For several weeks the captives were detained at Zagé. During this period Theodore's behaviour was almost that of a madman: at one time he would storm and threaten, throw the captives into irons, and make them tremble for their lives; at another time he would publicly express his sorrow for having ill-treated them, and humbly ask their pardon. In June, cholera having broken out in the King's camp, he transferred his headquarters to Debra Tabor, a large village about twenty miles to the east of Gondar, which at that time served him for a capital. Here he arrived—the captives, of course, accompanying him—on the 16th of June. In regard to Mr. Rassam and the other members of the mission, his frantic behaviour reached a climax on the 3rd of July, 1866, when having summoned them to his presence, he made a wild rambling speech, rehearsing a string of trumpery charges, old and new, against them and the other captives. A few days after this interview, it being at the time the King's purpose to march northward against the rebels, the captives were sent, under the guard of an escort of 200 men, to be confined in the fortress of Magdala, where they arrived on the 12th of July. On the broad level top of the amba, so long as they kept within the boundary fence or palisade, they were free to wander as they pleased; Theodore caused them to be liberally provided with food; and with the exception that they were detained there against their will, they had no cause to complain of their treatment.
On his way home to convey to the British Government Theodore's request for skilled workmen and machinery, Mr. Flad saw Colonel Merewether, the Resident at Aden, and communicated to him the state of affairs. That zealous officer, who seems to have thoroughly understood Theodore's character, and had little hope that he would ever release the captives, except under compulsion, resolved to return to England with Mr. Flad. They arrived in England in the summer of 1866, and reported themselves to Lord Stanley, who had just taken over the administration of the Foreign Office. Lord Stanley decided that Theodore's request to be supplied with mechanics should be complied with, in the hope that this would lead to the liberation of the captives. But, while Colonel Merewether was engaged in selecting and making agreements with artisans, news reached London that Rassam and his companions were no longer simply detained, but that they had been seized and imprisoned. Colonel Merewether now recommended that Mr. Flad (whose wife and children were in the King's camp) should at once be sent back to Abyssinia, with a letter demanding the release of all the prisoners; and that, should this step be vain, prompt measures should be taken to enforce compliance. But Government, unwilling to renounce the hope of obtaining the desired end by peaceable means, determined to send out the artisans, together with a costly cargo of presents, to Massowah, with instructions to proceed no farther until the captives should have all arrived safely at that port. Six skilled artisans, headed by a civil engineer, together with machinery and other presents to the value of about £3,500, were sent out in November, 1866, and arrived in due course at Massowah. But after waiting there nearly six months—it being apparent that the prospect of the release of their countrymen was indefinitely remote—they were sent back to England. In April, 1867, Lord Stanley addressed a final letter to Theodore, informing him that the presents would be sent home again unless the prisoners were released within three months.
As he perceived that a warlike demonstration was inevitable, Merewether's recommendation was that the invading force should consist of one European and six native regiments of infantry, together with other troops, so as to compose an army of about 6,000 men. However, Government resolved to let the period of three months expire which had been named in Lord Stanley's note. When that was over, and still Theodore showed no sign of yielding, Government decided upon sending out an expedition. Bombay was fixed upon as the most convenient base of operations, and the Governor of that Presidency was directed to take the necessary measures. Mr. Seymour Fitzgerald, the new Governor of Bombay, desired the Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay army, Sir Robert Napier, to state what number of troops was, in his opinion, required for the service. That officer reported that, in his judgment, 12,000 was the smallest number that it would be safe to employ. Acquiescing in the opinion that so large a force was required, the Bombay Government considered that Colonel Merewether, who now for some years had taken the lead in all matters connected with Abyssinia, was too young a man to be placed in supreme command. Or rather such was the opinion of the India Council and the War Office at home. Sir Stafford Northcote, on whom, as Secretary for India, a large share of the responsibility for the right management of the expedition rested, wrote (August 16th, 1867) that, while Government trusted that Colonel Merewether's valuable services would be made available in aid of the expedition, "his rank was not high enough to enable him to take the supreme command of such a force as it was probable would have to be employed." In August, 1867, Sir Robert Napier was appointed to the command of the expedition, and Major-General Sir Charles Staveley, an officer who had served in the Crimea, was nominated second in command. The force employed was to consist of 4,000 British and 8,000 Indian native troops. An advanced brigade, consisting of about 1,200 Indian troops, under the command of Colonel Merewether, was despatched from Bombay in September, preceded by a reconnoitring party under the immediate orders of the colonel himself. The vessel containing the reconnoitring party arrived in Annesley Bay early in October.
