The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-09 00:00:00

A DESCRIPTION OF MAGDALA.

A. contemporary furnishes an interesting and graphic
description of Magdala. It reminds its roaders that
the stronghold of Theodore is 4GO miles from
Massowah, and 45 from Gondar, and that it is situate on the
border of the Wollo Galla country. Amba 3lagdala, distant
about 465 miles from Massowah, and about 180 from Gon-
dar, arises in the province of Worihaimanot, on tho border
of the Wollo Galla country. The approach is difficult. It
stands almost isolated—amongst gigantic surrounding
masses, and viewed from the western side possesses the
appearance of a crescent. From Islamgeo (a largo plateau
connected with the fortress) the road up to Magdala is very
steep and difficult. To the first gate it follows, at times
very abruptly, the flank of the mountain. To the right,
the sides of the amba rise like a huge wall ; below is a giddy
abyss. From the first to the second gate the road is exceed-
ingly narrow and steep, turning to the right at a sharp angle
with the first of the road. Small earthworks had been

erectod on the flanks near the gates, protecting every
weak point. The summit of the ridge was strongly fenced

and loopholed. Two other gates led from the amba to the
foot of the mountain ; ono had some time before been dosed,

but the other, called Kafir Ber, opened in the direction of
the Galla country. Tho ausba is well fortified by nature,
and Theodore, to increase its strength, added somerudo forti-
fications. The Magdala plateau is oblong and somewhat
irregular, about a mile and a half in length, and on tho
average about a mile broad. It was one of the strongest
fortresses in Abyssinia, and easily provisioned. Magdala is
more than 9,000 feet above the level of the sea, and has a
splendid climate. In the evenings almost all the year round, a
fire is welcome, and though a month or two before the rains
the temperature rises somewhat, the huts are never too hot.
The high land that surrounds the amba in the distance is
barren and bleak, which is duo to the great altitude.
Many of the peaks in the Galla country are for several
months in the year covered with snow or frozen
hail. Water, during and for some months after the rainy
season, is abundant, but from March to the first week in
July it gets scarcer and scarcer, until it is obtained only with
difficulty. In order to remedy this disadvantage, Theodore,
with his usual forethought, had several large tanks constructed
on the amba, and also sunk wells in promiaing places. The amba
was not only used by Theodore es a fortress, but also as a
gaol, a magazine, a granary, and as a place of protection for
his wives and family. The King's house and the granary
• stood almost in the centre of the amba; in front to-
wards the west a large space had been left open
and clear ; behind stood the house of the officers
of his household ; to the left, huts of chiefs and
soldiers ; to the right, on a small eminence, the
godowns and magazines, soldiers' quarters, the church, the
prison, and behind again another large open space looking
towards the Galla plateau of Tanta. 'Theodore's houses had
nothing regal about them. They were built on the same
pattern as the ordinary huts of the country, but only on
a larger scale. Ho himself never, or at least very rarely,
lived in them; he preferred his tent at Islarngee, or on some
neighbouring height, to the larger and more commodious abode
on the amba. To his dislike to houses in general was added
a particular objection to shutting himself up in the amba.
The majority of these houses were occupied by Theodore's
wives and concubines, the eunuchs, and female slaves. The
granary and tej houses were in the same enclosure, but
separated from the ladies' department by a strong fence ;
the granary consisted of half a dozen huge huts, pro-
tected from the rain by a double roof. They contained
barley, tef, beans, peas, and a little wheat. All the grain
was kept in leather-bags piled up until they reached almost
to the roof. It is said that at the time of the capture of
Magdala by our troops there was grain in sufficient quan-
tity stored in these granaries to last the garrison and other
inhabitants of the amba for at least six months. The
dwellings of the chiefs and soldiers were built on the model
of the Amhara houses— circular, with a pointed thatched roof.
The huts of the common soldiers were built without order,
in some places in such close proximity that if, as it happened
on one or two occasions, a fire broke out, in a few seconds
20 or 30 houses were at once burnt to the ground ; nothing
could possibly stop the conflagration but rapidly pulling
down to leeward the huts not as yet on fire. The principal
chiefs had several houses for themselves, all in one enclo-
sure, surrounded and separated from the soldiers' huts by a
high and strong fence. Once or twice a week the chiefs
would meet in consultation in a small house erected for that
purpose in the magazine enclosure to discuss public affairs,
hut, above all, to assure themselves by personal inspection
that the " treasures" entrusted to their care were in
perfect order and in safe keeping. The Magdala church,
consecrated to the Saviour of the World (Medani Alum),
was not in any respect worthy of such an important place.
The mud walls had not even been whitewashed; and every
