" consisted apparently of three individuals, who 
 all called themselves captain, a Reis, or sort of boat- 
 swain, and two or three decrepit old men. Unfortunately 
 none of these appeared to know the way to Yembo. The 
 use of maps or charts was apparently either despised or 
 unknown ; such a new-fangled proceeding as taking an 
 observation had probably never been heard of by these 
 worthies ; we therefore spent the greater part of the 
 morning of the 24th of October in wandering vaguely up 
 and down looking for a certain opening in the line of 
 coral reefs, which was supposed to be the way in to 
 Yembo. At last however we arrive, the solitary pas- 
 senger is embarked, three or four hours more are wasted 
 in cigarettes or in thinking of making another start, and 
 we get under weigh again, this time for Jeddah. 
 
 Off Jeddah the following morning the same process 
 of wandering backwards and forwards looking for the 
 way in is repeated, but eventually we drop anchor in the 
 picturesque harbour, close to a crowd of quaint-looking 
 pearl fishing boats. On enquiry we were told that the ship 
 could not sail till the next morning at the earliest, and 
 although the delay was annoying, I was not sorry to 
 have an opportunity of seeing such a truly Mohammedan 
 town, as yet comparatively unspoilt by the usual influx of 
 Greeks, Maltese, and half-bred Europeans, boasting 
 indeed of little beauty of architecture, but containing 
 many picturesque gables and projecting windows of 
 carved woodwork. By far the most interesting study 
 however was the miscellaneous collection of Mussulman 
 
Cairo to Massowah. 11 
 
 humanity which surged through the narrow streets : 
 swaggering Turks from Stamboul rubbed shoulders 
 against yellow-coloured pilgrims from Singapore, dig- 
 nified and large-turbaned Indians from the Punjab, and 
 truculent well-armed Afghans ; while black fanatics 
 from Darfur and Kordofan scowled upon fat, sleek 
 Ulemas from Morocco. Although almost every second 
 man we met was armed to the teeth with murderous 
 or quaint-looking weapons, I saw but little signs of 
 disorder or violence ; there was indeed plenty of 
 noise and shouting, but the crowd was, on the whole, 
 remarkably quiet and well-behaved. I could not help 
 contrasting in my own mind this admixture of Mussul- 
 mans from all parts of the world, brought together by 
 religious enthusiasm, with the vast crowds of Christian 
 pilgrims, equally from all parts of the world, which I 
 had seen collected together, some years ago, at Easter- 
 time in Jerusalem. So far as concerned dignity, single- 
 ness of purpose, and orderly behaviour, the result of the 
 comparison was not altogether in favour of the Christians. 
 Soon after our return on board in the evening Beech 
 complained of feeling unwell, and I was made rather 
 uneasy at finding he had a sharp touch of fever; 
 promptly I administered to him a few of the productions 
 of Mr. Cockle, followed, a couple of hours later, by a 
 strong dose of quinine ; he also consented to sleep this 
 night in the cabin instead of on deck. Next day the 
 fever was still present, so I continued to ply him with 
 quinine, but in spite of, or perhaps in consequence of my 
 medical treatment he never shook, himself clear of fever 
 till we landed at Massowah. 
 
12 English Mission to Abyssinia, 
 
 We arrived without incident at Suakim at 3 p.m. on 
 the 27th October, where, by the kindness of the senior 
 naval officer, it was arranged that we should leave the 
 old " Narghileh " and continue our journey to Massowah 
 next morning in H.M.S. " Starling." Both Beech and I 
 felt that our dinner that night with Colonel Kitchener, 
 and our comfortable night's rest on the veranda of 
 Government House, fully compensated us for all the 
 discomforts of the journey from Suez. Before saying 
 good-bye I got Kitchener to give me a letter of intro- 
 duction and recommendation to Ras Alula, with whom 
 he is in occasional correspondence. I did not expect to 
 have to make any use of such a letter, nor did I imagine 
 that it would be of much effect, but I was glad to have 
 some document addressed to the Ras which I should be 
 able to show to any of his lieutenants who might arrest 
 me soon after crossing the frontier. 
 
 At seven o'clock next morning we went on board the 
 " Starling," and arrived at Massowah, after a delightful 
 passage, at 9.30 the following night (the 29th). 
 
 Early on the morning of the 30th, I went to see 
 General Saletta, commanding the Italian Garrison ; he 
 at once told me he had received instructions to do 
 everything in his power to facilitate my preparations, 
 that although he had not been told the precise object of 
 my journey, yet it was an open secret I was going 
 to make an attempt to bring about some arrangement 
 which would satisfy the honour of Italy, and perhaps 
 save her from an arduous campaign, involving the ex- 
 penditure of many millions of "lire" and the loss of 
 hundreds of lives. We then had a long conversation 
 
Cairo to Massowah, ij 
 
 on the whole situation, which led me to hope that the 
 Italian Government would, in dictating their terms, show 
 the same foresight and moderation, and take the same 
 wide views of the whole question, as those expressed 
 by this most charming, courteous, and talented of 
 generals. 
 
 I then went to see Colonel Vigano, the chief of the 
 staff, and arranged that next morning I should receive 
 twelve good mules, four horses, and six trustworthy 
 native mule drivers, two of whom would be capable of 
 guiding us to Ras Alula's head quarters. I learnt at the 
 same time that King Johannis was still at Dobra Tabor, 
 near Lake Tsana, and that Ras Alula was expected in 
 a day or two to arrive at Gura. I was advised therefore 
 that my best way of travelling would be to go straight 
 to Gura, vid the Yangus and Baresa, that road being, I 
 was told, well known and less arduous than the path to 
 Asmara. 
 
 All this time I was becoming more and more uneasy 
 at not receiving my final instructions with definite 
 permission to start, telegrams were constantly being 
 exchanged between Her Majesty's Government, Sir E. 
 Baring, and myself, but it was not till late in the after- 
 noon of the 1st of November that the final terms which 
 constituted the Italian " ultimatum " were telegraphed to 
 me, and that I was instructed that I might now start to 
 submit them to King Johannis " if I thought I could do 
 so with safety." I at once replied that I would start at 
 daybreak next morning. The terms on which the Italian 
 Government would be willing to come to an amicable 
 arrangement with King John, have recently been 
 
/^ English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 published at Rome in a " Green Book," and were to the 
 following effect : — 
 
 " I. The King of Abyssinia will express his great regret for the 
 unjust attack suffered by the Italians last January. 
 
 "2. Sahati and Wia will remain definitively Italian territory, 
 with a zone beyond of at least one day's march. Ghinda 
 will become a frontier town of Abyssinia. The valley of 
 Ailet will pass into the possession, or at least under the 
 protection, of Italy. The frontier to be marked by 
 common agreement, and in concert with England, by 
 pillars on the spot. 
 
 " 3. The King of Abyssinia will recognize the Protectorate of 
 Italy over the Assaorta and the Habab Arabs. 
 
 "4. Italy, in accord with England, will occupy the region of 
 Sanhit. 
 
 " 5. A Treaty of Peace, Amity, and Commerce will be signed 
 between Italy and Abyssinia." 
 
 The Italian Government at the same time undertook 
 not to commence any active hostilities before the 
 beginning of December, but as the favorable season 
 was so short they could not undertake to postpone them 
 beyond that date. I was thus given four weeks to make 
 the journey to the King and back, his Majesty being 
 then at Dobra Tabor, a journey which, under the most 
 favorable circumstances, could not possibly be accom- 
 plished in less than from seven weeks to two months 
 without allowing for any delay, or for the slow rate of 
 travelling necessary for the baggage mules. However, 
 it was not for us to make any remonstrance, and our 
 final preparations were hurried on with all possible 
 speed. 
 
 The promised mules and horses arrived at the ap- 
 pointed time, and I was pleased and satisfied with their 
 sturdy and healthy appearance. The case was different 
 
The Journey to the King. 75 
 
 with the six guides and mule drivers, who were marched 
 up to me under the guard of two Italian soldiers. Two 
 of these worthies were Abyssinian prisoners of war, two 
 were from the Shoho district — a country notorious for 
 its breed of robbers and professional brigands, and the 
 remaining two were evil-looking Arabs belonging to one 
 of the smaller tribes near Massowah. Neither Beech 
 nor I at all liked the looks of these men, but as we were 
 informed that no others were obtainable we had to be 
 satisfied with what we could get, and hope for the best. 
 Till late that evening we worked at getting all our 
 stores and the baggage of the caravan on shore from 
 the " Starling." We then divided it into the requisite 
 number of loads, distributing the weight as equally as 
 was possible under the circumstances. Saddles, bridles, 
 head-stalls, and ropes were inspected and found to be 
 complete, and in short every preparation was made for 
 an early start. 
 
 The Journey to the King. 
 
 At daybreak on the 2nd November we began to 
 saddle and load the mules, and after half an hour's work 
 we had made three discoveries ; first, that Beech, 
 Hutchisson, and I, would have to do the whole of the 
 work ourselves ; secondly, that our native guides and 
 muleteers were worse than useless ; and thirdly, that 
 Ahmed Fehmy was both sulky and helpless. Seeing 
 that matters were progressing but slowly, I engaged the 
 services of a sturdy black Somali boy from Aden, who 
 
i6 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 offered to accompany me on the expedition, but it was 
 not until 8.45 a.m. that the mules were all loaded, our 
 horses saddled, and everything ready for a start. General 
 Saletta and his staff came to see us off, and after cordial 
 expressions of mutual good wishes, Beech and I mounted 
 our horses, the word was given, and in five minutes the 
 English Mission had left Massowah, and was slowly 
 winding along the path to Monkullu. It was only to be 
 expected that all sorts of defects in the distribution, 
 adjustment, and balance of the loads, would make 
 themselves apparent as soon as we were actually on the 
 march, and sure enough, during the first hour we were 
 forced to halt nearly a dozen times in consequence of 
 some load slipping, or of some saddle showing signs of 
 galling a mule's back. By degrees things settled them- 
 selves into their places, and the stoppages became less 
 frequent ; but the utter incapacity and helplessness, 
 whether real or assumed, of the men, and the sulky 
 stupidity of Ahmed Fehmy, gave me some grounds for 
 anxiety, when I contrasted in my mind the level sandy 
 road along which we were now travelling with the black 
 and forbidding mountain ranges which lay before us. 
 However, every allowance had to be made for the 
 difficulties always attendant on a first start, and in little 
 more than an hour and a half we marched into the Fort 
 of Monkullu, at that time the most advanced point held 
 by the Italian troops. Here I found a telegram for me 
 from General Saletta saying, that Bruru Worke, a young 
 Abyssinian, who had been educated for three years in 
 England, had arrived at Massowah, and wished to ac- 
 company me to the King. I had already been in 
 
The Journey to the King. ly 
 
 correspondence with the Foreign Office about this young 
 man, but had scarcely hoped that he would arrive in time 
 to be able to come with me ; I was therefore most agree- 
 ably surprised to hear of his arrival, and telegraphed back 
 to General Saletta, begging that Bruru Worke might be 
 sent out to Monkullu without a moment's delay. 
 
 After being most hospitably entertained for a couple of 
 hours by Col. Avvogadro and the officers of the garrison, 
 I started the caravan again on their march to a torrent 
 called the Yangus, where our guides said there was a very 
 good camping ground for the first night, with plenty of 
 water and firewood. I myself remained at Monkullu to 
 wait for Bruru Worke. At about three o'clock he arrived, 
 dressed up in varnished shoes, white shirt, and smart 
 clothes, looking very far from prepared to continue his 
 journey at once. However, I soon gave him to under- 
 stand that unless he came with me he would not have 
 another chance, probably for months, of getting into his 
 own country, and that in order to do so he must get 
 ready to start without a moment's delay, and must join 
 me at the Yangus before midnight. I arranged that two 
 mules should be supplied at once for himself and his 
 baggage, and having convinced him that if he lost no 
 time he would easily be able to rejoin me by nine or ten 
 o'clock that night, I sent him off again to Massowah to 
 collect his effects and to change his clothes. 
 
 I should here explain that I was anxious not to remain 
 beyond midnight at the Yangus as the district was a turbu- 
 lent one, and formed part of the disputed territory between 
 the Italian lines and Ras Alula's country, which was said 
 to be infested by wandering bands of brigands and evil- 
 
i8 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 disposed Arab tribes. At 3.30 I parted with my kind 
 Italian hosts, and amid a shower of good wishes cantered 
 off to overtake the caravan. 
 
 After a very hot and dusty march under a blazing 
 sun and without a breath of air, we arrived without 
 further event at the Yangus just before sunset. As soon 
 as the animals were unsaddled and picketted, I sent the 
 guides to bring water. After some search and a little 
 delay they hesitatingly confessed that they had been 
 mistaken, that there was no water anywhere near, none 
 in fact nearer than Baresa, at a distance of about five 
 or six hours march in the direction of Gura. Though 
 not as yet very serious, this was extremely annoying as 
 both the animals and ourselves were a good deal dis- 
 tressed by this first day's march through the hot and 
 shadeless desert ; to make matters worse it then appeared 
 that all the water we carried had been drunk or spilled 
 on the road by the men, while to crown all, Ahmed 
 Fehmy was at this moment discovered in the act of 
 draining the last drop from a private store of nearly a 
 quart of water which I was keeping in view of eventual- 
 ities, and which he knew he was not allowed to touch. 
 
 I had previously thought it advisable to march again 
 about midnight so as to get clear of this somewhat 
 dangerous district, but this now became an imperative 
 necessity in order that we might reach water before 
 the heat of the sun should complete the exhaustion of 
 our thirsty mules. I therefore told everyone to lie down 
 and have five hours sleep, while I intended to sit up and 
 keep a look out for uninvited visitors on the one hand, 
 and for the arrival of Bruru Worke on the other. 
 
The Journey to the King. ig 
 
 Hungry and thirsty as they were, Beech and Hutchisson 
 stretched themselves on the sand and were sound asleep 
 in five minutes ; Ahmed Fehmy, who had had a good 
 drink, and was therefore able to lay in a liberal supply 
 of solid food as well, soon followed their example, and 
 finally the men, after eating and chattering for nearly a 
 couple of hours, also dropped off one by one, leaving me 
 undisturbed to enjoy the wild beauty of the scene by 
 the light of the full moon. 
 
 In spite of fatigue, hunger, and thirst, I felt no 
 temptation whatever to sleep ; for though glad to 
 be at last actually on the march, an uncomfortable 
 suspicion had for some hours been growing in my 
 mind, and was rapidly becoming stronger, as to whether 
 the mule drivers and guides were really so ignorant 
 and helpless as they appeared to be, or whether mau- 
 vaise volonte\ not to say treachery, had not a good deal 
 to do with the matter. I had not liked their sulky 
 demeanour when remonstrated with occasionally on the 
 road, and still less did 1 like the way in which they had 
 sat apart conversing earnestly in low tones when the rest 
 of the party had fallen asleep. However, I soon came 
 to the conclusion that there was nothing to be done but 
 to watch them closely, and to act promptly and un- 
 sparingly on the slightest overt sign of treachery or 
 hostility. 
 
 Slowly the hours passed but brought no sign of 
 of Bruru ; midnight came, and I would wait no longer. 
 I accordingly roused the sleepers, and in another minute 
 we were all hard at work saddling the mules and horses 
 and tying on the loads. That is to say, Beech and 
 
20 ' English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 Hutchisson did nearly all the work, while the men feebly 
 loafed about and got in the way. At I a.m. all was 
 ready, not a sign could be seen of Bruru or of any one 
 coming from the direction of Monkullu, although by the 
 bright moonlight the night was almost as clear as the 
 day, and silently the caravan began to scramble up the 
 rocky torrent bed, along which, according to the guides, 
 lay the road to Baresa. Although the path had seemed 
 difficult, and the halts frequent in the daytime, matters 
 were a hundred times worse now. All through the 
 night our unfortunate mules were clambering over 
 impossible rocks, slipping and sliding down precipitous 
 ravines, forcing their way through dense masses of un- 
 yielding mimosa thorns, and climbing range after range 
 of black rocky mountains, on which no beast of burden 
 but an Abyssinian mule could even obtain a foothold. 
 During all this time, of course, the loads were continually 
 slipping, and had to be tied on again by Beech, Hutchis- 
 son, and myself, for the natives either could not or would 
 not give any help, while the mountains seemed to grow 
 steeper, and the country more parched at every moment. 
 The night was exceptionally hot, the thermometer 
 standing at nearly ioo° Fahrenheit the whole time, and as 
 in order to spare our willing horses, we three Englishmen 
 did nearly all the climbing on foot, we were becoming 
 a good deal exhausted and thoroughly parched by the 
 time when the sun rose and found us still climbing over 
 hot marble and granite rocks. Six o'clock, the hour by 
 which, at the latest, we should have been at Baresa, 
 passed, and we were apparently further than ever from 
 water, but the guides swore by all they held sacred that 
 
The Journey to the King. 21 
 
 they knew the way well, and that we were on the right 
 path. Seven, and then eight o'clock ; the guides now 
 confessed that at one part of the night they had made a 
 mistake in the road, but that now we were quite close to 
 water, which should be in a plain, visible at a short 
 distance in front of us. At nine we reached this plain, 
 and most unpromising and dry it looked ; for another 
 hour we travelled across it, and then the guides began to 
 lead us up the side of another mountain range. By this 
 time the sun was very powerful, and both our animals 
 and ourselves were much distressed. Though I had not 
 said a word to the others on the subject, I had now 
 but little doubt in my own mind as to the treachery of 
 our guides ; I therefore halted the caravan and again 
 severely cross-examined the natives. As the chief guide 
 still swore positively that water was just in front, I 
 decided to try one last chance, and rode on with him 
 alone for about four miles, to a spot which he had pointed 
 out as containing the hoped-for water. Here all doubt 
 as to the man's treachery was set at rest by his sudden 
 desertion, at a moment when I was actually debating in 
 my own mind whether to tie him to my saddle and to 
 take him back to the others, or whether to shoot him on 
 the spot. 
 
 The first thing for me to do now was to find my 
 way back to Beech and the caravan, which I succeeded 
 in doing with some difficulty. There appeared but one 
 course open to us, namely, to cut off all the loads from 
 the mules, to leave everything on the spot, and then 
 to turn back and try to make our way to Monkullu ; 
 for it was evident that although we might be within ten 
 
22 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 or fifteen miles of the pools at Baresa, yet we had no 
 notion whether they lay to the North, South, East, or 
 West of us, and it would be madness to wander vaguely 
 about looking for them. While we were hastily discussing 
 the situation a shout from Hutchisson attracted our 
 attention, and we turned round just in time to see 
 all our men desert at once and disappear in every 
 direction among the bushes. Luckily for these wretches 
 our carbines were attached to our saddles at some yards 
 distance, otherwise most surely would Beech and I 
 have made some of them repent their treachery. The 
 black Somali boy was the only one who now remained 
 with us. 
 
 There was not a moment to be lost ; I feared that 
 in any case, even with the best of luck, the chances 
 would be very great indeed against our ever finding the 
 way back to the Italian lines before sunset, and I did 
 not think that any of the party could last through 
 another night without water. We therefore hastily cut 
 off all the loads and set the mules free, knowing that 
 they would follow us ; we then roused Ahmed Fehmy, 
 who was making himself useful by sitting on a stone 
 and moaning to himself Having told my little party 
 that there was not the slightest doubt as to our getting 
 back with the greatest ease, but that above all they must 
 keep together, I gave the word to mount our thirsty 
 but plucky horses, and silently we began to follow our 
 tracks back towards Monkullu — and water ! 
 
 For two or three hours we jogged along silently, 
 each man feeling that he must spare his strength to 
 the utmost ; the heat and pitiless glare of the sun were 
 
The Journey to the King. 2j 
 
 intense, and many an anxious glance did I throw back 
 to see if we were all keeping together. Nothing was 
 said, but we all knew that, in reality, the chances were 
 many against our being able to trace our road back 
 again over the mountains which we had climbed during 
 the night, even assuming that our strength and that of 
 our horses held out. 
 
 At about one o'clock Ahmed Fehmy began to lag 
 behind ; we again warned him that the safety of the 
 whole party depended on our keeping together: our 
 adjurations, requests, or commands had only a tem- 
 porary effect ; again and again he allowed himself to 
 fall half-a-mile behind, and sometimes more ; again and 
 again Beech and I rode back to bring him on ; three 
 times I solemnly warned him that I would not wait 
 again, that by halting the others while we brought him 
 forward I was imperilling the lives of the whole party. 
 He was, in reality, much the freshest of us all, he had 
 had food and water long after any of us, and he had 
 done none of the severe manual labour with the mule 
 loads which had so exhausted the rest of us. At last I 
 swore to him that I would neither come back again, nor 
 wait, that he must keep up with us, or else follow our 
 tracks ; but I assured him that in the latter case I would 
 have help sent to him at once from Monkullu, if we 
 ever reached it. He promised to keep up with us, and 
 certainly his horse was the freshest of all, but five minutes 
 later he dropped behind again, got off, and lay down to 
 sleep on the sand, — such at least was the report made to 
 me later on by Mahomed, the Aden boy, for neither 
 Beech nor I noticed his disappearance till long after, and 
 Hutchisson was long past noticing anything. 
 
2^ English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 Poor Ahmed Fehmy was never again seen alive. 
 His body was found next day and brought in for 
 burial at Monkullu. His death I attribute entirely 
 to want of pluck on his part ; he was, or at least 
 appeared to be, much the freshest of the party, he 
 had drunk water long since we had, but he gave 
 way, almost without an effort, to the intense longing, 
 against which we were all struggling, to lie down and 
 give up the battle. I may here mention that Her 
 Majesty's Government some months later most liberally 
 authorised a sum of ;£"45o to be paid to the family, in 
 consideration of Ahmed having met his death while in 
 the English Service. 
 
 Hour after hour we rode silently on under the burning 
 sun, our eyes fixed on the ground, looking for every sign 
 which should tell us that we were still on the path we 
 had followed on our outward march. At times, where 
 the ground was covered with loose rocks and boulders, 
 our direction was almost guesswork, as a whole regiment 
 of cavalry might march over it and leave no tracks. 
 Once or twice we found that we had gone astray, but we 
 always managed to get on to our old path again before 
 much time had been lost. At about 2.30 p.m. the heat 
 was intense, the black rocks over and between which we 
 were riding reflected the heat of the sun to a painful 
 degree ; a small pocket thermometer showed me that the 
 temperature was 102° in the shade, what it was in the sun 
 I did not enquire. Hutchisson was now so exhausted 
 and in such pain that he could scarcely sit on his horse, 
 I therefore called a halt for six minutes to see if a little 
 rest would do any good. The experiment was a doubtful 
 
The Journey to the King, 2^ 
 
 one, as the difficulty of rousing ourselves at the end of 
 the allotted time was perhaps worse than if we had 
 not dismounted, but the rest was probably good for the 
 horses. Poor Hutchisson was suffering dreadful pain, but 
 he overcame his intense longing to lie down and quietly 
 subside into oblivion, and struggled on with a pluck that 
 is beyond all praise. Beech had a bottle of whisky in his 
 wallet, and we each took one mouthful, spitting most of 
 it out again as it burnt our swollen mouths and tongues. 
 
