The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-10 00:00:00

LETTEUS FROIII-111AGDALA.

The following letters have been received from
Lieutenant Yrideaux, one of the prisoners at Mag-
dala

" January 28.
" On Sunday, the 26th instant, the detachment
of troops which had been summoned from the
mountain by the King returned, bringing with
them, besides a large quantity of baggage, 180 na=
tive and five European prisoners. The latter con-
sisted of Messrs. Staiger, Brandeis, Schiller, Eisler,
and Makerer, who had been accused of attempting
to make their escape from the Royal camp in Janu-
ary last. Since that period these unfortunate men
have suffered nearly incredible hardships. Up to
the end of the rainy season they were
chained two and two together by the
hands and feet, their servants all seized, and
some of them afterwards killed, and themselves
condemned to lie, naked and starving, upon the
bare ground. Daily the fear of death was before
them. On one occasion 27, on another 37, native
prisoners were dragged out of their prison-house to
execution, and it was not long before they and one
native were the sole occupants of the room. When
the King left Debra Tabor, in October last en route
for this place, ithey were each chained hand and
foot, in the Shoa fashion, and had to march along
in this manner as far as Aibunkub, a distance of
30 miles ; at that place their hand chains were
opened, and they were able, by the occasional loan
of a mule, to proceed in a more comfortable manner.
They arrived here, each chained to a native by the
right hand, but expect to receive the same fetters
as the rest of the European captives in a day or two.
The native prisoners have fared still worse. They
are nearly all dying from torture and starvation.
Mrs. Rosenthal has been allowed to rejoin her hus-
band here. She had been separated from him for
18 months.

" By the last accounts the King is still in the
bed of the river Zhitta, busily engaged in preparing
a road up the ascent. He has completed about 100
yards, and by the lowest estimate it will take him
about three weeks to arrive at the top. He is still
surrounded by rebels, and the chief of Lasts,
%Vaagshum Gobaze, is said to have taken up his
position on the Waddela bank of the river, and to
be constantly sending defiant messages to the King
below, challenging him to ascend the bill and give
him battle. This, it is needless to say, the King
declines to do, relying as he does on the protective
powers of his monster mortar, which he often de-
clares tobe his only shield. In fact, on the slightest
alarm, he clings to it as though it possessed some
mystic fetish power, and it is not too much to spy
that the . possession of this wonderful piece of ord-
nance gives him a prestige which none of his ene-
mies can hope to attain.

" I have heard on the best authority that the
number of fighting men in the King's camp scarcely
amounts to 2,500 men. There are, however, at
least ten times that number of women, as there are,
besides the wives of the soldiers, the relatives and
servants of those who have been killed or have de-
serted. The King has turned their services to ac-
count by organising them into bands, and sending
them about the country to plunder the deserted
villages, each company under the command of an
Alaka or captain. The soldiers continue to desert
in considerable numbers every night. A few days
ago one of the principal chiefs was entertained at
dinner and presented with a pistol by the Sing•
Fearing lest the Royal favour had now reached its
climax, and would be followed by a reaction, he
gathered his family and retainers together and was
far away in a few hours after he had left the Solve'
reign's table.

" February 8.
" The districts of Daunt and Dalanta have given
in their submission to the King ; their only altar"
native was to desert their houses and flews, and they
preferred submission. A few weeks before they
pledged their allegiance to the Gallas, and the Icing
has not forgotten this. He has informed a deputa-
tion from Daunt that, as soon as the cannons and
heavy baggage were safely landed in Dalanta, it
would be his Majesty's first duty to inflict due
punishment on the tribes of the Wollo, until, to use
his own expression, their bones were all white as
onions on the plain.' The peasants of Dalanta
have been visited still more severely with the Royal
displeasure. Every one owning a yoke of oxen
must supply five madegas of corn for the consume'
tion of the army; the possessor of two yoke must
supply ten madegas, and so on. A madega may be
roughly estimated at about half a bushel of grail],
and it need scarcely be stated that an impost of
such severity will go far to impoverish the wretched
victims who have fallen under the wrath of their
paternal monarch.

" February 15.
" One of our principal doubts was solved tl3lO
morning by the intelligence that the King was not
only aware of the arrival of the British troops and
of their disembarcation at Zoulla, but that he mot
have been cognizant of these circumstances fullf
two months ago. He has communicated his know-
ledge to his European artisans and to Mr. Flad, and
has expressed his pleasure at the prospect of enj
ing in a short time the sight of a disciplined force,
comparing himself at the same time to Simeon when
he held the infant Saviour in his arms. It is satis-
factory, at all events, to know that his Make/
has borne with calmness the receipt of intelligence
which we all feared would prove most distasteful
to him.

"In consequencee of th unhealthiness of the valley
of the Zhitta, the King has quartered himself with
his troops and followers in the plain of Dalanta,
confiding to the soldiers who have joined him front
this fortress the task of completing the road and
conveying the guns up the short piece of ascent
which still remains to be surmounted. Their
labours will probably he over in a very few days'
and then it is generally believed that Mr. Rassaln
and his companions will be summoned to join hiS
Majesty and discuss matters with him. It is, of
course, too early to venture on a prediction as to
the line of conduct he may pursue, though it mns".
be confessed that he has never displayed any Per"
sonal hostility towards the British mission, with the
exception that he still keeps them in durance, and
his messages, though occasionally couched in enig'
matical terms, are invariably courteous.
"At the time he was constructing his guns last
rainy season iron happened to be in great demand,
and he promised to bestow a sword in return for
i
every piece of the metal which should be furnisho
to him. Two soldiers brought him a little on one
occasion, and, on being presented with the weapons
they had earned, modestly requested that they
might be rewarded by a gift of the swords whie
had formerly belonged to two of the officers at-
tached to the mission, and which 'were still in the
King's possession. His Majesty, in great anger'
declared that he could never part with the arts'
which he hoped to restore to his friends on some
_
future day, and dismissed the unfortunate suitor:
without any recompense at all. From t,dll
general tenour of his behaviour, therefore, as d'i;
played in this and other instances, it is the conull°o
opinion that, provided due care be taken neither 'it
exasperate him nor drive him to despair, a resuc,
will be obtained which will be eminently
sa_isfao
tory both to the relatives of the prisoners and t
the public at large.

" February 16. t
" Rejoice with me, for my guns have at lag
arrived in safety on the plain.' Such was the rae!sli
sage announced to the mountain last night 31111'
firing of guns and much tumultuous joy of vion3e9"
There remains little doubt now but that our WC'
to Dalanta will take place this week or the folloW-
ing one."