THE ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION.

Southland Times, Issue 965, 8 June 1868, Page 3

THE ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION.

[iXTAS.] Abyssinia contains four independent chieftains — Menelek, of Shoa, -with whom it may be hoped we shall not come in contact ; Theodoras, -who claims as his vassals the other three ; Wasshum Gobazye, of Lasta, to -whose dominions our army is now approaching ; and Kassai, of Tigre. The interview between Sir Eoberfc Napier and this last Chief has resulted in a promise to protect the telegraphic wires and convoys, and to send corn to our principal camps ; but little reliance could be placed upon these promises were it not in the interest of Theodore's enemies to aid us in his defeat ; and in this hope we look for a similar treaty with Gobazye. The meeting took place on the sloping banks of the Diab, which, running from south to north, separated the two armies. The Commander-in-Chief rode down to the stieam upon one of the two elephants, which have occasioned by their docility far more wonder and superstitious awe than any mechanical invention for war or peace with which the forces are supplied ; and then mounted his horse, fearing lest the unusual charger should terrify the Abyssinian cavalry, and desiring to converse with the Prince of Tigre from a level position. Kassai advanced from the centre of the 4000 warriors by whom he waa surrounded, riding bareheaded upon a white mule with a scarlet umbrella borne over him, and fording the rivulet was received with a salute, and conducted to the tent. He is a man of thirty-five years, intellectual but indecisive in countenance and oppressed and careworn in bearing, although, like his royal brother of Bavaria, the crown presses heavily upon him. The presence of his elder brother and two uncles seems to have agitated Tiim • so much so, that the " Post's" " special" notes that " with his slender and really aristocratic fingers he never ceased to scratch his head ;" nevertheless he appears to have talked with unexpected intelligence ; replying to Sir Robert's remark that the English are brother Christians and desire to be friends, to the effect that foreigners are intruders, but he preferred them as friends to enemies. A rifle, some glass goblets, and Sir Kobert's own charger were presented to him, and hospitable port was served out — a drink much relished by the Tigreans, one of whom, a royal uncle aforesaid, refused to leave while a drop remained ; and then a long interview took place, which was so far confidential that we only know that it was most satisfactory. After the troops had passed in review, the commander and hia staff crossed ovtr ti the Abyssinian camp, and partook of plenteous if somewhat coarse hospitalities, consisting of curry, and sour bread, and acid beer ; and when Sir Eobert had been invested with a lion's skin, and sword, and gilt armlet, he was placed upon a mule, and in this guise rode home. The health of the soldiers is excellent, the percentage of disease being lower than among troops stationed in England ; orders have consequently been given for the return to the sea-coast of all Indian followers, to the immense relief of the commissariat. When under Indian regulations, a battalion required 1200 mules and 600 followers ; under the new orders it requires 187 mules and 100 followers ; for the native of India lives not upon beef, which can be driven, but upon rice and butter and flour. On the end of March Antalo was reached in less time than was expected, as it i 3 only seventy-six miles from Aldigerat ; it is only eighteen days from Zoulla. The distance to Magdala will probably be found 160 miles, or about sixteen days march. The bare-legged followers of Kassia, though nearly all carrying firelocks of Borne kind, are said to be worse found in arms and equipments than those of Theodore ; and so great is the reputation in which this monster is held, that the Abyssinians think it impossible ! that we should gain our end without inflicting upon Tiim a defeat. A singular confirmation of Biuce'Btale that steaks sri cut from a live ox has been furnished by the accidental discovery on the part of three officers of a party of natives whilst in performance of this inhuman operation ; the is made just behind the hip, and, upon the skin being closed over the wound, pain very quickly ceases. Many of the cattle bear marks of having been bo treated, bat the nativss appear anxious to conceal this fact. Th especial correspondent of the "Calcutta Englishman" writes thus on the 19th of March:— Camp Senafe, 19th March. — The probable duration of the Abyssinian campaign will now be known in a very short time, as the British advance force has now got bo near Theodore that in the course of a few days he must make up his mind, if he has not already done bo, drop the uncertainty in which hi 3 intentions have hitherto been shrouded, and adopt the line which he intends to pursue. What that line will be, it is now impossible and idle to guess, but the prevalent idea, which I give for exactly what it is worth, is that he will fight to the hist, and has stated that " the one, wish of hi 6 life was to see a large and disciplined army

