ABYSSINIA.

Press, Volume XII, Issue 1693, 7 April 1868, Page 3

ABYSSINIA.

We take tlie following account of the progress of our troops in Abyssinia from tho " Guardiau" of the 22nd January : —

G-eueral Merewether and party have made a tour beyond Senafe, as far as Attegrat—not with any political object in view, for any political move beyond the first plateau has been strictly forbidden by Sir Eobert Napier till he should be on the spot himself, but to gain a knowledge of the country. Their report is fairly encouraging. According to a summary of it given by one of the correspondents —

Of the thirty-seven miles between Senafe and Attegrafc only two or three rocky nullahe will have to be operated upon in order to render the route selected passable for all beasts of burden ; and even in these few ravines the work will be mere child's-play in comparison to those now all but flnished in the Sooroo and Rayray-Guddee passes by the Sappers and Miners. Though there are moderate supplies of grain around Attegrat, there is by no means enough to support even a small cavalry brigade. The base of supplies would, therefore, still have to be in India.

A letter from Zoula Camp states that " the climate of the plain has not hitherto proved in the slightest degree unhealthy to the men; in fact, with the exception of a few hours in the morning and early part of the day, which are very oppressive, the weather is all that could be desired. M. Munzinger, who has known these parts for fifteen years, never remembers a similar absence of rain in November and December ; and neither he nor the natives can account for the peculiarity of this season." It is added that—

Provisions and liquor of all iinds begin to command fabulous prices ; beer is 18s per dozen, and sugary champagne £5. Every drop of water consumed by man or beaet costs the Government at the rate of from Is to 2s 6d per gallon. Candles and eoap are very scarce. The most eagerly sought for articles are tea, mustard, salt pepper, and sauces, to flavour the daily recurring goat and cow supplied by the commissariat.

The t: Times " special correspondent dates a letter from Annesley Bay, December 24, 1867, in which he says that such gloomy accounts reached Senafe of the state of affairs at Annesley Bay even that ugly, ill-omened word Balaklava beginning to .make itself heard — that he thought it advisable to return to his old quarters, and see what foundation there really was for these reports. He could not discover any. The health of the troops was all that could be wished. There wajs plenty of good food, and, though the allowance of water was short, the troops had had enough to keep them in good condition : —

The transports are coming in safely and rapidly with stores —thirteen vessels have arrived in the last two days, and there are in harbour about forty altogether ; and the landing and arranging of the stores are going on expeditiously, and without any of the confusion which did such mischief at Balaklava, though it will take some time before means can be provided for landing supplies sufficient for the whole force. Above all, thefe is a safe road open to Abyssinia, and a fair promise of considerable assistance there in the shape of supplies.

The only sufferers, he says, are the mules, the muleteers, and the British taxpayer. The mules have been dying by the hundred: — Thirty-one died in this place alone last night, and probably many more along the road between this and Senafe. This mortality is perhaps chiefly due to the terrible disease which I have before mentioned, and against which no precautions could have been taken, but it is also in great measure due to sheer neglect. Even up to the present moment there is not a sufficient supply of men to take care of the mules; at first the supply was utterly inadequate, and moat of what muleteers we have are in a state bordering on mutiny, and little disposed to take even ordinary care of their charges. Two huudred and seventy deserters were brought back yesterday from Masaowah by the Egyptian authorities. They j are, no donbt, disorderly, unmanageable fel- | lows, but it cannot be denied that they have been very badly treated —not indeed deliberately, but still it is somewhat scanty consolation to know that you are being killed altogether by an oversight. They complain bitterly that they were brought here under a promise of proper clothing and nourishment,

but that up at Senafe they have sufferel cruelly from want of warm- clothing—one man actually died there from cold the day before I left— and that down here, under a burning sun, they suffer scarcely less from want of w«ter. vTarm clothes are being rapidy proriiled for them, thanks to the prompt humanity of Captain Griffith a-id I.u-sitenant S'icw;-il, who have run the risk of being emibbe-d hr this unauthorised expenditure of public mniicy by some zealous controller of accounts. But enough wnier is not yet to be had, in eon>oquence of there being a to) scanty supply of condensers, so that men and mules suffer from thirst, and many of the latter die.

