The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-25 00:00:00

LETTER FROM CONSUL CAMERON.

The following letter from Consul Cameron has
been received by one of his friends :—" Magdala,
Abyssinia, Dec. 30, 1867.—Dear Sir,—l see by the
papers that you were one of the first to urge the
liberation of myself and my fellow-prisoners by
force of arms. It is impossible for me not to thank
you. No one could have deprecated war with this
country more than myself up to a certain point.
But after I heard, years ago, that the King had re-
ceived two letters from Rassam and not answered
them, I saw no hope except from troops; and, with
the exception of the few days when, thanks to the
King's extraordinary duplicity, Rassam's mission
seemed a success, my opinion has been the same
ever since. At any rate, we are in for it now,
and there is not much use in writing—facts will
prove themselves. My own belief is that if our
people press on without delay to the high country,
there will be little or no loss from local diseases : as
to fighting, there will be none. Once hemmed in—
and we have troops enough to effect this—the King
must take his choice of being shelled or slashed to
death with his horde of ragamuffins, or surrendering
at discretion. I always supposed that there will be
no promises made or parleying on our account.
This would be the height of folly : at least 1 think
so. The first thing is to know what attitude he
will assume. One way or other he ought to be
thrashed in a very short time. Even if he manages
to slip through our fingers the result will be
the same. His own people will kill him
sooner or later. We don't know what
may happen to us in the meantime ; but it is
an inexpressible relief to know, whatever turn
things may take, this misery must soon come to an
end. Anything better than lingering on in this
way—to die at last of heartbreak, or starvation, or
both. Theodore, the king, has been threatening to
kill one of the Europeans. If one were killed, the
rest would soon follow. Remember me kindly to
Sir Henry Rawlinson ; I see hehasacted
friends
nientdhse
right spirit. See, I still hope to thank my
some day in person. The mail is closing, so I must
finish.—Believe me ever moat gratefully and sin-
cerely yours, C. DUNCAN CAMERON.—I fear my
handwriting, at least, is like the Bishop of Gra-
nada's sermon in Gil Blas,' which savoured of
palsy. The fact is I have been very ill, but am
trying to rally, if only to give our red jackets a
chance of saving me."

ACCIDENT TO SIR HENRY BOYNTON.—A very
similar accident to that which befel Lord Middleton last
week, occurred to Sir H. Boynton on Friday. In riding
carelessly on the road tho horse fell, and Sir Henry was
thrown violently to the ground, receiving a serious
wound on the head and causing concussion of the brain
Consciousness returned on Saturday, and his condition is
now viewed with less alarm. Lord Middleton is nearly
well again.

DEATH IN THE STREETS.—On Wednesday even-
ing last a respectable shoeing smith, named John Thomas,
living in Red Lion-yard, Gray's-inn-road, was coming
home, when he fell down, and when picked up he was
discovered to be quite dead. He had been in delicate
health for some time, and was a sober man. An inquest
on the body was held last night by Dr. Lankester, at the
Red Lion Tavern, Gray's-inn-road, and after hearing the
medical testimony, the jury found that the deceased died
from a rupture of a blood vessel in the lungs, produced by
natural moos.