 About this time much of our anxiety about following 
 the right track was relieved by the intelligence of one 
 of the loose mules, which placidly jogged along in front of 
 us all, with his nose near the ground and his ears cocked, 
 following our old tracks like a dog on a scent. Without 
 the slightest hesitation we all acknowledged afterwards 
 that to this mule we owed our lives. About four o'clock 
 we reached our old camping ground at the Yangus, but 
 shortly afterwards we again had to halt for eight minutes 
 to allow Hutchisson to rest. Both Beech and I began 
 to despair of ever getting him into MonkuUu, his pain as 
 he lay upon the ground was evidently very great, and 
 we had the greatest difficulty in getting him on to his 
 horse again. Not only were his lips and tongue abso- 
 lutely black and stiffened, as indeed were those of Beech 
 and myself, but he was suffering most violent internal 
 pains, which at times quite doubled him up, but from 
 which we were as yet free. We were both, however, too 
 feeble ourselves to be able to give him much assistance, 
 and he owes his present existence entirely to his determi- 
 nation and indomitable pluck in struggling on. Mahomed, 
 the Aden boy, had now fallen a little way behind, but I 
 
26 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 had but little anxiety about him, as he was comparatively 
 fresh, and because we had now reached the sandy plains 
 over which the tracks of our horses were clearly marked. 
 Meanwhile the sun was rapidly approaching the horizon, 
 but such was our confidence in our " pioneer " mule, that 
 we felt no anxiety about finding the road if only our 
 strength and that of our horses held out. Just at 
 sunset I calculated that we were not more than four or 
 five miles from the Italian forts, and the road being now 
 clear, I squeezed my unfortunate horse into a canter, 
 and went on ahead to get help sent out at once for the 
 Aden boy and Ahmed Fehmy. 
 
 On reaching the Italian pickets I was stopped 
 by a sentry, who soon grasped the condition of 
 affairs, although I could not explain much as my 
 stiff, swollen, and blackened tongue had rather " struck 
 work." He rushed off to get water for Beech and 
 Hutchisson, who, I explained, were not far behind 
 me. Five minutes later I reached a well, from which 
 some kindly soldiers at once produced a bucketful of 
 water for my gallant old horse, and a large mugful for 
 myself It is absolutely impossible to try to explain the 
 joy of that drink. I was at once surrounded by the 
 officers of the garrison, and in less than a quarter of an 
 hour two trustworthy Arab scouts had started on swift 
 camels with water and provisions for the Aden boy 
 and for Ahmed Fehmy, the former of whom arrived at 
 MonkuUu within an hour, but the body of the latter was 
 not found till the next day. Half an hour later Beech, 
 Hutchisson, and I were all in bed, being cared for and 
 looked after by the Italian commanding officer and the 
 
The Journey to the King. 2J 
 
 doctor of the garrison, with a kindness which no words 
 can express. 
 
 The night, almost sleepless and feverish as it was, 
 gave us some rest and refreshment, but it was scarcely 
 with unmixed feelings of joy that at daybreak I con- 
 templated the absolute necessity for starting afresh on a 
 march back to where the luggage had been left. How- 
 ever there was no choice in the matter ; the Queen's 
 letters and all my papers were safe with us, but we knew 
 that a delay of even a few hours might cost us all the 
 rest of our baggage, arms, and presents. Mules, horses, 
 and eight fresh men were soon ready, and with nothing 
 to carry but a few small barrels of water and food for 
 two days. Beech and I started again at a brisk pace at 
 7.30 a.m., leaving Hutchisson and the Aden boy to rest 
 and recover from their exhaustion under the care of the 
 Italian doctor. 
 
 Nothing worthy of record occurred on this journey ; 
 with the help of the men who had started on camels 
 the night before we recovered most of our baggage 
 and the presents, but a large quantity of dollars and 
 nearly all the martini ammunition had already been 
 carried off; a sufficient proof that if we had complied 
 with the prayers of the doctor and Colonel Avvogadro, 
 and postponed our departure till later, hardly any of our 
 property would have been recovered. The body of poor 
 Ahmed Fehmy was also found, and sent back for burial 
 at Monkullu. As my men were a little nervous and 
 uneasy, owing to the reported presence in our immediate 
 neighbourhood of an armed band of about fifty Arabs of 
 the Assaorta tribe, we marched again an hour after mid- 
 night and returned to Monkullu without difficulty. 
 
28 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 The state of my mouth and throat had not yet 
 allowed me to swallow anything more solid than a little 
 thin cold soup and some red wine, and I therefore felt 
 obliged, to my regret, to take a complete rest for twenty- 
 four hours before making a fresh start ; but I was well 
 rewarded on rising late the following afternoon, by seeing 
 Beech and Hutchisson eating, drinking, and smoking, 
 and apparently in their usual good health, and by being 
 able myself to swallow a few mouthfuls of solid food. 
 The caravan was then quickly but carefully reorganized ; 
 Ahmed Fehmy's place was filled by Bruru Worke, who 
 had rejoined me after a very lame explanation of his 
 non-appearance on the night of the 2nd, and by another 
 young Abyssinian named Ghirghis, a bright looking 
 youth, who had been educated by the Swedish Protestant 
 Mission at Massowah : I engaged this youth as second 
 interpreter, for Bruru Worke was only to go with me to 
 King John and not to return. Our treacherous guides 
 and mule drivers were replaced by nine fresh men, who 
 all bore good characters, and whose wives and families 
 were left in the hands of the Italian authorities as 
 pledges for their good behaviour. By the evening of the 
 6th November everything was ready for a fresh start. 
 In the meantime information had been received that 
 Ras Alula was about to change his head-quarters 
 from Gura to Asmara, I therefore decided to march 
 this time direct to the latter place through Sahati, 
 Ailet, and Ghinda. 
 
 At eight o'clock on the morning of the 7th we 
 took a final leave of our kind Italian friends, a few 
 of whom insisted on riding with us as far as Sahati, 
 
The Journey to the King. 2g 
 
 and once more we crossed the sandy plain beyond 
 the Italian forts, in good spirits, with good animals, 
 and, apparently, a good and willing lot of men. 
 In three hours we arrived at Sahati, a spot of some 
 strategical importance on account of its never-failing 
 supply of water, but desolate, uninhabited, and generally 
 uninviting ; beyond this place the Italian officers could 
 not accompany us, so we rested here for a couple of 
 hours, and then continued our journey alone, over the 
 Ambabu Pass, and then down a short steep declivity 
 on to the plain of Ailet. 
 
 We were now well within the country held by 
 the Abyssinians, and we could only hope on near- 
 ing the large village or town in the centre of the 
 plain, that we should not be mistaken for the head 
 of an Italian column, and be received with a volley 
 of musketry. It was not reassuring, when about half a 
 mile distant, to see a great excitement and movement 
 in the village, and then to make out a stream of fugitives 
 — women and children — flying across the sand on the 
 other side. Luckily, however, our pacific gestures and 
 mild demeanor attracted the attention of a stalwart 
 young shepherd, armed with the universal spear and 
 shield ; with the help of the almighty dollar he was soon 
 convinced of the honourable nature of our intentions, and 
 then flew across the plain like a young gazelle, waving 
 his spear to his fellow townspeople and yelling the com- 
 forting word " Dahhan ! dahhan !" (friends ! friends !). 
 
 The panic in the town was soon allayed, those who 
 had started to fly stopped to gaze, and from the bushes on 
 our left suddenly emerged about thirty or forty Abys- 
 
JO English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 sinian soldiers all armed with Remington rifles, who 
 quietly informed us that they had been running through 
 the woods alongside of us for some distance, prepared to 
 pour a volley into the caravan had our conduct appeared 
 to them in the least degree suspicious or hostile. We 
 thanked these gentlemen for their polite attention, and 
 then rode on to greet the head man of the village. This 
 dignified personage received us well, gave us food and 
 milk, and forage for our beasts, but said that he would 
 not be able to let us proceed on our journey next day, 
 as the soldiers would not allow it. I should here explain 
 that Ailet is practically an Arab village, though it con- 
 tains a good many Abyssinian inhabitants, and though 
 a garrison of Abyssinian soldiers is always quartered 
 there to keep the Arabs in order, and to prevent them 
 from becoming too prosperous. As a good deal of 
 feasting and consequent excitement was going on 
 among the soldiers, I thought I had better postpone 
 any discussion till the following morning, and we there- 
 fore went quietly to bed, a simple proceeding which 
 consisted in stretching ourselves on the sand, with a 
 rolled great coat, or a saddle for a pillow. 
 
 At daybreak the following morning I gave orders 
 for saddling and loading the animals, hoping that the 
 soldiers would let us proceed quietly on our journey, 
 but it soon appeared that matters were not to run so 
 smoothly ; a noisy and violent discussion ensued which 
 lasted for over two hours, the soldiers saying that I 
 must remain at Ailet till they could learn Ras Alula's 
 wishes respecting us, while I argued that Ras Alula 
 already knew that I was on the way to visit him. 
 
TJie Journey to the King. ji 
 
 and that he would be very angry with his men if they 
 placed any impediment in my way. Eventually it was 
 decided that I should be allowed to proceed to Ghinda, 
 where there was a large garrison of Abyssinian soldiers, 
 under a powerful chief, who should take the responsibility 
 of deciding whether I was to be sent on to Ras Alula or 
 not. About twenty soldiers of the Ailet garrison were 
 told off to accompany us, and at 7.30 a.m. we were 
 slowly wending our way through the mimosa thorns 
 towards the high mountains which form the western 
 boundary of the Ailet plain. 
 
 Throughout the day we were a good deal annoyed 
 by the insolence of our Abyssinian guards, who amused 
 themselves with mocking prophecies as to the fate which 
 awaited us on our arrival at our destination, and who had 
 a disagreeable habit of fingering, and then asking for, 
 everything that struck their fancy, such as our knives, 
 spurs, watches, and even our clothes. At length, however, 
 after an arduous climb up a rocky mountainous road, we 
 arrived at Ghinda soon after four o'clock, and bivouacked 
 on a grassy plain about half a mile below the village, which 
 is perched on the extreme summit of the most inaccessible 
 hill in the neighbourhood. A couple of hours later a 
 crowd of the red and white robes is seen descending the 
 hill side in solemn procession, and advancing slowly 
 towards us. A breathless messenger rushes up and 
 warns me that the three great chiefs who command the 
 3000 men of this garrison are coming to pay me a visit. 
 I receive the great men as best I can, and offer them 
 seats on the grass or on rocks, while I thank them for 
 their kindness in thus dropping in to see me at tea time. 
 
J2 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 Meanwhile their escort, consisting of about 1 50 fine 
 men armed with rifles and swords, crowd round in 
 somewhat unpleasant proximity, and proceed to make a 
 searching examination of our clothes, especially of our 
 boots and spurs, of our cooking pots, carbines, and in 
 fact, of everything belonging to us. In spite of our 
 efforts to be agreeable, the conversation between the 
 Chiefs and ourselves soon begin to languish, I therefore 
 told them outright that I regretted extremely that I 
 should be obliged to tear myself away from this pleasant 
 spot at a very early hour next morning, and to continue 
 my journey to Ras Alula's Head Quarters. At the 
 same time, in order to encourage them to see matters in 
 a proper light. Beech occupied himself by offering beakers 
 of raw brandy all round. The Chiefs then retired to a 
 little distance to consult upon the important question of 
 whether I was to go or to stay, while the soldiers of their 
 escort remained with us, intensely excited by an air 
 pillow which Hutchisson was alternately blowing out and 
 emptying for their edification ; it was perhaps lucky for 
 us that they did not understand the somewhat disparaging 
 but pithy remarks by which this amusement was accom- 
 panied. While the consultation among the Chiefs was 
 still proceeding, a messenger suddenly arrived with a 
 letter to me from Ras Alula himself, in answer to my 
 communication from Massowah. The Ras said that he 
 would receive me at Asmara, and begged me to come 
 on to him at once. So far the letter was civil, but the 
 latter part of it consisted entirely of violent abuse of the 
 Italians, which was less encouraging. 
 
 However, the immediate effect of this letter was to 
 
The Journey to the King. jj 
 
 convince the chiefs that not only must I be allowed to 
 proceed unmolested, but that I should be treated as 
 an honoured guest. We then said good night, and 
 they departed, followed by their soldiers, with many 
 expressions of good will and friendship. A few minutes 
 later presents arrived, consisting of two sheep, which I 
 did not want, and a most welcome jar of "tedge," a 
 fermented drink made of honey, water, and an infusion 
 of a bitter herb. The night was undisturbed, save by 
 the incessant howling of jackals and hyaenas, with an 
 occasional roar from some larger and more savage 
 animal. The hyaenas once or twice caused a little 
 anxiety by wandering about suspiciously near our 
 hobbled mules, but the impertinence of these beasts is 
 irritating, rather than alarming. At six o'clock the next 
 morning I again received the Abyssinian chiefs, whose 
 presence, with their soldiers, so impeded the work of my 
 men, that it was not till eight o'clock that everything was 
 packed on the mules, and that, after a liberal distribution 
 of "backsheesh" to the great men, I was able to make a 
 start along the mountainous and rocky passes leading 
 up to Asmara. 
 
 As neither ourselves nor our beasts had as yet 
 thoroughly recovered from the effects of our long water- 
 less march of the week before, I consented to halt at 
 4 p.m. near some water at the foot of the Mahenzie 
 Pass. Here we spent a cold but eventless night, and 
 at daybreak next morning we were toiling painfully up 
 the precipitous sides of the Mahenzie mountain, the last 
 and highest of the great range which separates the 
 Abyssinian plateau from the plains near the sea. At 
 
 D 
 
34- English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 eight o'clock we crossed its summit, about 8000 feet high, 
 and half an hour later we rode into the great permanent 
 camp of Ras Alula's army at Asmara. 
 
 I had sent Beech, with the interpreter Bruru, on 
 ahead to announce the approach of the English Mission, 
 but it soon appeared that Ras Alula himself was not 
 here ; he was expected to arrive the next day, and in 
 the meanwhile his place was taken by his brother, a 
 gentleman named Kantibwa Kaifa, who said he would 
 be glad to see me at once. I therefore proceeded with- 
 out delay to pay him a visit. Kantibwa received me 
 sitting on a sort of throne, did not rise when I ap- 
 proached, but somewhat ostentatiously sniffed at a red 
 handkerchief in his hand. He then motioned me to a 
 chair placed several yards away on his left, and proceeded 
 to speak in a condescending way, with his head turned 
 away from me, and still smelling his red rag. It was 
 very evident that he was trying to show off his own 
 importance before the assembled crowd of chiefs and 
 soldiers, so I cut the interview very short, and told him 
 that I was sorry I could not stop, but that I would go 
 on and meet Ras Alula at Gura. This rather frightened 
 my friend, who then implored me to stay, swearing that 
 the Ras would be here early next morning, and that if 
 I met him on the road I should only have to turn back 
 again with him to Asmara. However, I would not be 
 persuaded, and once more we started along the road to 
 Gura. After half an hour's march we were met by a 
 mounted messenger from the Ras himself, who was 
 ordered to beg me to wait at Asmara, where the great 
 man promised to arrive early next day. This time 
 
The Journey to the King. J5 
 
 I allowed my heart to be softened, and we turned back 
 again to Asmara, and pitched our camp on a grassy 
 plain in the centre of the straggling collection of villages 
 which compose this great camp. Late in the evening 
 Kantibwa sent me a small present of bread and a 
 miniature goat, but not the customary jar of tedge, nor 
 any polite message. The nature of this present was 
 intended to show that I was treated with contempt, and 
 was merely allowed to remain at Asmara on sufferance 
 till the great man should come and deal with me 
 summarily. 
 
 During the night both my men and ourselves felt the 
 change of climate severely. Asmara stands about 7600 
 feet above the sea level, and a little before daybreak the 
 thermometer marked only 33° Fahrenheit, whereas, four 
 days ago we had been gasping with the mercury at about 
 100° all night. 
 
 At ten o'clock in the morning of the i ith the beating 
 of tom-toms and the shouts of the populace announced 
 the approach of the great Ras Alula, and a few minutes 
 later a vast crowd of cavalry and infantry, all dressed in 
 the picturesque white and red toga, began to swarm into 
 the plain, and to speed along towards the immense 
 earthern or mud pyramid, on the summit of which are 
 the two large round huts which constitute the Ras' Head 
 Quarters, and from whence he looks down on the plain 
 of Asmara like an eagle from his eyrie. No sooner had 
 the Chief ascended to his abode than the great mass of 
 armed humanity rapidly dispersed in every direction, and 
 within half an hour the whole plain was dotted as far as 
 the eye could reach, with little tents of coarse black cloth. 
 
j6 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 interspersed among thousands of hobbled cows, horses, 
 and sheep ; while busy women and slaves flew about in 
 every direction, fetching water, hunting for firewood, or 
 tending their masters' horses and mules. Before eleven 
 o'clock an escort of fifty soldiers came to take me to the 
 presence of the Ras, whereupon I arrayed myself, to the 
 wonder and edification of all beholders, in diplomatic 
 uniform, cocked hat and all, and then, accompanied by 
 the interpreter Bruru, and by Major Beech bearing the 
 Winchester rifle, the procession advanced solemnly 
 through a crowd of gaping brown faces and white robes 
 till, after a trying climb up the mud pyramid, we were 
 ushered into a large hut, in which sat Ras Alula on a 
 divan, surrounded by about sixty or seventy Chiefs and 
 dependants. He received me without rising from his 
 seat, and after the interchange of a few formal greetings 
 I presented the Winchester repeating rifle, with 800 
 rounds of ammunition. The Ras scarcely looked at it, 
 but motioned to a slave to put the case containing it on 
 the ground ; I then explained to the Ras that I had 
 important business to transact with the King, and that 
 it was very necessary that I should continue my journey 
 immediately, but he replied that I could not go to-day, 
 and that we should talk of all these matters next day. 
 This was annoying, as it necessitated a further delay, 
 but on the whole, the interview had not been unsatisfac- 
 tory ; the Chief's manner was not otherwise than courteous, 
 while his evident intelligence and strength of character 
 made him an object of considerable interest. I then 
 returned to my tent, and shortly afterwards a string of 
 slaves arrived there, bearing presents from the Ras, 
 
The Journey to the King jy 
 
 consisting of two large jars of excellent and most 
 welcome "tedge," a cow, lOO thin flat cakes of brown 
 and black bread, a pot of honey, and a pot of " ghee " 
 or native butter, in appearance and smell very like 
 common train oil. 
 
 So far things had gone fairly well, and we fondly 
 hoped that we should continue our journey on the 
 morrow, but such, alas ! was not to be the case, for 
 my second interview, which took place at nine o'clock 
 next morning, was very different from the first. Even 
 before it took place the first mutterings of the 
 storm had made themselves heard ; we received an 
 order that we were not to be allowed to camp on the 
 plain any longer, that we must move into a hut which 
 was placed at our disposal, and moreover that the move 
 must take place immediately. As a large party of 
 soldiers appeared to be ready, and only too willing, to 
 enforce the mandate in a disagreeable way should we 
 make any objection, I gave the necessary orders to my 
 men under protest, and the tent was struck, the animals 
 caught and loaded, and the whole party moved into a 
 dark circular hut, rather larger than most native huts, 
 built of thick branches, with a thatched roof coming 
 down to about four feet from the ground. The only 
 furniture it contained was a sort of divan, or altar of 
 hard mud, about four feet long by three wide ; while 
 nearly half the whole space was railed off, and had 
 evidently been till quite recently used as a stable for 
 one or more animals. The hut was surrounded at a 
 distance of about five yards by a high fence of thorns ; 
 in the space thus enclosed were crowded my men, mules, 
 
j8 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 and horses, and some of the baggage, while the hut 
 itself was occupied by Beech, Hutchisson, myself, and 
 the two interpreters, also, as we soon discovered, by 
 thousands upon thousands of unwelcome and uninvited 
 inhabitants, whose activity and rapacity drove away 
 sleep, made life an intolerable burden, and loaded our 
 consciences with almost as many wicked and bitter 
 words and thoughts as did the subsequent conduct of 
 our arch-enemy, Ras Alula himself 
 
 I must, however, return to my second interview with 
 the Ras in his eyrie, and here I think it will be sufficient 
 simply to quote from the official report on the subject 
 which was submitted to Her Majesty's Government in 
 January. 
 
 " At my next interview the following morning the Ras asked me 
 to tell him what I had come for, and what was the business I had 
 to do with the Negoos. I was extremely unwilling to enter into any 
 political discussion with the Ras, as it was easy to see that the 
 acceptance by King John of the Italian terms would involve a 
 repudiation on the part of His Majesty of any responsibility for 
 the action of Ras Alula in regard to the massacre of the Italian 
 half-battalion at Dogali, and would probably lead to his downfall, 
 or at least to his removal to another province. I therefore 
 restricted myself to saying that the mission with which I was 
 intrusted was to the King himself, and I begged the Ras to enable 
 me to accomplish it quickly. The Ras then said he knew I had 
 come because of the Italians, and proceeded to speak with great 
 excitement about the whole situation, saying that the Italians 
 should come to Sahati only if he could go as Governor to Rome ; 
 that he had beaten them once, and if they advanced he would beat 
 them again ; that the sea was the natural frontier of Abyssinia, but 
 that England, who pretended to be the friend of the Negoos, had 
 given Massowah to the Italians. I at once protested strongly 
 against this statement, and added that, in any case, Massowah 
 would be of no use to Abyssinia, who had no fleet, and could not hold 
 the place against even one ship of any European Power, and that 
 surely it was better for his country that Massowah should be in the 
 
The Journey to the King, jp 
 
 hands of a Great Power who was willing, and even anxious, to be a 
 friend to Abyssinia. The conversation continued in this strain a 
 little longer, the Ras' manner throughout being most insulting and 
 aggressive : he addressed me continually as if I were an Italian, 
 and responsible for all Italian action, and after being obliged more 
 than once to tell him that I was sent by the Queen of England 
 alone, and had nothing to do with Italy, I again asked him to let 
 me go on and carry out my mission to the King. This he flatly 
 refused to do, and said I must wait at Asmara. 
 
