At the conclusion of the interview the envoy was presented with a horse and a double-barrelled gun. While the interview was going on we amused ourselves by inspecting the envoy’s shield, which was carried by an attendant, and was a very magnificent affair indeed. The shield itself was of course of rhinoceros hide, and upon it was a piece of lion’s skin, with numerous raised bosses of gilt-filigree work, which appeared to me to be of Indian workmanship. It was one of the ten royal shields, all precisely similar, which exist in Abyssinia. The attendants were mostly fine, well-built fellows, as were the general body of cavalry, and of superior physique to any men we had hitherto seen. I should men[pg 350]tion that all the horses have a strap going from the forehead down to the nose, upon which are two or more round plates of metal with a sharp spike in them, exactly resembling, but smaller, those worn upon the foreheads of the horses of the knights of old. The 4th, the Scinde Horse, and a body of 3d Native Cavalry, were drawn up in front of the tent, and saluted as the envoy left. There is no doubt that Theodore will be no despicable foe, and the further we go the more evident this becomes. Gobayze’s army is said to be 20,000 strong; and if, as I understand, those we saw to-day were a fair sample of them, they would be certainly formidable antagonists. And yet Gobayze has been watching Theodore for months, and did not dare to attack him, even when encumbered by his artillery and baggage. Gobayze indeed confesses that his army would have no chance with that of Theodore. The army of the latter, then, when garrisoning a position of such immense natural strength as that of Magdala, will be formidable even to an army of 4000 British troops. There can be no doubt that we shall capture the place; but the British public must not be surprised if we do not do it directly we arrive.
Sir Charles Staveley arrived to-day with his force, which slept last night at a halting-place at the foot of the ghaut. I am glad to say that the general has so far recovered from his attack of rheumatism as to be able to sit on his horse for a portion of the journey. He brought with him the whole of the 33d, six companies of the Punjaub Pioneers, Twiss’s steel battery, the 3d Native Cavalry, and the Naval Rocket Brigade. The 45th regiment, the 3d Dragoon Guards, and the second wing of the Beloochees are all coming up by forced marches, and, as well as the elephants with G 14 Battery, [pg 351]will arrive here in three days. This afternoon the Naval Brigade went out to exhibit rocket practice. There was not room in the valley for the practice, and they therefore went up on to a hill, and fired at another hill about 2000 yards distant. There are twelve mules, each with a tube, and there is a supply of ninety rockets to each tube: there are four men to each tube, beside the man who leads the mule. At the word “unload!” the tubes, which are about three feet in length, are quickly taken off the mules and arranged in line. Each tube is provided with a sort of stand, with a marked elevator, by which it can be adjusted to any required angle. The order at first was to fire at ten degrees of elevation; and upon the word “fire!” being given, one after another of the rockets (which have no stick) rushed from the tube, and buzzed through the air to the top of the opposite hill. Three rockets were fired to this elevation, and then three from an elevation of five degrees. A very strong wind was blowing, and it was difficult therefore to form any opinion of the accuracy of aim attainable. The bolts as they shot through the air certainly did not appear to swerve in the slightest from their original line; and there is no doubt that this novel instrument of war will strike terror into the hearts of the garrison of Magdala.
Scindee, April 5th.
When I wrote from Santarai we were twenty-five miles in a direct line from Magdala. After marching thirty-five miles we are at exactly the same distance. In fact, we have marched along the base of a triangle, of which Magdala forms the apex. We have been obliged to do this to arrive [pg 352]at the one practicable point for crossing the tremendous ravine of the Djedda. For the whole of this distance we have marched along a nearly level plateau ten thousand feet above the sea. The sun by day has been exceedingly hot, the wind at night piercingly cold, and we have had heavy thunderstorms of an afternoon. The extremes of temperature are very great, and it is indeed surprising that the troops preserve their health as they do. I have seen the thermometer register 145° at eleven o’clock, and go down to 19° at night. The plateau land has been bare and monotonous in the extreme, not a single shrub, however small, breaks the view, and the only variety whatever has been, that whereas in most places the soil is a black friable loam, at others it is so covered with stones of all sizes that the soil itself is scarcely visible, and travelling is difficult and painful in the extreme. Our first march was twelve miles in length to Gazoo, which is the name of a stream running for nearly the whole distance parallel to our line of march. At Gazoo, the very serious news reached us that the arrangements for the native transport had broken down, and that no supplies were on their way up. This was what I had, when we started from Lât for our rush forward, foreseen was exceedingly likely to happen, and our position at once became a very precarious one. We had only six days’ provision remaining. Magdala was five days’ march distant. It was now certain that no fresh supplies could possibly arrive until long after those we have with us are exhausted. It is hardly probable that we shall find any provisions upon our way, for to-morrow we shall come upon Theodore’s track, and it is said that he has burnt and plundered the whole country in the neighbourhood of his line of route. It is very doubtful whether we shall [pg 353]obtain enough food for our animals; even now, when in a cultivated country which has not been ravaged, forage is very scarce, and the animals are upon the very shortest allowance which will keep life together. The prospect, therefore, was gloomy indeed, and there was a rumour that the Chief had made up his mind to halt, and to send the whole of the animals back to bring up provisions. This idea, however, if it was ever entertained, was abandoned; those energetic officers, Major Grant and Captain Moore, were sent back to endeavour to arrange the hitch in the native carriage; the ration of biscuit was reduced from a pound to half-a-pound per diem, and the army moved on. Fortunately news came up that the natives were bringing in a thousand pounds of flour a-day to the commissariat station which had been established at the Tacazze, and with these and our half-rations we might hold on for some time.
