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

'HE ABYSSINIAN 'VOILA

The following description has been given by Lieutenant
Prideaux, of the spoils now exhibiting at the South Ken-
sington Museum :—" The blue silk embroidered robe
was intended by Theodore as a present to her Majesty
;o accompany the embassy he desired to send to
England. In Abyssinia, it is called a burnoos,' and
s only worn by ladies of the highest rank when on the
narch. The silver slippers were also intended to be pre-
;entcd to her Majesty. The damask silk robe was made
ately by order of Theodore, and worn by him on the Bth.
April only, when he received the captives who descended
'ram Magdala to Salamg6 by his orders. It was then
erobably put, on for effect, as he wished much 'to
encourage his soldiers that morning. The crimson velvet
:,,rown was made by Theodore's orders at the time of his
loronation at Axum. It was not worn by him for
several years before his death. The red cloth cap is
simply a Turkish tarboosh,' covered with silver gilt
filagree work. It was never worn by Theodore, to my
knowledge. The large seal bearing the inscription in
Amharic,' Theodorus, King of the Kings of Ethiopia,' and
a similar one in Arabic, was that used by him on all his
letters. The two small silver seals were probably the
property of the Metropolitan. One, the larger, bears an
inscription in Coptic and Arabic, and is about 200 years old.
the smaller is of recent manufacture, not more than ten
years, and bears an Arabic inscription."

THEODORE'S HOUSEHOLD AND PRIVATE

LIFE.

An interesting letter has been published in a contem-
porary from Dr. Blanc, from which we make a few

!xtracts :

" Theodore was more bigoted than religious.

Above all things he was superstitious, and that to a degree

incredible in a man in other respects so superior to his
^ountrymen. He had always with him several astro•
logers, whom he consulted on all important occasions—
especially before undertaking any expedition and

whose influence over him was unbounded. He hated
the priests, despised them for their ignorance, spurned
their doctrines, laughed at the marvellous stories some
A their books contain, but still never marched without
a tent church, a host of priests, defteras, and deacons, and
never passed near a church without kissing its threshold.
Though he could read and write, he never conde-
scended to correspond personally with anyone, but was
always accompanied by several secretaries, to whom he
would dictate his letters ; and so wonderful • was his
memory that he would indite an answer to letters re-
ceived months, nay years, before, or dilate on subjects
and events that had occurred at a far remote period.
When he made any lengthened stay at a place he had
huts erected by his soldiers for himself and people, and
the whole was surrounded by a double line of fences.
Though not wanting in bravery, he never left anything to
-thance. At night the hillock on which he dwelt was com-
pletely surrounded bymusketeers, and he never slept with-
Dut having his pistols under his pillow and several loaded
guns by his side. He had a great fear of poison, taking no
food that had not been prepared by the queen or her
remplacant, and even then she and several attendants had
to taste it first. He made, however, an exception in our
favour one day that he visited Mr. Rassam at (3 I.ffat. To
thew how much he respected and trusted the English, he
accepted some brandy ; allowing no one to taste it before
he unhesitatingly swallowed the whole draught.
Theodore was always an early riser ; indeed, he

ndulged in sleep but very little. Sometimes at two
)'clock, at the latest before four, he would issue from
his tent and give judgment on any case brought before
Wm. Of late his temper was such that litigants kept
gut of his way ; be nevertheless retained his former
liabits, and would be a,een long before daylight sitting
mite alone on a stone, in deep meditation or in silent
prayer. He was also very abstemious in his food,
snd never indulged in excesses of the table. He
rarely partook of more than one meal a day,
which was composed of sujera—the pancake loaves made
If the small seed of the tell—and red pepper during
fast days ; of wat, a kind of curry made of fish,
fowl, or mutton, on ordinary occasions. On feast days
he generally gave large dinners to his officers, and some-
times to the whole army. Unfortunately for Theodore, he
bad for several years before his death greatly taken to
Irink. Up to three or four o'clock he attended to the
business of the day ; and till then was generally
sober ; but after his afternoon siesta he was
invariably more or less intoxicated. In his dress he
was generally very simple, wearing only the ordinary
shame (white cotton cloth, with a red border, woven in
~he country), native-made trousers, and a European white
shirt ;no shoes, no covering to the head. His rather
long hair—for an Abyssinian—was divided in three
large plaits, and allowed to fall on his neck in three
plaited tails. Of late be bad greatly neglected his hair;

