be accomplished was to march over 400 miles of a mountainous
and little-known country, inhabited by savage tribes, to
the camp or fortress of Theodore, and compel him to deliver
up his captives. The commander-in-chief landed on the 7th
of January 1868, and soon after the troops began to move
forward through the pass of Senafe, and southward through
the districts of Agame, Tera, Endarta, Wojerat, Lasta and
Wadela. In the meantime Theodore had been reduced to great
straits. His army, which at one time numbered over 100,000
men, was rapidly deserting him, and he could hardly obtain
food for his followers. He resolved to quit his captial
Debra-Tabor, which he burned, and set out with the remains
of his army for Magdala. During this march he displayed an
amount of engineering skill in the construction of roads, of
military talent and fertility of resource, that excited the
admiration and astonishment of his enemies. On the afternoon
of the 10th of April a force of about 3000 men suddenly poured
down upon the English in the plain of Arogie, a few miles from
Magdala. They advanced again and again to the charge, but
were each time driven back, and finally retired in good
order. Early next morning Theodore sent Lieut. Prideaux, one
of the captives, and Mr Flad, accompanied by a native chief,
to the English camp to sue for peace. Answer was returned,
that if he would deliver up all the Europeans in his hands, and
submit to the queen of England, he would receive honourable
treatment. The captives were liberated and sent away, and
accompanying a letter to the English general was a present
of 1000 cows and 500 sheep, the acceptance of which would,
according to Eastern custom, imply that peace was granted.
Through some misunderstanding, word was sent to Theodore
that the present would be accepted, and he felt that he was
now safe; but in the evening he learned that it had not been
received, and despair again seized him. Early next morning
he attempted to escape with a few of his followers, but
subsequently returned. The same day (13th April) Magdala was
stormed and taken, practically without loss, and within they
found the dead body of the emperor, who had fallen by his own
hand. The inhabitants and troops were subsequently sent
away, the fortifications destroyed and the town burned. The
queen Terunish having expressed her wish to go back to her own
country, accompanied the British army, but died during the
march, and her son Alamayahu, the only legitimate son of the
emperor, was brought to England, as this was the desire of
his father.3 The success of the expedition was in no small
degree owing to the aid afforded by the several native chiefs
through whose country it passed, and no one did more in this
way than Dejaj Kassa or Kassai of Tigre. In acknowledgment of
this, several pieces of ordnance, small arms and ammunition,
with much of the surplus stores, were handed over to
him, and the English troops left the country in May 1868.
Menelek II., king of Shoa (22) It is now time to return
to the story of the young prince Menelek, who, as we have
seen, had been nominated by his late father as ruler of Shoa,
but was in Theodore's power in Tigre. The following table
shows his descent since the beginning of the 19th century:--
Asfa Nassen, d. 1807
|
Wassan Seged = Woizero Zenebe Work
d. 1811 |
|
---------------------------------
| |
Becurraye Sella Selassie = Woizero Betsabesh
(1795-1847) |
|
---------------------------------------------------
| | |
Haeli Melicoth = Ejigayu Siefu Darge
(1825-1855) | (1826-1860) b. 1827
| |
Menelek II. = Taitu Mashasha
b. 1844 |
|
----------------------------------------
| | |
1 son Zauditu Tanina Work
(dead) (Judith) (daughter)
On the retirement of Theodore's forces from Shoa in 1855,
Siefu, brother of Haeli Melicoth, proclaimed himself negus
of Shoa at Ankober, and beat the local representatives of
the northern government. The emperor returned, however,
in 1858, and after several repulses succeeded in entering
Ankober, where he behaved with great cruelty, murdering or
mutilating all the inhabitants. Siefu kept up a gallant
defence for two more years, but was then killed by Kebret,
one of his own chiefs. Thus chaos again reigned supreme in
Shoa. In 1865, Menelek, now a desjazmach 4 of Tigre,
took advantage of Theodore's difficulties with the British
government and escaped to Workitu, queen of the Wollo Galla
country. The emperor, who held as hostage a son of Workitu,
threatened to kill the boy unless Menelek were given up;
but the gallant queen refused, and lost both her son and her
throne. The fugitive meanwhile arrived safely in Shoa, and
was there acclaimed as negus. For the next three years
Menelek devoted himself to strengthening and disciplining
his army, to legislation, to building towns, such as Liche
(near Debra-Berhan), Worra Hailu (Wollo Galla country),
&c., and to repelling the incursions of the Gallas.
King John attains supreme power.