 " A guard was then set over me and my people ; we were not 
 allowed to go out except accompanied by two soldiers ; the 
 inhabitants of Asmara were strictly forbidden to sell us provisions 
 or goods of any kind whatever ; no one was allowed to commu- 
 nicate with us either personally or by letter ; visitors who wished 
 to see me were roughly refused admittance by the soldiers, and 
 their names were reported to the Ras ; in a word, although 
 nominally we were guests of Ras Alula, practically we were 
 prisoners during the whole of our enforced stay in his camp. 
 Every day I sent to the Ras to ask for guides and permission to 
 start, but without effect, and on the 15th November I sent to 
 demand another interview with him, which he fixed for daybreak 
 next morning. I accordingly went to him at the appointed time, 
 but was not received with any mark of respect ; the people who 
 were sitting or lying about in front of his hut refused to move out of 
 my way, and it was only when I turned to go back again that I 
 was begged to go on, and that a way was cleared for me through 
 the crowd. I then repeated to the Ras that I was charged to take 
 a letter, a message, and some presents from the Queen to the 
 Negoos, and that if the Ras did not find it consistent with his duty 
 to let me go forward, I begged that he would nominate some 
 trustworthy person who should take charge of the letter and 
 presents, and that he would let me return to Massowah to report 
 why I had been unable to carry out my instructions. The Ras 
 replied that I should neither go forward nor back for the present. 
 I asked him whether he would stop me by force if I were to start 
 to return to Massowah. He said, yes, that if I started to go either 
 way he would have me brought back by his soldiers. Four days 
 later, on the 19th November, I heard that the Ras had received a 
 letter from the King about me, and shortly afterwards he sent for 
 me, and told me that he would now let me go, but that I must first 
 show him the Queen's and Lord Salisbury's letters, as he wished to 
 see whether the seals were genuine. Although this was somewhat 
 
^o English Mission to Abyssinia, 
 
 insulting, I saw no great objection to complying with his request, 
 and accordingly brought the letters to him. He merely looked at 
 the seals on Her Majesty's letter, but that from Lord Salisbury he 
 opened and handed to his interpreter in spite of my protests. 
 Four hours later he returned the letter to me, and sent me three 
 soldiers as guides for the journey. I then lost no time in leaving 
 Asmara." 
 
 Although during these ten days of enforced inactivity 
 at Asmara we had really been close prisoners, and 
 thoroughly cut off from all communication with the 
 outer world, we had not been subjected to any active 
 ill-treatment at the hands of the Abyssinian soldiers 
 guarding us, nor had there ever been any stinginess in 
 the supplies of food sent for our consumption. Every 
 morning a string of slaves used to arrive from head 
 quarters driving a sheep before them and bearing several 
 basketsful of thin flat circular loaves or " chupatties " of 
 black bread, made, to judge by their taste, principally of 
 fine black sand, mixed with grass stalks ; there was 
 always, too, a large jar of tedge, sometimes very good 
 and very palatable, sometimes very bitter, but always 
 preferable to the muddy water which was now our only 
 alternative, our liquor supply consisting of only two 
 bottles of brandy, which I determined to keep solely for 
 medicinal purposes. But, in spite of these delicacies, it 
 was with a feeling of the deepest relief that I at last 
 heard that Ras Alula had received a letter from the 
 King ordering him to let us proceed on our journey 
 unmolested. 
 
 That this was a bitter disappointment to the Ras 
 was no secret to us, for we, that is Beech and I, had 
 known for several days that a letter had been sent to 
 King John reporting our arrival, and explaining that 
 
The Journey to the King. ^i 
 
 even if we were not Italians at least we came from the 
 Italian camp, that England and Italy were hand in hand 
 in all Massowah and Abyssinian policy, and urging that 
 we should be summarily treated as enemies or spies, i.e.y 
 thrown into chains, or executed without more delay or 
 bother about the matter. 
 
 However, this was not to be ; grumble as he might, 
 Ras Alula dared not disobey the King's commands, so 
 he assented to my request for a final interview, and we 
 took leave of each other, not, it is true, with the best 
 grace in the world, but I could pardon his somewhat 
 brusque, not to say savage manner, in consideration 
 of his disappointment, and because I felt that this 
 parting was a wrench to his feelings ; for he was 
 indeed sorry to let us go, and a man never shows to 
 advantage when his feelings are thus deeply touched. 
 
 It was a little after mid-day on the 19th of November 
 when we marched out of Asmara in the track of our 
 soldier guides. Our destination was uncertain, as the 
 King was on the march from Dobra Tabor, either coming 
 towards Adowa or to Ashangi ; it was considered best, 
 therefore, to march to Sokota, a town almost in the 
 centre of Abyssinia, which would not be far from his road 
 whether he was coming North or remaining in the 
 Southern part of his dominions. Sokota lies almost due 
 South from Asmara, distant, I calculated, about twelve 
 days march ; it was therefore, with a feeling of surprise 
 not unmixed with suspicion, that I soon perceived that 
 Ras Alula's soldier guides were leading us in a North- 
 Westerly direction. It was with considerable annoyance 
 that on arrival, after three hours march, at a small village, 
 
^ English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 I heard them declare that we must now halt for the night ; 
 and it was with real anger that I contemplated them 
 sitting stolidly on a stone in the path and refusing to 
 move a step further, declaring that their orders were to 
 take us by slow and short journeys, " so that we should 
 not be fatigued " ! This was too much, so I told them I 
 did not care a fig for their orders, that I intended to 
 march when I liked and to halt when I chose, and that 
 if they refused to come any further I would hire guides 
 from the villages, but that in any case I would proceed. 
 I added, that if I reached the King without them I would 
 make it my first care to report their misconduct, and to 
 see that they were severely punished — probably by the 
 loss of their heads. At the same time I ordered the 
 caravan to proceed, and we rode forward, followed by 
 the now sulky soldiers, who, however, eventually suc- 
 cumbed to a little quiet " blarney," and led us to another 
 village called Calcatti, where we arrived soon after 
 sunset, and which should, according to the Ras' orders, 
 have been our resting place for the following day. 
 
 Thoroughly tired by this march of seven and-a-half 
 hours, after our enforced inactivity of ten days, no time 
 was lost in unloading the mules, but no food was pro- 
 curable in the miserably poor collection of huts of which 
 the village consisted. Water was plentiful, and fortu- 
 nately one of my men had been detailed to drive a cow 
 with us all day. This cow had been one of the last gifts 
 of our dear friend Ras Alula, but it had become very 
 footsore, and had lagged behind for the last two or three 
 hours. While waiting for its arrival fires were lighted, 
 knives were sharpened, pots were prepared ; probably, 
 
The Journey to the King. ^j 
 
 never was a cow so welcomed as when this one at length 
 limped into camp. In an instant the sturdiest of my 
 men had the beast on the ground, one of them in 
 particular earning the honoured title of the " Chief 
 Butcher" by the alacrity with which he hacked and 
 cut at the poor brute's throat, and exactly forty -one 
 minutes from the time when the animal arrived in camp 
 Beech, Hutchisson, and I, were trying to get our teeth 
 through some well-cooked beefsteaks, while my men 
 were devouring other portions prepared in a way 
 peculiar to themselves. 
 
 By this time my men were becoming accustomed to 
 each other and to Beech and myself; discipline was 
 severe, but their obedience, as a rule, was implicit. I was, 
 on the whole, well satisfied with them, and they seemed 
 to have confidence in us. Our spirits were all high at 
 having escaped from Ras Alula's clutches, and next 
 morning, when we started along a smiling valley with a 
 fairly good path leading due South towards Godofelassi, 
 both men and mules seemed to be exhilarated by the 
 beauty of the scenery and the freshness of the bright 
 morning air, and the valley re-echoed with songs, 
 laughter, and jests, as we marched along at a pace which 
 thoroughly disgusted our soldier guides, and called forth 
 dismal prophecies from them respecting the imminent 
 death of all our mules and men too if we went on in this 
 fashion. 
 
 At mid-day we crossed the Marab River for the first 
 time ; here it was a narrow but smooth and deep 
 stream, very different from its appearance a hundred 
 miles further. I called a halt for luncheon, and five 
 
^4- English Mission to Abyssinia, 
 
 minutes later we were all splashing about in the river, 
 enjoying the most delightful bathe I had ever ex- 
 perienced. On we went at the same swinging pace all 
 through the afternoon, always in the midst of lovely 
 scenery, a rich brilliant valley about three miles wide, 
 shut in on both sides by bold rocky mountains covered 
 with light green bushes, interspersed with the dark 
 bluish-coloured india-rubber trees which were growing 
 in thousands on the hill-sides. Two or three partridges 
 and grouse, which were kind enough to fall to my gun in 
 the course of the afternoon, removed any cause for 
 anxiety as to our evening meal, while the men still had 
 plenty of last night's cow, cut in thin strips and spread 
 over some of the loads on the backs of the mules to dry 
 in the sun. 
 
 A little before sunset we reached Godofelassi, pitched 
 our camp, made ourselves and our mules thoroughly 
 comfortable for the night, and then Beech and I sat for 
 hours watching the magnificent progress of seven 
 different thunderstorms simultaneously growling, crash- 
 ing, and flashing in the mountains on every side. 
 
 By six o'clock next morning we were again on the 
 march, and again we swung along at a good three and 
 and a half miles an hour along a fairly level track, which 
 however gradually became more and more rocky and 
 mountainous till, in the afternoon, some of our men and 
 our soldier guides began to show signs of fatigue. At 
 3.30 p.m. we passed through the village of Addi Huala, 
 the scene of a great battle in 1876 between the Abys- 
 sinians and the Egyptian forces under the late Prince 
 Hassan, which resulted, as did all their battles, in the 
 
The Journey to the King. 4.5 
 
 total defeat, followed by the usual ghastly massacre and 
 mutilation of the unfortunate Egyptians. 
 
 Here our soldier-guides insisted that we must halt, that 
 Gundet was still many hours distant, and that there was 
 no other possible camping ground or water attainable 
 that evening. To these arguments I turned a deaf ear, 
 my maps showed me that Gundet could not be more than 
 ten miles distant, and, to the astonishment both of the 
 soldiers and of my men, I declared that I knew exactly 
 where Gundet was situated, and that I intended to camp 
 there that night ; at the same time I rode forward, 
 ordering my people to follow. I knew that I ran no risk 
 in thus preferring the evidence of the maps to the local 
 knowledge of the guides, as this part of the country had 
 been traversed by several European Missions, and was 
 mapped out with very fair accuracy. But what the maps 
 did not tell me was the nature of the country and the 
 state of the road before us, and I nearly repented of my 
 obstinacy when, an hour later, we suddenly found 
 ourselves on the edge of a huge cliff frowning over a vast 
 extent of apparently fertile country lying nearly 2000 
 feet below us. Down this precipice we had to go 
 somehow ; it was a difficult and hazardous business to 
 undertake late in the afternoon with tired and heavily 
 loaded mules, but at length, after much slipping and 
 stumbling, shouting and swearing, we arrived without 
 casualty in the plain below, and shortly afterwards halted 
 and pitched our camp in a picturesque spot near a stream 
 at the foot of a precipitous conical hill on which is perched 
 the village of Gundet. 
 
 I should here explain that nearly all Abyssinian 
 
4-6 English Mission to Abyssinia, 
 
 villages are perched like rook's nests on the extreme 
 summit of the most precipitous hill available, whether 
 because they are thus less liable to the sudden attack of 
 warlike neighbours, or because experience has shown 
 that lions and panthers do not care to climb a precipice 
 in order to get at the cattle, is a matter of surmise which 
 the reader may settle to his own satisfaction. 
 
 At Gundet no supplies were obtainable, but a few 
 grouse and partridges which I had shot on the road 
 were amply sufificient for ourselves, while for the men 
 there was a small skinful of flour which we had bought 
 at Godofelassi in the early morning. Hutchisson was 
 therefore soon engaged in making a wonderful "stew," 
 in the cooking of which I would back him against any 
 French "chef," but which had the serious drawback 
 of requiring at least two hours preparation. The Chief 
 Butcher had no occupation this night, but stood still, 
 and with a sneer on his black countenance watched 
 the proceedings of another man, surnamed the " Chief 
 Baker," who was engaged in making bread in a manner 
 peculiarly his own. His method consisted in heating 
 several round stones about half the size of cricket balls, 
 while he made the flour into dough, which he rolled 
 out into a flat mass about an inch thick. A red-hot 
 stone was then taken out of the fire and placed on the 
 dough, which was at once rolled up all round the stone till 
 it made a perfect ball. The whole ball was then put 
 bodily into the fire, to be thoroughly baked or burnt 
 outside by the flames or red-hot ashes, and inside by the 
 hot stone. In less than five minutes the bread (!) was 
 ready for consumption. The process was simple, and. 
 
The Journey to the King. ^7 
 
 in default of any better, we stuck to this way of making 
 bread during the rest of our sojourn in Abyssinia. 
 
 A miserably wet night was followed by a lovely 
 morning, and shortly after daybreak everything was 
 packed and ready for a start. We were now within 
 about thirty-five miles of Adowa, the present capital of 
 Abyssinia, and I wished very much to pass through that 
 town, which lay on our road directly to the south, but 
 the guides utterly refused to go there ; they vowed that 
 Ras Alula had given the strictest orders that we were 
 not to be allowed to go to Adowa, and that if we insisted 
 on going that way they would be severely punished, and 
 v/e should feel the enmity of Ras Alula in a disagreeable 
 way. 
 
 It appears that Ras Alula has a quarrel with the 
 Great Chief who rules over Adowa, which is just outside 
 the Ras' province, and therefore, rather than run the risk 
 of getting mixed up in these personal quarrels, I con- 
 sented to turn a little aside and to travel by the less 
 known and more difficult paths across the mountains on 
 the left of the Adowa road. At the same time I gave 
 leave to Bruru Worke to ride on to Adowa to visit his 
 relations who live there, telling him not to remain more 
 than one day, and then to push on and catch us up on 
 the road to Abbi Addy and Sokota. We then left the 
 clearly defined path which leads to Adowa, and journeyed 
 along a stony track, overgrown with bushes and thorns, 
 till, in an hour or two, we found ourselves at the head of 
 a descent to which our scramble of yesterday was a joke. 
 The horrors of that mountain-side are still vivid in my 
 mind, and, as I look back on it, I distinctly see the 
 
/J.8 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 depressing picture of my unfortunate caravan. Here a 
 willing mule, caught by its loads, being jammed between 
 two rocks ; here another, with both its hind legs over 
 the edge of a precipice, and a yelling Arab trying to 
 pull him up again by the bridle ; another refusing 
 absolutely to slide down an incline, and listening stolidly 
 alike to the blandishments and the curses of its driver ; 
 while on every side boxes were being smashed and 
 packages torn to ribbons by the sharp corners of pro- 
 jecting rocks, the chief sufferer being Hutchisson, who 
 came at the end of the procession picking up most of his 
 kit on the road along which it was being strewn like the 
 " scent " in a paper chase, the valise containing it having 
 been smashed to atoms against a rock ; but the animal 
 whose fate was the hardest was the unfortunate mule 
 carrying the King's great telescope, the deal case of 
 which projected a good deal, and continually "hung up" 
 the wretched beast to rocks and thorn trees, or else over- 
 balanced him and sent him rolling down the side of the 
 mountain, until his course was arrested by a friendly 
 obstacle. However all things must have an end, and at 
 length the whole party was collected in the plain below, 
 and halted for an inspection of damages. These turned 
 out not to be so very serious after all ; so on we went 
 along an open level plain teeming with game, and with 
 the most beautiful and brilliant coloured birds of every 
 size and kind, from the white vulture overhead to the 
 lovely lyre bird darting from tree to tree. 
 
 At noon we again crossed our former acquaintance, 
 the Marab River, now grown to a more important size ; 
 and shortly afterwards it became evident that our guides 
 
The Journey to the King. ^p 
 
 knew nothing of the road, and that we were aimlessly 
 wandering to and fro. Three times that afternoon we 
 crossed and recrossed the Marab, till a little before five 
 o'clock we came in sight of a small village on the top of 
 a big hill. Here we halted for the night, and engaged 
 a local guide for the morrow, our soldier-guides having 
 confessed that they were strangers to this part of the 
 country. 
 
 Leaving this village (by name Haddish Addi) at 
 daybreak next morning, the 23rd November, we crossed 
 the Gomgrim River at 9.30 a.m., passed through Addi 
 Mariam at 10.30, halted for an hour in a pleasant 
 meadow near a stream, had a violent altercation with 
 the soldier-guides, who insisted that we should halt for 
 the day at Addi Heptomaria at 2.30 p.m., and finally 
 compelled them sulkily to follow us to the Addi or 
 village of Shahagni, where we pitched our camp just 
 before sunset at the foot of a magnificent black mountain, 
 in appearance and shape very like the Matterhorn, called 
 Semayata, the highest peak of the great Debra Sina and 
 Selida ranges. 
 
 But enthusiastic admirers of fine scenery as we were, 
 what chiefly attracted our attention at this moment was 
 the question of food. We soon discovered that beyond 
 a bowl of sour milk, absolutely nothing in the way of 
 supplies was procurable at this little mountain village. 
 We had seen no game on the road during the day, and 
 though the men still had some flour for themselves, we 
 had nothing but a bag of broken ship's biscuit — hardly 
 a satisfying meal for three hungry men after a long and 
 hot day's march. From force of habit Hutchisson had 
 
£0 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 lighted a fire, and was gazing disconsolately into his 
 empty pots ; Beech and I were getting out the gun and 
 a few cartridges, but with hardly any hope of shooting 
 anything in the fifteen or twenty minutes of daylight 
 that still remained, when some one pointed out a couple 
 of small green birds on the top of a big tree close to us. 
 I thought they were parrots, and at first was unwilling 
 to shoot them, but was soon persuaded, and down they 
 came. Hutchisson seized upon them with delight, and 
 explained that they were not parrots but "green pigeons," 
 which his Indian experience had taught him were excel- 
 lent food. Two more of these birds were then good 
 enough to come and perch on the same tree ; they were 
 promptly shot sitting, followed their companions into the 
 pot, and completed their earthly career by affording us a 
 most excellent though modest repast. 
 
 After a wet night, during which terrific thunderstorms 
 had roused the echoes in the mountains all round us, we 
 marched again at daybreak on the 24th, round the base 
 of Semayata, till at nine o'clock we got a magnificent 
 bird's-eye view of Adowa, lying far below in a plain to 
 the west. At mid-day we halted in a grassy meadow, 
 through which flowed the Seisa, bright and clear as a 
 Hampshire trout stream. Here I shot a beautifully 
 marked wild goose, about twice the size of an English 
 goose, with a dark green back, white, red and yellow 
 breast, and red eye. In the afternoon we lost a good 
 deal of time and our tempers by being again led wrong 
 by the soldier-guides ; but at length we struck into the 
 so-called " King's Road," running from Adowa to Abbi- 
 Addy, a clearly-defined path some twelve feet wide, and 
 
The Journey to the King. £i 
 
 cleared of all big rocks and thorn bushes. Along this 
 road we marched merrily past the villages of Abba Grima 
 and Logumti to Gelrot, where we halted at 6.15 p.m. 
 Again there was a difficulty about obtaining provisions ; 
 for ourselves the goose was more than sufficient, but my 
 Mussulman Arabs would rather starve than touch any 
 of it, and I began to get a little anxious about them, as 
 they had lived on nothing but their heavy indigestible 
 bread for some days, and the marches had been long and 
 severe. However there was no help for it, and again 
 they went supperless to bed. 
 
 Just as we were about to resume the march at six 
 o'clock the following morning, two messengers arrived 
 with a letter for me, and a most welcome present of a 
 cow from the chief man of Adowa, who rejoices in the 
 jaw-breaking name of Betwaded Gebrameskal. This 
 gentleman civilly expressed his regret that I had not 
 passed through Adowa on my journey south, and added 
 that he had sent orders along the road to ensure our being 
 well treated and supplied with provisions as long as we 
 were within the limits of his jurisdiction. This was polite 
 and no doubt well-meant, but it did us little practical good, 
 as we were already within fifteen miles of the extremity 
 of his province. However, I wrote a suitable reply, full 
 of compliments and hopes that I should make his 
 acquaintance on my return from the King. This was 
 quickly translated into Amharic by the interpreter, 
 Ghirghis, and the messengers having been made happy 
 by a liberal "backsheesh" of dollars, the order was given 
 to advance, and once more we were travelling due south 
 along a fairly good path. 
 
^2 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 After only three hours march we reached a small 
 village, where our soldier-guides said we must stop for 
 the day ; they vowed that no more water would be 
 procurable for at least a whole day's march, and that the 
 road became desperately bad. Again I had recourse to 
 the maps, and feeling convinced after a careful study 
 that the Mai (or river) Weri could not be more than 
 about three and a half or four hours distant, I absolutely 
 refused to halt. The guides with equal obstinacy refused 
 to advance, so I left them behind and continued the 
 march without them, feeling tolerably confident that we 
 should not have much difficulty in keeping to the right 
 path, and knowing that the river lay due south of us, 
 running from east to west. I could see, however, that 
 my men, hungry as they were, were a little uneasy at 
 the idea of continuing our march without any guides at 
 all, and, although there was no sign of disobedience or 
 insubordination, it was considered advisable for Beech 
 and Hutchisson to fall into their allotted places at the 
 end of the caravan to keep the party together. After 
 another hour's march the heat became very great, and, 
 although the road was not really very bad, the constant 
 succession of hills and valleys were wearisome and 
 exhausting ; our thirst, without being absolutely painful, 
 soon became more acute than was pleasant, and I con- 
 fess that unwelcome memories of our experiences on the 
 2nd of November made me keep a very sharp and rather 
 anxious look out for any sign that might denote the 
 proximity of a river. 
 
 In two hours we left the hills and began to cross a 
 flat sandy plain, covered with mimosa thorns, where the 
 
The Journey to the King. ^j 
 
 heat became even more oppressive than before ; three 
 and a half hours had elapsed since we parted with the 
 guides, and I had promised water to my men in less 
 than four hours ; we had been over six and a half hours 
 on the march, and I was sorry to see that the pace was 
 getting slower and slower, that all conversation among 
 the men had long ceased, and that we were now plodding 
 painfully along in silence. To encourage them I told 
 the men I was absolutely certain that water was now 
 quite close, but at the same time I devoutly hoped 
 that the maps had not made a mistake of ten miles or so 
 in the position of the river. Beech and I then rode 
 ahead to some distance from the party, and at length to 
 our joy and relief we suddenly heard the rushing of 
 water, and found ourselves on the edge of a cliff looking 
 down on a fine clear stream, rushing, tumbling, and 
 foaming over rocks and boulders about fifty feet below 
 us. We soon found a way down to the water, and con- 
 veyed the news back to the caravan, taking care to remind 
 them that I had promised water within four hours, and 
 that I had brought them to it in three hours and fifty 
 minutes. 
 
 This morning's work had an excellent effect in in- 
 creasing the confidence of the Arabs in ourselves and in 
 our maps, while the Abyssinian soldier-guides, when 
 eventually they sulkily rejoined us, looked upon our 
 knowledge of this country, which we had never seen 
 before, as bordering on the supernatural. Ten minutes 
 later mules were unloaded, and black men, white men 
 and animals were all rolling, swimming and splashing 
 about in the clear rushing water, to the surprise and 
 
5^ English Mission to Abyssinia, 
 
 apparently the disgust of a staid and elderly Abyssinian 
 priest who was comfortably eating his luncheon on the 
 opposite bank. 
 
