NEW EMPIRE OF ABYSSINIA. 143 



zation, he revoked his decree against slavery, thus renewing the plague spot 

 which still dishonours the Abyssinian empire ; then he marched, with all haste, 

 into Tigre. Negousie wished to wait and give him battle ; but, persuaded by 

 the Tigreen generals, who, in spite of their indisputable valour, dreaded in Theo- 

 dore the fortunate soldier who had declared himself the man of Providence, he 

 left his camp at Haouzene, crossed the Mareb and took up a position at Addi- 

 Mangonti, to the north of Seraoue, not so advantageous for defence as for flight 

 in case of disaster. Theodore followed him at a distance, careful not to press 

 him too closely, and proving, by this circumspection, quite foreign to his usual 

 style, the high idea he possessed of his enemy's skill. 



It was in these untoward circumstances (1859) that M. de Russel, a distin- 

 guished officer of the French navy, arrived at Massaoua, charged with the mission 

 of entering into communication with ISTegousie and settling the acquisition of 

 Desset. His mission produced a lively sensation, as is ever the case in the East 

 in occurrences connected with the name of France. The report already circulated, 

 that 12,000 Frenchmen had landed at Massaoua, raised the hope of the Tigreens 

 to the highest pitch. An old tradition, very popular among them, asserts "that 

 the Franks will one day conquer Ethiopia, that they will enter by Hamazene and 

 camp in the plain of Ad Johannis." This legend had just been rescued from 

 oblivion by a nun, who had come from Godjam into Hamazene, where she had 

 made for herself a great reputation for sanctity, and who publicly announced 

 " that the new master of Abyssinia was about to arrive by the Red Sea." Great 

 was the disappointment, when the French envoy appeared, followed by only six 

 sailors, at Halai where he stopped, and where, badly surrounded and informed, 

 he lost long days in the formalities of etiquette, and gave time to the Theodorists 

 to organize. The militia of the warlike province of Kollagonzay surrounded 

 Halai but without proceeding to violence. Tumultuous scenes took place at 

 Halai among the Tigreens, who thought themselves betrayed ; the French flag 

 was trampled under foot. M. de Russel and his men showed much resolution 

 and presence of mind ; but surrounded by enemies, they had to give way, and 

 descending into the ravines of Taranta, by night, they regained Massaoua 

 (February 1860.) Negousie, then, losing all hope of putting himself into commu- 

 nication with the French agent, made a disheartening retreat, which demoralized 

 his troops more than a lost battle. Thirty leagues west of Adona, behind the 

 level and open plateau of Tigre, begins a confused mass of low hills covered with 

 virgin forests that man abandons to leopards, elephants and lions. This_.is th& 

 mazaga, a kind of African Sologne where deadly fevers reign, a vague frontier 

 that the Barea negroes sometimes cross in order to surprise and plunder some 

 Abyssinian village, but where the Abyssinians take good care not to follow them, 

 although this country is nominally a dependency of the empire. It was towards 

 these wretched valleys that Negousie fled, following the right bank of the little 

 river Mareb, a rocky, wooded road, favourable to defensive warfare. His rival 

 decided to cut off his retreat, left Axum and Tigre on his right and descended 

 towards the Mareb by the plateau of Addi-Abo, an excellent position, at once 

 commanding the Mareb and the Takazze ; but when he arrived in the lowlands 

 the enemy was gone and had already taken up a strong position in the heart of 



