ABYSSINIA. 



pass, it took them an hour and a half to get 

 over this one bit, extending over 200 yards; 

 they even had to unload their mules. When 

 they returned, after the sappers, under Lieuten- 

 ant Jopp had been two or three days at work 

 on it, they brought their mules laden down it in 

 a minute and a half. The discovery of such a 

 pass it may almost be called a discovery, since 

 of the various European travellers who have 

 entered Abyssinia not one has used this pass 

 to Senafe is a great triumph for the leaders 

 of the reconnoitring party Colonel Mere- 

 wether, Colonel Phayre, the quartermaster- 

 general, Colonel Wilkins, chief engineer of the 

 force, and Dr. Martin, whom the Bombay Gov- 

 ernment have paid the high compliment of 

 selecting from a host of able men to ^report 

 generally upon the condition of Abyssinia, and 

 Mr. Munzinger; and it has been a triumph 

 hardly earned, for they have been scouring the 

 country in all directions, and, owing to the 

 wretched character of the climate and the 

 scarcity of water, have undergone an amount 

 of hardship and fatigue which would have 

 knocked up most men. Senafe cuts so respect- 

 able a figure on the map of Abyssinia that I 

 expected to find a town, or at least a large vil- 

 lage. I was considerably astonished therefore, 

 at being told, as we entered an open and rather 

 barren-looking valley, seemingly uninhabited, 

 about two miles from the top of the Koomaylee 

 Pass, that this was Senafe, and I was just com- 

 ing to the conclusion that the Senafians bur- 

 rowed in warrens like rabbits, when I caught 

 sight of two or three small clusters of wretched 

 hovels stowed away under the shelter of the 

 mountain-side. They are built of clay, stuck 

 with rough stones, are only about seven feet in 

 height, with flat roofs, which must cause a hard 

 life in the rainy season, but are of considerable 

 length and breadth, having to hold all the pro- 

 prietor's cattle and sheep, as well as the more 

 immediate members of his family. Senafe, 

 though rather disappointing to those who came 

 expecting to see -an Abyssinian town, is satis- 

 factory enough from a strategic point of view. 

 There is enough good camping-ground for a 

 large army, and plenty of water. Our camp is 

 pitched in an open, irregular valley, crowned 

 at intervals with masses of mountain and rock, 

 which would look lofty anywhere else, but are 

 mere excrescences on the table-land of Abys- 

 sinia. At either end the valley winds round' 

 and swells into a plain, equally convenient for a 

 camp and well adapted for the manoeuvres of 

 cavalry. More table-land, spacious, but fre- 

 quently interrupted by low ranges of hills, 

 stretches away to the east, but on the south- 

 west the plateau abruptly breaks, and, looking 

 down from it, one sees as far as the eye can 

 reach nothing but one wild series of mountain- 

 chains, rising and falling in every variety of 

 angle and elevation, until at last the horizon is 

 bounded by a. giant range which towers high 

 above all the rest. Among them are several of 

 these extraordinary fastnesses said to be a 



peculiar feature of this country a square mass 

 of rock, flat at the top, but with sides bare and 

 steep as the walls of a fortress, and having 

 seemingly as little natural relation as a fortress 

 to the green mountain-top on which they 

 stand." 



The Viceroy of Egypt showed himself very 

 anxious to be accepted as the ally of England. 

 A correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette wrote 

 on this subject from Alexandria, on October 

 26th : " The Viceroy of Egypt has this week 

 dispatched 10,000 soldiers to Massowah and Sa- 

 wakin, 6,000 of whom have only lately returned 

 from Candia. The last batch of these 10,000 

 men passed through Cairo last night on their 

 way to Suez. It is said here that the Viceroy 

 has used every means to become an ally of Eng- 

 land in this expedition to Abyssinia, and that 

 these soldiers are now sent to the Bed Sea with 

 the hope that he may still succeed in getting 

 his services accepted in case of necessity on the 

 part of our Government. The reason put for- 

 ward by the Egyptian Government for dispatch- 

 ing these troops is (naturally) to protect the 

 frontier. The troops are under the command 

 of Abd-el-Kader Pacha, accompanied by a sort 

 of commissary, Satni Bey, who has been edu- 

 cated in England, and speaks the language per- 

 fectly." A dispatch from Annesley Bay, No- 

 vember llth, stated that 4,000 Egyptian troops 

 had mustered at Massowah. 



The Abuna, the head of the Abyssinian 

 Church, who, for some time, had been kept a 

 prisoner by Theodore, died, on October 25th, 

 from heart-disease. (For more information on 

 the Abyssinian Church sec, EASTERN CIIUECHES.) 



The interest taken in the fate of the captives, 

 and more recently in the English expedition, 

 has called forth a copious literature on Abys- 

 sinia. The most important among the recent 

 works are the following : " Munzinger, Ost-Af- 

 ricanische Studien " (Schaffhausen, 1864). The 

 author is a native of Switzerland, and is the 

 French (and of late also the English) vice-con- 

 sul at Massowah, has for many years been set- 

 tled at Keren, the principal place in Bogos; 

 has married a native lady, and is one of the best 

 authorities on all East- African matters. Dr. C. 

 T. Beke, " The British Captives in Abyssinia" 

 (London, 1865, 2d edition, 1867; Dr. Beke has 

 previously published several other works on 

 Abyssinia). Eev. H. Stern, "The Abyssinian 

 ' Captives" (London, 1866). Sir Samuel Baker, 

 "The Albert Wyanza, and Explorations of the 

 Nile Sources" (London, 1866). "Letters from 

 Missionaries in Abyssinia" (London, 1866). 

 Dufton, " Narrative of a Journey through Abys- 

 sinia in 1862-'3, with an Appendix on ' The 

 Abyssinian Captiyes Question' " (London, 1867). 

 Hotten, "Abyssinia -and its People" (London, 

 1868). Heuglin, " Eeise nach Abessinien," etc., 

 in 1861 and 1862 (Jena, 1867). Of special value 

 is also the "Blue Book" on Abyssinia, pub- 

 lished by the English Government on December 

 27, 1867. It has been compiled at the Topo- 

 graphical Department of the War Office, by 



