THE CHURCH AT KORATA CONTAINING THE FRESCOES.
See [p. 118.]
THE PORTUGUESE BRIDGE OVER THE BLUE NILE.
See [p. 147.]
From a Photograph by Mr. C. E. Dupuis.
It is curious to reflect that the name of this remote little township in Western Abyssinia was once very familiar to British ears, and it would scarcely be straining an accepted phrase to say that the eyes of the nation were turned towards this place; for while the British mission was here and King Theodore was encamped on the peninsula of Zegi, on the opposite shore of the lake, the negotiations about “the captives” reached and passed the crucial stage in the early months of 1866. The end of the story, as the whole world knows, was the suicide of the King at Magdala. It is difficult even now, in spite of all that has been written on the subject, to judge how far he was mad and how far sane, how far a capricious, clever, cruel savage, and how far a man of good parts and fine character marred by circumstances.
In the church of Korata we first saw Abyssinian frescoes. It struck me that they had an unmistakable resemblance to the Persian style, and, in some instances, in spite of their crudity, the depiction of the faces is good. The “exposure” photographs which I obtained show the types of the subjects represented. Saint George, who is the patron of Abyssinia as he is of England, is always a prominent figure. The holy people who, by established usage, are admitted to the “goodly fellowship” on the walls include certain worthies of the Apocrypha. The picture which struck me most showed the Virgin and Child crossing the Red Sea—probably during the flight to Egypt—in an Abyssinian rush-boat and feeding hippopotami with bread as they went. They are seated in the stern and are rowed by a Habash.
