NEW EMPIRE OF ABYSSINIA. 65 



field of battle, dragged himself to the caverns which rise above the 

 beautiful valleys of the Menna, and died there from the effects of his 

 wound. When Kokobie came to receive the reward of his treason, 

 he met with an unexpected reception : " I distrust a servant who 

 Bells hia master," replied the Negus coldly ; and Kokobie, placed in 

 irons, was thrown into the prison of Tchelga, where he still remains- 

 The battle of Dereskie was fought on the 5th of February, 1855. 

 Two days after, the victor caused himself to be crowned with great 

 pomp, amid the applause of the army and clergy, in that very church, 

 of Dereskie which the vanquished of the other day had, in view of 

 his own coronation, caused to be built and adorned under the direc- 

 tion of a European who had established himself in Abyssinia, Dr. 

 Schimper, a naturalist well known in Prance. This mockery of fate 

 was not one of the least of Oubie's troubles. Kassa assumed the 

 name of Theodorus, which had been borne before him by a Negus 

 that had reigned not without glory, towards the twelfth century. 

 This name was, so to speak, the programme of his reign. • A tradi- 

 tion, universally known in Abyssinia, and cited by nearly every 

 traveller since Bruce, says, that a Negus, of the name of Theodore, 

 should restore the Ethiopian empire to its ancient glory, destroy 

 islamism, and free Jerusalem from the crescent : — a persistent and 

 touching hope with which a people, borne down by oppression, tries 

 to escape from its deceptions of the present. The new Negus picked 

 up this name from the national legends, and affirmed with familiar 

 boldness that he was the man of the prophecies. It is certain, that, 

 in 1855, all A.byssinia believed it, even if it have not the same faith 

 to-day. As for himself, was he then really convinced ? This is a 

 delicate question to which even, after having known him personally, 

 I know not what to reply. I think, however, that he was sincere, 

 and that, for many reasons too long for detail. This confidence 

 inspired him with strangely ambitious projects. It was then that he 

 proposed to the Czar, " his brother of Moscow," to combine a march 

 upon Jerusalem, and divide the Mahommedan world ; but it has also 

 incited him in a more practical way to do great things, by which 

 Abyssinia has profited. 



There still remained the fragment of the party just subdued to be 

 dealt with. The taking of the plateau of Amba-Hai completed the 

 submission of Semen. Upon this height of about 13,000 feet, 

 Oubie kept his treasures, 40,000 talaris, much gold and silver in 



Vol. X. E 



