The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-05-23 00:00:00

ME STOURBRIDGE OBSERVE&

ialtalismiginealli•
their inistakli., • ii: ' .... • .... iiio bi , i eat. mlstuke, unhippite for him. his lot Witi thrown, of his eullithtarrell and which remains spiked. imbitvi-,bna-lilisset, a windmill
soon disci iver . ' • ' . ~,. C 0.,:, 'I I,- tileir col,- itivpre, h,tion of tin ti-Itiutlorsi of mond, oc.i iv, it, ~, ~ aa.n.n. hit tl, evarairth my rheas of Theodore to create
Loden, and ). ii••i. ' i - :- 1,. i. tiara -'.• y hail left it is lda penetrating practiaat iusigait into wiattover ase Muhl ato e. i,i sail.rly ill AL),sinia. Beitare the burning of the
thought, manor 'IX' Cono,,k ... (ica i
ti on t.., ' .A. among them valuable n those of his own, it seemed strange, almost be- houses in Magiala; it sod its neighbourboal Lad become
their leader. I heodure's favourite gel • '. and must have yond belief, to foul that he had lived the squalid, graceless most nOlsOnO2l, uut oily the bodies of the gain prisonem, taut
had at least three times that number eo, • • 'a) they kept up life of a savage, to stand iu his so-called palace-a rude, a corwiderable number of animals' carcasses, contributing to
some show of resUtato '. 1,111,1 to ma, i'..iv fraint-charzes dirtY cabin-and look everywhere around .ii vain fur oven one create a imst dis,mstnag stench. A few of these beasts had
am) mustered up spirals ei onala for ar a...iv-victorious elreer t shglit truceof a relined or accomplished itind. In the work- i been killei by our bullets or shell, but the grester part had
when Sir Lindh, ,-'ravel :-., as aiuld was coming •On suit shop m his European artisans there were of cour e malty ! tried tutu the neglett anti want in proper food consequent
milling mitre ~Ili to be g.titied 1.,y n.a.les, Inn. hely, SOUndoll I Aftll.l of modern eiciiization, though nearly al of a pancrioil, “r.in the ,muu iou entailed by the events on the lust teat
the retreat. i atop few of a strictly ornamental or illMltrluili Lind. W 4 di- days.
mena tools and huge glass tumblers, apparently of English
atake, seemed the principalarricles id impart, di iiikitig being.
text to righting, the gi eat business eta 0 ealtily Abysi What's
to. and tilese mixed up with crosses, censers, miiros, bells-
-- .. . . . .... . .

Thliohnith's SIG CrNS OF 1:0 r,E!
Their artillery—l imodres !moots guos—.,ave them no
assktainn• whatever 1.11 the e. it is viii.
le, Of theta. bid gun burst at the 11,st expltcb on, the
rest—acre were ~Isht seven. I lid
Clop, her in,stot
11l
i• knit tap a steady catoomade e,,sily 41i4 by.
its dull, heavy sound, it‘erined to the slow ignition of bad
powder, from the quick rattle of tie' mountain guns, but
till not even touch one of our men. Not tote mint on our
sidc, strange to say, was killed. awl only nineteen were
wounded, 41111011 g thrill 0110 °lnt.,. I it t i Ito: m - • •`.' .1a
4tll, who was hit by a ImAnt 1111 w j
the rest I have no used liAl Istore me, nor any 1,.•
now of getting tine ; hilt to the best of toy belief ii.. .•
wounded men were ironi the 4111, about four from 1
helouchecs, and ten from the Minjaulo l'ioneers. The:,
came in for the severest part of the fighting, and v ,
..:licered yesterday by their comrades ill the force for I:.
pittek winch they showed. They surprised the enemy
ravine, getting so etc-, to them that bayonets 11101 s • •
were used. and ghastly groups of from live to twenty it
sinians huddled together in corners from WIIICII 110 e,..
oas 114..ii111e, 010%1,1 nest him.; how tierce, though
ii
the CollteSt hail Inca. . • • • •

, „....„
re Apo ia ilB of ..ialar churches—Amliaric Bibles, stray oloi,les
if the ihTor odd volumes if eucycloplvdi36, foolscap paper,
nJ niatchlocks, pistols, swords, powdepllasks, aud iercus-
,iou-caps, formed altopether as strange a jumble as it would
be eaay to thid anywhere.

THE "LOOT.

t',•• has rather disappointed the
. • ; but still it oas lieheved
~.! •: . •!ol silver treasure. If he hail,
- ..1 an oversight in i order, Si VIC
hor any precautious taken iigainst looting, and there
tle doubt that the moment the place Was forced many
•sinians, who knew hest where to look, began to search
plunder. Next day an order was issued that everything
taken should be given hick, but, an molly things
already changed hands, and handsome pric,s been paid ler
them as curiosities and relics it Magilala rather than for
their intrinsic value, the Order Woo unpopular, and I ems-
quit whether it lion been very strictly obeyed. The
Lingerer, appears to have tsetiavesl to his prisoner, and
•irtisans with a generosity which must have lett hiin
nearly hankrupt. Scarcely an al tide of real value has been
mind which is not declared to have been, at some time in.
flier, presented by him to BMW one of them, which, there-
ore, does not go into the general fund to be raised, by the
sale of all loot, for the benefit of the nomcommissumed
"Meet Saud men of the force. All these deductioms will, I
fear, make the proceeds of the sale very small. flowerer, a
few curious and valuable relics have been found. Mr.
&Imes, for instance, Nig/ cable out here as arehwologist for
the British Museum. and who has hitherto bad a singularly
disappointing mid unfruitful join Cry, sins lucky enough to
rescue a handsome Crown, probably an archbishop's, and a
gold chalice, bearing the following inscription in Amharic:—
" The chalice of King Segud, called Yasuo, the son
of ()leen Brahn Mogussa, presente.l to Kweska an Sanctuary
t• tar May my body RIM SOUI he purified ! Weight
twen vilv•• ot.k4 14 Ire gold, value five hundred dollars.
Made by Waldo Georges."