 As the morning's march had been severe, a rest of an 
 hour and three-quarters was allowed by the Weri River, 
 and then on we went, climbing over a succession of lofty 
 hills of the Temben range, till at 6.45 p.m. we camped 
 at the village of Svandas, to which, as we were very short 
 of provisions, I thought it advisable to ascend, although 
 it is situated on a high precipitous hill, about a mile and 
 a half to the left of the main road. It was quite dark 
 when we reached a suitable camping ground near the 
 village, and one of our mules had to be literally pushed 
 and half carried up the hill, and then fell like a log, 
 apparently dying, when he reached the top ; but we were 
 glad to find that plenty of supplies were forthcoming, 
 including good barley for the mules, and flour, tedge and 
 a sheep for the men and ourselves. With truculent glee 
 the chief butcher prepared for action : with a piece of 
 flat sandstone under his brawny arm he came to borrow 
 Beech's long hunting knife, which he proceeded to 
 sharpen, sitting as he did so alongside the sheep, his 
 intended victim, which he had tied to the stone on which 
 he sat. In a few minutes that sheep was mutton, and 
 half an hour later the greater part of it was no longer 
 even that. A hearty meal thoroughly restored the some- 
 what drooping spirits of the men, the oldest of them in 
 particular, who had been rather lame and very despondent 
 all day, now winning the applause of all beholders by the 
 execution of a pas seul^ which would have done credit to 
 the boards of Drury Lane. This respectable old gentle- 
 
The Journey to the King. 55 
 
 man indeed "came out" so strongly on this occasion that 
 he earned the title of the " Grand Old Man," a sobriquet 
 which on many subsequent occasions he showed to be 
 well-merited. 
 
 Refreshed in mind and body we were off again at 
 daybreak next morning, the sick mule being so far 
 recovered as to be able to keep up with us, though of 
 course unencumbered by saddle or load. Leaving the 
 village of Sarasa to our left three hours later, we 
 descended to a plain intersected in every direction by 
 dry watercourses. At 11.30 a.m. we passed the village 
 of Takherakiro, a wretched place, quite unworthy of the 
 prominence given to it on the map, but which we were 
 told had recently been destroyed by fire. At 12.15 we 
 rode through the large village of Abergullie, which 
 scarcely does credit to its Scotch-sounding name, and 
 twenty minutes later we turned sharp to the left, under 
 some overhanging cliffs, and found ourselves at Abbi 
 Addy, where I decided to halt for the rest of the day, 
 the mules showing some signs of exhaustion from their 
 long marches during the past week. This day being 
 market day at Abbi Addy, hundreds of people were 
 arriving from every part of the country, bringing their 
 merchandise for disposal, or in many cases only to 
 gossip and to hear the news. The chief articles of com- 
 merce appeared to be bars of rough salt, about ten 
 inches long and two wide. These bars of salt form the 
 ordinary currency in the centre and southern parts of 
 Abyssinia, where money is often found to be absolutely 
 useless. I therefore bought nearly a mule-load of salt, 
 the bars being sold at the rate of eighteen or twenty to 
 
^6 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 the dollar. We also bought a good supply of corn for 
 the mules, who were badly in want of it ; and during the 
 afternoon the chief butcher was made happy by the loan 
 of Beech's knife, with which he performed his usual 
 operation on the cow which had been sent us by the 
 Governor of Adowa. 
 
 The Governor of Abbi Addy and of the surrounding 
 province, who is called Tekla Haimanot, sent his com- 
 pliments and a present of tedge and bread ; I succeeded 
 in shooting a brace of wild geese and a large partridge, 
 and altogether we retired to rest that night happy and 
 refreshed. In the course of the night Bruru Worke 
 reappeared, tired, sulky, and knowing that he had greatly 
 exceeded the extent of leave I had given him. However, 
 I did not reprove him, but both Beech and I noticed a 
 distinct change in his manner towards us ; his visit to his 
 own people seemed to have driven away all the effects of 
 his English education, and he was once more in feeling 
 and sympathy a semi-savage Abyssinian ; but it was not 
 till long afterwards that we found out to our cost the full 
 extent of this change in him. 
 
 Hearing that the King was still on the road between 
 Dobra Tabor and Ashangi, we decided to continue our 
 march to Sokota, and at dawn next morning we were 
 again travelling South ; in six hours we halted for an 
 hour by the Gueva or Guibbeh river, which we then 
 crossed without difficulty, and proceeded to climb for 
 about 2500 feet over the Teraque Pass, and marched 
 among mountains of granite and marble till sunset, when 
 we camped in a valley among the Abergullie mountains, 
 where there was plenty of grass for the animals, the men 
 
The Journey to the King. 57 
 
 having a good supply of food for themselves. Our 
 soldier-guides had again been very obstructive, and had 
 tried to delay us, but they had now a healthy dread of 
 my maps, and their opposition became less determined 
 as they found that it had no effect. 
 
 On the 28th we still continued our southerly course 
 over mountains and valleys from sunrise till eleven o'clock, 
 when we descended into a level plain full of game. Here 
 we lost our way, and wandered about for some time 
 looking for a path; Beech and I, who had stopped a little 
 behind to shoot, also lost the caravan, but, after the waste 
 of about an hour, and after much shouting and blowing 
 of horns, and climbing of high rocks to scan the plain, 
 we all got together again, passed through the village of 
 Bellis, where the inhabitants were all busily occupied 
 in burying their late head man in a corn field, and on 
 over some low but rocky hills whence there was a 
 magnificent view of the snow-capped mountains of 
 Semen, lying West-South- West, and of the Womberat 
 mountains to the South-East. 
 
 At 4.30 we arrived at Fenaroa, where I halted, as two 
 of the men were ill. I administered quinine to each of 
 them, but found that one had already been doctored by 
 his comrades, who had " bled " him in a way peculiar to 
 themselves : that is, they had tied cords tightly round 
 both his legs just below the knee, and then proceeded to 
 hack at his calves with their knives, making about 
 fifteen gashes on each leg. Whether it was the result of 
 this treatment or of my quinine I cannot say, but next 
 day this unfortunate man appeared to be seriously ill, 
 and could not walk a yard, though he was able to sit 
 still on a mule all day. 
 
^8 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 As the guides said we were at some distance from 
 water, and as none had been obtainable for the mules at 
 Fenaroa, I roused the camp at 2.30 a.m., and we marched 
 at three, by the uncertain light of the moon shining 
 fitfully in a somewhat clouded sky. As long as we were 
 in the open country this moonlight march was in every 
 way delightful, but when after an hour or so we entered 
 a forest, consisting principally of Mimosa thorns through 
 which the light could not penetrate, our clothes, hands 
 and faces suffered severely, and on our arrival, about 
 sunrise, at the banks of the Samri River, a spectator 
 would have imagined that we had all been engaged in a 
 desperate combat with an army of cats. Having forded 
 the Samri we continued to march West and South-West 
 through a magnificent forest of fine timber trees, teeming 
 with game of every sort, till at about nine o'clock we 
 arrived at the banks of the Tsellari River, the largest and 
 most rapid stream we had yet seen. For a great part of 
 the year this river is so swollen by the tropical rains that 
 all communication between the Northern and Southern 
 parts of Abyssinia is rendered almost impossible. For 
 two hours we travelled along the right bank in a 
 Southerly direction, till at eleven o'clock we found a 
 fordable place across which we struggled, the mules 
 being almost carried off their legs by the force of the 
 water. 
 
 During our mid-day halt a careful study of the maps 
 convinced me that they could no longer be depended 
 upon now that we had left the track of all former 
 travellers. The position of Fenaroa, the course of the 
 Samri and Tsellari Rivers, and, as far as I could judge, 
 
The Journey to the King. 5p 
 
 the situation of Sokota, were all wrongly marked, and I 
 was therefore compelled to trust entirely to the good 
 faith of our guides. All through the afternoon we toiled 
 painfully up a rough torrent bed, passing at about four 
 o'clock through the most weirdly picturesque spot it has 
 ever been my good fortune to see, even in this country 
 of extraordinary scenic effects. This wonderful place, 
 Mai Shegalo by name, reminded us so forcibly of a scene 
 out of " Rip Van Winkle," that neither Beech nor I would 
 have been surprised to see devils and goblins issuing from 
 the fantastic trunks of the enormous trees, or peering at 
 us from the numerous caves and crevices in the rugged 
 and broken cliffs. The scene consisted of a flat space 
 about 200 yards square, completely roofed in by the 
 thick foliage of huge " Shegalo " trees, a kind of fruit- 
 bearing sycamore, and enclosed on every side by rugged 
 precipitous cliffs rising perpendicularly for 200 or 300 
 feet. Even the powerful tropical sun was unable to 
 throw a ray of light to warm or enliven this gloomy spot, 
 the dramatic effect of which was completed by a small 
 encampment of wild fierce-looking natives of the hills, 
 collected, with their equally wild-looking cattle, round a 
 small pool of water which trickled out of the frowning 
 black precipice. Not quite liking the looks of these 
 gentry, I shouted to my men to keep well together, but 
 when we heard my words echoed and re-echoed from 
 cliff to cliff till they died away in the mountains 
 thousands of feet above our heads, I think we were all 
 thoroughly persuaded that there was something"uncanny" 
 about the place, and the jaded mules were hurried forward 
 with shouts and blows till at last we emerged again into 
 
6o English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 the cheerful sunlight. Here one of the mules stopped, 
 completely exhausted, and as, even after having been 
 relieved of his load and his saddle, he was still unable to 
 keep up with us, we left him to his fate, which would 
 probably be to fall an easy victim to the first lion or 
 panther which might happen to scent him that evening. 
 At last, after a desperately steep and heart-breaking 
 climb over the neck of Mount Ombeddi, more than 
 10,000 feet in height, we found a suitable camping 
 ground and halted, after a long march of fourteen hours, 
 nearly all the way up hill, and over a rough, broken, and 
 sometimes almost impracticable path. That night Beech 
 and I concealed ourselves for nearly an hour under a 
 tree a little distance from the camp, in hopes of getting 
 a shot at a lion who was grunting and growling quite 
 close to us, but unfortunately the beast saw us before we 
 could see him, and we never got a chance of a fair shot. 
 The two sick men then demanded my attention ; I was 
 sorry to be obliged to acknowledge that the doses of 
 quinine last night had not done much good, I therefore 
 varied the treatment this evening, and gave Cockles 
 pills to one of them, and a strong dose of chlorodyne to 
 the other. This turned out more successfully, at all 
 events, neither of them asked for any more medicine. 
 
 Next day, the 30th, we continued our march at 
 daybreak, till at two p.m. we arrived at Sokota, which 
 lies in reality about thirty miles to the South-West of 
 the position in which it is marked on the maps. Men 
 and mules being thoroughly tired, I announced that we 
 would rest till the following day, and then went to visit 
 the chief man of the town, who is also ruler of the whole 
 surrounding province. 
 
The Journey to the King. 6i 
 
 This gentleman, Dejat Gongool by name, received 
 me without rising from his seat, and was by no means 
 civil, and so, after a short conversation, in the course of 
 which he told me that no Englishman, and only one 
 white man, a priest, had ever been to Sokota, I said 
 good-bye and returned to camp. Mr. Gongool's idea of 
 European civilization was a little vague, his first remark 
 to me being a question as to whether there were horses 
 and guns in the country from which I came. He was a 
 good deal surprised at hearing that we had these 
 blessings in England, and then asked whether all 
 Englishmen were as big as myself, upon which I gravely 
 assured him that I was considered very small in my own 
 country. 
 
 Hearing that the King would be near Lake Ashangi 
 in three days, I determined to proceed direct to Wofela, 
 on the southern shore of that Lake. From Sokota to 
 this place I was informed that there were two roads, one 
 of them, the " King's Road," being smooth and fairly 
 good, but very circuitous, while the other was straight 
 but more mountainous. After some consultation I 
 elected to go by the " straight " road, which soon turned 
 out to be the most tortuous and erratic that we had yet 
 seen even in Abyssinia. For three days we travelled 
 first South-East, and then North-East, without any par- 
 ticular adventures, but encountering some difficulty in 
 getting supplies and forage, till on the night of the 
 3rd of December we halted about two miles from the 
 King's camp, into which it would have been a dangerous 
 breach of etiquette to arrive so late in the evening. During 
 these three days Ras Alula's soldier-guides had been very 
 
62 English Mission to Abyssinia, 
 
 troublesome and obstructive, and had on one occasion 
 even incited all the inhabitants of a village to turn out 
 and forcibly prevent our further progress. They had 
 also tried to prevent the country people from selling us 
 any provisions, or, what was still more important, corn 
 for the mules ; luckily, however, the sight of a bag of 
 shining dollars had a greater effect than even the 
 universal dread of the soldiery. 
 
 On halting on the evening of the 3rd, I sent on one 
 of the interpreters and a guide into the King's camp to 
 warn the King and the brother of Ras Alula of my 
 proximity. This latter person, by name Dejat Tesemma, 
 was to be our " Balderabba " or host during our stay in 
 the King's camp. The office of " Balderabba " is that of 
 a sort of agent of communication between the stranger 
 and the chief in whose camp he is a visitor. Our 
 " Balderabba " was responsible for our safety, and was also 
 charged to see that we did not escape from the King's 
 camp without permission. 
 
 In the King's Camp. 
 
 At last at nine o'clock on the morning of the 4th 
 of December we rode into the camp of the King of 
 the Kings of Ethiopia, and a wonderful sight it was. 
 As far as the eye could reach the plain was thickly 
 dotted with small black tents and with little grass huts ; 
 tens of thousands of horses, mules, and cows were grazing 
 on every side, while the whole district seemed to be alive 
 with moving swarms of armed men, and of women and 
 
In the King's Camp, 63 
 
 slaves. In the centre of the plain were two large circular 
 white tents, standing in an open space, inclosed by a 
 paling covered with red cotton cloth ; these were the 
 Head Quarters of the great King Johannis. On arrival 
 in the camp we were met by a messenger, who informed 
 me that to-day being Sunday the King would not see 
 me, but that he would do so at Ashangi, whither he 
 intended to proceed at daybreak next day. We were 
 then conducted to an open space where we were told we 
 might pitch our camp, and soon afterwards arrived a 
 string of slaves bringing the presents of the King, in the 
 shape of bread, tedge, red pepper, and a cow. 
 
 Although immensely relieved at having at last arrived 
 at my destination, I was made a little uncomfortable on 
 hearing from Bruru, whom I had sent to pick up informa- 
 tion at the King's Head Quarters, that a letter had very 
 recently been received by the King from Ras Alula, 
 warning him against me, and saying that English troops 
 were coming to join the Italians in an expedition against 
 Abyssinia, and that my mission was only a pretext for 
 gaining time ; Ras Alula therefore urged that I should 
 be treated as an enemy rather than as a friend. This 
 was not very pleasant, as to be " treated as an enemy " 
 in Abyssinia has only one signification, — to be got rid of 
 without further delay either by bullet or spear. 
 
 In order to avoid the immense crowds which would 
 block the path to Ashangi as soon as the sun rose, we 
 left the camp at Wofela at about 2.30 a.m., and marched 
 steadily round the western shore of the Ashangi Lake 
 till we arrived close to the village of that name. Here 
 we took up our position in a field at a little distance from 
 
64. English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 the road which the King and his army would follow, and 
 then for four hours we watched the quickly-moving 
 stream of humanity, with their thousands of animals 
 pressing along the road to Ashangi, not in twos or threes, 
 nor even in companies and battalions, but in one inter- 
 minable unbroken throng. Beech and I made a most 
 careful calculation of the numbers of persons who 
 marched past us that morning, counting first the numbers 
 who passed a certain spot in a minute, and then taking 
 the time in which the whole army passed ; at a very low 
 estimate we calculated the numbers to be not less than 
 between 70,000 and 80,000 persons. About the middle 
 of the throng rode the King himself, surrounded by a 
 picked body of cavalry. He was mounted on a handsome 
 mule, and was dressed in the usual Abyssinian red and 
 white " shamma," or toga, a fold of which concealed all 
 the lower part of his face, the only distinguishing mark 
 of Royalty being the fact that he kept the rays of the 
 sun from his august head with a red silk umbrella. We 
 afterwards learnt that the greater part of this immense 
 force was composed of the army of Ras Michael, a Galla 
 Chieftain, formerly a Mussulman, Mehemet Ali by name, 
 but who had been forcibly persuaded to embrace the 
 Abyssinian Christianity by command of King John at 
 the head of a successful army. 
 
 The main body of the King's own army was advancing 
 towards the North-Eastern frontier by way of Semen 
 and Adowa, under the command of the King's son, Ras 
 Aria Selassi, there being with His Majesty only about 
 5000 picked men as a body guard ; but as each of these 
 5000 men was accompanied by a wife and probably 
 
in the Kiitg's Camp, 6^ 
 
 one or two slaves, the number of mouths to feed was out 
 of all proportion to the fighting capabilities of the force. 
 Hardly had the King entered the large hut reserved for 
 him on the top of a hill at Ashangi than a breathless 
 messenger came to inform me that His Majesty would 
 receive me at once. I had, therefore, to change my 
 clothes, and put on all my diplomatic finery in the 
 middle of a crowd in an open field, modesty causing 
 me to improvise a sort of shelter by making some of 
 my men spread out their togas and other garments all 
 around me ; then, accompanied by Bruru the interpreter, 
 and by Beech, and with two or three men bearing the 
 presents, I solemnly rode up to present the Queen's 
 letters to His Majesty Johannis, who calls himself King 
 of the Kings of Ethiopia, and King of Zion. We found 
 this august personage sitting on a dais in a large hut, 
 surrounded by about fifty or sixty Abyssinian Chiefs. He 
 was dressed in a white cotton " shamma," a fold of which 
 entirely concealed the lower part of his face, nothing but 
 a pair of shrewd-looking black eyes being visible ; on his 
 head was a small gold diadem or coronet, and by his side, 
 on his dais, were his sword and a carbine, typical 
 emblems of the means by which his authority is main- 
 tained. Having solemnly shaken His Majesty's out- 
 stretched hand, I made him a polite little speech, 
 expressing the hope of the Queen of England that his 
 health was good, and assuring him that all England took 
 the greatest interest in the welfare of Abyssinia and of 
 its King. I then presented to him the letters from the 
 Queen and from Lord Salisbury, with the translations 
 made by my interpreters ; these he handed to his own 
 
 F 
 
66 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 interpreter for future perusal. Beech then came solemnly 
 forward, and laid at His Majesty's feet the two swords 
 of honour, the Winchester rifle, the merits of which 
 I briefly explained to him, and lastly, the magnificent 
 but complicated telescope, in its handsome mahogany case, 
 which had been the cause of so much anxiety and bad 
 language during our long and arduous journey. I tried to 
 expatiate upon the wonderful virtues of this telescope, and 
 told him that not only could he see things through it at a 
 great distance on the earth, but that it would shew him 
 mountains and all sorts of wonders in the moon and 
 stars. His Majesty did not seem to care so much about 
 this, and asked simply whether it would show him a 
 man plainly before that man got within rifle shot ; he 
 was apparently much pleased when I assured him that 
 it would ; and I imagine that he looked forward with 
 pleasure to having the first shot at his enemies. 
 
 The interview then came to an end, and I returned 
 to my people, to find that, during our absence, one of 
 the mules, carrying, among other things, the last 
 remnants of our luxuries in the shape of preserved milk, 
 cocoa, and tobacco, had in the meanwhile fallen head 
 over heels with its loads down a precipice. Marvellous 
 to relate, the beast was not much the worse, but of course 
 the boxes on its back were reduced to matchwood. The 
 loss of the last remnant of our small stock of tobacco 
 was a terrible misfortune ; we had for sometime past 
 put ourselves on a strict allowance of four pipes a day, 
 but now even that was denied to us, and misery stared 
 us in the face. We despaired of being able to purchase 
 any in Abyssinia, as, by a recent decree, the king 
 
in the King's Camp. 6y 
 
 acting under the influence of the priests, had absolutely- 
 forbidden the use of tobacco in his country, either for 
 smoking purposes, or for taking as snuff, to which the 
 Abyssinians were much addicted. The punishments for 
 disobedience to this decree were severe but characteristic ; 
 any man convicted of smoking was condemned to have 
 his lips cut off, snuff-taking entailed the loss of the nose. 
 We met more than one unfortunate wretch who had 
 recently undergone this brutal punishment, and whose 
 ghastly nose-less face was a warning to all beholders 
 against becoming a slave to these small vices. Luckily 
 for us, the discipline among the wild Gallas in the camp 
 of Ras Michael was less severe, and two days later we 
 were able to purchase a plentiful supply of coarse 
 yellow native tobacco, which, after all, was not so bad as 
 it looked. 
 
 In the afternoon, after my reception by the King, 
 I went to pay a visit to our " Balderabba " or host, Dejat 
 or Dejaj Tesemma, the brother of Ras Alula, who was 
 established in a large tent close to our camp. I was 
 agreeably surprised to find him a pleasant and gentle- 
 manlike individual, very different both in appearance 
 and manner from his powerful and brutal brother at 
 Asmara. 
 
 I should here explain that the title of " Dejaj " or 
 "Dejat" confers a considerable rank on its possessor, 
 although it is inferior to the title of " Ras " or Com- 
 mander-in-Chief The highest title in the Abyssinian 
 Empire next to that of " Negoos " or King, is that of 
 "Wakshem." There are but two Wakshems in Abys- 
 sinnia, both created by the King, and that number is 
 
68 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 never exceeded. The two fortunate possessors of the 
 title at the present moment rejoice in the names of 
 Wakshem Boru and Wakshem Gabru, both of them very 
 powerful chieftains, disposing of well-armed and for- 
 midable armies. These Wakshems have various privileges 
 not accorded to ordinary mortals ; among other things 
 they have the right of sitting to eat at the same little 
 gold table as the King himself Wakshem Boru, 
 who is the father of my sulky friend Gongool of Sokota, 
 was at this moment with the King ; Wakshem Gabru, 
 with his army, was accompanying the King's Son, Ras 
 Aria, on the march with the main body of the Royal 
 forces vid Semen and Adowa. 
 
 Next in order of precedence comes the " Ras " or 
 Commander of an army, he is also as a rule Governor of 
 a province. Then comes the " Dejaj," whose dignity 
 really, like all others in this country, depends on the 
 number of men of whom he can dispose. My friend, 
 Dejaj Tesemma for instance, was followed by about 3000 
 well-armed soldiers, whom he could call his own, though 
 he himself was a " King's-man," and was under the direct 
 orders of His Majesty. Another Dejaj, whose acquain- 
 tance I made could boast of barely ten followers. "Basha" 
 is another title very common in Abyssinia, but which 
 conveys no very clear idea of power. I have seen one 
 "Basha" at the head of 1000 stalwart riflemen, while 
 some others exercised a doubtful authority over five or 
 ten half-naked spearmen. 
 
 Lastly there comes the " Lij," or " Esquire," who has 
 not as yet by bravery in war or in the chase earned the 
 right to bear any more distinguished title. I say advisedly 
 
In the King's Camp. 6p 
 
 " bravery in war or in the chase," for there is a regular 
 sliding scale of bravery by which certain distinctions are 
 earned. For instance, the man who slays a lion single- 
 handed, earns the same "kudos" as though he had 
 killed five men in battle ; he becomes moreover entitled 
 to wear little gold ornaments in his ears, and on great 
 occasions fastens a strip of the lion's mane round his 
 head. The hunter, who alone kills an elephant, acquires 
 equal glory with the conqueror of ten human enemies : 
 he wears a gold ornament on his forehead, and on 
 " full-dress days," a long yellow scarf bound round his 
 head with the ends flying behind. The soldier who has 
 actually accounted for ten enemies on the battle field is 
 entitled to rivet a broad silver band round the leathern 
 scabbard of his sword ; some brave veterans whom I saw, 
 had apparently accounted for about half a company of 
 men, as they had as many as four or five of these silver 
 bands on their scabbards. No doubt, though, two or 
 three elephants would help to bring up the score very 
 quickly, and the lion in these days of fire-arms is no 
 longer the same formidable enemy as when he had to be 
 tackled in hand-to-hand combat and slain with a sword 
 or spear. 
 
