, 1877-08-05
ABTSSINIA.
a N'ng Who Receives His Guests
with a Tame Lion Beside
Him.
a Curious Campaign, but IN Which
There Was q Deal of Good
Fighting. -


TIC civilized world could possibly have In tbt
strivings Of the lhet!;ye.n King John. KIM
OF Kings than Ut thu nj; 5tcr7 which has a1Way.
es''erea ahoat tie S-r;,p.ar.4l Ethiopia, the rel
whereof aot even nio:!cy:l enterprise and c.,yj
o7''l nave soEsrI to lit. The presence of SC
E?:nr fo1ci1:roifl:c.s 18th the Eryottan force
.en"eFe1 II ft'ss!5!e tn collect corpus Ut va.ua
oic and navel information, not to meptlon thf
J ,o1 4oaa1e accl<cnt OF til: capture md release
W Inc ah5ss'ni2ns Of an intelligent officer SC
sI't II WAS ONLY question o., time when
tue ieekf aataor to COLLECT, collatc, aud publish
| tac essential Facts wouid happen along. He has
haipet,eo along in the current number Of Btack.
7c1oa, and tells the true story Of the late Eeyp-
'ttan campaign Is obtained from tho lips and
! notebooks OF foreign officers who served in the
Egyptian army. As spscimcns OF the mlsrepre-
sentatlons OF European papers may b. cited the
story that the whole Ut Arehlrup's force OF
3,fo) men was surprised in le6c aud cx-
terminated, but one-thlrd Of them having fallep,
while the reports Of the capture ann ransom OF
Prince Hassan. son Of the khediye, and Of the
capture of Massowah hy the. Abysstnians, so
generally circulated and believed, were sheer
.tabricatons.
In October, 1873, the Khedye sent column
OF 3, 400 men under Col. Arcnlzup, n Dane in
bis service to Enforce peace, ii possible, on the
border where the Egyptian fellahs we're sadly
harried By the Abyssinians, thinking that dis
play Of force would accomplish this Object with
out any bloodshed. AreWirup. dcspisiug hts
enemy and dividing his fe,rc, was caught in the
dehle 81 Go9ndel, With zoo men. BY an over
Wilelmlng Absssinian force, defeated and de-
etroygd, the few survivors of the slaughter dur
ing the engagement heinE butchered in cold
blood Count Zichy, volunteer, brother OF the
Austrian Minister to Turkey, was one Of the ex-
pedition. Two weeks later the French Consul,
while travcrsing ihs secnc Of combat, WAS
startled by tho appar;tion Of bloody and
ehastlv otieak creeping to him through the
bushes. It was the Count who had bec, left
for dead, fear.uliy wounded and disiigured, but
bad managed to drag himself to shelter, SUBJ
s1stinE on berries and roots during that lunP
period. He was removed on litter, his strong
will enabling him to rally SO THAT, indeed, he
Was hnlnming some farorite airs as they bore
him away. The natives with whom he was left,
ior some unexplained reason, yielded him up ro
the Abysstnians, who put him to death. The
other detachments Of 4rendrup's force we're
menacea, but escaped By night, thanks. to tha
skill Of the foreign officers, especially Of A1ai.
Denn,son, an American. t.
This defeat compelled the Khedtvc to send
out stronger expedition to restore the Eeyn-
tian prestige and prevent incurs;ons by the
victors, SO in December, 1875, a second body Of
16.000 men, well armed, proyisioned, and off,
ccred, vas sent b. steamers from Suez, to
Massowah. commanded By Ratib Pasha, the
Egyptian Genera1issiu1o, accompanied BY Ger. |
LorinC, and having the kheliye's third son,
Prince Hassam, as volunteer aid On the stat. |
Some mouths were spent at Massowah before |
the army marched into tho Abyssinian country, |
which Is shut in by rarges Of hills, rising in sue
cession until they almost attain the dignity |
Of mountains. The difficulty OF passing |
ktese natural barriers has been greatly |
as also has the climate, which, |
pn the p1ateaus e.09D feet aboye the Rcd Sea |
miles inland, is one OF the most delightful and |
salubrfous in the world,-bFisht and sunny in !
winter, aud In summer refreshed by constant |
rains Large and numerous watcr-courses fer |
tilize and refresh this region, the aitiuents Of /
the Mic contributing to Egypt's richness so |
considerably that the .Khcdiyc could eay truth |
fully that as Nature was already sending him |
down annually the hest part olAbyssinia Le had I
10 desire to annex the residue. |
Marching eighty miles 1nlan'l, the Egyptians |
posted 5000 men. white six miles further along
Tall6y some eight miles long and from mile |
md half to two miles ia Wllth y breas.work |
Icemed impre.nable,. Fort Gura, was thrown
p and occupied BY 7,7co men. King
ank, under shelter OF the mountains, endeav-
ring to draw the Egyptians into the open coun-
ry, but they pursued waiting policy, knowing
hat be would soon have exhausted the country, |
nd then must cross their path aud attack.