THE IRONY OF HISTORY.
The Emperor's owe to 01, 1$ 1111 S aim, 00011 found, and is, .
believe, to he sent home to the Queen. I saw ht the bawls
of a British sololier 0 hat, under the cireontostanc,s, was
certainly a very singular and interesting hit of loot, is six-
barrelle I revolver, sells an iliStatition ileaaring that it wait
presented by the Queen to the Emperor Theodore, in token
of her gratitude for'' the kinolue,s stioWil loy hi,ll to er
servant Plowilett." The Bohner 1,111 me that he had seen
live pistols It ith tlds inscription, and had had it harol tight
to get one of them for hintsoll ; but, Si, far, only one luta
been given up to the priz,e-a4ents. it is a miters instance
of the irony of history that it Will not improbably a ith ..ne
.of these very pistols--tokest of the British Queen's gratitude
for kinobiess shown loy hits to her servant—that I heoodoole
shot himself at the al oproach of a British soldier ; for there
is now no doillit that he did shoot lihnself. A soldier of the
,;:trol swears that lie witnessed the act, and, what is more
important, both the medical hien on the committee appointed
to identify the booty and inquire into' the cause of lois death
.hclare unhesitatillAy that the fatal wound Must have been
Aelf-intlieteol. Their evidence is further supportial by that of
rhembore's own servant not amour-bearer, who seellia to
tare stdial by lain faithfully to the very last, and who fur-
nishes oilier ioarticulat s tob.alt lois death and the chose of his
career not devoid of intoned. From his account it would
seem that Theodore himself was fully consciousof the danger
of attacking lb ittish troops in the open field, and plainly
told his followers that they were no tuatch for men
ho had better arms mod better discipline that they ought
to act on the defensive from Thaplala, or if they were tient
upon all attack, attack 14 night loitunately for us, this
orinlent edliiiSel Was overt borne by the ignonint clamour of
his WalTiora, eager tor si oil and lit; It oveol to defeat. After
the tight they seem, if 4111 e may trust his servant's account,
to have lost all their former unwavering faith ill Theolliom's
inviticiloiliti, lint to his proud, imperious spit it, impatient
of opposition, and bog accustomeol to see himself I eineol
and w orshipped as a god, the last few hours oi his life must
nave been antliciently bitter and humiliatieg to expiate in
soine degree even his many crimes. Tube his followeis
stood aloof troll him, in sullen, resentful dis,oliedience, when
summoned to his side, and positively refused, when he
invited then., an the last change, to fly from ltlatidala, to
ae,oolopany 111111 and any longer share his fortunes. Even lds
favourite anol most distinguished clods' die very men who in
the mid reumined faitlitul and died with him, seem to have
wavtred strangely between their old a:A:unitive and the*
oiew•bore distrust. At one time the of them even formed a
conspiracy for seizing hint and giving him up to the British,
out, at the hoot moment his marvellous personal ascendancy
leasserted itself, and their hearts failed then,. At another
thine, when Ike a isheol, as the British troops weie first
col JJ i ll g roe. d Selassee, hear 51agolale, to mount his horse
ial ride out to meet them his chiefs implored line, with a
devotion woithy of the Old Guard, not to risk his oWn life,
hut to let one of them go Ile accordingly gave, a splendid
horse to one if lois leading officers, the Commander of
Ordmonee, anol told him to mount it, and go forth upon it,
0.101, like a lirare warrior, " brag before the enemy, as the
thee had come to die." Ile himself shortly followed, also
on hot.- el,ack, 0 iii the renutining cloiefs, and fired the few
bray:oho snots w Melt, as I mentioned ill ley last letter, drew
forth a return volley fr.oni the Seidel's.
Shortly afterwaroli heodore and the chiefs retired within
there awaited the advance of the Banish. As
the'first soldier appeared aloove the stockade the chiefs were
;hot down ; but tl,e,oh re, who had already dropped hi-
Royal clued silt to escape riliserVal in. fled fro Ohl t ,1'1..11,
I a retired spot lotdotr upon the citadel, and there shot
tho• pistol into I, Month. Front the Vidal:La, of lois
dre,s the hotly was not at host reeintiligeil, lint, as 55111 00 it WAS
hlentilleol, mid, 0.11 the approach of Sir Robert Napier, drawn
both Muo the principal pathway, an involuntary cheer 1 ount
iorth front the Soldiers aretintl. Stich school- orer the body
of a foollen lon rather Mired upon the nerves, but still it was
tuttairal mid pardonable enough, for at bottom 11 111, alit, not
exultation over the death od ill enemy, but delight at the
suidiheti olisc.overy beyond all Mould that the last object if a
tedious campai,in had been accomplished, and thoot there
was 1105 noodling to prevent the flee fr.oin turning its face
is trionoololl home. The,oolore's escape w.,lrra.be,t up to the
Initial mouieut as the ittasilde SoniCa of further detention in
Aloyssinta, and the soldiers would have bees more than
human if they bad rep: C.-sod tile first outburst of joy at
discovering that froni this distaded evil they wet nails safe.