pious soul longed for the accomplishment of Theodore's pro-
mise, the building of a church worthy of his name, but, alas
for him, hispieda terrehad for several years become his prison.
The prison•house, a common gaol for the political offen-
ders, thieves, and murderers, consisted of five or six huts,
enclosed by a strong fence, and surrounded by the private
dwellings of the more wealthy prisoners and guards,
extending from the western slopes of the hillock to
the edge of the precipice and to the open space
towards the south. At the time of the prisoners'
captivity their houses could not have contained less
than 650 prisoners. Of these, about SO died of remittent
fevers, 175 were released by his Majesty, 307 executed,
and 91 owed their liberty to the stormers of Magdala.
The prison rules were in some respects very severe, in
others mild and foreign to our civilised ideas. At sunset
every prisoner was ordered into the central enclosure.
As they passed the gate they were counted and their
fetters examined. The women had a hut for
themselves ; only a late arrangement, however, as
before they had to sleep in the same houses as the men.
The space was very limited, and the prisoners were packed
in like herrings in a barrel. Abyssinians themselves, hard-
hearted as they are, described the scene at night as
something fearful. The hut, crowded to excess, was
close, the atmosphere fetid, the stench unbearable.
There lay, side by side, the poor starved vagabond,
chained hand and feet, and often with a large forked
piece of wood several yards long fixed round his neck,
and the warrior who had bled in many a hard-won fight,
the governor of provinces—nay, the sons of kings and
conquered rulers themselves. In the centre the guards,
keeping candles lighted all night, laughed or
played some noisy game, indifferent to the
sufferings of the unfortunates they watched. The
prison guards had been for so many years in con-
tact with misery in its worst shape, that the last spark of
human feeling had died out in their callous hearts. Instead
of spewing compassion or pity for their prisoners, many
of them innocent victims of a low treachery, they
added to their misery by the harshness and cruelty
of their conduct. Had a, chief received at last
a small sum of money from his distant province, lie was
soon made aware that he must satisfy the greed of his
rapacious gaolers. But that was nothing compared to the
moral tortures inflicted on their prisoners. Many of them
had been for years confined on the amba, and had
brought their families to reside near them. Woe
to the woman who would not listen to the
solicitations of these infamous wretches ; threatened anti
even beaten, few indeed of the sorrowful wives and
daughters held out ; others willingly met advances ; and
when the chief, the man of rank, or the wealthy merchant,
left his day house, he knew that his wife would immediately
receive her chosen lover, or what was still more heartrending,
a man she despised but feared. Such was the daily life
of those whose fault was to have given ear to the
fair words of Theodore, an error that weighed heavier
upon them than a crime, But when the King, on his
way, stopped a few days at Magdala, what anxiety,
what anguish, reigned in that accursed place !
No day house, no hours spent with the family or the
friend, no food hardly; the prisoners must remain in the
night houses, as the Emperor at any moment might send
for some one of them to set him at liberty, or, more
likely, to put an end to his miserable existence
Menilek, the grandson of Sehala, Selassie, had been since
his youth brought up near the Emperor; he was entrusted
with an independent command, and in order to strengthen
his adherence to his cause, Theodore gave him his
daughter in marriage. Under these circumstances, the
rage of Theodore can be easily fancied when one morning
he was informed that Menilek had deserted with his
followers, and was already on his way to claim the
dominion of his fathers. The Emperor with a telescope
saw on the distant Wollo plain Menilek received with
honour by the Galls Queen Workite. Blind with rage,
he had no thought but revenge. Ho dared not venture
to pursue Menilek and encounter the two allies ; at hand
he had easy victims—the Galls prince and his chiefs.
Theodore mounted his horse, called his body-guard,
and sent for those men who had already lingered
long in captivity through trusting to his word,
and then followed a scene so horrible that I
dare not write the details. All were killed—some thirty-
two, and their still-breathing bodies hurled over the
precipice.. It is probable that shortly afterwards Theodore
regretted having allowed himself to be guided by passion.
With Menilek he had lost Shoe ; by the murder of the
Galla prince he had made those tribes his deadly foes.

l'Aunitior. —A parliamentary paper has been
published, from which it appears that the aggregate popu-
lation of the 655 unions and single parishes under boards
of guardians is 19,886,104, and the total number of paupers
•on the let of January last was 1,040,952, of which 877,372
were out-door, and 163,030 indoor, This gives tho proper•
tion of paupers as one in nine, or ts'2 per cent, on the
actual population, lii 1807 the total on the Ist January
was 963,200, p# wilich number 81'6,005 wero outdoor paupers,
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