'atib Pasha was urged to garrison and le9ye the
art, effect junction of his forces, and await |
le enemy, but he was slow and undecided In |
is movements. Making no cGOrt to unite bis I I
ivtsions, he took out lis corps for observation,
ot intending an engagement: but he was an
cipatcd By tho Abyssinians, who at once made
savage and desperate onslaught in r
ass variously estimated at from 40,c0J 9
J $1,000 ncn OF ali arms. OF this {
,r1e not moro than s,GDo to 10000 +
ere armed with si3g'e-barrelcd shotguns,
d Tower muskstS, etc, as many more Ti:h
Fords and shields; the rest with clubs. But r
ey were never able tn .lis1ia; nr acriEely use =
orc than 5000 Or :4>.coa at y time, frosa tile
turc Of the rround.' Tie battle lasted two y
1erab!closs to the Egyptians &Dd far greater +
the AbyEinf2ns, owing to tile infcrurity Ut y,
c latter IN respect to arms and position. h
This division OF fo7ces, anu tic neglect Of os- q
At Pasfia to bring up his reserve, encouraged d
e Abysssnians 10 continue tho war. and on the u
b OF March, 151G, he attacked Fort Gura, a.
rrtsoncd by 5000 men we'll supplied with n
tli!ery. Large bodies OF skfrr.ishers were
rown ont under .over Of tie underground. 81
&c submits Of the hills a mile distant were Z
1wued with met, wcmen, and children, a,
10 surgcd backwards and forwards, Telling and *ef
lanccs and clubs, ready to fall on -,
. garrison en- nasse as soon as the stormers
i surmoun,ed the brcastworks- OF these
ETC were soult ou-tuHj OF 4V,0Uu. Hlo moved
Idly up and established themselves within
nc forty yards Of the fort, and deadly fight
ieh lasted several hours took place, the frantic
orts OF the stormers proving vain, and the :.
illcry inticting immense destruction among u q
masses on the hills. The AbyssInians final ID
wayered, when charge was ordered, and the 6,
,ken columns we're crushed and scattered.
ortly after, without further fighting, King | \,
IN sued for pezcc, and no hostile movement -
since taken place in Abyssfnia- 8
n the first fight Dr.. 7. johnson, an American "
,geon with tue Egyptians, WAS wounded and b.
ricd off by the Abyss.uians. He was tied to =.
bride OF his captor's horse and dragged r
the animal, which fortunately was not rapid
1enerer he Jagged, stumbled, or fell, he WIS =,
tied to activity by the nonitory pricking Of g
&C, until hall dead With fatigue tie vas PLACED ~
Ter guard in the camp. After sleeping night
the ground he saw early next morning small
lads Of Abyssnians driving their Egyptian
;oncrs, With hands tied, before then, to the
sides. With spear thrusts the captives we're ! n
dc to run, then shot down like par Al
|ges, the wounded being finished with ba
ars, brutal nutilations also being fn- =,
ed upon them, 20 tii.t the few who were y
t back in noekery to the Egyptian camp had 81
son to envy tbcir fellows who were killed
right Finally Dr.. Johnson's turn CAME: but st.
le WIS being dragged to the slaushter-pen IN RI
Fssinian rds "a chief, oaly second III honor W
lis tent and treated him rs guest rather scl
d as pri*oncr.--trally as 4 brother. Hay Pa
no idea of the difference between an E6- mi
1lmap and an American and considering the
.1ish their allies,-had thcT forgotten Theo-
es wars-ttcy treated the Doctor veil and he
not disilluson them. For month he lived !
i his captor. sleeping on amat, his food being ~
fir hard bread and vegetables. washed DOM ] fGee
! milk OF merisEa, the brandy Of the co1lu-, i Sc
At occasional feasts meat .was eaten, Mi