The average cost of a mule which has reached the camp is estimated at £10, so, if this be correct, says the writer, there was a dead loss of over £1200 in this place alone last night : —

It was worse than useless to send mujes here without proper equipments and muleteers. The dfficie-ney of water, moreover, in such a country as this ought to have been foreseen and guarded iigainst by an ample supply of condensers. It is said, though Ido not know on what authority, that there are peninsular and oriental condensers now lying for sale at Suez. The piping which was promised from Bombay two months ago, in order to bring water from Koornaylee ond the Weeah River, hue not yet been sent. The officers here were left till quite recenlty with absurdly inadequate establishments, and heads of departments, who ought to have been on the spot actively engaged in organising their own arrangements, have remained, for no intelligible reason, at Bombay. There has been, too, no lack of the small blunders which seem inseparable from all British official undertakings. An European regiment, the 33rd, cannot be moved up to Senafe because no warm clothes have yet arrived for them, and though it seems like a joke, it is really true that they have Enfield rifles and Snider ammunition. The Huider ritles, however, are eaid io hare been started in good time, but to hare been delayed accidentally on the way. Yesterday over a hundred "coolies" or labourers from the railway were landed —like the doctors and engineers I before told you of —without tents, If the rains, which have been for some time expected hourly, were to come on, half these men might be down with rheumatism or fever in a week, for during the rainy season this is by no means a healthy place. For some of these and similar blunders, notably that of sending no iron chains for the mules, which make nothing of gnawing through the thickest ropes, the Home authorities are responsible, but the chief sine of omission and commission lie at the door of Bombay.

The Shohoes continued our friends ; one of the chiefs himself brought two thieves into the camp for puuishinent. They are lending us invaluablo assistance now by carrying rice up to Senafe on their bullocks which I may meution by tho way, seem better adapted for transport in this country than mules. The bullocks escape—l believe entirely—the disease which has played such havock with mules horses, and even to a slight extent, camel.-*. Coming down the Koomaylee Pass, more especially at Kayray Guddee, instead of the fragrance of flowers which had saluted us on our way up, wo found the air poisoned by the sickening stench of carrion, the gorged vultures and hysenas having more carcasses than even their voracity could dis-

pose of.

In a second letter, dated 2nd instant, he says they had had that morning a first instalment of the rain declared due early in November, but there was no attempt to make up for arrears. The shower lasted little more than an hour, and for the greater part of this was only a feeble drizzle :—

It is here a question, however, whether we are not better without rain than with ic. The natives say that if the rains begin the horses and baggage animals will die by hundreds, and our doc.ors are afraid of fever and dysentery. Tor the last few days, moreover, there has been an abundant supply of water from the steamers, and yesterday two condensers on land, one supplying 4,000 gallons a day, the other 2,000, were got into working order, thanks to the energy of Captain Goodfellow, and to the cordial support which he has received from Captain l.yde, to whom, as chief naval oiFicer, the water supply was entrusted, and whose men, always ready for any and every job in their way or out of their way, have worked with the heartiness which all over the world distinguishes the British sailor. A hot spring has also been discovered, with the assistance of the American pump sent out from England, at Koomaylee, and as Kooinayl—the ee first depot on the road to Senafe —is only thirteen miles from Annesley Bay, there is some talk of having the water brought down here in pipes ; or, as Lieutenant Willans has already more than half completed his railway from Koomaylee and one locomotive has arrived, a supply of water might before long be sent here daily by rail. A still more welcome discovery of water has been made up in the Senafe pass. One of the great difficulties of the pass was the want of water between Upper Sooroo and Eayray Guddee —a distance of nearly thirty miles. A well has just been made, containing a fair supply, at Undul, which is about half-way between these two places, and the American pump will probably discover more water there. This will enable a depot to be formed et Undul, and thus greatly facilitate the movement of troops and supplies up to Senafe.

Keferring again to the commissariat arrangements, the correspondent says a large army advancing through such a country as Abyssinia can be fed only at an outlay of labour and time every hour of which is costing the nation thousands. The water alone costs so much that the proposal which was so laughed at to supply the force with yin ordinaire might almost have proved an economical one. And though, from the want of transport, the commissariat has been glad enough to get grain carried up to Senafe by the Shohoes, these extortioners charge so ruthlessly that the mere carriage of the grain a distance of sixty-three miles costs very nearly as much as its original price in Bombay. The correspondent gives the positions of the regiments when he wrote. He says —

TJp at Senafe there are the 3rd Light Cavalry, the 10th Native Infantry, and Major Marett's Mountain Train. Four companies of Sappers and the 27th Native Infantry (Beloochees) are hard at work roadmaking in the pass. Two companies of Sappers (Madras) are down here, engaged upon the railway und a second pier, which is intended solely for the use of the commissariat, and is being rapidly completed. In addition to t' ese, we have now two English regiment*, the 4th and 33rd, two companies of Artillery (3-21 and 5-21), two nat.ve regiments, the 3rd and 25th, and the first instalment—about a troop—of the Scinde Horse. We have therefore altogether in round numbers about 6000 fighting men here (about one-third being British), and perhaps about the same number of followers. Of muleteers there are, according to the last returns, 1365 to 4200 mules, and of camel-drivers 700 to 1739 camels. There are also 376 ponies, 257 drught bullocks. The muleteers and camel-drivers, though gradually getting into better working order, still gave a great deal of trouble.