On the death of Theodore (13th April 1868) many Shoans,
including Ras Darge, were released, and Menelek began to
feel himself strong enough, after a few preliminary minor
campaigns, to undertake offensive operations against the
northern princes. But these projects were of little avail,
for Kassai of Tigre, as above mentioned, had by this time
(1872) risen to supreme power in the north. With the help
of the rifles and guns presented to him by the British,
he had beaten Ras Bareya of Tigre, Wagshum Gobassie of
Amhara and Tekla Giorgis of Condar, and after proclaiming
himself negus negusti under the name of Johannes or John,
was now preparing to march on Shoa. Here, however, Menelek
was saved from probable destruction through the action of
Egypt. This power had, by the advice of Werner Munzinger
(q.v.), their Swiss governor of Massawa, seized and
occupied in 1872 the northern province of Bogos; and, later
on, insisted on occupying Hamasen also, for fear Bogos
should be attacked. John, after futile protests, collected
an army, and with the assistance of Ras Walad Michael,
hereditary chief of Bogos, advanced against the Egyptian
forces, who were under the command of one Arendrup, a
Dane. Meeting near the Mareb, the Egyptians were beaten in
detail, and almost annihilated at Gundet (13th November
1875). An avenging expedition was prepared in the spring
of the following year, and, numbering 14,000 men under Ratib
Pasha, Loring (American), and Prince Hassan, advanced to
Gura and fortified a position in the neighbouthood. Although
reinforced by Walad Michael, who had now quarrelled with
John, the Egyptians were a second time (25th March 1876)
heavily beaten by the Abyssinians, and retired, losing an
enormous quantity of both men and rifies. Colonel C. G.
Gordon, governor-general of the Sudan, was now ordered to
go and make peace with John, but the king had moved south
with his army, intending to punish Menelek for having raided
Gondar whilst he, John, was engaged with the Egyptians.
(23) Menelek's kingdom was meanwhile torn in twain by serious
dissensions, which had been instigated by his concubine
Bafana. This lady, to whom he was much attached, had been
endeavouring to secure the succession of one of her own sons
to the throne of Shoa, and had almost succeeded in getting
rid of Mashasha, son of Siefu and cousin of Menelek, who
was the apparent heir. On the approach of John, the Shoans
united for a time against their common enemy. But after a
few skirmishes they melted away, and Menelek was obliged to
submit and do obeisance to John. The latter behaved with
much generosity, but at the same time imposed terms which
effectually deprived Shoa of her independence (March 1878).
In 1879 Gordon was sent on a fresh mission to John on behalf of
Egypt; but he was treated with scant courtesy, and was obllgcd
to leave the country without achieving anything permanent.
Beginning of Italian influence.
The Italians now come on the scene. Assab, a port near the
southern entrance of the Red Sea, had been bought from the
focal sultan in March 1870 by an Italian company, which,
after acquiring more land in 1879 and 1880, was bought
out by the Italian government in 1882. In this year Count
Pietro Antonelli was despatched to Shoa in order to improve
the prospects of the colony by treaties with Menelek and
the sultan of Aussa. Several missions followed upon this
one, with more or less successful results; but both John and
Menelek became uneasy when Beilul, a port to the north of
Assab Bay, was occupied by the Italians in January 1885, and
Massawa taken over by them from Egypt in the following month.
This latter act was greatly resented by the Abyssinians, for
by a treaty concluded with a British and Egyptian mission
under Admiral Hewett and Mason Pasha 5 in the previous
year, free transit of goods was to be allowed through this
port. Matters came to a head in January 1887, when the
Abyssinians, in consequence of a refusal from General Gene
to withdraw his troops, surrounded and attacked a detachment
of 500 Italian troops at Dogali, killing more than 400 of
them. Reinforcements were sent from Italy, whilst in the
autumn the British government stepped in and tried to mediate
by means of a mission under Mr (afterwards Sir Gerald)
Portal. His mission, however proved abortive, and after many
difficulties and dangers he returned to Egypt at the end of the
year. In April 1888 the Italian forces, numbering over 20,000
men, came into touch with the Abyssinian army; but negotiations
took the place of fighting, with the result that both forces
retired, the Italians only leaving some 5000 troops in
Eritrea, as their colony was now called. Meanwhile John had
not been idle with regard to the dervishes, who had in the
meantime become masters of the Egyptian Sudan. Although he
had set his troops in motion too late to relieve Kassala,
Ras Alula, his chief general, had succeeded in inflicting
a handsome defeat on Osman Digna at Kufit in September
1885. Fighting between the dervishes and the Abyssinians
continued, and in August 1887 the dervishes entered and
sacked Gondar. After some delay, King John took the field
in force against the enemy, who were still harassing the
north-west of his territory. A great battle ensued at
Gallabat, in which the dervishes, under Zeki Tumal, were
beaten. But a stray bullet struck the king, and the Abyssinians
decided to retire. The king died during the night, and his
body fell into the hands of the enemy (9th March 1889).
Menelek emperor.
(24) Immediately the news of John's death reached Menelek,
he proclaimed himself emperor, and received the submission
of Gondar, Gojam and several other provinces. In common
with other northern princes, Mangasha, reputed son and heir
of King John, with the yellow-eyed Ras Alula,6 refused to
acknowledge the sovereignty of Menelek; but, on the latter
marching against them in the following January with a large
