Narrative of Captivity in Abyssinia with Some Account of the Late Emperor the Late Emperor Theodore, His Country and PeopleBlanc, Henry
History
Narrative of Captivity in Abyssinia with Some Account of the Late Emperor the Late Emperor Theodore, His Country and People
Blanc, Henry
Abyssinian Expedition (1867-1868); Ethiopia -- History -- 1490-1889; Theodore II, Negus of Ethiopia, -1868
The Rev. Mr. Stern has ably described the painful captivity which
he and his fellow-sufferers experienced up to their first release
on the arrival of our mission in the beginning of 1865; how they
were dragged from Gondar to Azazo; the horrid torture inflicted
upon them on the 12th of May: their long march in chains from Azazo
to Magdala; their confinement in chains on that amba in the common
jail; and the horrid tale of sufferings and misery they had for so
many months to endure. Suffice it to say, that on the date of
Captain Cameron's note--14th of February, 1864--which gave the first
intimation of their imprisonment, the captives, eight altogether,
were Captain Cameron and his followers (Kerans, Bavdel, McKilvie,
Makerer, and Pietro), Messrs. Stern and Rosenthal.
Much of what I have said, and a great deal of what I have still to
narrate, would appear unintelligible if I were not to describe the
conduct Theodore had adopted towards foreigners. It is plain, from
facts that I will now adduce, that Theodore had for several years
systematically insulted them. He did so partly to dazzle the people
with his power, and partly because he believed that complete impunity
would always attend his grossest misdeeds.
In December, 1856, David, the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria, arrived
in Abyssinia, bearer of certain presents for Theodore, and the
expression of the good-will of the Pasha of Egypt. The fame of
Theodore had spread far and wide in the Soudan; and probably the
Egyptian authorities, in order to save that province from being
plundered, or unwilling to engage at the time in an expensive war
with their powerful neighbour, adopted that expedient as the best
suited to appease the ire of their former foe. As usual, Theodore
found an excuse for the ill treatment he inflicted upon the aged
Patriarch, on the ground that a diamond cross presented to him was
only intended as an insult: it meant, he said, that they considered
him as a vassal; and on the Patriarch proposing that he should send
a letter to the Pasha, accompanied with suitable presents, and that
the Pasha would in return send him fire-arms, cannons, and officers
to drill his troops, his Majesty exclaimed, "I see, they now desire
me to declare myself their tributary."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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