 Contrary to expectation I was not sent for by the 
 King next day, the 6th December, but Beech went at 
 His Majesty's request, to show some of the people at the 
 Court how to work the big telescope. On his arrival at 
 the King's hut he was taken into His Majesty's presence, 
 and was received in the most civil manner, the royal face 
 being now uncovered, though the royal person was still 
 sitting cross-legged on a dais like a life-size statue of 
 Buddha. 
 
yo English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 It was not till 9 a.m. on the 7th that I was summoned 
 to explain to the King the object of my Mission. I went 
 again in all the gold lace and finery that I could put on, 
 and on my arrival at the royal hut all the other 
 occupants were turned out of it except the King's own 
 interpreter, a brother of my man Bruru, who had been 
 educated at Bombay, and the chief Treasurer, an in- 
 telligent looking young man named Marcia. The King 
 uncovered his face, shook hands cordially, and then asked 
 me what was the message which I had brought from 
 Queen Victoria. The particulars of this interview have 
 been fully published in a Parliamentary paper, and for the 
 purpose of this narrative it is sufficient to quote verbatim 
 from the official report. 
 
 "On the 7th I went again by appointment to the King, and 
 found myself alone with His Majesty, the interpreters, and the 
 Chief of the Treasury. I then communicated to His Majesty the 
 document, of which I have the honour to enclose a copy herewith, 
 and which will, I trust, meet with the approval of Her Majesty's 
 Government. I had caused it to be most carefully translated under 
 my personal supervision by two interpreters, and when I handed it, 
 with the translation, to His Majesty, I begged him to allow his own 
 interpreter to make a most careful comparison between the 
 original and the translation. You will observe that in this document 
 I was most careful to avoid any expression which might be galling 
 to the Abyssinian national pride, that I insisted strongly that the 
 sole motive of Her Majesty the Queen in sending me to Abyssinia 
 was one of friendship for that country ; and, finally, that I omitted 
 any mention of the first of the Italian conditions, which insists on 
 a letter being written by the King expressing his deep regret for 
 the unjustifiable massacre of last January. I felt myself justified 
 in doing this, as I was confident that if I could persuade the King 
 to accept the remaining terms, including the cession of practical 
 advantages to Italy, there would be little difficulty in getting him to 
 write a letter which would contain some expression of regret 
 sufficient to fulfil the Italian requirements. 
 
In the King's Camp. yi 
 
 " His Majesty read over the translation himself, and then caused 
 his interpreter to read it aloud ; he then turned to me and said, 
 * I can do nothing of all this. By the Treaty made by Admiral 
 Hewett, all the country evacuated by the Egyptians on my frontier 
 was ceded to me at the instigation of England, and now you come 
 to ask me to give it up again.' I ventured to point out that in 
 Admiral Hewett's Treaty no mention is made of Sahati or Wia, 
 that His Majesty had already accepted the occupation by the 
 Italians of Massowah and Monkullu, and that Sahati and Wia 
 were necessary for the protection of that town and of the trade road 
 to and from the sea. The King replied, * I did not give them 
 Massowah ; England gave it to the Italians, but I will not give 
 them an inch of land. If they cannot live there without Sahati, 
 let them go ; and as for Senhit, it is mentioned in the Treaty, and 
 England cannot ask me to give it up.' I explained, as I had 
 explained to Ras Alula, that England did not give Massowah to 
 the Italians ; but that, at the same time, it was an advantage to 
 Abyssinia that they should be there. 
 
 " After some more conversation, during which the King repeated 
 that he would give up nothing, and would make no Treaty that was 
 not a confirmation of that made with Admiral Hewett, I offered to 
 withdraw altogether the clause about Senhit ; but His Majesty 
 replied that this made no difference, as he would grant nothing 
 entailing the cession of an inch of land, that Massowah itself was 
 his by right, and that he had neither the intention nor even the 
 power to alienate any territory which properly belonged to 
 Abyssinia. 
 
 "I then remarked that the whole population of England, of 
 Italy, and, indeed, of all the civilized world, had been surprised and 
 made indignant by the news of the massacre at Dogali ; but that it 
 was well known that this action had not been dictated by His 
 Majesty, and that it would be with the deepest regret that the 
 Queen, and the world at large, would learn that he assumed the 
 responsibility for the massacre of those 450 men. I even went so 
 far as to hint that I thought — though I added that I was not 
 authorised to say so — that if Ras Alula were appointed to some 
 other province not on the frontier, some of the difficulties in the 
 way of peace might, perhaps, be removed. To this the King 
 answered, *Why do you speak of 450 men? There were 5000 
 Italians who were beaten by 5000 Abyssinians.' I replied that 
 perhaps that may have been the report which reached His Majesty, 
 but that there was no possible doubt — and it could easily be proved 
 
*J2 English Mission to Abyssinia, 
 
 — that there were not 500 Italians engaged in the action of that 
 day, and that it was a massacre rather than a fight. His Majesty- 
 then continued : ' Ras Alula did no wrong ; the Italians came into 
 the province under his governorship, and he fought them, just as 
 you would fight the Abyssinians if they came into England.' I said 
 that no nation in Europe would commit a massacre of that sort. 
 
 " I then reiterated the hope of the Queen that for the sake of his 
 own country he would consent to some terms of peace, and I asked 
 if he would suggest to me what he would accept. He replied that 
 he would like to have peace ; that it was true that war was a bad 
 thing for his country, and especially a war against other Christians ; 
 but that he would not give up Sahati, Wia, nor land of any sort, 
 and that the only Treaty he would make with Italy would be a 
 confirmation of the Treaty of 1884. 
 
 " Seeing that it was useless to say any more for the present, I 
 begged His Majesty distinctly to understand that it was purely out 
 of friendship to Abyssinia that the Queen had sent me ; that Her 
 Majesty was deeply sorry to see Abyssinia engaged in a great war 
 with a very powerful European nation, and wished to do all in her 
 power to avert it. His Majesty answered that England was his 
 only friend, and that he was the Queen's servant, but that he would 
 have nothing to say to the Italians so long as they ask for land ; 
 that the Queen had written to tell him that Italy was very powerful, 
 but that he was strong also ; that the right was on the side of 
 Abyssinia, and the issue of the war in the hands of God. He 
 added that he hoped England would not interfere in the matter any 
 more, but would leave him to face the Italians alone. The dis- 
 cussion then ended. His Majesty's manner had been courteous 
 and dignified throughout, and in strong contrast to the excited and 
 agressive tone adopted by Ras Alula at Asmara. 
 
 " The next day I was invited to another interview with the King, 
 and had strong hopes of being able to persuade His Majesty to 
 accept at least some of the Italian conditions, as I had discovered that 
 Ras Alula was by no means in high favour at Court at the present 
 moment ; but just as I was starting to go to the King I received a 
 visit from his interpreter, who came with a message from His Majesty 
 to the effect that he would not see me again ; that I had said I came 
 from the Queen to try to make peace, but that he had just received a 
 letter from Ras Alula, saying that the Italians had taken advantage 
 of this opportunity and were advancing in force, being already 
 beyond Sahati. The King wished to have some explanation of 
 this. The interpreter added that His Majesty was very angry, and 
 
In the King's Camp. 7J 
 
 evidently thought this was a preconcerted action between England 
 and Italy. I could not tell then, and, indeed, did not know till 
 long after I had left the King's camp, that this news was utterly 
 false, so I merely hastened to remind the King that I had told both 
 His Majesty and Ras Alula that my mission was perfectly inde- 
 pendent of the Italians ; that I was sent by the Queen alone, and 
 that the actions of neither Italy on the one hand, or of his Majesty 
 on the other, were in any way restricted by my presence in Abys- 
 sinia, but that if His Majesty would consent to the conditions which 
 I submitted to him yesterday, I would pledge the word of England 
 that the Italians would at present go no further than the limits 
 therein laid down. I was, however, told, in reply, that the Italians 
 had taken aggressive action, and that it was too late now to talk of 
 peace. 
 
 " The result of this was that, instead of being allowed to take 
 leave of His Majesty the following day, as I had been promised, 
 I was, on one pretext or another, detained in the King's camp for 
 nine more days, during the course of which I was informed that 
 the question of whether I was to be allowed to go back at all or not 
 was under discussion by the King and his chief men, and had not 
 yet been decided. 
 
 " Finally, however, I was summoned to the King's presence on 
 the i6th December, and received from His Majesty two letters for 
 Her Majesty the Queen, and a verbal message recapitulating the 
 decision which, as reported above, he had already communicated 
 to me in conversation. I then took leave of His Majesty, reiterating 
 the assurances of the continued friendship of England, and adding 
 that, although it would be with deep regret that the Queen would 
 hear of his rejection of any terms of peace, yet I was sure that if 
 ever His Majesty should wish for the advice or good offices of 
 Her Majesty's Government, he would always find that England 
 would be ready to prove herself the best friend to Abyssinia. The 
 Negoos thanked me, and I retired, leaving his camp near Chelicot 
 the same day, and arriving at Asmara on the 23rd. Here I was 
 again detained for a day by Ras Alula, but was allowed to go next 
 day ; and by travelling all night I was able to reach the Italian 
 positions at Monkullu at daybreak on the 25th December. 
 
 " I have already mentioned that one reason for the refusal of 
 King Johannis to listen to any terms of peace may be found in the 
 false intelligence sent to him by Ras Alula, but I have not yet 
 referred to two other circumstances which rendered my task almost 
 hopeless from the outset. One of these is, that the Abyssinians 
 
y4- English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 have as yet had no practical experience of the power of Italy. 
 Throughout the country the affair of Dogali and the subsequent 
 withdrawal of the Italian garrisons from Sahati and Wia, are 
 looked upon as triumphs of Abyssinian over Italian arms ; the 
 Abyssinians, it must also be recollected, are inordinately proud of 
 their courage and skill in warfare, and gain additional confidence 
 from their immense superiority in point of numbers ; and, since 
 their acquisition, in virtue of Admiral Hewett's Treaty, of many 
 thousands of Remington rifles and an enormous supply of ammu- 
 nition, consider themselves almost invincible, and will continue to 
 do so until they have had a lesson to the contrary. The only 
 effect produced on the minds of the Negoos and of his advisers by 
 the letter of warning sent by the English Government in last 
 September was a feeling of irritation against England as well as 
 against Italy, and a wish to show that their country was less feeble 
 than it appeared to be considered. 
 
 " The second and most important consideration is, that when I 
 arrived in Abyssinia the whole country was already under arms ; 
 very large armies were advancing from every direction towards the 
 north-eastern frontier ; the whole atmosphere in the King's Court, 
 and in the camp of every Chieftain in Abyssinia, was one of warlike 
 preparation ; and His Majesty the Negoos, autocratic and greatly 
 respected as he is, would not only have found the greatest difficulty 
 in persuading the different leaders— some of them semi-inde- 
 pendent — to submit quietly to his acceptance of the Italian terms 
 of peace, but, even had he succeeded in doing so, he would have 
 found himself face to face with the far more serious question of 
 what was to be done with all the vast masses of armed men which, 
 at his instigation, are now moving through his country. The great 
 probability is that, if the present common object, i. e.^ war with the 
 Italians, were to be taken away, these undisciplined and half- 
 savage armies, some of them from the country of the Gallas, from 
 Shoa, and from the extreme outskirts of Abyssinian dependencies, 
 would refuse to return empty-handed to their own countries, and 
 Abyssinia would soon be torn by a series of internecine struggles 
 between the different Chiefs and Kings, the result of which it would 
 be impossible to foresee, but which would constitute a most serious 
 danger to the dynasty of King Johannis himself. 
 
 " For these reasons I venture to submit my conviction that at 
 the time when I was sent into Abyssinia no power short of actual 
 compulsion could have induced the King to accept the terms 
 dictated by Italy ; that what might have been possible in August or 
 
In the King's Camp. 75 
 
 September last was impossible in December, when the whole of 
 the immense available forces of the country were already under 
 arms ; and that there now remains no hope of a satisfactory 
 adjustment of the difficulties between Italy and Abyssinia until the 
 question of the relative supremacy of these two nations has been 
 decided by an appeal to the fortune of war." 
 
 Document communicated by Mr. Portal to the 
 King of Abyssinia. 
 
 "Her Majesty Queen Victoria, whilst deeply regretting the 
 massacre of 450 Italians committed by Ras Alula in January last, 
 is very sorry to see that her friend, His Majesty King John, is in a 
 state of war with the King of Italy. 
 
 " Being most anxious to avert, if possible, from Abyssinia, the 
 calamity of such a war, she has asked the Government of Italy 
 what are the conditions on which they will live in peace and friend- 
 ship with Abyssinia, and cease their preparations for a great war. 
 
 "The King of Italy has repHed that he is most willing and 
 anxious to be at peace, and to have friendship and commerce with 
 Abyssinia, and he has promised that all preparations for war will 
 be at once stopped, and that no hostile action will be committed by 
 Italy if His Majesty King John will agree to the following 
 conditions : — 
 
 1. "That the Protectorate of Italy be recognized over the 
 Assaorta and the Habab tribes of Arabs. 
 
 2. "That Sahati and Wia remain Italian territory, together with 
 a zone beyond them of one day's march. 
 
 3. " That in order to prevent any further disputes in the future, 
 the frontier of Abyssinia be marked out by pillars erected at regular 
 intervals. The exact line of this frontier will be settled by mutual 
 agreement between the Abyssinians and the Italians, in concert 
 with England, who will watch over the interests of Abyssinia. 
 
 " Ghinda will be a frontier town belonging to Abyssinia. 
 
 4. " Senhit will be occupied by Italy. 
 
 5. "A Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Commerce will be 
 signed between Abyssinia and Italy. 
 
 " Queen Victoria most earnestly hopes and confidently trusts 
 that His Majesty King John will, without delay, signify to Her 
 Ambassador his acceptance of these terms, and that His Majesty 
 will thus restore to Abyssinia the blessings of peace, commerce, 
 and prosperity. 
 
y6 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 "In that case the King of Italy will promise to give up all 
 thoughts of any encroachment on Abyssinian territory, and will do 
 his utmost to encourage all trade and friendship with this country ; 
 and, at the same time, the Queen and the Government of England 
 will undertake to use all their influence to ensure the faithful keeping 
 of the Treaty, and will in every way endeavour to promote the 
 welfare and prosperity of the dominions of His Majesty the 
 Negoosa Negust." 
 
 (Signed) G. H. PORTAL. 
 
 Ashangi^ December 8th^ i8Sy. 
 
 In the course of the weary days of inaction and 
 suspense, during which I was forced to remain in the 
 King's camp, ?>., till the i6th December, I had sent 
 several messages and one letter to the King, urging that 
 I should be allowed to proceed on my journey, as the 
 Queen would be very anxious to hear what answer Her 
 friend King Johannis sent to Her Majesty's letter and 
 message, but I was always told in a civil but very firm 
 manner that my departure was impossible for the moment. 
 As a matter of fact I knew that our fate was the subject 
 of a great discussion by all the chiefs of the Empire at 
 present with the King, and that the large majority of 
 these chiefs were in favour of following Ras Alula's advice, 
 and " treating us like enemies." It is to the King himself, 
 in opposition to his councillors, that is due the whole 
 credit of having allowed the English Mission to return 
 in safety. 
 
 On the receipt of the letter from Ras Alula, mentioned 
 in the official report, the King had broken up his camp at 
 Ashangi, and had continued his march northwards at the 
 rate of about ten to fifteen miles every day ; we were forced 
 to follow in his train, camping every evening near the 
 
In the King^s Camp. yy 
 
 head quarters of our host or "Balderabba" Dejat 
 Tesemma. A marvellous thing it was to see the endless 
 mass of struggling humanity, soldiers, women, slaves, 
 horses, mules, donkeys, and cattle, crowding along the 
 narrow rocky paths ; the soldiers well-fed and swaggering, 
 the slaves half-starved and miserable, the women tired 
 with their heavy loads, but laughing and happy, but of 
 the unfortunate mules, donkeys, and other beasts of 
 burden, about eighty or ninety per cent, were suffering 
 from the most ghastly and revolting sore backs and 
 other maladies, caused chiefly by the cruel Abyssinian 
 habit of tying on the load without a saddle, and of 
 passing a thin cord or strip of hide round and round 
 the unfortunate animal's back and belly, and drawing this 
 cord as tight as their muscular arms could get it. The 
 result of this system of " tight-lacing " was that in many 
 instances the whole shape of the beast's stomach had 
 been altered, causing horrible disease and untimately 
 death. I tried on one occasion to explain to an enor- 
 mous Abyssinian who was urging on a very diminutive 
 donkey with fiendish yells and resounding blows, that 
 his cruel way of tying on the load was very false 
 economy, as it incapacitated the beast from work, and 
 would ultimately kill it long before its natural time. He 
 answered, with a grin, that this method " had been the 
 custom of his fathers, and, therefore, it was good enough 
 for him." It was useless to try to argue with a staunch 
 Conservative like this, so I gave up in despair any 
 attempts to ameliorate the fate of mules and donkeys in 
 Abyssinia. 
 
 On the whole, though there were some exceptions, 
 
yS English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 the struggling crowds on the march were remarkably 
 good tempered and light-hearted ; we, of course, came 
 in for a good deal of personal comment and " chaff," but 
 laughter was with them always near the surface, and 
 a few opportune presents of cartridges or bars of salt 
 gained us many a helping hand in the crowd, where a 
 little ill-will might easily have forced some of our mules 
 over a precipice. 
 
 Nothing particular need be said of the days on which 
 we travelled in the train of the King ; we camped one 
 day at Falak, then crossed the Debar Pass, and were 
 nearly frozen the next night, there being io° Fahren- 
 heit of frost. At Debar the only vegetation consisted of 
 giant thistles, many of them as much as fifteen to twenty 
 feet in height, with stems almost like timber trees. From 
 Debar we marched to a most picturesque camp at Beit 
 Mariam, where the King halted for two days ; then for 
 two more days we marched across the Aibutto plain, the 
 King never travelling for more than three or four hours 
 a day, till on the 15 th we passed close to Antalo and 
 halted at Afgol. In the course of these days I had made 
 several attempts to induce the King to allow me to leave 
 his camp and to commence my homeward journey with 
 his answer to the Queen, but without effect ; the only 
 incident of any interest during this time being, that I 
 was shot at one morning by some casual Abyssinian 
 while I was peacefully sitting on a rock surveying the 
 scene. However, as the bullet only smashed itself 
 against the rock several feet to my left the incident had 
 no particular importance. 
 
 At Afgol, on the i6th, I had the farewell interview 
 
In the King^s Camp. yg 
 
 with the King, which I have already narrated, I was 
 then lead from his presence to a smaller hut close by, 
 where I was made to take off my uniform coat and to 
 put on a pink silk-embroidered shirt, reaching to my 
 knees ; over this was draped a " shamma " of fine gauzy 
 cotton, with a broad band of embroidery round the 
 edges, and then over my shoulders was placed a fine 
 lion's mane as a sort of tippet, the front part being 
 decorated with gold filigree work, to which the fore-legs 
 were fastened, and hung down in front, while the hind- 
 legs dangled down my back. A long sword, in a velvet 
 and gold scabbard, was then tightly buckled to my 
 right hip, a shield covered with silver and gold plaques 
 was hung on my left arm, and a long spear placed in 
 that hand, finally a gold ornament, in the shape of a 
 double triangle, was hung round my neck, and thus 
 attired I entered the presence of the King for the last 
 time. Thanking him for his kind reception of me, and 
 for these presents, I took leave of him and left his tent, 
 finding at the door a new mule with a beautiful Abys- 
 sinian saddle, covered with red cloth and embroidery, 
 on which I was expected to mount. This was not easy 
 for me ; to begin with, the sword being tightly buckled to 
 my right hip, I was forced to mount in Abyssinian 
 fashion from the off-side. Then my draperies consider- 
 ably hindered any freedom of knee-action on my part, 
 and the saddle before me was small, with a cantle and 
 pommel nearly a foot high ; but the worst of all was 
 the fact that the stirrups were made to receive only the 
 big toe of a bare foot, how then was I to get up with my 
 uniform trousers and Wellington boots ? However, by 
 
So English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 dint of great activity even this difficult feat was at length 
 accomplished, and I rode off, the centre of an admiring 
 crowd, back to our own camp, where my arrival in this 
 guise was the signal for much joy and laughing, as it 
 meant that at last we were really off, and homeward 
 bound. 
 
 In half-an-hour everything was packed, mules were 
 loaded, I was again in more comfortable garments, much 
 backsheesh was given, and cheerfully we turned our steps 
 to the North. 
 
 The Return Journey. 
 
 In saying good-bye to me the King had expressed 
 his hope that I would sleep that night at Mekelle, where 
 he has recently built himself a new palace, of which he 
 is very proud, and which is the only two-storeyed 
 building, and, indeed, the only erection showing any 
 attempt of architecture or permanency of construction in 
 Abyssinia. Partly to please His Majesty, and partly 
 because I was also anxious to see this far-famed palace, I 
 had promised compliance with his wishes, and our first 
 day's homeward march, past the village of Chelicot, was 
 therefore a short one. At about 2.30 p.m. we surmounted 
 a ridge of hills from which we looked northward over a 
 wide, partially-cultivated plain, dotted here and there 
 with villages, in the centre of which by far the most con- 
 spicuous object was the new palace, built of yellow or 
 reddish stone in a kind of spurious Gothic style, with a 
 quantity of turrets and battlements which looked 
 
The Return Journey. 8i 
 
 curiously out of place in the centre of Abyssinia. The 
 building of this palace was the work of an Italian named 
 Naretti, who personally superintended the laying of every 
 stone, and who, with his own hands, cut out and fitted 
 nearly all the joints and the wood work. It is almost 
 needless to say that there is no glass in the windows, nor 
 indeed is any required in that excellent climate. 
 Although there is an upper storey, and although the 
 building is fitted with various cupboards and other 
 European inventions, the use of these luxuries is not 
 appreciated nor understood by King John, who lives in 
 his usual barbaric state in two large rooms on the ground 
 floor. 
 
