ABYSSINIA. 



Wi M fcrtka Eaat to 18M, aettled, after scv- 

 air. In Abyi-inla, married a 

 wottaa, and woo the confidence of the 

 r W*. of TV*, to eb a decree, as to 

 W Otr**d by bim with the .Immigration 

 flW *rict of Antilccho. Another German, 

 4aard Zaajdar* weal to Abriinia in 1847, 

 M*J ol<*io*d fikewbe an indacntial position 

 with l*U*. Altar the dcciMve battle, in 1855, 

 Zaarfar aa*ard the aerrire with Theodore, was 

 aaanlajtaal cowroaodcr of the fortified island of 

 <!amr io Ito Lake Tana, and rose to the 

 UhfciH Uiury rank. He Mill was with Thao- 

 4aw hi February. 1 868, bat has not been heard 

 fru n*f+. l*r. Monxinjrer, a native of Swit- 

 tvrlftad. ba* beco for many rears English con- 

 rtt at Itaawwah. near the Abyarinian frontier, 

 wbatvbaatiDrvaidca. He is also married to a 

 afire woman, and author of some of the best 

 woHtc OQ the coqntry and its languages. The 

 Latbcraa Church of Sweden, a few years ago, 

 ed a miarioo in Abyssinia, which re- 

 oodUtorbcd by Theodore, and new 

 iaatoajariaa were sent to the country 



: n '" tML war inatK-, 



ijDWtfir. tbe life of foreigners in Abyssynia 

 rrry ioMcore. An Englishman, Mr. Powell, 

 Mi vMb, Ua soo, A Swedish missionary, Mr. 

 KatboU, and aareral attendants, were, in April, 

 IStt. nardercd by the natives. A brother of 

 Mr. Powell, and another relative, Mr. Jenkins, 

 obaranently, in tracing the muti- 

 t, which, by certMn infallible proofs 

 at peculiar stoppages of teeth they 

 able to identify as the remains of their 

 md relatives. Moreover, they avenged 

 UM murder by marching with an armed force, 

 ttaecd at their disposal by Prince Kassai, of 

 TVrri. arainrt the Shangnlla tribe, the perpe- 

 of the cruel deed. The Shangallas, 

 r. were informed of tha expedition be- 

 Ilowcr of Mr. Powell were ready 

 fcr tW attack, and the greater portion escaped 

 <h larooflh the jungle, which in this neigh- 

 boriiooi la ?a*T high. Eight Shangolla sava- 

 ajaa were killed in the affray, one of whom 

 i the murdered Mr. Po'well's coat, and 

 it OTbaeqnenUy transpired, been the chief 

 r of the crime. Five villages, num- 

 -two bouses, in which two guns and 

 aUaa were found, were ignited and razed 

 fTooad. Fourteen hundred head of cat- 

 * ^ r *" eaajtered, and, in short, every thing 

 too* to show the Shangalla tribe the pun- 



tbey had laid themselves open to. 

 iiaajd, the tntereat in the Abyssinian 

 HBWM aomewhat kept up by the dis- 

 that tbe artnal coat of tho war exceeded 

 "a eaicolation. The work already 

 ; Captain Hotter, who waa Assist- 

 to Lord Napier, gives on 

 information, which sup- 

 .-j aoooonta of the English 

 i. If (Wata Horier's statementa 

 n, in the long records of Eng- 

 Tinr in former war*, nothing can 



^i eaicoiati 



aMagmjrf by Captain 



Huf J oajfajaajy 



be found to surpass the absurdity of the prepa- 

 rations for the Abyssinian war made in Bom- 

 bav. The following is a specimen of the com- 

 plaints of the author: Every thing depended 

 on land transport, and this, according to Cap- 

 tain llozier, was intentionally crippled. The 

 early difficulties of the expedition were tracea- 

 ble to defective organization, which Sir Robert 

 Napier had to remodel after he took the field. 

 The first of the series of posts by which the 

 British line of march was secured was Senafe, 

 about seven thousand feet above the sea-level, 

 and sixty-five miles from Zulla. The road be- 

 tween these two places was made by the army, 

 and it was liable to be interrupted in the rainy 

 season, so that it was absolutely necessary to 

 accumulate supplies in Senafe sufficient to feed 

 the army in the event of communications being 

 temporarily severed. The only food that could 

 be obtained in the country was meat, and, in 

 order to maintain the health of the troops, 

 vegetables, tea, sugar, and spirit?, had to be 

 carried on every day's march. The supplies 

 of these articles required by an army of even 

 moderate dimensions quickly swell up to an 

 enormous amount, and demand a large quan- 

 tity of carriage. In this requisite the force 

 was still deficient at the end of January, nearly 

 a month after the commander-in-chief and a 

 large part of his army had landed at Zulla. 

 Sufficient time had not yet elapsed to repair 

 an originally defective organization, and the 

 ravages of epidemic among the animals. At 

 Adigerat, in February, an alteration was made 

 in the general organization of the Transport 

 Corps. It was separated into two divisions. 

 One, called the lowland division, carried sup- 

 plies from Zulla to Adigerat. The other, called 

 the highland division, worked between Adi- 

 gerat and the army advancing on Magdala. 

 The highland train consisted of four divisions, 

 of two thousand mules each, which were sub- 

 divided into troops of one hundred and fifty 

 mules. Its organization was entirely military, 

 and it worked under the department of the 

 quartermaster-general. The two Punjab mule- 

 trains were the nucleus of the highland trains. 

 The muleteers were armed, and Bunder strict 

 discipline, and, consequently, the highland train 

 was independent of the regular army for escorts 

 or convoys, or for guards for grass-cutters. In 

 fact, this train had now become what Sir Rob- 

 ert Napier had wished to have originally. The 

 cold nights of the highland region rendered 

 blankets and warm clothing necessary, and 

 thus increased the baggage necessarily carried 

 by the troops ; but, on the other hand, the fol- 

 lowers, which are indispensable in India, were 

 left behind at Zulla as an encumbrance. 



The English expedition, which was accom- 

 panied by a large number of able scholars, 

 nos, as was to be expected, called forth many 

 able works on Abyssinia, which have con- 

 siderably added to our knowledge of the coun- 

 try. Among them we mention: Graham, 

 "Glimpses of Abyssinia" (London, 1867); 



