ABYSSINIA. 



boon killed <>r have >>:i^Ii(. r.-l'ii;_v in tll^hl. His 



ni, Hi-; .Meshisbali, witli Baa Kngeda, one 



of his iiin>! <>!IM quious creatures, arc in chains. 



ions deed- aiv constantly perpetrated, and 

 M. did is shed in profusion. Tlio savage tyrant 

 is quite furious; and, to allay the storm that is 



5 in his breast, ho flogs and tortures, and 

 burns in wax-dipped dresses, 'the women and 

 children of absconded soldiers and chiefs." 



September 7th, one of the captives at 



ihi writes concerning the situation of the 

 King: " For the last four months he has only 



:ible to communicate three times with the 



>n here, and even then had to employ a 



.;it of one of the native prisoners confined 



in this fort, fearing that one of his own people 



illicit be waylaid and murdered. There isnow 



nothing but death between the peasantry and 



late ruler. If any of the former fall into 

 tlm bands of the latter, they are instantly burnt 

 alive or barbarously mutilated, and then left to 

 die a lingering death. On the other hand, when- 

 ever any of the royalists fall into the hands of 

 the peasants, they are forthwith hacked to 



i. I have managed twice to communicate 

 with Mr. Flad at Debra Tabor, but on each oc- 

 casion my messenger was stripped naked on the 

 road. Mr. Flttd gives me a sad account of the 

 ptate of affairs in the royal camp. Nothing but 



lotion of life is going on therefrom morn- 

 ing till night. Thewhole country between De- 

 bra Tabor and the Lakes, which formerly was 

 thickly populated, has been laid waste, and all 

 the inhabitants, men, women, and children, who 

 could not effect their escape, have been ruth- 

 lessly murdered. The garrison at Debra Tabor 

 has been surrounded with a hedge, and if a sol- 

 dier attempts to desert, his wife, children, and 

 any other relations he may have, are instantly 

 butchered. A body of 2,500 men, who at- 

 tempted to decamp last month, were slaugh- 

 i like so many sheep, and 295 chiefs were 

 left to die of starvation, after suffering the mu- 

 tilation of their hands and feet. Ladies, too, 

 of noble families, after being stripped to nudity 

 and exposed to the gaze of the soldiery, were 

 tortured and then executed. In addition to 400 

 confined in this fort, the King has with him 

 at Debra Tabor no less than 200 native captives, 

 who a few months ago were accounted among 

 his most trusty adherents." 



The latest and, it seums, most trustworthy 

 intelligence on the disposition of the native 

 population toward Theodore and toward the 

 i-h expedition is contained in a corre- 

 spondence of the London Times, from Senafe, 

 from which we extract the following : " Affairs 

 are in such a hopeless state of complication 

 that I scarcely dare to touch upon them ; but, 

 according to all I can learn from those who 

 know the country, our diplomatists will have 

 very difficult cards to play ; and it is fortunate 

 that we have in Colonel Merewethor one who 

 has for some time made the Abyssinian question 

 his special study. There seems to bo a number 

 of great feudal chiefs in the country, all regard- 



ing Theodore, notwithstanding his recent re- 

 -, with a strange superstitious awo, but all 

 prepared on his ov.-rt lirow by foreign arms to 

 ily at each other's throats, and light to the 

 death for the imperial supremacy he once en- 

 joyed. Each one of these M-ems in a p 

 to give us trouble, but not one sufficiently- 

 powerful to keep off the rest, while each is, of 

 course, disposed to bo rabidly jealous of any 

 concession made to the other. There is Kassai, 

 said to be the principal chief in Tigr6, who 

 joined the Wuairslmm Gobaze of Lasta in the 

 first rebellion against Theodore, and then, re- 

 belling in turn against Gobaze, set up as a king 

 on his own account. Gobazo has never for- 

 given him, and at this moment they are such 

 deadly enemies that it will be no easy matter 

 to please one without displeasing the other. 

 There is another Gobazo Tesso, of Wolkait, be- 

 yond the Takazzi River, also a powerful chief, 

 and Tedela Gooaloo, of Godjam, who, relying 

 upon a fortress impregnable at least to Theo- 

 dore's howitzers has so far successfully 

 asserted his independence. Then there is the 

 King of Shoa, and the woman ruler (they don't 

 allow her the title of queen) of the Wollo 

 Gallas, a formidadle foe to the Waagshum 

 Gobaze. It is probable that most, if not all, of 

 these will try to secure our alliance, in the 

 hope of obtaining by it dominion over their 

 rivals. Kassai has already made overtures ob- 

 viously, though not avowedly, with this end. 

 In his letter, which, however, is otherwise 

 guarded enough, and commits him to nothing 

 but the most vague and general expressions of 

 ^ood-will, he styles himself head of the chiefs 

 of Ethiopia, and signs with the lion seal of 

 empire. Kassai's friendship, whether or not it 

 leads to any embarrassing complications in the 

 long run, is at present likely to prove of im- 

 mense assistance. He professes himself ready 

 to supply transport and forage, and generally 

 to throw open to us the Tigre 1 market." 



Another correspondent, writing from An- 

 nesley Bay, on the llth, says: "The political 

 reasons for the rapid advance namely, to de- 

 cide the chiefs to pronounce in oar favor 

 seem to have been so far crowned with success. 

 Kassa, chief of Tigre*, has sent us most friendly 

 messages ; so also has Waagra, Prince of Lasta, 

 who has been for months in correspondence 

 with us these two being respectively the sec- 

 ond and the third most important men in Abys- 

 sinia. It is reported also that Menclek, Prince 

 of Shoa, has surrounded Magdala. Menelek is 

 supposed to be friendly to us ; he is the son-in- 

 law of Theodore, but has been for some time 

 inimical to the King." 



In June, an ultimatum was sent to the KiiiL'. 

 that, unless the captives were at the coast by 

 the 17th of August, -other measures would be 

 used. As no reply was made to this ultimatum, 

 England began to prepare earnettly for war. 

 The royal speech, on closing Parliament on 

 August 21st, announced that the King of Abys- 

 sinia being obstinate, force must be used to 