It was a matter of considerable importance to choose the best point on the coast where the force should disembark, and whence it should begin its march on Magdala. Distance from Magdala was one, but not the most important, element in the selection. The high table-land of Abyssinia is bastioned on the north and east by ranges of magnificent mountains, descending frequently in sheer cliffs, many thousand feet high, into the strip of sandy plain that borders the coast. At Annesley Bay, which penetrates far into the land, the mountains approach nearer to the sea than at any other point where the landing of a large force is possible. In this respect, however, Massowah was little inferior, while in facilities for landing it was superior, to Annesley Bay, from which it is about thirty miles distant; but besides that it was somewhat farther from Magdala, political considerations rendered it inexpedient that the British Government should incur so great an obligation to the Pasha of Egypt as would have been involved in the landing of so large an army, with all its baggage and stores, at a much-frequented Egyptian port. Annesley Bay, then, was to be the point of disembarkation. The best pass for the march of an army into the interior was the next subject of inquiry. The first person to point out to Colonel Merewether the superiority of the Senafé Pass was Father Zechariah, a native Abyssinian priest educated at Rome. But the colonel was not satisfied till he had carefully examined several other defiles leading up to the table-land, and had convinced himself that the Senafé Pass, difficult as it was, could be made practicable for the expedition with less trouble than any other.
The route having been decided upon, all that remained was to land the troops as quickly as possible, organise an efficient transport service, and then advance upon Magdala. The distance of the fortress from Annesley Bay was about 400 miles; but the climate on the table-land is magnificent, the difficulties of the road were easily within the power of the strong pioneer force that was at the general's disposal to surmount them, and it became more and more certain that no serious opposition would be met with. A hitch, however, occurred; and it was, as usual, in the transport service. Supplies of food, stores, and ammunition could most easily be transported along the rough and narrow Abyssinian roads on the backs of mules. The world was accordingly ransacked for mules; from Egypt, India, Syria, and Spain they were poured into Annesley Bay in thousands. Any one can buy a mule, but it takes an experienced person to manage him when bought. The Transport department engaged as muleteers thousands of men who are described as "the vilest sweepings of Eastern cities"—men whose languages no one could understand, and who were utterly ignorant of their business. Again, being landed in such vast numbers on a sterile plain like that which divides the sea from the mountains at Annesley Bay, the mules could pick up scarcely anything for themselves; and, with such unmanageable ruffians for muleteers, it was impossible to distribute properly among them the forage that had been brought by sea to the anchorage. In consequence of all this, the mules soon began to die by scores. To supply the animals with water, since the arid shore had next to no resources in this respect, the steamers at the anchorage condensed water at the rate of 32,000 gallons a day (at a cost of nearly £3,000 a month), which was then conveyed along a shoot 480 feet long, raised on trestles above the sea, to tanks on shore. But, whether from the unwholesomeness of this water or some other cause, an epidemic broke out among the animals on shore, and carried off great numbers of them, especially the horses. The 3rd Dragoons lost 318 horses out of 499 landed. In these circumstances Colonel Merewether resolved to push on with his advanced brigade to the healthier position of Senafé, as soon as ever the road through the pass was declared practicable. The main body of the brigade, which had landed on the 30th of October, was accordingly moved forward from Mulkutto (so the landing-place was called) about the end of November, and, threading the pass with little difficulty, arrived at Senafé on the 6th and 7th of December. The Shohos—Mohammedan tribes that infested the mountain valleys and ravines running to the Red Sea—were converted by the power of British gold from being rapacious depredators and thieves into the character of useful traders and carriers.
SIR ROBERT NAPIER (AFTERWARDS LORD NAPIER OF MAGDALA).