brought into the field under the sole command of one man, after -which he would die happy." If this story is true, I have no doubt that we shall be only too happy to gratify his wish in its integrity, and if he will only give us an opportunity of showing what a disciplined mass can do in action, we shall be saved much thought, discussion, and difficulty, as to what we should do with him were he to come forward, and, surrendering the prisoners to us, meet us as friends. Sir Robert Napier has passed Like Ashangai ere this, and expects to be within sight of Theodore's presi nt entrenchments by the end of the month. Should Theodore have awaited his coming, the Commanderin-Chief, after a careful reconnaissance of his position, would attack it without delay, provided no pacific overtures are attempted, but it is perfectly possible that Sir Eobert Napier may not deem the force under his command sufficiently large to hem in Theodore and prevent a retreat, in which case a delay of a few days, whilst reinforcements arrived from Antalo or Lat, would . be rendered necessary. This delay, in the face of an enemy, at first glance, might appear an over J si^ht, and it might further be imagined that it would give the enemy confidence. In answer to these pre-supposed objections. I will only say that it is absolutely necessary that no chance of j escape should remain once we fire a shot, i Secondly, that the more confidence we can infuse | into the breasts of the Abyssinian braves, the more complete and effective will be their undeception. A second column in the direction of Magdala will also be in movement about the same time. By an early date in April you will most probably receive intelligence that the blow initial, final, or perhaps both, has been struck. Zoulla has been almost entirely denuded of troops — every available man having been sent to work on the railway — and is absolutely given up to the Commissariat and Land Transport Train, a corps which has considerably raised its drooping head since the publication of a general order by the Commander-in-Chief, who has had the good fortune to discover merits in that much abused body which had completely escaped the observation of persons more closely brought into contact with its working than his Excellency. Brigadier-General Stewart, who has been relieved by General Eussell, moves up from Zoulla immediately and assumes command at Senafe, leaving Major Koberts as Quartermaster General at Zoulla, and having his staff further diminished by the departure of another officer for the front, Mr Kennedy, who has been attached to the 3rd Dragoon Guards who are moving forward with all speed to join the first advance brigade. It is to be hoped that Sir Eobert Napier will, if possible, push General Stewart on to some more distinguished if not important post than Senafe, and, by so doing, eradicate at least some of the discontent which has been caused by the present distribution of the troops that once composed the Bengal Brigade. The road from Annesley Bay to this point is a triumph of hard work without any great display of engineering skill. The natural bed of the river, which fortunately is dry for about three-fourths of the year, has been converted by the removal of boulders and the free use of pick and spade, into a road superior to many that have a good reputation over which I have travelled in India. The scenery is, in some few places, grand ; rocky defiles, formed by precipices hundreds of feet in height that almost meet over the travellers' heads, bathing the route below in a perpetual gloom affording most grateful relief to eyes dazed with the * Abyssinian sun. With the exception of these "oases" the route, until the final ascent to \ Senafe iB reached, where the vegetation becomes more abundant, is simply such as every one in 1 India has seen, and having seen once, never cares to see again, namely, a watercourse (dry) running ■ between the ranges of barren, brown, rocky, hills, over which hills appear others still more rocky, brown and barren. Foreground, a dead camel. Middle distance, a dead mule. Sky azure, on the middle of which, if a vulture is placed " re- ( gardant," the picture will be perfect. Senafe regarded as a camping ground is perfect, and the battlement of enormous rocks which surrounds it \ lends it a certain grandeur, but there is a total ] absence of color that quite spoils the picture, j The Shohos through whose country we have hitherto marched are a tolerably intelligent race, ' and already the art of comaierce, as far as their limited resources admit, it is practised by them, firewood and water being the staple commodities. \ The men are useful as bullock drivers, but even . in a responsible post can scarcely restrain . their thieving proclivities, and are perpetually '■ getting into trouble. The women of the ■ country are on the whole exceedingly ugly, ' but, like their sex all over the world, have a ■ sneaking kindness for soldiers, though their only way of expressing it is by the " language of the eye." Further inland, that is to say, in Christian Abyssinia, the women do all the hard and manual labor, the men merely watching, and, 'if necessary, protecting their families. On this point I shall be able to say more in my next letter, as I start to-night en route to Antalo, and shall have ample opportunities of verifying the strange stories that I have heard of highland Ufa. The 12th Bengal Cavalry under Major Gough have arrived at Antalo, where they remain for the present, and the 10th under Major Palliser are discharging, with great satisfaction to the public if not to themselves, the postal duties in the pass between this and Annesley Bay. The burial ground here is possessed of a certain amount of melancholy interest, as in it are placed the bodies of the gallant Colonel Dmm and four other officers, who either by disease or accident have met an early death, for they were all early deaths as not one headstone in the grave-yard bears record of a longer life than thirty-four years. Almost every one passing through here visits the spot, which is nicely railed in and carefully kept, and a cross or headstone erected by comrades and brotherofficers will serve to mark for a time, perhaps even after we have gone, the spot where they are laid. The " Bombay Gazette" understands that his Excellency Sir Eobert Napier has requested the immediate despatch to Abyssinia of the 6th and Bth N. L, and that the Superintendent of Marine and Quarter-Master General have been requested to make the necessary arrangements.