The next day’s march was sixteen miles, to Ad Gazoo, through a country precisely similar in character to that passed on the preceding day, except that it was more cultivated. The villages, indeed, were everywhere scattered, and although small were snug and comfortable-looking, the little clusters of eight or ten huts, with their high conical thatched roofs, looking very like snug English homesteads with their rickyards. Here, as indeed through the whole of the latter part of our journey, the people came out to gaze on the passing army of white strangers. Picturesque groups they formed as they squatted by the wayside. In the centre would probably be the priest, and next to him the patriarch and the chief of the village. Round them would sit the other men, and behind these the women and girls would stand, the latter chattering and laughing among themselves, or to the [pg 354]younger men, who stood beside them. Here, too, would be the mothers, some with their little fat babies in their arms, some with two or three children hanging round them, and peeping bashfully out at the strange white men. Some of the women would generally have brought goats, or a pot of honey, or a jar of milk or ghee, or a bag of grain to sell, but they soon forgot to offer them in their surprise at the strange attires and beautiful horses of the strangers.
From Ad Gazoo we yesterday moved our camp to this place, a distance of only two miles, Sir Charles Staveley bringing up his division to the camp we had left, so that the whole force is now well together in case of an attack. An affair took place yesterday evening, the consequences of which might have been very serious. Ashasta, Gobayze’s uncle, who visited us at Santarai, again came into camp with a couple of hundred followers. Care had been taken this time to prevent the possibility of his being fired into by the pickets, and when his visit was over he was escorted by an officer beyond the lines. After he had left us, he went to a village not far distant, where he billeted half of his men. With the remainder he started for another village; but upon his way he passed close to an outlying picket of General Staveley’s brigade, consisting of a corporal and four men of the 3d Native Infantry. These men of course knew nothing of his having come from our camp, and shouted to the party to keep their distance. The natives, who, as I have before said, have a strong impression that we cannot fight, replied by derisive cries and by brandishing their lances. The corporal, naturally supposing that it was a party of Theodore’s cavalry, ordered one of his men to fire, which was answered by a couple of shots on the part of the natives. The corporal then [pg 355]gave the word to the others to fire, and then to charge, and the little party, sword in hand, went gallantly at the numerous party of their supposed enemy. Ashasta, seeing that it was a mistake, ordered his men to retreat, which they did, pursued by the picket, who came up with some of the hindmost of the party. They pursued for some distance, and then halted. Two of the natives were killed in the affair, one with a bullet, one by a sword-thrust, and two others were wounded. At the sound of the firing Staveley’s brigade was called out under arms, and considerable excitement prevailed for some time. Late in the evening, when the matter was understood, M. Munzinger went out to explain to Ashasta how it had happened; and as the men killed were not chiefs, and human life does not go for much in Abyssinia, our apologies were accepted, and Ashasta came into camp again to-day. Thus what might have been a very serious business is happily arranged. The men upon picket are in no way to blame; in fact, they behaved with great gallantry, and must have opened the eyes of the natives to the fact that we can fight when we like. Technically, they were somewhat to blame in charging, as the rule is that a picket should never advance, but should fire and hold its ground when possible, or retire upon its supports if threatened by an overwhelming force.
The Naval Rocket Brigade now form a portion of this camp. They are an admirable body of men, and do great credit to Captain Fellowes, their commanding officer. They support the fatigues and hardships with the good-temper peculiar to naval men. They march, contrary to what might have been expected, even better than the soldiers, and never fall out, even on the most fatiguing journeys. They are a great amusement to the troops, and their admonitions to [pg 356]their mules, which they persist in treating as ships, are irresistibly comic. I saw a sailor the other day who was leading a mule, while a comrade walked behind it. A stoppage occurred, but he went right on into the midst of a number of soldiers.
“Hallo, Jack!” they said good-humouredly, “where are you coming?”