Sir Charles Staveley, with the second brigade, arrived at Annesley Bay early in December. The 33rd, a British regiment, was with them, and was before long sent on to Senafé, where it arrived on the 12th of January, 1868. Sir Charles set himself energetically to work to bring things into order at the port, while the movements of all the departments were quickened by his presence. The greater part of the troops, as they arrived were sent up to Senafé. Sir Robert Napier himself landed at Mulkutto on the 7th of January and assumed the command. Leaving orders that a transport train should be organised immediately, and a railway laid down from Mulkutto to the foot of the Senafé Pass, he hastened forward to the front. He was at first under the impression that no dependence could be placed for the subsistence of the army on the resources of the country itself and that it would not be safe to move forward from Senafé until six months' supply of food had been accumulated there for a force of 9,500 men. But when he arrived at Senafé and found how admirably General (he had just been made local Brigadier-General) Merewether, and Colonel Phayre, the Quartermaster-General, had made amicable arrangements with the principal men of the neighbourhood, and attracted the natives from all parts to the markets of the camp by the prospect of the liberal payment which they received for their meat, corn, and other produce, Sir Robert Napier saw reason to change his opinion. In fact, the friendliness and openness of the people towards the British were truly strange to European ideas. Their country was being invaded, and its prestige, if it had any, humiliated; but this singular people felt no throes of indignant patriotism, were well pleased to think that the formidable King, who had come to be a dangerous tyrant and freebooter, was to be put down without any trouble to themselves, and pocketed with the utmost satisfaction, inwardly marvelling no doubt at the simplicity of the stranger, the large new silver dollars which they got for their country produce.
With these reassuring prospects before him, the Commander-in-Chief thought that he might safely commence the march into the interior before any very large quantity of stores had been brought up to Senafé. No opposition was to be feared from the rulers of provinces. Immediately after landing General Merewether had dispersed as widely as possible copies of a proclamation, declaring that the sole motive of the British invasion was the desire to liberate the captives; that Britain's quarrel was with Theodore, not with the Abyssinian nation; and that the inhabitants, if they maintained a peaceful attitude, would be treated well and liberally. Mr. Rassam had been in constant communication with Kassa, the Prince of Tigré, and also with Wakshum Gobazye, the Prince of Lasta. They both showed great kindness to his messengers, and rendered them the protection they needed between Magdala and Massowah for two whole years. As soon as Rassam informed them of the intention of the British Government to send a force to punish Theodore, their enemy, they promised their friendship to the troops, and Wakshum went so far as to cause it to be proclaimed through his districts by beat of drum that all his subjects were to supply the British army with whatever they required, and that they were not to fear, as the troops were Christians, and would pay the full price for everything. Kassa wrote a letter to General Merewether, offering friendship and assistance, soon after his arrival at Senafé. To confirm him in these pacific sentiments, Major Grant, the well-known African explorer, was sent to his capital of Adowa, where he was received with great cordiality; and Sir Robert Napier himself, mounted on an elephant, had a formal interview with Kassa on February 19th near Adigerat. Wakshum Gobazye—who for the last three years, though fearing to meet Theodore in the field, had occupied each province of central Abyssinia as Theodore led his army out of it, and who was now employed in consolidating his power—probably regarded the British intrusion in much the same light as Kassa. And there is reason to believe that, after the invasion had been achieved successfully, Wakshum felt hurt that he had not been treated with like consideration to that shown to the Prince of Tigré.
The force that Sir Robert Napier considered necessary amounted finally to upwards of 16,000 men. Four British infantry regiments, the 33rd, the 4th, the 45th, and the 26th, and one cavalry regiment, the 3rd Dragoon Guards—in all about 3,400 men—besides a company of Sappers, formed part of the force; the rest were all Indian troops. The men of the Transport Train numbered 12,600, and the camp-followers about 3,200; so that a host numbering about 32,000 men, exclusive of those attached to the Commissariat and Quartermaster-General's Departments, was collected at Annesley Bay. But a small portion of these was required to overcome the feeble resistance of Theodore's army, and to scale the height of Magdala. To oppose to this large and disciplined force, Theodore had only some 3,000 soldiers armed with percussion muzzle-loaders, 1,000 matchlock-men, a number of spearmen, and about thirty pieces of ordnance, including one enormous mortar which his German artisans had cast for him at Debra Tabor, the management of which no one in his army properly understood.