Great credit is given to the Bengal detachment of the expedition, which sent out the only well-equipped body of mules. The correspondent says — A gentleman just arrived from Bombay, an independent, unbiassed witness—l may add, not an official —tells mc that owing to exaggerated rumours spread about the bazaars by loafers and deserters from the force, no muleteers or labourers could be got to embark for Abyieinia. If this statement be correct, it helps to account for what here baa been eon*

sidered the extraordinary apathy or helplessness of tho Bombay authorities. It i< also alleged, though this looks rather like the malicious defence of some false friend, that equipments were put on board each transport at Boinb.u, but that the mules, who no doubt possess in a rare degree the cynical Freneli' man's two requisites for happiness—a go I stomaoh and a bad heart —were disloyal enough to devour thorn. If so, the mortality among these graceless animals, arising ns it did in great measure from the want of ropes and headstalls to secure them, ought perhaps to be looked upon as a righteous retribution.

The arrival of Sir Robert Napier is mentioned at the end of a third letter, dated January 3. There were reports from Senate that the supply of grain was already almost exhausted, and that for some distanco further on into the interior of Abyssinia—and perhaps throughout the whole country —the army would be compelled to rely on its commissariat. A dry season, an invasion of locusts, and the unsettled state of affairs, every man's hand being against everybody's, had all combined to create au unusual scarcity:—

This makes it all the more noeessary to reduce the advancing force as much as posaiblo. General Merewether, in his recent excursion to Attegrat, a place, about thirtyseven miles fr'in Senafe, on the ro.id to Antalo, found the chiefs still friendly, but engaged in all sorts of disputes among themselves, in which they wished as usual to involve the British. The road to Attegrat was good, and is said to continue good to Antalo. After that probably the hardest part of our journey to Magdala and Debrn Tabor will commence. Happily, as some set-off against the scarcity of grain, there ie abundance of grass in the country, and this will greatly lighten tho labours of the commissariat.

Since my last letter sereral officers of high rank and heads of departments have arrived. Colonel Lucas has taken over charge of the commissariat from Major Mignon, and expresses himself highly satisfied with the state iv which he finds it. Major Mignon hue filled perhaps the most arduous and really responsible post here, and he lias worked as few men will, and still fewer can work. Major Warden the director of the Land Transport Corps, is oqii-illy well pleaso < with the work done by his subordinates. Indeed, whatever may he thought of the management of tho expedition at Bombay, there can be but one opinion as to the zeal, energy, and pluck, never flagging undnr tho most disheartening difliculties with which work haa been carried on here.

Two amusing stories are told by another correspondent:—

While General Mere wether and Colonel Phayre wore in the highlands, considerably beyond the first plateau, and while enjoying their morning meal, a Shoho rushed in breathless haste into their tent, and communicated to them the startling intelligence that an innumerable army of Abyseiniiiis wero within a mile or two of their camp, and were approaching with the expressed determination of swallowing them up, camp and all. Not so greatly startled as their informant hoped they would be, they told tho Shoho, through tho medium of Dr. Krapf, who was with them, that under the circumstances, everything must give pluce to breakfast. For curiosity's sake, a few men of the 3rd Light Cavalry wero sent out to see what foundation there was for the story. The officer iv charge reported seeing a motley'group of Agami, siuic armed with firelocks, others with bludgeons, proceeding upon their lawful avocation, viz., to be revenged upon the Shohoes, for some insult or raid of which they (the Agatni) had been the victims. The mendacious rascal had been despatched by his tribe to carry the nows in question, in the hope that it might lead to the crowd of Agami being swallowed up by a hand' ful of the Light Cavalry. Another i. an who brought a eitnilar message to Senafe, and who was believed to be a epy of Theodore's, was told to examine the camp, the men, the horses, and the equipments, and to report to his master all ho had eeen. He was also requested to inform all the chiefs that while the English very much preferred peace, they were intensely fond of fighting, and left it to the Abyssinians to decide which they should have. A copy of Sir Kobert Napier's proclamation was given him to carry to Theodore, and then he went his way.

