ABYSSINIA. 



of interest. No enemy was encountered ; the 

 only difficulties to struggle against were a great 

 mortality among the horses and mules, and a 

 great scarcity of water. Both ceased when 

 the expedition advanced farther into the in- 

 terior. At the beginning of March, only one- 

 half of the distance from the coast to Magdala 

 had heen marched through. The advance, 

 under Colonel Phayre, were misled by a 

 native guide, into a road leading to Messino, 

 where inaccessible rocks put such obstacles to 

 their march, that they preferred to return. The 

 arrival of General Napier, with the vanguard, 

 inspired new life into the expedition. For the 

 march through the second half of the distance 

 between Magdala and the coast, only as many 

 weeks were needed as months had been con- 

 sumed on the first half of the road. This re- 

 sult was greatly due to Consul Munzinger, a 

 German-Swiss by birth, who has long resided 

 in the country, is married to a native, and has 

 a thorough knowledge of the whole country. 

 Munzinger had preceded the army, and suc- 

 ceeded in concluding, in the name of Eng- 

 land, a treaty with Gobazie, of Waag, the 

 most powerful enemy of Theodore. Gobazie 

 was at that time with his army between Mag- 

 dala and Debra Tabor, and when Munzinger 

 left him, to return to the British camp, Go- 

 bazie sent along with him a number of natives, 

 to open roads for the British army. Hence- 

 forth the advance was rapid. General Napier, 

 on March 28th, left the common road, ascend- 

 ed the highland of Wadda, and then, marching 

 along the Djidda, reached a road which Theo- 

 dore, with a great expense of time and labor, 

 had made for his artillery. All this time 

 Theodore had not yet made any serious at- 

 tempt to check the English army. But now 

 General Napier was informed, by a letter from 

 Mr. Kassam, that a rapid advance of the Abys- 

 sinian troops, perhaps a surprise, was med- 

 itated. General Napier immediately crossed the 

 river, and took up his headquarters between 

 Djidda and the Bashilo, upon the elevated plain 

 of Talanta. The troops marched upon the road 

 of Theodore, which is thirty feet wide, but 

 so steep that many beasts of burden tumbled 

 down and perished. After a reconnoissance 

 toward Magdala, General Napier, on April 8th, 

 advanced to the Bashilo River. From a second 

 reconnoissance toward Magdala, it was learned 

 that the fortress was armed with 28 guns, and 

 appeared to be unconquerable. But General 

 Napier made all the preparations for an im- 

 mediate attack. Previously Theodore was sum- 

 moned to surrender unconditionally. To this 

 demand no reply was made, and the British 

 troops continued their advance. When the first 

 brigade crossed the Bashilo, they saw the enemy 

 in front of Magdala, occupying strong posi- 

 tions. Theodore did not wait until he was at- 

 tacked, but on April 10th (Good Friday) opened 

 the battle himself by a furious onset on the 

 first brigade. He was repulsed with a loss of 

 about 500 dead and 1,500 wounded, and would 



have fared still worse had not darkness put 

 an end to the pursuit. The English, according 

 to an official report, had no dead, and only six- 

 teen wounded, among whom was Captain Rob- 

 erts. On the two following days Theodore, 

 who had retired into the fortress, sent all the 

 Europeans who were in his power, both cap- 

 tives and artisans, into the British camp ; but 

 Napier, not satisfied with this, insisted on un- 

 conditional surrender. When this was re- 

 fused, and the truce which had been granted 

 expired on the 13th of April, the British troops 

 advanced toward the fortress. Theodore's 

 prospects had been greatly injured by the dis- 

 couragement which had spread in his army, in 

 consequence of which thousands of his men 

 had left him. One of the strongest positions 

 around Magdala, the citadel of Islamgie, fell 

 into the hands of the British by the treason 

 of one of the Abyssinian chiefs. On the 14th, 

 after a bombardment of three hours, an assault 

 of the fortress of Magdala itself was made. 

 Theodore made a brave resistance, but he could 

 not arrest the onset of the English, who pene- 

 trated into the fortress. The Abyssinians laid 

 down their arms. Theodore was found dead, 

 having fallen, as the English were told, by his 

 own hand. The English loss was small, from 

 ten to fifteen wounded. The loss of the Abys- 

 sinians was sixty-eight dead and two thousand 

 wounded. Two sons of Theodore were among 

 the captives. Into the hands of the conquerors 

 fell four golden crowns, twenty thousand dol- 

 lars, twenty-eight guns, ten thousand shields, 

 ten thousand spears, and a large amount of 

 silver vessels, jewels, etc. The following ex- 

 tracts from the official report of General Na- 

 pier give some details of the capture of Mag- 

 dala and the death of Theodore : 



" At the request of Dejach Alema (the 

 son-in-law of Theodore) I had promised to ab- 

 stain from hostilities for twenty-four hours. 

 After the lapse of forty-eight hours, Theodore 

 had not surrendered himself. Reliable infor- 

 mation reached me that his army was recover- 

 ing from their defeat ; that many soldiers who 

 had been unable to return to Magdala on the 

 night of the 10th had since rejoined their ranks; 

 that fresh defensive arrangements were being 

 made, and that Theodore and his chiefs even 

 contemplated a night attack on the second bri- 

 gade, encamped on the lower ground. I, there- 

 fore, prepared to attack the enemy's position. 

 I had originally intended first to assault Fahla 

 from the side which fronted our camp, and was 

 screened from the fire of Islamgie and Selassie. 

 But under the altered condition of the enemy, 

 Theodore having by death, wounds, and deser- 

 tion lost half of his army and his bravest chiefs, 

 I determined to attack Islamgie by the King's 

 road. All arrangements for this had been con- 

 sidered and the positions for the artillery re- 

 connoitred and fixed upon, when information 

 was brought to me that Theodore had left 

 Magdala, and that many of the chiefs, with 

 their followers, wished to surrender. I agreed 



