The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-17 00:00:00

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LONDON, TUESDAY, SEPT. 17, 1867.

The difficulties that hedge round the Abyssinian
Expedition continue to form the prevailing topic
of conversation, and to be the theme of letters
and communications. A letter to the Times of
to-day seems to hold oat better hopes to us, and to'
promise that, after all, it may not be so bad as
it seemed. This correspondent sends a " route'
across the country from Suakin to Berber, which
is about 200 miles north of the proposed line of
operation of the Abyssinian Expedition, shows
the nature of the country and the climate, and
may tend to create a more favourable im-
pression regarding the affair altogether than
has unfortunately prevailed in some auarters, owing
to the lugubrious prospects that have been held out.
This writer, with a party of four Europeans in all,
crossed this route in 1833, after having been ship-
wrecked in the Red Sea, and they had to depend
entirely upon the resources of the country, with the
exception of their arms. They found that the dis-
tance from the Red Sea to the Nile was nearly two
hundred and sixty miles, almost west by south, and
what is a very encouraging piece of information, they
encountered neither difficulty nor danger on the road.
We quite agree with Mr. LYNCH in his sanguine
anticipations of the nature of the expedition now
about to set out, and he observes that he cannot
believe the difficulty of the roads that lie west to
Massowah, about 200 miles to the south, " will be
found so great as some correspondents suppose, and
generally in the East such difficulties disappear as
you approach them." We are very glad to meet
with such sensible observations as these, and they
are doubly welcome after the sinister prophecies
that some have indulged in, and the more tempe-
rate but still condemnatory opinions formed by
others. One of the evils of the present day is that
so many persons are qualified, or at all events think
themselves qualified, to give an opinion on all such
subjects as this, that it becomes most confusing and
perplexing for ordinary individuals to form a correct
judgment. Besides, the tendency of the present
day is to exaggerate the difficulties of these expedi-
tions, and to intimate that there is no need to
go to war at all. It is stated in this letter that
the party referred to above had a desire to go
towards Abyssinia, and when at Berbee they made
inquiries which caused them to come to the conclusion
that there would have been no difficulty in so doing
had time permitted the venture to be made, and
concludes with great force of argument " You may,
I think, take it for granted that with this line open
to Abyssinia, the Indian authorities would not have
chosen a path anything like that which the imagi-
nations of your correspondents have drawn from
Massowah to Abyssinia." Why, indeed, should they,
and why should we in this country be so beset by
the complaints and timorous suggestions of those who
do not estimate rightly the nature of the subjec
upon which they discourse ?

The preparations for the expedition are proceeding
very favourably. Up to yesterday four of the
steamers which had been chartered for service in the
Eastern seas had left, direct for Bombay. This is
encouraging intelligence at any rate, and seems to
indicate that a spirit of activity is prevalent. They
did not call at Deptford, as was at first sup-
posed, because they have completed their equip-
ments. Two more vessels were to have left
last night, and two others are also ready.
It will be a satisfaction to the public when all the
arrangements for this expedition are fairly com-
pleted; and meanwhile we would say just that
people should not suffer themselves to be led astray
by the chimerical fears of those who doubtless mean
well, but who are mistaken in the exaggerated
opinion they express on the matter. The difficul-
ties of the Abyssinian Expedition are as nothing
compared to those which our troops have over and
over again surmounted at different times, and are
ready to do again if occasion calls for it.

The negro difficulty is rapidly assuming such
formidable proportions in the Southern States as to
force itself upon the attention of American states-
men. Registration is nearly completed in most of
the States, and the results are what might have
been expected from the determination of the
Radicals to disfranchise the whites, and from the
disgust with which they have done their best to in-
spire all the better class of Southern residents. In
South Carolina the majority of registered blacks
over whites is about 50,000, in Louisiana 60,000, in
North Carolina 20,000, and in Alabama 10,000. In
Virginia, it is true, the whites have the ascendancy
by about 20,000, but of that number half are
Radicals. It is quite evident that under this
system the direction of affairs will be entirely in
the bands of the blacks. We have already a proof
of this in the fact that half the number of delegates
in the approaching Reconstruction Convention in
Louisiana are negroes. The prominent Southern
whites are now becoming alarmed at the pros-
pect, especially after the example of negro rule
in Tennessee. They are therefore with-
drawing their support from the system of
military reconstruction, which they have hitherto
advised their friends to accept. General WADE
HAMPTON has just published a letter advocating the
people to register, but only in order to be qualified
to vote against the proposed conventions. The fact
is, that the Radical party took care so to frame the
conditions of registration that they should exclude
the majority of the Southern whites. Their aim
was to get the power into their own hands,
either directly or through their influence over the
negroes. Considerable uneasiness has been excited
by the fact that in more than one of the Southern
States the negroes are known to have formed them-
selves into armed organisations. Who supplied
them with arms? is the question, and hints are freely
thrown out; hut it is of less consequence at present
to know how they got them than what they will do
with them. In Virginia, in North Carolina, in
Tennessee, and in Missouri there are alArming
rumours. In Virginia they have some sub-
stantial foundation, since General SCHOFIELD
directed an official inquiry, which brought
to light the fact that in almost all the
counties of the State formidable armed
bands of negroes are in existence. In the
border counties of Carolina and Tennessee armed
blacks are wandering about, and information to
that effect has been given to the PRESIDENT. Pos-
sibly these authenticated facts have increased the alarm
in Missouri, but the wide spread uneasiness through.

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING', SEPTEMBER 17, 1867.