 As soon as we had seen our animals unloaded and 
 turned out to graze. Beech and I walked up to the 
 palace, but on arriving at the central gate we were dis- 
 agreeably surprised at being met by a pair of truculent- 
 looking Abyssinian soldiers, who shut the door in our 
 faces, and utterly refused to let us enter even the outer 
 courtyard, saying that such were the orders of the Chief- 
 man of Mekelle. I then sent a polite message to this 
 Chief, begging for permission to see the palace, and 
 asking at the same time for provisions, forage, and a 
 guide ; this message was entrusted to Bruru Worke the 
 interpreter, who was to leave us and return to the King 
 the following morning, and I have no doubt that it was 
 owing to the malicious or possibly only the careless way 
 in which he translated the message that I shortly after- 
 wards received an answer to the effect that the guide was 
 not ready and that there were no provisions that could 
 be spared for us. The latter item was a matter of 
 
 G 
 
82 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 indifference to us, for we soon bought some milk and 
 bread of the villagers, while as regards pieces de resistance 
 we were more than amply provided, as, during our 
 enforced stay in the King's camp. His Majesty had 
 made me a present of a cow every day ; our appetites, 
 hearty as they were, had been quite unequal to the task 
 of keeping pace with the supplies, and the result was, 
 that I had now a small herd of eight nice little black 
 heifers. One of these I ordered to be killed on the spot, 
 and then succeeded in exchanging the remaining seven 
 for a pretty good mule. 
 
 The non-arrival of the guide was a more serious con- 
 sideration. Before leaving King John's camp, our 
 " Balderabba," Dejat Tesemma, had promised me that at 
 Mekelle a good guide should be provided for us, who 
 would accompany us as far as Asmara, where he would 
 hand us over to the tender mercies of our old friend Ras 
 Alula. This prospect no doubt had its drawbacks, but 
 even such a guide would be far better than no guide at 
 all, and it was now evident that unless we consented to 
 wait at Mekelle indefinitely we should have to continue 
 our journey without one, and to trust to the guidance of 
 such peasants as we might be able to hire in the different 
 districts. There was no help for it, and at daybreak 
 next morning, after making another fruitless attempt to 
 get an officially-accredited guide from the chief man of 
 Mekelle, we resumed our northward march without one. 
 
 I did not anticipate much difficulty in finding the 
 way, as this part of the road had been traversed and well 
 described by Mr. Harrison Smith in 1884, and at about 
 eleven o'clock we struck into the still clearly defined road 
 
The Return Journey. 83 
 
 which had been followed by Lord Napier's expedition in 
 1 868. At noon we crossed a clear stream, and halted for 
 an hour at Agulla, the residence of Dejat Telia, the ruler 
 of the province through which our road lay for the next 
 twenty or thirty miles. I had, however, no time to spare 
 to go a mile out of my way to visit this chief, and after 
 forty-five minutes rest we resumed our journey, both men 
 and animals stepping out briskly, till four hours later we 
 crossed the Dongola River, close to the village of Miriam 
 Woggarou, where we saw a curious old church cut out of 
 the living rock, which is reputed in the district to have 
 been made by God Himself We hurried on for two 
 hours more without halting, and at length, after a very 
 long day's march, were thankful to camp under a huge 
 " Wurke " tree close to the village of Belessa, having put 
 about thirty-two miles between ourselves and the King's 
 Head Quarters, which were to move to Mekelle that day. 
 
 My men were all in the highest spirits and the best 
 of health, the comparative rest of twelve days in the 
 King's camp had enabled the mules to shake off the 
 effects of the outward march ; the loads were now very 
 light and easily packed, no animal having to carry 
 more than sixty or seventy pounds ; in fact everything 
 seemed to point to the probability of our being able to 
 make an exceptionally rapid and easy march back to the 
 Coast so long as we were allowed to pass unmolested 
 by Ras Alula. Little did any of us that night foresee the 
 complete change in our prospects which was to take 
 place before the sun rose next morning. 
 
 Late that night one of the Arabs came and whispered 
 to me that we were being quietly surrounded by a large 
 
8 4- English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 force of Abyssinians. Beech and I accordingly got up 
 to reconnoitre, and sure enough we soon convinced our- 
 selves that such was the case, as we could see watch fires 
 being lighted at irregular intervals at a distance of about 
 200 yards on every side of us, by the glare of which the 
 dark forms of armed Abyssinians passing to and fro 
 were clearly visible. 
 
 Soon after three o'clock I roused the camp and gave 
 orders for everything to be quickly and silently packed 
 on the mules, while a large fire was kindled for the sake 
 of light, the moon having already set. At four o'clock 
 all was ready. Beech, Hutchisson, and I mounted our 
 mules, and I rode a few steps forward while giving the 
 order to march. The words were scarcely out of my 
 mouth when about a dozen Abyssinian soldiers, armed 
 with rifles, suddenly and silently emerged from the outer 
 darkness into the ring of firelight, and, pushing some of 
 my men violently aside, placed themselves near the head 
 of the caravan declaring that we were not to advance 
 another step. 
 
 Calling up the interpreter, young Ghirghis, I pro- 
 tested strongly through him against this action, 
 explaining that we were coming straight from their 
 King, who had received us as friends, that I was carrying 
 his letters back to the Queen of England, and that I 
 could not, therefore, submit to be stopped by any local 
 chief or independent bands of soldiery. While this con- 
 versation was taking place the first grey streak of dawn 
 was beginning to make the movements of the soldiers 
 more clear to us, and we could see that they were 
 momentarily increasing in numbers. The fire was going 
 
The Return Journey. 85 
 
 out, and we were still collected in the shadow of the 
 gigantic tree under which we passed the night, the 
 Abyssinians being mostly in the clear space just beyond 
 the spreading branches, so that with the increasing light 
 we were able to watch their movements, and to observe 
 that their numbers had now increased to about sixty or 
 seventy armed men. 
 
 For a few moments the effect of my little speech was 
 not very clear, the soldiers all fell back a few yards, and 
 I thought that we were to be allowed to proceed in 
 peace. Again, therefore, I rode some paces forward, 
 when I was stopped by a sudden shout from my own 
 men behind me. I halted, and it was then very evident 
 that our enemies were bent on mischief; but even at 
 that moment the wild and dramatic beauty of the scene 
 impressed itself deeply on the memory of Beech and 
 myself. Under the huge black tree, beside the dying 
 but still glowing remains of the fire, were huddled 
 together my ten Arabs and fourteen loaded mules, while 
 Beech, Hutchisson, and I, sat quietly on our respective 
 animals. At about seven or eight yards distance on our 
 right flank was collected a mass of Abyssinian soldiery 
 in their picturesque red and white robes, every man with 
 the right shoulder bare, and every man with his rifle 
 grasped in both hands and ready for action ; the few 
 Abyssinians who had remained on the other side of the 
 big tree were running round with all speed to join their 
 comrades, and to be out of the line of their bullets, 
 should they fire a volley ; while on my left, at a distance 
 of about three or four yards, an extremely handsome 
 Abyssinian had thrown himself on the ground, had 
 
86 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 loaded his rifle, cocked it, and was taking a calm and 
 deliberate aim at myself. A word of command was 
 given, and the whole band of Abyssinians loaded their 
 rifles, and prepared to sweep our little unarmed party off 
 the face of the earth. There did not appear to be the 
 smallest chance of escape for any of us, and I think we 
 had all made up our minds that the end had come. 
 To attempt any resistance was absolutely useless, and 
 would only have hastened the end. There was but one 
 chance left, and that was a very poor one. I told the 
 interpreter to shout as quickly and as loudly as he could 
 for the chief of the Abyssinian party to come and talk 
 to me. To my relief and surprise, after some hesitation, 
 a man slowly came forward from out of the mass of 
 Abyssinians ; as he approached us, most of his men put 
 up their rifles and covered our party, while my friend 
 lying down close to me was still taking a careful aim at 
 some part of my body. My interpreter told me 
 afterwards that he heard them discussing among them- 
 selves which of them was to shoot each member of our 
 party. When the chief got close to me I spoke to him 
 in as loud and as indignant a tone as I could assume, 
 telling the interpreter to do the same in translating my 
 words. I then asked him how he dared to stop us, 
 warning him that we were his King's friends, and that if 
 a hair of the head of any of my men were touched, the 
 King would inflict severe punishment on him and all his 
 party. I continued to lecture and to swagger in this 
 strain for a little time, and then said I was going to write 
 at once to the King himself, and I defied him to have 
 the audacity to stop my messenger. He appeared to be 
 
The Return Journey. 8y 
 
 somewhat impressed by the unexpected tone adopted by 
 us, and said that I might send a letter to the King. 
 With the assistance of young Ghirghis, the interpreter 
 (who was behaving remarkably well under these trying 
 circumstances), I then wrote a hasty letter to King John, 
 briefly describing the situation, and expressing my 
 surprise that such things should have happened to me 
 after my friendly visit to His Majesty ; at the same time 
 begging that a good guide should at once be sent to me, 
 and that the soldiers now surrounding us should have 
 orders to let us proceed on our journey. 
 
 This letter I gave to an Abyssinian youth, who had 
 been for about ten days in my service, promising him a 
 large reward if he succeeded in getting to the King, 
 a distance of about thirty-two miles, and in bringing me 
 an answer. Then followed many hours of anxious 
 waiting. We were close prisoners, being still surrounded 
 by soldiers on every side, and it soon became evident 
 that they were beginning to regret their leniency or 
 weakness in not finishing us off in the early morning, for 
 soldiers continued to prowl about in an insolent and 
 swaggering manner, laughing at, insulting, and even 
 hustling and striking the Arabs, evidently in the hope 
 that some hasty act of retaliation on their part would 
 bring on a row, and furnish a good excuse for a general 
 massacre and pillage of the caravan. 
 
 I gave the strictest orders that no one was to speak 
 to or take any notice whatever of the soldiers, but 
 although my men were by this time pretty well dis- 
 ciplined, and on ordinary occasions thoroughly obedient, 
 we could not but fear lest their wild Arab temper should 
 
88 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 suddenly resent some more than usually aggravating 
 insult or blow, and that an immediate volley, followed 
 by a rush of spearman, would be the inevitable result. 
 
 After about eleven hours of anxious and uncomfort- 
 able waiting, still surrounded on every side by 
 Abyssinian pickets, my messenger at length re-appeared. 
 At first he vowed that he had been to the King, and that 
 His Majesty had said we might now proceed on our 
 journey, but he was evidently lying, and after a little 
 pressure he confessed that he had been taken only to 
 Dejat Telia, the chief of the district near to whose 
 residence we had passed on the previous day. 
 
 This chief had openly told him that it was by his 
 orders that we had been stopped and made prisoners, 
 but that we might now proceed. I also ascertained that 
 several messages had passed between him and the 
 soldiers guarding us, who now, we observed, were a good 
 deal diminished in numbers, and some of whom seemed 
 to be trying to make friends with us. It appeared to 
 both Beech and myself that the chief and his soldiers 
 were becoming a little anxious lest they had got 
 themselves into a scrape by having stopped us in this 
 way, and that they would now rather like to withdraw 
 quietly and let us continue our journey unmolested. 
 It was, however, evident that not only would it entail a 
 great loss of dignity on my part, were I to abstain from 
 bringing these proceedings to the notice of the highest 
 authority in the land, but that I should thereby incur the 
 risk of a repetition of this sort of thing in every district 
 through which we had to pass. I determined, therefore, 
 to take the decided step of sending Beech himself to the 
 
The Return Journey. 8g 
 
 King with my letter, which the Abyssinian youth had 
 brought back with him. 
 
 In a few minutes the two strongest and swiftest 
 mules are saddled and bridled, the best of our Arabs, a 
 man named Mahomed Gamul, who spoke Amharic as 
 well as Arabic, has received his orders to accompany 
 Beech ; the letter to the King is enclosed in an envelope 
 addressed to Dejaj Tesemma, our friend and former 
 " Balderabba," in the King's camp, and final instructions 
 are given to Beech that at all hazards he was to get to 
 the Head Quarters of the King himself, and to insist on 
 a proper guide being sent to me. One hearty grasp of 
 the hand, a mutual wish for " good luck," and they canter 
 off on the path back to Mekelle, while Hutchisson and I 
 turn back to resume our anxious task of watching and 
 waiting. I had arranged with Beech that if no objection 
 was made to our marching next morning, I would 
 proceed with the caravan to Adegrat, a town about 
 thirty-six or thirty-eight miles further north, and there 
 wait for him. 
 
 All that night Hutchisson and I sat up, rifle in hand, 
 and kept watch alternately ; I also kept one of the men 
 constantly on guard, as I feared that as our enemies were 
 now beginning to feel that they had got themselves into 
 a scrape, they might think that the simplest way out of 
 it would be quietly to massacre the whole party and then 
 to say that we had attacked them first. However, the 
 night passed quietly, and a little before daybreak a 
 cautious reconnaissance showed us that the Abyssinian 
 soldiers had disappeared, and that we were free. Hastily 
 we began to load the mules at 4.50 a.m., and had soon 
 
\ go English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 > turned our backs on the great tree, under whose dense 
 
 \ shadow I had spent thirty-six of the most anxious hours 
 
 ) I had ever known. 
 
 \ At 9.30 a.m. we passed the pools of Adarbaghi where 
 
 J I engaged a peasant as a guide to Adegrat. At eleven 
 
 \ o'clock we met the chief man of Adegrat himself, who 
 
 \ was travelling southward in state to meet the King. 
 
 / After hearing a rapid explanation of our business and 
 
 ^* our recent experiences, this gentleman, Shorn Sohat by 
 
 I name, showed us every civility, gave us one of his 
 
 y soldiers to guide us to Adegrat, and sent back a 
 
 messenger ordering his deputy to receive us well. At 
 I mid-day we halted for forty minutes at the pools of 
 
 \ Endajesus, whence there was a most magnificent view of 
 
 y the mountains of Jemben to the South- West, and of our 
 
 / old acquaintance Mount Semayata, near Adowa, some 
 
 I fifty miles to the North-West All through that afternoon 
 
 we sped along at an average rate of over four miles an 
 hour, the men often running and the mules trotting for 
 half a mile at a time ; nor did my men want any en- 
 couragement or inciting to increased speed. It was 
 evident from the way in which they abused any of their 
 number who showed signs of fatigue, that they were just 
 as anxious to get out of the country as we could be. 
 At length, after a march of eleven hours we reached 
 Adegrat at about 5 p.m., footsore, weary, and anxious 
 about Beech. 
 
 Early next morning I wandered off with a pair of 
 Messrs. Callaghan's strongest field glasses, and scrambled 
 to the top of a high conical hill, from whence I could 
 command a view of the path from Mekelle for many 
 
The Return Journey. gj 
 
 miles. Eagerly throughout the morning I scanned the 
 horizon and swept the country for signs of Beech and 
 Mohamed Gamul, but it was not till three o'clock in the 
 afternoon that my anxiety, now become intense, was 
 relieved by their appearance, on foot, leading their 
 completely exhausted mules, and accompanied by an 
 Abyssinian soldier. 
 
 Heartily and thankfully as they were welcomed by 
 the whole party, time was too precious for any delay, 
 and as soon as the animals could be caught and loaded, 
 we were again on the march at 3.45 p.m., intending to 
 rest that night at Fogada, some fourteen miles to the 
 North-West. On the road I heard Beech's report of his 
 adventures since we had parted two days before at 
 Belessa, and I may here say that to his determined 
 perseverance in carrying out his orders, added to the 
 exercise on his part of the greatest tact and forethought, 
 is due the preservation of his life and that of his Arab 
 companion, and possibly, also the safety of the whole 
 party. The narrative of his adventures is best given by 
 the insertion of the report on the subject which he 
 subsequently addressed to me, and which runs as follows : 
 
 Veterinary Surgeon J. R. Beech to Mr. Portal. 
 
 Cairo^ January 8th^ 1888. 
 Sir, 
 
 " I have the honour to report for your information that I left 
 Belessa at 5.45 p.m. on Sunday, the i8th instant, in accordance 
 with your orders, to carry a letter and inclosure to Dejaj Tesemma 
 at Mekelle. 
 
 " I was accompanied by a mule driver of the Mission, named 
 Mohomed Gamul, who interpreted for me from the Arabic. 
 
 "After crossing the plain south of Mariam Wogiero we met two 
 Abyssinian soldiers who stopped us and assured me that news had 
 
Ip2 English Mission to Abyssinia, 
 
 S reached the King of your Mission having been stopped at Belessa, 
 
 i that he was very angry, and that they had been sent by Dejaj 
 
 Tesemma (whose men they professed to be) with a letter to you and 
 ( instructions to take the Mission safely to Asmara. They showed 
 
 \ me a letter which I advised them to deliver to you at Belessa, as 
 
 y we were going to Mekelle. They then tried to lead my mule back, 
 
 ; saying that it was useless to proceed further, as we should never be 
 
 \ allowed to pass Agola, also inquiring persistently if I had a letter 
 
 for the King. This confirmed my suspicions as to their motive, 
 \ and, disengaging the mule, I rode on as fast as possible, so as to 
 
 \ pass Agola before being overtaken. However, being mounted on 
 
 ( mules, this was not possible, and we were soon rejoined by one 
 
 man, the other keeping on his road to Belessa. On nearing Agola, 
 \ the soldier who was following closed up to us and entered into 
 
 I conversation, endeavouring to convince me that Dejaj Tesemma 
 
 was at the village, that Dejaj Telia was his brother, and therefore 
 a brother of Ras Alula. To his protestations no attention was paid, 
 and, finding himself unable to induce me to enter the village, he 
 threw out hints of getting assistance to force us there, at the same 
 time calling loudly. I therefore affected to believe his tale (knowing 
 resistance to be useless after the experience of the morning) and 
 was taken to Dejaj Telia, who asked me who had brought me from 
 Belessa. I answered that I had come alone, when he said, * people 
 cannot travel here without a guide, without risk of imprisonment,' 
 and generally assumed a domineering manner and mode of ex- 
 pressing himself, acknowledging that we had been stopped by his 
 orders, but without excusing himself or his action. I then informed 
 him that you were well aware that his conduct had been unlawful, 
 and that the King would be very angry when he heard that his men 
 threatened the Queen's messenger with loaded rifles, advising him 
 at the same time not to inculpate himself further by detaining me. 
 His manner then changed, and he resorted to persuasion, politely 
 assuring me that his sole motive was to save me fatigue, and that 
 he would send two horsemen to Mekelle with the message, as the 
 road was unsafe at night. To this and like propositions I always 
 replied that my orders were to see Dejaj Tesemma personally, and 
 regretted not being able to avail myself of his kindness. After 
 further conversation, he said, ' I am sorry that I cannot let you go,' 
 but on my declaring that I would not return without delivering my 
 message, but would wait there until the King came himself, he 
 agreed to our proceeding in the morning. 
 
 " I then decided to wait until after midnight, as then the rest of 
 
The Return Journey. pj 
 
 the journey to Mekelle could be accomplished by daybreak, and 
 conversation on general subjects was resumed, he continually 
 inquiring if I had a letter for the King, and I observed that some 
 of his people were searching my wallets, but fortunately I had 
 removed the letter, which was on my person. After this I was 
 taken to a hut, the habitation of an officer, to sleep, but as it was 
 full of men, women, and children, besides some mules and donkeys, 
 I determined to sit up, the better to care for the letter. 
 
 " About midnight we made the first attempt to leave, unsuccess- 
 fully, but about 3 a.m. succeeded in saddling our mules and reaching 
 the track ; here we were stopped and taken back to Telia, who, 
 after some arguing, let me go, and gave me a guide to Mekelle. 
 With this man we reached Mekelle at 8 a.m., but then found that 
 he had been instructed to conduct us to one of Telia's officers and 
 his representative at Court. To this I demurred, and declared my 
 intention of going direct to Dejaj Tesemma, and proceeded to the 
 Palace, as at that hour he is usually in attendance upon the King. 
 On finding himself unable to prevent this, our guide ran quickly up 
 to the outer court of the Palace, on entering which I was quickly 
 surrounded by many people (probably adherents of Dejaj Telia), 
 who prevented my going further, and tried to obtain possession of 
 your letter, offering to deliver it themselves. They pushed me 
 away from the main entrance to the King's room, but at 11.30 a.m. 
 I perceived Dejaj Tesemma in court dress coming out from the 
 King's presence, and, pushing through the crowd, delivered to him 
 the letter. He seemed surprised to see me, and angry at the 
 contents of the letter. The inclosure, a letter to the King, he took 
 to His Majesty at once. On his return he called to Telia's soldier, 
 and in a loud voice gave him a message from the King to his 
 master, ordering him to supply us with a mounted guide to Asmara, 
 and conveying threats of punishment should anything befall you, 
 and censure for his action in stopping you. 
 
 " On saying farewell to Dejaj Tesemma, he informed me that he 
 had just taken leave of the King, and was leaving for Asmara to 
 join his brother's army with all his men. 
 
 " We left Mekelle at noon, riding straight to Agola, where we 
 had to wait for Telia's soldier, whose mule had tired on the road. 
 
 " En route to Agola, and about half-way between that place and 
 Mekelle, we overtook Ras Michael, marching with the rear guard 
 of his army, and supported on horseback, owing to his obesity, by 
 two men. He inquired, in Arabic, my business, appeared indignant 
 when informed, and wished the Mission " good speed." But the 
 
pd English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 reputation was of the very worst, and whose fondness 
 for robbery, pillage, and murder was proverbial through- 
 out the North-East of Abyssinia, and among the other 
 Arab tribes near the coast of the Red Sea. Even 
 the mighty Ras Alula had on many occasions been 
 unable to resist the sudden raids of these Shohos, who 
 had carried fire and sword into the very heart of his 
 province. My small caravan, if discovered, would have 
 met with but little mercy or consideration at the hands 
 of these gentry, and it behoved us therefore to keep a 
 careful watch that night, and to be prepared to give 
 as warm a reception as possible to any strangers who 
 might appear in our vicinity. Beech, Hutchisson and 
 I, therefore again divided the night into three watches, 
 one of the Arabs being also on guard at the same time ; 
 but such was the beauty of the night in that wild 
 country, under the bright clear southern sky, that it was a 
 pleasure rather than a hardship to forego a large pro- 
 portion of our hard-earned rest. Beech, indeed, became 
 so interested in astronomical study, and in the con- 
 templation of the beauties of nature by moonlight, that 
 he declined to go to sleep when his two and a half hours 
 of duty were accomplished, and insisted on sitting up and 
 sharing with me a great portion of my watch. It was 
 one of those nights whose intense stillness and calm 
 beauty cannot fail to make a deep impression on the 
 mind of the watcher ; the Southern Cross was glowing 
 above the bold and rugged outline of a mountain range 
 over which we had passed two days before ; the silver 
 light of the setting moon on one side of the heavens was 
 almost rivalled by the calm beams of Venus as she rose 
 
The Return Journey. gj 
 
 in the East ; not a breath of wind stirred the leaves on 
 the trees, or rustled the long grass of the plain, and the 
 silence was only broken by the screams of an occasional 
 night-bird of prey, and the dismal howls of the skulking 
 hyaenas who were attracted by the mules to the neigh- 
 bourhood of our camp. As we sat by the fire, drinking 
 strong tea out of tin mugs, and smoking like a couple of 
 chimneys, our loaded carbines and a few spare cartridges 
 lying within easy reach of our right hands, Beech and I 
 could not avoid contrasting the present stillness and 
 peace with the stormy scenes through which we had so 
 recently passed, and while we speculated on the fate that 
 might yet be in store for us before we get out of Ras 
 Alula's clutches, we agreed that we should always look 
 back upon these hours of night-watching in Abyssinia 
 as among the pleasantest of our lives. 
 