The two correspondents of the " Standard" have already got into trouble with Colonel Merewether, and were refused leave to accompany the advanced exploring expedition. They say it is because they wrote home a strong account of the state of the dying mules and general confusion at Zulla when they arrived, attributing the state of matters to a great extent to the over-coloured statements of Colonel Merewether and Phayre in respect of water and forage, and to the absence of the latter from the great business point at the landing-place. In a letter just received the correspondents take their revenge. One of them says —

Colonel Merewether is an Indian officer. He has been a little autocrat for many years over the naked savages of Aden, and he lives behind his time. " These newspaper fellows must be put down." Unfortunately for Colonel Merewether special correspondents are not to be so very easily put down. We have come out here to write the truth respecting what is going on. Fortunately, the chiefs of the expeditioDary army are men of more extended views and of very different sentiments. Sir Robert Napier, Sir Charles Stavely, and Governor Fitzgerald all stated to mc that they wished that the exact state of things should be published.

The correspondent of the " Standard" has been back to Annesley Bay, and he gives a gratifying and interesting account of the improvements made in the Koomaylee Pass. Of the point of greatest difficulty, the Sooroo gorge, he says—

When I last rode up it was all but impracticable for loaded animals, and loaded camels were unable to get through the narrow places. Now a path winds here and there among the rosks, down which I was able to ride my horse without the smallest difficulty. The worst part of the journey was the passage of the thirty long miles between Bayray (Juddee and the Sooroo without water, except a bucket of pea-soup-coloured etuff at Guinea-fowl Plain for the animals. Aβ we rode down this dry, parched valley for thirty miles, occasionally meeting detachments of weary men, who asked us" pitifully how far it was to water, we could not help thinking of a certain report, in which it is stated from Sooroo to Senafe, about thirty miles more, water never fails.

At Koomaylee itself some of the " Douglas pitcher spout pumps " had been sunk with the best effect. The writer describee them : —

They consist of a Dumber of thin iron tubes like gas pipes, ecrowing into each other, the lowest one terminating in a sharp spike of slightly bulbous form, so that, being thicker than the rod itself, it only touches the soil through which it is driven at that point, thus greatly diminishing tho friction and resistance. The whole rod is driven down, fresh lengths being added as required, and then a pump is established without the labour of sinking a well. The whole thing is simple in the extreme, and admirably adapted for clay or gravel soils. It could, however, hardly be expected to be successful in the bed of a torrent, where the gravel is mixed with blocks of stone of every size, as it is evident that a hollow pipe could not be driven through solid rock. It might be expected occasionally if the point comes full upon one of these great boulders it will go no further, and a trial must ! be made in come other spot 5 bat the tube appears in nine eases out of tea to push

any obstacle aside, or else to turn and bend round ii, so us fin'illy lo roueh the required depth.

The exploring party went forward to Attegrat, a place of sumo size, about thirty-five miles from Senate. At Attegrat a largo fair was going on, and very large quantities of cattle, sheep, goats, ponies, and mules, together with grain, chillies, honey, &c, were exposed for sale. The appearance of the escort of cavalry excited the greatest curiosity, aud the party were almost mobbed as they walked through tho fair. On parts of the route they passed through enormous llightH of locusts, which the people wero endeavouring to irighten away from their fields by beating drums and pieces of metil together, and by lighting great fires. The " Daily News " correspondent says the death statistics of the troop 3 show a less per-centago than in London, and the appearance oi tho men is fresh and elastic.

THE LIVINGSTONE EXPEDITION

[From the •' West Indian and Piiellic Mail," Feb. I.]