ror months it had not been plaited ; and to show the grief
he felt on account of the `badness' of his people, he would not
tllow it to be besmeared with the heavy coating of butterin
which Abyssinians delight. On one occasion he apolo-
gised• to us for the simplicity of his dress. During the
'ifetime of his first wife, and for some time afterwards,
Theodore not only led a most exemplary life, but forbade

the officers of his household and the chiefs more imme-
hately around him to live in concubinage. One day in
the beginning of 1860 Theodore perceived in a church
so handsome young girl silently praying to her
patron, the Virgin Mary. Struck with her
beauty and modesty, he made inquiries about her,
and was informed that she was the only daughter of
Deja' ch Oubie, the Prince of Tigre, his former rival, whom
he had dethroned, and who was then his prisoner. He
asked for her hand, and met with a polite refusal. The
young girl desired to retire to a convent, and devote
herself to the service of God. Theodore was not a man
to be easily thwarted in his desires. He proposed to
Oubid that he would set him at liberty, only retain-
ing him in his camp as his ' guest,' should the prince pre.
vail on his (laughter to accept his hand. At last Woizero
Tournish (` you are my sister') sacrificed herself for her old
'ether's welfare, and accepted the hand of a man whom she
could not love. This union was unfortunate. Theodore, to
his great disappointment, did not find in his second wife
the fervent affection, the almost blind devotion, of the dead
companion of his youth. Woizero Tournish was proud; she
always looked on her husband as a parvenu,' and took no
trouble to hide from him her want of regard and affection.
In the afternoon, Theodore, as it had been his former habit,
tired and weary, would retire for rest in the queen's tent..
But he found no warm welcome there. His wife's looks
were cold and full of pride ; and she even went so far as
to receive him without the common courtesy due to her
king. One day when he came in she pretended not to
perceive him, did not rise, and remained silent to his
polite inquiries as to her health and welfare. She was
holding in her hand a book of psalms, and when Theodore
asked her why she did not answer him, she calmly
replied, without lifting up her eyes from the book
she held, Because I am conversing with a
greater and better man than you, the pious King David.
Theodore sent her to Magdala, together with her new-born
son, Alamayou (` I have seen the world') and took as his
favourite a widowed lady from Gedjow, named Woizero
Tamagno (a rather coarse, lascivious•looking person, the
mother of five children by her former husband), who soon
obtained such an ascendancy over his mind that he publicly
proclaimed that he had divorced and discarded Tournish,
and that Tamagno should in future be considered by all as tilt
queen.' `lln'y a que le premier pas qui coute. Soon Woizero
Tamagno had numerous rivals ; but she was a woman of
tact. Far from complaining, she rather encouraged Theo-
dore in his debauchery, and instead of being displeased
she would always receive him with a smile. One day
she said to her fickle lord, who felt rather astonished
at her forbearance, ' Why should I be jealous? I know
you love but me ; what is it if you stoop now and
then to pick up some flowers to beautify them by your
breat li 1' Both queens and Alamayou accompanied the
English army in its march back. Woizero Tamango left
with feelings of gratitude for the kindness and attention
she had received at the hands of the English commander
in-chief, as soon as she could with safety return to her
native land, Gedjow. But poor Tourmish died at Aikullet;
freedom and liberty were not to be her lot. Her child,
Alamayou, the son of Theodore and grandchild of Ouhie,
has now reached the English shore, an orphan, an exile,
but not uncared for."

An establishment in Dublin is busily engaged in
purchasing and shipping to Italy, by order of the Govern-
ment of that country, horses for breeding purposes. This
week a number of first-class hunters and steeple-chasing
mares were consigned to their destination.
DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN AFRlCA.—Goldfields
Lave been discovered in South Africa. News comes by
the Boman that "diggers" had arrived at Shoostrong, the
fief Matjen's head kraal, whose country is rich in
goldfields, and had made terms with that chief for the
privilege of digging,. l-a'jen had received the party in
a friendly manner and pointed out the treasure ; he also
expressed himself anxious to be taken under British pro-
tection. Lions were plentiful in the country, and caution
with regard to them was found necessary.

THE WANT OF RAIN IN IRELAND.—Tho want of
rain is beginning to be seriously spoken of in Ireland. In
consequence of the continued drought the hay harvest is
extremely light (though of the best quality), and the supply
of milk and butter is necessarily curtailed, owing to the
distress which cattle endure from want of sufficient mois-
ture. The Freeman's Journal says that since the summer
of 1798 such a season has not been known. "We hal e
had no winter, and Mal-eh was only equalled in its genial
character by April nn I May, in wh.ch w.) had uelrly all
sunshine and no showo B."