 At last, however, a thin grey streak becomes visible 
 in the East, and at once we set to work to rouse the 
 camp in earnest. Though the night has passed quietly, 
 we are by no means anxious to prolong our stay in this 
 suspected district ; moreover, our mules have had no 
 water since we ' crossed a stream during the previous 
 afternoon, nor do we know when the next water may be 
 reached ; therefore, before the sun has yet appeared 
 above the horizon, we are again en route^ our venerable 
 but wiry old guide leading the way at a pace that does 
 him great credit. As the rays of the sun become stronger 
 this worthy old gentleman shelters his bald head beneath 
 a primitive umbrella made of plaited straw ; but besides 
 this precaution, although he has not a single hair on his 
 head, he has followed a popular Abyssinian custom, and 
 
 H 
 
gi6 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 reputation was of the very worst, and whose fondness 
 for robbery, pillage, and murder was proverbial through- 
 out the North-East of Abyssinia, and among the other 
 Arab tribes near the coast of the Red Sea. Even 
 the mighty Ras Alula had on many occasions been 
 unable to resist the sudden raids of these Shohos, who 
 had carried fire and sword into the very heart of his 
 province. My small caravan, if discovered, would have 
 met with but little mercy or consideration at the hands 
 of these gentry, and it behoved us therefore to keep a 
 careful watch that night, and to be prepared to give 
 as warm a reception as possible to any strangers who 
 might appear in our vicinity. Beech, Hutchisson and 
 I, therefore again divided the night into three watches, 
 one of the Arabs being also on guard at the same time ; 
 but such was the beauty of the night in that wild 
 country, under the bright clear southern sky, that it was a 
 pleasure rather than a hardship to forego a large pro- 
 portion of our hard-earned rest. Beech, indeed, became 
 so interested in astronomical study, and in the con- 
 templation of the beauties of nature by moonlight, that 
 he declined to go to sleep when his two and a half hours 
 of duty were accomplished, and insisted on sitting up and 
 sharing with me a great portion of my watch. It was 
 one of those nights whose intense stillness and calm 
 beauty cannot fail to make a deep impression on the 
 mind of the watcher ; the Southern Cross was glowing 
 above the bold and rugged outline of a mountain range 
 over which we had passed two days before ; the silver 
 light of the setting moon on one side of the heavens was 
 almost rivalled by the calm beams of Venus as she rose 
 
The Return Journey. gy 
 
 in the East ; not a breath of wind stirred the leaves on 
 the trees, or rustled the long grass of the plain, and the 
 silence was only broken by the screams of an occasional 
 night-bird of prey, and the dismal howls of the skulking 
 hyaenas who were attracted by the mules to the neigh- 
 bourhood of our camp. As we sat by the fire, drinking 
 strong tea out of tin mugs, and smoking like a couple of 
 chimneys, our loaded carbines and a few spare cartridges 
 lying within easy reach of our right hands. Beech and I 
 could not avoid contrasting the present stillness and 
 peace with the stormy scenes through which we had so 
 recently passed, and while we speculated on the fate that 
 might yet be in store for us before we get out of Ras 
 Alula's clutches, we agreed that we should always look 
 back upon these hours of night-watching in Abyssinia 
 as among the pleasantest of our lives. 
 
 At last, however, a thin grey streak becomes visible 
 in the East, and at once we set to work to rouse the 
 camp in earnest. Though the night has passed quietly, 
 we are by no means anxious to prolong our stay in this 
 suspected district ; moreover, our mules have had no 
 water since we ' crossed a stream during the previous 
 afternoon, nor do we know when the next water may be 
 reached ; therefore, before the sun has yet appeared 
 above the horizon, we are again en route^ our venerable 
 but wiry old guide leading the way at a pace that does 
 him great credit. As the rays of the sun become stronger 
 this worthy old gentleman shelters his bald head beneath 
 a primitive umbrella made of plaited straw ; but besides 
 this precaution, although he has not a single hair on his 
 head, he has followed a popular Abyssinian custom, and 
 
 H 
 
g8 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 has smeared his round cranium with a liberal allowance 
 of mutton fat, which melts as the sun gets stronger, and 
 running down over the back of his wrinkled neck keeps 
 the skin soft and moist, and materially diminishes any 
 risk of sunstroke. 
 
 It was not till 12.30 p.m. that we at last reached a 
 pool of water, where our thirsty animals were glad to 
 have a drink and an hour's rest ; then on we went over a 
 long series of mountains, defiles and valleys, till we 
 reached Gura at about 5 p.m. I declined to halt here, 
 and sent the caravan forward under Beech's care, with 
 instructions not to halt till they reached Woghartie, while 
 the interpreter and I turned aside to pay a visit to a 
 great chief who was in temporary command of Gura and 
 the surrounding district. 
 
 Nothing could be more civil and friendly than the 
 reception given me by this chief, Dejat Asmaha by 
 name ; he expressed his earnest hope that a war with 
 Italy might be averted, though he added, that if the 
 Italians tried to advance they would all be killed. He 
 gave me some excellent " tedge " to drink, and on my 
 rising to take leave, expressed his regrets that my visit 
 must be so short, and that he could not show me greater 
 hospitality, with a sincerity and a dignity of manner that 
 might with advantage be copied by many a London 
 hostess. It was nine o'clock, pitch dark and raining, 
 when I reached Woghartie, where I found Beech and the 
 caravan in the act of arranging our camp for the night. 
 
 At daybreak next morning (the 23rd), I sent Beech 
 and Ghirghis (the interpreter) on ahead, with instructions 
 to push on as fast as they could to Asmara, and to 
 
The Return Journey, gg 
 
 announce my approach to Ras Alula, while I followed at 
 a more sober pace with the rest of the caravan. Two 
 hours and a half later we arrived at Asmara, and were at 
 once conducted to the hut in which we had spent ten 
 such very unpleasant days on our outward journey. 
 I then lost no time in arraying myself in all the finery, 
 lion's skin, and robes of honour, given to me by the King, 
 and thus attired I solemnly rode up to the foot of the 
 huge mud pyramid on which stands the hut of the great 
 man. My object in thus adorning myself was to show 
 clearly, not only to the Ras himself but to all his people, 
 that I had been received as a friend by the King, and 
 had been treated with honour, and I fondly hoped that 
 Ras Alula would not now dare to put any further 
 impediments in my way. I found him sitting in 
 judgment outside his hut, surrounded by a great crowd 
 of people, while the plaintiff and defendant in the case 
 which was at that moment being heard, were standing in 
 an open space in front of the Ras, both much excited, 
 and both talking at once at the top of their voices with 
 much violent and threatening gesticulation. My arrival 
 was the signal for a dead silence, while I walked up and 
 shook hands with the great man ; my appearance in the 
 King's robes evidently had a considerable effect among 
 the populace, but I was greatly disappointed when, in 
 answer to my request for a guide to take me to the 
 frontier, the Ras answered that he could not allow me to 
 go away that day, but that he would see me and hear 
 the result of my mission to the King in the course of the 
 afternoon. There was no help for it ; annoying as it was, 
 we had to wait, and matters looked by no means brighter 
 
100 English Mission to Abyssinia, 
 
 when I went again at five o'clock in the afternoon to have 
 a talk with Ras Alula. He was sitting on a raised dais 
 in his large reception hut, surrounded by about sixty or 
 seventy people all squatting on the ground. A chair was 
 brought for me, and I established myself at a few paces 
 from the dais and almost opposite the Ras. After a 
 somewhat cold and ceremonious greeting, Ras Alula 
 made but little secret of his surprise (and I may con- 
 fidently add, his disappointment) at seeing that we had 
 been allowed by the King to leave the country in safety. 
 He asked me if I had repeated to the King all that I had 
 said about the Italians when I was last at Asmara. I 
 replied that certainly I had told the King all that and a 
 great deal more, that I had spoken very openly with His 
 Majesty, and had tried to impress upon him the futility 
 and uselessness of engaging in a desperate war with a 
 foreign people about a desolate and barren tract of land 
 like that about Sahati. I added that the King had 
 listened carefully and courteously to all I had said, and 
 had given me his answer, and that all I had to do now 
 was to take back this answer, together with a couple 
 of letters from King John, to the Queen of England. 
 Ras Alula then insisted on seeing the King's letters, in 
 order to satisfy himself that the seals were genuine, and 
 that I was not deceiving him. This was insulting on his 
 part, but I had foreseen the probability of his making this 
 demand, and had therefore brought the letters with me. 
 With some protest, therefore, I handed them to the Ras, 
 who made a careful examination of the seals and super- 
 scriptions, with the help of his writer or private secretary, 
 for the great man himself is unable either to read or write ; 
 
The Return Jotirney, loi 
 
 he then with some muttered remark, like the snarl of a 
 wild beast, returned them to me. I then repeated my 
 request for a guide to conduct me to the frontier, adding 
 that it should now be clear to him that I must leave the 
 country on the King's business, and as the King's friend. 
 I presumed, therefore, that he would not further interrupt 
 my journey. He replied, "Tell me all that the King 
 said to you, and what are the messages you are taking?'* 
 I answered that I did not consider myself at liberty to 
 reveal the King's business, that His Majesty would no 
 doubt in time let him know as much as he wished, and I 
 repeated that the King was anxious for me to take the 
 letters to the English Queen as quickly as possible. 
 During this time Ras Alula's manner had been growing 
 more and more violent and excited ; he no longer spoke 
 to me, he shouted and yelled, shaking his hand at me, 
 his eyes flashing, and his features working with excite- 
 ment and rage. He then, at the top of his voice, 
 delivered a tirade against the Italians, the English in 
 general, and myself in particular, saying that we English 
 pretended to be the friends of Abyssinia, while we were 
 really her enemies, and friends of the Italians ; that I had 
 come up on false pretences and to gain time, while my 
 friends, the Italians, were taking advantage of my mission 
 to complete their preparations and to push their armies 
 forward ; and that I was really an enemy, and ought not 
 to be allowed to leave the country. While all this dis- 
 cussion had been going on, I confess that the Ras' 
 insulting words and aggravating manner had succeeded 
 in making me also very angry, and when this last speech 
 was translated to me, I determined not to be outdone, 
 
102 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 and so I also shouted back at him as loudly and as 
 indignantly as I could, reminding him that the business 
 I had come about was between my Queen and his King, 
 that I could not stop to discuss the question with anyone 
 but the King, that I was the King's friend, and had not 
 only his Majesty's permission to leave the country, but 
 had been particularly requested to take the letters to 
 England as quickly as possible. " You," I shouted, " no 
 doubt have the power to stop me by force, but if you do 
 not let me go at once, I tell you that 1 will not go at all, 
 but will wait here until the King himself arrives, and let 
 him be judge between us." On this one or two elderly 
 chiefs sitting near the Ras spoke a few words to him in 
 a low tone, whereupon he replied in a somewhat quieter 
 manner : " To-night you shall stay at Asmara, to-morrow 
 morning you may go. I will give you a guide." With 
 this reply I was satisfied, and abruptly rose to conclude 
 the interview. 
 
 An hour or so later one or two chiefs who had been 
 present at this interview came to see me, and told me 
 that Ras Alula had been drunk, that this was now not 
 an unfrequent occurrence with him, but that when he 
 was in that state he was very dangerous. 
 
 This interview was of course the subject of a good 
 deal of gossip that night in Asmara, and some account 
 of it evidently reached the ears of my men, for I was 
 sorry to see the air of depression, almost of despair, which 
 soon crept over them. They evidently thought that their 
 chances of getting back to their families at Massowah 
 were most problematical. 
 
 Next morning (the 24th), at eight o'clock, I received 
 
The Return Journey. loj 
 
 a message to say that the Ras was ready for me. On 
 arrival I found him much quieter in manner than on the 
 previous evening. After a short and comparatively 
 friendly conversation we shook hands, and I left him, 
 finding the promised guide ready to start, and a present 
 of a sheep awaiting me at my hut. 
 
 At ten o'clock we left Asmara, after a liberal distribu- 
 tion of backsheesh to all who had shown us any friendly 
 disposition, and till three o'clock that afternoon we 
 travelled without halting along the mountainous but 
 familiar road to Ginda, which it will be remembered, is 
 the most advanced position held by the Abyssinians in 
 force. We were glad to learn that the principal chief at 
 Ginda was an old acquaintance of ours, a nephew of Ras 
 Alula, by name, Basha Desta, who had shown us more 
 good will and civility on our outward march than we had 
 experienced at the hands of any other Abyssinian. I 
 therefore turned a little aside from the direct path on 
 approaching this place, and rode up a precipitous hill to 
 a collection of huts which, I learnt, constituted the head 
 quarters of this chief Desta received me with effusive 
 cordiality, insisted on my sitting down beside him on a 
 raised dais at one end of his hut, while some rather pretty 
 female slaves prepared a large bowl of bread and milk, 
 liberally besprinkled with red pepper, for my refreshment. 
 It would have been very bad manners on my part to 
 have refused to eat with him, and moreover the twenty- 
 five mile ride from Asmara had made me ready to cope 
 with anything in the shape of food and drink ; I therefore 
 thankfully grasped the wooden bowl, and proceeded to 
 ladle its contents into my mouth with my fingers as best 
 
lO/j. English Mission to Abyssinia, 
 
 I could, while, at a signal from the chief, two slaves held 
 up a large cotton robe before me so as to form a curtain, 
 hiding me from the vulgar gaze of the other occupants 
 of the hut until my hunger was satisfied. I then returned 
 the bowl half-emptied to one of the slaves, who bowed, 
 kissed the edge of my coat, and then set herself to work 
 to finish off the contents, evidently much to her own 
 satisfaction. In the course of conversation Basha Desta 
 informed me that Ginda was at that moment occupied by 
 three thousand soldiers, all armed with Remington rifles, 
 one thousand of whom were his own personal followers, 
 but that he had little authority over the remainder. He 
 warned me at the same time that I might still have some 
 difficulty in getting out of the country, as the other chiefs 
 knew that Ras Alula was very hostile to the English 
 mission, and they might think they would be pleasing 
 him by opposing our further progress. This increased 
 my anxiety to rejoin my people without further delay, 
 and I therefore lost no further time in taking leave of 
 Basha Desta, and in scrambling down a rocky path to a 
 grassy meadow below, where I found Beech and the 
 caravan waiting for me, but somewhat uneasy at being 
 surrounded by about one hundred armed Abyssinian 
 soldiers, whose attitude announced that they were not 
 disposed to let us proceed on our journey without some 
 difficulty. 
 
 I first asked these soldiers what they wanted, and 
 getting no answer, determined to put them to the test at 
 once, and therefore ordered my men to march. Beech and 
 I riding as usual at the head. We had not gone ten 
 yards when it became evident that our troubles were by 
 
The Return Journey. lo^ 
 
 no means over yet ; the Abyssinians posted themselves 
 in a compact mass before us, and completely barred our 
 further progress, while one of them who seemed to be a 
 man of some consequence, said that we were not to go 
 on, and that if we attempted to do so he was ordered to 
 use force to stop us. I replied that I had seen Basha 
 Desta, and that I had his permission to proceed on our 
 journey. At this the soldiers laughed, and said that they 
 had nothing to do with Basha Desta, that they belonged 
 to another chief who had an equally strong and well- 
 armed following at Ginda, and who was a friend of 
 Ras Alula. As it was evidently waste of time to argue 
 with these soldiers, who were only obeying the orders of 
 their chief, I told one of them to conduct me to his head 
 quarters, which, after a short consultation with his 
 comrades, he consented to do. 
 
 On my arrival at his hut this chief received me very 
 badly, not rising from his seat, and pretending to ignore 
 my presence altogethen My suspicions as to the reasons 
 for his action were confirmed by seeing at his right hand 
 a man whom I had noticed in Ras Alula's hut the 
 previous evening, and who had evidently been sent on 
 with secret instructions to prevent us from leaving the 
 country despite the King's orders to the contrary. 
 Powerful and dreaded as is the name of Ras Alula, I 
 knew that his authority, even in his own province, is 
 inferior to that of King John, and I determined to try to 
 carry off this matter with a high hand. 
 
 I opened the proceedings by walking up to the chief 
 and standing in front of him, asking in a loud voice by 
 whose authority he dared to prevent me from continuing 
 
io6 English Mission to Abyssinia, 
 
 my journey in peace, when I not only had the King's 
 permission to leave the country, but was even carrying 
 His Majesty's letters. I then produced the King's letters, 
 and showed him the seals. This appeal to the authority 
 of King John evidently rather frightened the chief, who 
 merely answered that he could not let me go now, but 
 that he would send a messenger to Asmara to ask Ras 
 Alula what should be done with me. I replied, that unless 
 he allowed me to continue my journey at once, I would 
 remain at Ginda, not only till Ras Alula's answer should 
 be received, but until the arrival of the King himself, who, 
 it was well known, was advancing with his army towards 
 the frontier ; King Johannis, I said, should be the judge 
 between us to decide whether his letters, on matters of 
 the highest importance, were to be stopped in this way 
 by a chief commanding only one thousand men. This 
 threat produced an immediate effect ; whether visions of 
 floggings, degradation or decapitation floated before his 
 eyes, I cannot tell, but his manner softened immediately, 
 and when my interpreter had quietly slipped a rouleau 
 of twenty dollars into his willing hand, he not only 
 withdrew all his objections, but said that he would give 
 me an escort to accompany us for four hours march 
 towards the Italian forts. This was by no means what 
 I wanted, but I dared make no further remarks, and 
 having left the hut as soon as possible, I rejoined my 
 people, and once more ordered the advance. 
 
 This time we got along well for nearly a quarter of a 
 mile, when once more we noticed soldiers rushing down 
 the side of a hill, and planting themselves in the path 
 before us with threatening gestures. Taking no notice 
 
The Return Journey. loy 
 
 of them I continued to advance, until several of them 
 proceeded to load their rifles and to present them at our 
 heads, upon which I thought it was time to halt. 
 
 It was with a feeling almost of despair that I asked 
 the cause of this fresh interruption ; my men were in the 
 deepest despondency, and I think we all began to fear 
 that we should never get out of this accursed country. 
 It appeared that our new assailants were the soldiers of 
 yet another chief, and that their object in stopping us 
 was to claim three of my Arabs, who, they said, were 
 Abyssinians, and should not be allowed to leave the 
 country until they had paid a fine of three hundred 
 dollars. This was a disgraceful and barefaced attempt 
 at extortion, and at any other time we should have 
 resisted this ridiculous claim to the utmost, but now we 
 were too sick at heart at these constant interruptions and 
 difficulties to make a very determined opposition, and 
 after a good deal of bargaining, argument, and threat, I 
 settled this claim by an immediate payment of ten 
 dollars to the leader of the party opposing us. 
 
 At last we were permitted to resume our march, but 
 were soon overtaken by an unwelcome escort of thirty 
 men of the Ginda garrison, who informed us that they 
 had orders to accompany us to a place about four hours 
 further on the road to the Italian lines. Much as we 
 should have liked to decline the honour of their company 
 we did not dare to do so, but had to follow in their wake 
 with a most uncomfortable feeling of wonder as to 
 whether these men had orders to dispose of us quietly as 
 soon as we should be well within the limits of the 
 turbulent lawless district lying between the Italian and 
 
io8 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 Abyssinian armies, in which robbery and murder were at 
 this time the rule rather than the exception, and which 
 was infested by independent scouting parties of Abys- 
 sinians on the one hand, by prowling bands of the savage 
 Arab tribes of the neighbourhood on the other, and 
 occasionally by the Italian native irregulars from the 
 camp at Massowah. It was a matter of complete in- 
 difference to us which of these different classes of rovers 
 we should come across, should we unfortunately be 
 destined to meet anyone in this district. We knew that 
 it would be a question almost of shooting at sight, and 
 that none of these people would have either the time nor 
 the inclination to listen to any explanation. 
 
 Beech, Hutchisson, and I therefore rode with our 
 rifles on our knees, loaded and ready for immediate 
 action, while our vigilance was stimulated by noticing 
 that when Ginda had been left a few miles behind us, 
 the Abyssinian soldiers of the escort all looked carefully 
 to the loading of their rifles, while they marched along 
 in single file with more than their ordinary silence, 
 rapidity, and watchfulness. At eight o'clock in the 
 evening we reached the wells of Sabarguma, where I 
 called a halt for dinner and for a rest of three hours for 
 the sake of the mules, as I intended to march all that 
 night. 
 
 Hardly had we unloaded the animals and turned 
 them loose to pick a scanty meal from the coarse grass, 
 when down came rain in torrents, extinguishing the 
 fire which had just been lighted, and converting the 
 native bread which was to form our dinner into a sodden 
 mass, which could be conveyed to our m.ouths by a 
 
The Return Journey. lo^ 
 
 spoon with much more facility than by our fingers. 
 Hutchisson's noble efforts to make us some hot tea were 
 unavailing against the pitiless storm, and our dinner 
 that night in the pitch darkness was a comfortless one. 
 Equally futile were any attempts to get a little rest, so 
 we wandered about in the little plain, impatiently looking 
 at our watches, and eventually cutting short the three 
 hours rest promised to the mules, and readjusting the 
 loads at half-past ten. 
 
 Another hour's silent march in the darkness, and 
 then, to our relief, the chief of the escort said that he 
 must now return. It was with a feeling of thankful- 
 ness that we saw these men turn round, after receiving 
 a liberal present of dollars, and begin to retrace their 
 steps to Ginda. 
 
 We now felt that we had at last severed all con- 
 nection with Abyssinia, and that we had no longer 
 anything to fear but a meeting with some prowling band 
 of robbers, or with irregular scouting parties. 
 
 For the first time since the expedition had started, 
 I now gave arms to my men, distributing among 
 them a quantity of spears and swords, which we had 
 bought at various times in the country. This somewhat 
 lessened the feeling of nervousness which the night- 
 march with empty stomachs was evidently causing to 
 spread among them ; and then, leaving Hutchisson to 
 ride in the rear and to keep the party together, Beech 
 and I dismounted and walked with loaded rifles at some 
 little distance ahead of the party. Luckily the rain 
 soon ceased, the moon came out, and the path was not 
 difficult to see. Towards three o'clock in the morning 
 
II Q Eftglish Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 we recognized the hills close to Sahati, and redoubled 
 our precautions, as it was extremely probable that we 
 should find a party of some kind, probably enemies, 
 encamped for the night in this place, near the only 
 water in the district. Beech and I therefore advanced 
 cautiously several hundred yards ahead of the caravan, 
 peering into the rocks and bushes on every side, and 
 eventually creeping into the open space near the water, 
 which constitutes the only suitable camping ground, with 
 as much care as is exercised by a successful burglar as 
 he approaches the plate-room. Somewhat to our surprise, 
 and greatly to our relief, we found neither Italian troops, 
 Bashi-Bazouks, Arab robbers, nor Abyssinian scouts in 
 this place ; it was absolutely deserted. 
 