The return of the expedition sent in quest of l>r. Livingstone has proved that tho reported death of the celebrated African ex* plorer was untrue. At the meeting of tha Royal Geographical Society on Mondiy evening last, an interesting outline of tho proceedings of the expedition was given by Mr. Young, the loader of tho bravo party who volunteered to go into the interior of Africa, to ascertain whether the intelligence of Livingstone's death was triu> or filse. Tho explorers loft Simon's Town in tho middle oC July, and on reaching Lako Nyassa, they were driven by a gale into a email bay, where they found a native, who reported to them that a white man had been there. Captain Faulkner and the rest of the expedition feared at first that the news was too good to bo true, and it was resolved to endeavour to reach a point higher up, at which there wns an Arab crossing-plato, near Mont Mombo, a point about twenty miles from the spot at which tho boat was anchored. In carrying this inteu tion into effect, they fell in with a large party of native fishermen, and, on communicating with them, received a similar account to that which had been previously given them. These people described the dress and general appearnnce of the " white man," which tallied very closely indeed with those of Dr. Livingstone. These men, having been shown some surveying instruments, appeared to recognize and to understand the use ol them. One of them produced a spoon, and a second a knife, wl.ich they had received as presents from Dr. Livingstone. As a further test, Captain Faulkner exhibited a case of photographs, aud without any hesitation, that of Dr. Livingstone was recognized as tho picture of the white man. This gave the searching party increased confidence, and they proceeded on to tho crossing place. Mr. Young says, " During our passage up the river, we heard several reports that a white man twelve months before, had stopped at Maponda for some time, having crossed from the opposite eide, and that, after resting there some time, he had gone on in a westerly direction. I now felt almost convinced that it must have been Livingstone, but I almost feared to stop thero; for I felt certain, had tho Makololo been satisfied that it was him, they would have gone no farther ; for my agreement with them wne that, as soon as wo had eutiefactory evidence that the Doctor had gono on in safety, or that he had been killed in tho way described by the Johanna men, that I would return with them immediately. But now, as it appeared that he had paseed over tho south end of Nyassa instead of tho north, I wanted to find out where he had first struck the lako." They afterwards arrived at the Arab settloment, where they whore kindly received, and found all that they had heard before waa quite correct. Livingstone waited at this plaro nino or ten dnys for tho Arab boat, which did not arrive, bo ho started south again, and they traced him as far as Maponda. They visited the house Livingstone lived in during his stay, nnd purchased a fow articles (all English make) that ho had traded with, each as small round looking glasses, a knife, razor, and iron spoons. Of course, most of the calicoes were already worn out, but the chief still possessed an Indian manufactured scarf that Livingstone had presented to him on leaving. They obtatined other trilling articles, in the shape of barter goods, and, while wait* ing for the return of the Makololo, obtained from a chief further south, an English Common Prayer Book, which he stated had been left behind by the Englishman in the house he slept at.

At several other points the natives stated that they had seen the white man, and they all maintained that ho had travelled on towards Loangwa. On the 19th of Soptember Marenga was reached, and on landing, the natives, as soon as they were told we were English, gave us a. hearty welcome. Mr. Young asked at once to see Marenga, when he was conducted up to his house by one of hia wives. Marenga rushed towards him, and seizing him by the hand, shook it heartily, saying," Whore have you come from, and where ie your brother that was here last year?" As soon as ho told him he had oome to follow him, he said he had come there from Maponda, had stopped there two days ; he was very kind to him, making him presents, and he in return gave htm what food he required. Livingstone gave him medicine, which was done up in doses. . The paper he used was part of a Nautical Almanac for the year 1866. He had seen him before; he said he saw him when he was up here with a boat a long time ago. He traced him for more than a month's journey off, giving the names of the places in regular order. Marenga stated that the Johanna men returned after being absent two days. They gave as their reason for returning that they had only agreed with Livingstone to take his goods as far ac they liked. Captain Faulkner and Mr. Young regarded this information as conclusive, but with the view of discovering the position of Maponda'a settlement, they proceeded on farther. Maponda was away from the village on a trading expedition ; but hie mother, who was at home, informed the party that Dr. Livingstone had passed through there, end that some of hia party subsequently returned. The mother of the chief further produced a Prayer-book containing the name of one of the Doctor's followers, who bad been left behind on account of lameness The Johanna men had represented this boy, who was named Waikutanee, as having deserted. She swore, in the presence of all, that the Maponda had not taken any of their guns, neither did any of the party die there. She stated that the Englishman was a great friend with her sons, and that if any one had molested him they would have gone out to war with him. Marenga also told them the same, and they felt convinced had he died there they would have heard it from some of the numbers who had been questioned on the subject. The evidence which had been obtained at so many different points and from such a number of witnesses satisfied Mr. Young that the object they had in view had been obtained, and, acting upon the instructions issued to ihem, they resolved to return. There appeared not the slightest reason to doubt the substantial correctness of the information they had obtained, that Livingstone had paused safely through the most dangerous portion of his journoy, and had made good hie advance into the interior, with an apparent intention of descending the Nile into Egypt. They accordingly desoended the Shire, and in due time arrived at Simon's Town, en route to England. We must congratulate Mr. Young on the succeeaful termination of his labours, which were carried out with a degree of perseverance which fully showed how deeply interested he was in his mission, and we hope he will receive some substantial reward for the valuable services he has rendered. Anxiously we look for tidings of Livingstone, now, we trust, on his homeward journey, and an enthusiastic reception will assuredly bo given the illustrious tr&reUer directly he eete itofc m British soil.