The New York herald., 1870-03-14
A B Y s sINIA.
Lord Napier Of Magdala on the Conduct and
Costof the English War His "reminiscences
Of the Eield-The Veteran Hero Afraid
Of the House Of Commons,

The Select Committee OF the British House OF
Commons recently reappomted TO investigate mat
ters connected with the Abyssinian expedition met
February % for the frst time There was very
large attendance OF members, among whom were
Sir 8. Northcote Str J. Hay, Colonel Rarttelot, Mr..
Baxter, Mr.. G. Duff, Lord Elcho. Mr.. Mundea,
Sir p 0'Brien, Mr.. Seeiey, &C. Mr Cantltsh pro.
sided.
Lord Napier OF Magdala was the first witness sx.
amIued. Ia answer 10 the chairman he said tnat he
waa appointed commander OF the expedition In
August 1867. At the time the expedition was being
organized he was so much occupied that ne neither
saw the English papers nor the Parliamentary
debates. 1t was on record that the estimated
cost or tho expedition was ca, 500, ,OD0 and that
the expense really amounted to COO. He wisnod
II 10 ne understood that, II Ia any reply he should
make he snould exhibit any reserve 1t was was not
from any unwillingness 10 state anything but be.
cause ne wished TO oe extremely careful. HIS belief
was Llat no approximate estimate OF the cost could
have been maze. The coast was altogether un-
known, ana much inquiry was necessary. A cyclone
engines would have Decessitated the use OF all the
vessels there. 1t was also necessary to have power
fnl steamers 10 convey troops against the MONSOON,
as ordinary sailing SHIPS could not 20 against IT, The
numbe OF troops sngP ested In thefst instance by tbs
government Of Bombay was 900. There may nave
been 10 o0o or wnich 1850 were TO be sen, to
Abyssinla, and reserve OF 1880 IN India,
pab u was not communicated to me. have
q memorandum OF the force which actually
landed aaaiey, &2i2 British anu 3,222 Indian
troops. Besloes these there were two regiments
which never landed There was also one battery
OF artillery and one regiment ned IN readiness at
bombay Would tue raising OF the force from $4,000
to lSooo adj fourth 10 the costs No doubt every
addition would cause an increase In the cost; no
TCrer was ordered os me WITHOUT the concurrence oI
the civil government.
The Cnairmaa--Nas not the original number OF
followers limiteu 10 .,9oOf
Lord Napier Of Magdaa-An estimate of that kind
was made ny the Indian government IN reply to an
inquiry by the nome goyernment; but that inquiry
SDpetlnu
and II dld not amount TO L., 900 men, bnt 10000.
Inc ChairMan--N as IL not tnat the followers were
Lord Napier oi Msgdala--I have no hesitation in
saving tnat the mneteers OF Egypt were very worth
Iney did Their work 10 the Irst Instance, becasse
they took the mules there. No doubs .ne cost VI send
ing them back increased The OF the expectation.
had no more troops tnan l needed. There were
periods when l sRouid have been much safer II /
nad mad more. nor we're there TOO many transports
Some OF the stations were from ten to fifteen miles
apart had not one man too many when 4 arrived
~ Magda.a.
You ,hink that considering the importance towards
tue maihtenante OF our power IN India, the success
OF the expedition, although the expenditure was
great, was al advantageous 0nep
Certainly. AlLaOuXn there may nave been sins
Dota OF omission ana coiaiDason. YET anl OF opin-
Ion thai looking 10 the Importance OF success tine
increase OF expenditure non such causes was not
material
TO MIR. Eastwtck-I should have been very sorry
10 nave uldertaAcn to Take Magdala with u less
number OF troops IL was one OF the strongest
women lad got bentnd the nalural- Dastion and
throWn down stones on our troops they would have
caused us serious loss ii Theodore had not thrown
away his chance by leading MIS- troops agapst vs.
we could not have taSen the fortress without very
serious loss. believe that had we been met by an
eHcient army not man Of ours would have re-
Turned uli, SIS We had very large iorce.
The Chalrnan-1nen you think the estimate dis
cnssed IN the House oi Comnons--s3 500, uoo --was
an ab5uru one To gtyey
LORD Napicr Of hagdala-I have far too much re-
spect for the House to say that. In fact II dtd
Aiignt possibly be committed. (Langhter)