 We were now only about 12 miles from the Italian 
 camp, and so, not wishing to disturb the Head-quarter 
 Staff at too early an hour, and partly also because I 
 feared that in the darkness a zealous Italian sentry 
 might mistake us for an Abyssinian party, I ordered 
 another halt for two hours. Throwing ourselves on the 
 swampy ground, we were all asleep in a few minutes, 
 though not before Beech, with a praiseworthy wish to 
 present a creditable appearance on arrival in the Italian 
 camp, had had a bath in the deep but stagnant pool ; a 
 noble example which I had not the energy nor the moral 
 courage to follow, my only answer to his encouragement 
 being an indistinct sound, half grunt and half snore, as I 
 stretched myself more comfortably in the muddy swamp. 
 A little before daybreak we were again on the march, 
 and at ten minutes to seven on Christmas morning we 
 rode into the Italian lines, to the open-mouthed astonish- 
 
The Return Journey, iii 
 
 ment of the field-officer of the day, whom we met as he 
 was going his rounds. 
 
 After receiving a most kind and cordial welcome 
 from the General commanding the most advanced force, 
 we rode on to Monkullu, where we were soon established 
 in a comfortable hut and enjoying the eager hospitality 
 of our dear old friend, Colonel Avogadro. 
 
 I think that both we and the men felt a little thrill of 
 pardonable pride as we reflected that less than twenty- 
 two hours had elapsed since we had taken leave of Ras 
 Alula, about sixty miles off at Asmara, beyond the 
 black forbidding range of mountains which bounded the 
 western horizon. 
 
 A few telegrams announcing our safe return and 
 reporting the political results of the Mission were soon 
 despatched, and then, with a feeling almost of sadness, 
 I summoned before me for the last time the men who 
 had travelled with us for so many hundred miles, and 
 who had been our companions in so many awkward and 
 embarrassing situations. 
 
 One by one they came forward in answer to their 
 names to receive their money and to say good-bye to 
 Beech and myself, and I am not ashamed to confess that 
 as one after another they spontaneously seized and 
 kissed my hands, coat, or any part of my clothing that 
 they could reach, I felt that I was parting with good 
 friends, wild Arabs though they were, whose genuine 
 emotion thus expressed was far more affecting than 
 would be the most empresse greeting of European civil- 
 ization. Glad as we all were to return to comfort and 
 safety, we were honestly sorry to sever all connection 
 
112 English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 with one another. I firmly believe that those men 
 would, without hesitation, have followed Beech and 
 myself through any dangers or into the most distant 
 countries, and would have given implicit obedience even 
 in the most trying circumstances. 
 
 To test the extent of their confidence in us I said to 
 them that, though I was going away now, it was possible 
 that I might be back again very soon, and that I might 
 wish to undertake another journey into the heart of 
 Abyssinia ; I would take nobody with me who did not 
 wish to come, — would any of them, I asked, volunteer 
 for such another journey with me ? Unanimously they 
 shouted that they would all come, while the three older 
 ones, namely, the " Grand Old Man," the " Chief Butcher," 
 and the " Chief Baker," made another plunge and a 
 grab at my hand and recommenced the kissing process 
 with much energy, evidently forgiving or forgetting the 
 fact that during the last two months Beech and I had 
 on various occasions hurled at their dense but devoted 
 heads every term of abuse, every expletive and every 
 forcible expression of which we were masters, whether in 
 English or Arabic. However, the best of friends must 
 part, and after a final gurgle, half sob half laugh, from 
 the G. O. M., I dismissed them to their homes, having 
 had the satisfaction of obtaining a promise of employ- 
 ment for them from the Italian Military Authorities, the 
 man who accompanied Beech on his adventurous solitary 
 ride being of course recommended for especial favours. 
 
 For two days we remained in the Italian camp, 
 meeting with the greatest kindness on all sides from 
 the Italian officers, and enjoying the cordial hospitality 
 
The Return Journey. iij 
 
 of General San Marzano, and of our old friend Colonel 
 Avvogadro, till on the evening of the 27th we embarked 
 on board the Italian ship-of-war " Rapido," which sailed 
 that night for Suez, where we landed ourselves and the 
 little baggage yet remaining to us, on the evening of the 
 last day of 1887. 
 
 Thus ended the English Mission to King Johannis 
 of Abyssinia. Into the political effect or the results 
 achieved by that Mission, I do not propose to enter. 
 They must be judged by the light of subsequent events. 
 I will only point out that no collision has as yet taken 
 place between the Abyssinian and Italian armies, and, in 
 common fairness both to ourselves and to those who 
 sent us, I may be allowed to place on record my con- 
 viction that had Her Majesty's Government not made 
 this effort to bring about the establishment of cordial 
 relations between these two countries, not only would 
 the neighbourhood of Massowah have been the scene 
 of active hostilities, but many hundreds of valuable 
 lives, both European and Abyssinian, would have been 
 wasted in a war, in which even a signal victory could 
 bring but little practical advantage to either of the com- 
 batants. The ultimate result of such a war between a 
 civilised and a semi-barbarous nation cannot of course 
 be doubted, but it is to be feared that victory would have 
 been bought at the price of much blood and terrible 
 hardships on both sides. 
 
 The merits of the quarrel do not enter into the scope 
 of tliis narrative, but it is a matter for congratulation 
 that up to the present moment no further bloodshed has 
 
 I 
 
11^ English Mission to Abyssinia. 
 
 taken place, and no one who has once seen the nature of 
 the gorges, ravines, and mountain passes near the Abys- 
 sinian frontier, can doubt for a moment that any advance 
 by a civilized army in the face of the hostile Abyssinian 
 hordes, would be accomplished at the price of a fearful 
 loss of life on both sides. 
 
 No one who has had any acquaintance with the 
 Abyssinians can deny their desperate bravery ; thieves 
 and liars, brutal, savage, and untrustworthy they are by 
 nature, but these evil national characteristics are to a 
 great extent redeemed by the possession of unbounded 
 courage, by a total disregard of death, and by a national 
 pride which leads them to look down with genuine 
 contempt on every human being who has not had the 
 good fortune to be born an Abyssinian. 
 
 It may be thought that we ourselves had but little 
 cause to love the Abyssinians as a race ; but although no 
 doubt we were at times in somewhat difficult situations, 
 and subjected to certain inconveniences during our 
 journey, yet we met with many little acts of genuine 
 hospitality and kindness in the villages through which 
 we passed, and I do not think that there was one of our 
 party who would not be glad to have another chance of 
 making a visit to the rich valleys and towering moun- 
 tains which are inhabited by the extraordinarily handsome, 
 active, and chivalrous race of mountaineers at present 
 ruled over by Johannis, King of the Kings of Ethiopia. 
 
 THE END. 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 The following papers have already been made public : — 
 
 Letters taken by Mr. Portal to King Johannis 
 OF Abyssinia. 
 No. I. — The Marquis of Salisbury to the King of Abyssinia. 
 To His Majesty the King of Kings of Ethiopia, Johannis. 
 
 BY command of the Queen my most gracious Sovereign, I 
 have the honour to introduce to your Majesty Mr. Gerald Portal, 
 of Her Majesty's Legation at Cairo, who has been intrusted with 
 the duty of delivering to your Majesty the letter which the Queen 
 has been pleased to address to you. 
 
 I doubt not that your Majesty will receive Mr. Portal favour- 
 ably, that you will give entire credence to all that he shall say to 
 you on behalf of the Queen and of Her Majesty's Government, and 
 that your Majesty will enable him to discuss fully and frankly with 
 your Ministers the matters alluded to in the Queen's letter. 
 
 Assuring your Majesty of my sincere friendship and esteem, and 
 with my best wishes for your Majesty's health and happiness, I 
 commend you to the protection of the Almighty. 
 
 Your sincere Friend, 
 (Signed) SALISBURY. 
 
 (L.S. Secretary of State's seal.) 
 Foreign Office^ London^ 
 
 October 12, 1887. 
 
 No. 2. — Her Majesty to the King of Abyssinia. 
 
 Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great 
 Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress 
 of India, &c. 
 To our Friend the King of Kings of Ethiopia, Johannis. 
 
 WE trust your Majesty is in good health. We are, through the 
 mercy of God, quite well. 
 
 Two months ago we sent our greeting to your Majesty in a 
 letter, and expressed our earnest desire for your Majesty's health 
 and the peace and prosperity of your dominions. 
 
ii6 Appendix. 
 
 Circumstances have arisen with respect to certain territories 
 adjacent to your Majesty's dominions, and which have been under 
 the government of His Highness the Khedive, rendering it desirable 
 to enter into fuller communication with your Majesty. 
 
 We have therefore deemed it expedient to send to your Majesty 
 a trusty official attached to our Legation at Cairo, Mr. Gerald 
 Portal, who will deliver this letter. 
 
 Reposing full confidence in his discretion, we have authorized 
 him to discuss with your Majesty's Ministers the matters aforesaid, 
 and other matters concerning which communications have passed 
 at various times between your Majesty and ourselves. 
 
 We commend our honoured and trusted messenger to your 
 Majesty's protection and favour, and assure you of our constant 
 wishes for your Majesty's health and happiness, and for the 
 prosperity and welfare of your dominions. 
 
 And so we recommend you to the protection of the Almighty. 
 
 Given at our Court at Balmoral, this 12th day of October, 1887, 
 and in the fifty-first year of our reign. 
 
 (Signed) VICTORIA, R. I. 
 
 (L.S. Large signet.) 
 (L.S.) (Countersigned) SALISBURY. 
 
 To the King of Kings of Ethiopia, Johannis. 
 
 Two Letters from King John of Abyssinia 
 TO Her Majesty The Queen, brought by Mr. Portal. 
 
 No. I. 
 (King's Seal.) 
 (Translation of Seal : King of Kings, John of Ethiopia.) 
 (Translation.) 
 
 IN the name of God and Jesus Christ, Whose mercy is great. 
 
 From him whom God has exalted, John, King of Sion, King 
 of Kings of Ethiopia, to our friend, great and merciful. Queen 
 Victoria, by the Grace of God Queen of Ireland \sic\ and Empress 
 of India, and Defender of the Christian Faith. 
 
 Since I wrote to you, how are you ? For myself, I and all my 
 kingdom are well by the Grace of God and by the intercession of 
 our Mother of Sion. May God exalt all the saints. I am well. 
 May the mercy of God endure for ever. 
 
Appendix. iij 
 
 I have received your letter of the 12th Thikent and the i6th 
 Hedar with reference to making peace with the Italians. To say 
 truth, I have never done anything, and have never committed any 
 offence against you, or against the Turks (2.^., Egyptians). When 
 the Treaty was signed between me and England and Egypt, it was 
 laid down that no arms were to pass Massowah except by my 
 permission, but they have not complied with the Treaty, but have 
 passed weapons and sold them to the Shahos* and these have 
 made great disturbances in my country. As for the complaints 
 they (z.<?., the Italians) made that they had been badly treated, the 
 fault was on their side, and they began the quarrel by stopping the 
 Abyssinian merchants, and by occupying Sahati and Wia, and 
 taking possession of them. Why did they stop the trade and come 
 into my country ? I wrote to them : If you have come with 
 authority from the Queen,t show me her signature, or if not, leave 
 the country." And they answered me : " No, we will not." 
 
 On account of that they fought with Ras Alula, and many 
 were killed on both sides, though we had in no way injured them. 
 How can you say that I shall hand over to them the country which 
 Jesus Christ gave to me ? That would be as a command to me 
 unjust on your part. If your wish were to make peace between us, 
 it should be when they are in their country and I in mine. But 
 now on both sides the horses are bridled and the swords are 
 drawn ; my soldiers, in numbers like the sand, are ready with 
 their spears. The Italians desire war, but the strength is in Jesus 
 Christ. Let them do as they will, so long as I live I will not hide 
 myself from them in a hole. 
 
 The Town of Ashangz, 24/-^ Hedar ^ 1880. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 King John of Abyssinia to Her Majesty the Queen. 
 (King's Seal.) 
 (Translation.) 
 
 IN the name of God and of Jesus Christ, Whose mercy is great. 
 
 From him whom God has exalted, John, King of Sion, King 
 
 of Kings of Ethiopia, to our dear friend the great and merciful 
 
 * Hostile frontier tribes near Massowah, 
 + In tiae translation " the King." 
 
Il8 Appendix. 
 
 Queen Victoria, by the Grace of God Queen of Ireland \sic\ and 
 Empress of India, Defender of the Christian Faith. 
 
 Since I wrote to you, how are you ? I and all my people by 
 the Grace of God are well, may His mercy endure for ever. 
 
 I have received your letters of the 12th Thikent and the i6th 
 Hedar by the hand of your honourable servant Mr. Gerald Portal, 
 and I have also received through him two gold-mounted swords, 
 one good gun, and one telescope, which you have sent to me as a 
 sign of friendship. I have received these, and I thank you very 
 much for them. May God reward you. 
 
 Ashangi^ 2Zth Hedar ^ 1880. 
 
 Extract from a Report respecting the Forces 
 OF Abyssinia. 
 
 Mr, Portal to Sir E. Baring. 
 
 Cairo ^January \st^ 1888. 
 Sir, 
 
 IN my despatch of this day's date I mentioned that several 
 great armies were now on their way from the interior to the north- 
 eastern frontier of Abyssinia. I have now the honour to inclose 
 herewith a memorandum, giving the substance of information 
 gathered either from personal observation or from hearsay respect- 
 ing the actual distribution of the forces of the Abyssinian Empire. 
 The most striking feature about those armies with which I came 
 into personal contact was the very large number of persons on the 
 march. For instance, in Ras Michael's camp there cannot have 
 been less than 50,000 or 60,000 persons, but as the army is 
 accompanied by great numbers of slaves, cattle drivers, and other 
 non-combatants, I have estimated his army at about 25,000 fighting 
 men. This Ras Michael is an old man, with a great reputation as 
 a soldier ; he was originally a Mussulman, and was called Mohamed 
 Ali, but some years ago renounced his religion in favour of 
 Christianity, the King himself being his sponsor. It was probably 
 this circumstance which led to his being erroneously described by 
 Sir W. Hewett as the adopted son of the King. (Admiral Sir W. 
 Hewett to Admiralty, June 22nd, 1884.) Ras Michael's army 
 consists almost exclusively of Galla cavalry from the wild uncivilized 
 tribes of the south, interspersed with a good many negroes from the 
 Soudan. I had several opportunities of studying this force, as on 
 
Appendix. iig 
 
 one occasion we rode through Ras Michael's camp, on another his 
 army and camp followers marched past us at a distance of less than 
 half-a-mile, and later still Major Beech rode through the middle of 
 the army while on the march, when he was taking a letter from me 
 to the King. 
 
 The only other force which I saw personally was that 
 accompanying the Negoos himself, which I was told, consisted 
 only of his guards, the main body of the army having gone by 
 another route with His Majesty's son, Ras Aria Selassie. These 
 guards, some 5,000 men, are nearly all armed with rifles, and are 
 accompanied by a large number of slaves and non-combatants in 
 the proportion of nearly three to one, but many of the slaves and 
 dependents are armed with spears, shields, and swords, and might 
 very possibly take some part in active hostilities with their masters. 
 The men composing these armies are as a rule in the prime of 
 life and remarkably active ; by nature they are expert mountaineers, 
 and they are constantly in the habit of practising with their fire- 
 arms at marks or at wild animals, but are not, I should say, 
 particularly good marksmen. By far the larger proportion of the 
 fire-arms are Remington rifles and carbines, but there are a good 
 many old muskets and antiquated weapons of every kind to be 
 seen in the various armies. Ammunition appears to be cheap and 
 plentiful, and there exists at Adwa an establishment where old 
 cartridge cases can be recapped and reloaded, though the 
 Abyssinians have not yet the power of making new cartridges. 
 Every soldier buys his own ammunition, and is therefore careful to 
 keep the old cases. Powder is also manufactured to a great extent 
 at Adwa, but it is not of a very high quality. 
 
 The armies on the march are supplied with provisions as far as 
 possible by the villages in the districts through which they pass, 
 foraging parties going many miles from the road and bringing back 
 villagers laden with grain, grass, and flour, and driving sheep and 
 cattle before them. It is almost needless to say that no payment 
 is given for these supplies. Besides this, every soldier brings with 
 him from his own village a skin full of flour, and probably some 
 other provisions to support him through the campaign. All the 
 soldiers I saw in the armies on the march appeared always to have 
 plenty to eat, but the slaves, both male and female, were often 
 more than half starved. 
 
 In spite, however, of these precautions, it is not difficult to see 
 that the vast bodies of men now moving towards the frontier will 
 
120 Appendix, 
 
 not be able to support themselves in that district for more 
 than a very limited number of days. The Province of Asmara is 
 mountainous and of an exceptionally poor soil, and the villages are 
 already greatly impoverished by the exactions made upon them by 
 the armies of Ras Alula and Ras Hogoos, both of which have been 
 for several months quartered on this district. 
 
 If, therefore, the proposed concentration of the Abyssinian 
 forces in the neighbourhood of Asmara is carried out, the King will 
 be forced to make up his mind quickly to one of two alternatives : 
 either a very large proportion of his forces must retire again within 
 a few days to more fertile and more distant provinces in the 
 interior, or else he must at once descend towards the Italian positions 
 in the hope of finishing the campaign by one determined and 
 general attack. 
 
 I have, etc., 
 
 (Signed) G. H. PORTAL. 
 
 Inclosure 4 in No. i. 
 Memorandum. 
 
 Estimate of the Numbers and Distribution of the Abyssinian Forces 
 at present in the Field. 
 
 FOR the sake of convenience, the Abyssinian forces in the field 
 at the time when I left the King's camp at Chelikot, z>., the i6th 
 December, may be divided into three classes : — 
 
 (A.) Those already quartered on the frontier and watching the 
 Italians ; 
 
 (B.) Those advancing towards Gura and Asmara by the straight 
 road from the south via Ashangi Lake and Adegrat ; in other words, 
 the road followed by the English army under Lord Napier in 1868; 
 and 
 
 (C.) Those advancing from the west and south-west via Semen 
 and Adwa. 
 
 (A.) On the frontier already are : — 
 
 I. Ras Alula, the Governor of the district of Asmara. His 
 army consists of about 16,000 men, nearly all armed with Reming- 
 ton rifles and carbines ; but it was explained to me that of his 
 army about one-third are not really the Ras' own men, but are 
 
Appendix, 121 
 
 soldiers lent to him by the King, and whom His Majesty could 
 recall at any moment. 
 
 For the greater part of the summer and autumn the army of 
 Ras Alula was massed at Keren, but it is now distributed among 
 several villages throughout the district. 
 
 In this army are included (i) the garrison of Ginda, 3,000 men, 
 all with Remington rifles, and (2) the garrisons of Ailet and a few 
 outlying frontier villages. 
 
 At Ailet there are not more than 200 riflemen. 
 
 2. Ras Hogoos. His army is larger than Ras Alula's, and 
 numbers probably 20,000 men, most of them with fire-arms. They 
 are all encamped at Keren. The Ras Hogoos himself was with 
 Ras Alula at Asmara while I was there. 
 
 (B.) Advancing via Ashangi and Adegrat : — 
 
 1. His Majesty the King and his guards, about 5,000 men, with 
 a large number of partly-armed slaves, camp-followers, and women. 
 They advance at the rate of about 10 miles a day, but do not 
 march more than four or five days a week as a rule. These guards 
 are all armed with Remingtons, Sniders, muskets, or fire-arms of 
 some kind, including a certain number of Wetterly rifles taken from 
 the Italians at Dogali. 
 
 The main body of the King's army is with Ras Aria Selassie, 
 the King's son. 
 
 2. Ras Michael, with some 25,000 Galla cavalry, the great 
 majority armed only with spears, swords, and shields. These men 
 are wild and unruly, and commit many acts of barbarity and 
 ruffianism in passing through the country. A very large number 
 of them have a mule as well as a horse. 
 
 This army is advancing by the same road as the King, but was 
 usually about one day's march in advance of the Negoos. On the 
 19th December, Ras Michael's army had arrived at Agula. 
 
 3. Ras Hailoo Mariam, Governor of the Province of Wadela. 
 His army I did not see personally ; it was described to me as being 
 "larger than Ras Alula's." He was expected to come into the 
 King's camp with his army the day that I left His Majesty, i.e. the 
 i6th December. 
 
 Ras Hailoo Mariam is a nephew of the Negoos. 
 
 4. Dejat Meshesha, another nephew of the King, was expected 
 
122 Appendix. 
 
 to arrive in the King's camp with a force of about 5,000 men the 
 day that I left it. 
 
 5. King Menelek of Shoa, with an army said to be larger than 
 King John's own forces, is advancing rapidly northwards. King 
 John knows well that Menelek has been on good terms with Italy, 
 but has ordered him to come with his army, threatening to destroy 
 him and his country should he not arrive in time. Although 
 Menelek's army is so large, neither he himself nor his forces 
 appear to be thought very highly of by the soldiers of Tigre or 
 Amhara. On the i6th December Menelek was said to be already 
 past Yeju, and close to Ashangi Lake, and marching rapidly. As 
 to this army, however, no trustworthy evidence was obtainable. 
 
 (C.) The third and greatest column is advancing from Dobra 
 Tabor and the districts near Lake Tsana via Semen and Adwa 
 towards the frontier. This column includes : — 
 
 1. The main body of the King's army, under the command of 
 His Majesty's son, Ras Aria Selassie. This is the largest army in 
 Abyssinia (except that of Menelek), and may, I think, be estimated 
 at nearly 40,000 combatants, of whom probably two-thirds have 
 fire-arms of some kind. They had passed Semen, and were near 
 Adwa in the middle of December. 
 
 2. Wakshem Gabru, the most powerful Chief in the Empire, 
 Governor of the Province Begemeder (in which is Dobra Tabor, 
 the King's usual residence). His large army is with that of the 
 King under Ras Aria Selassie, advancing by Semen and Adwa. 
 
 I may here explain that in Abyssinia there are only two men 
 who may bear the title of Wakshem. They are named respectively 
 Wakshem Gabru and Wakshem Boru. These men are superior to 
 any Ras, and when at Court always sit with the King and eat at 
 his table, an honour not granted to any Ras or Dejat. 
 
 3. Wakshem Boru is, I believe, also advancing by the same 
 route, but I could obtain no definite information as to the where- 
 abouts of his army. 
 
 4. Dejat Tesemma, with an army said to be twice the size of 
 that of Ras Alula, is advancing with Ras Aria Selassie by the same 
 route. 
 
 There is one other, and an important army, on the march in 
 Abyssinia, that of Negoos Tekla Haimanot, King of Gojam ; but 
 this force, instead of coming to the north-eastern is going to the 
 western frontier, to Metemmeh, where he has been sent to under- 
 
Appendix. I2j 
 
 take a campaign against the dervishes. King Tekla Haimanot, 
 has a great reputation as a soldier, and his men are said to be 
 valuable and dashing soldiers ; moreover, his allegiance to King 
 Johannis is, I am informed, unwilling. It is therefore probable that 
 King Johannis hesitated to trust Tekla Haimanot in a campaign 
 against Italy, and was still more unwilling to leave him to rest in 
 peace in Gojam, when nearly all the remaining forces of Abyssinia 
 were being concentrated in the north, and that it is for this reason 
 that a campaign is to be opened against the Soudanese near 
 Metemmeh. 
 
 (Signed; G. H. PORTAL. 
 
 Cairo^ January i, 1888. 
 
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