We can feel no pity for this inhuman monster; and should he resist, there
is every hope that he will be killed in the fight. Sir Robert Napier
declined to grant any conditions whatever, demanding an instant surrender
of the whole of the prisoners and of the fortress, promising only that
Theodore and his family should be honourably treated. With this answer the
two captives returned, but came back again at three o’clock with a message
from Theodore, begging that better terms might be offered him. Sir Robert
Napier was most reluctantly obliged to refuse, and the captives again
returned amidst the sorrowful anticipations of the camp. At half-past six,
to the great joy of all, Mr. Flad came in with the news that the captives
would all be in in an hour; and at seven the whole of them came in safe
and sound, with the exception of Mrs. Flad and her children. She, being
unable to walk, had been left behind by the carelessness or haste of
Rassam, to whom the business had been intrusted by Theodore. This person,
Rassam, is very unpopular among the rest of the prisoners; the only person
who seems to have liked him being Theodore himself, to whom his demeanour,
so different from that of Prideaux and Blanc, had to a certain extent
ingratiated him. I trust that to-morrow will see Mrs. Flad and her
children safe in the camp, and then one of the objects of our expedition
will have been completely and satisfactorily attained. Theodore has until
mid-day to surrender Magdala; and if he does not do so, we shall storm it
to-morrow night or next day. Some more scaling-ladders are in process of
preparation, the materials being the long bamboo dhoolie-poles for the
sides, and the handles of pickaxes for the rungs. The ladders are about
five feet wide and twenty long.
I close this letter now; but anticipate that my next, describing the fall
of Magdala, will be in time for the same post by which this reaches
England.
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
April 12th.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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