THE BRITISH AT MAGDALA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4260, 14 November 1874, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE BRITISH AT MAGDALA.

The second part of Mr. H. M. Stanley's recent book on Africa, devoted to the British campaign under the command of Sir Kobert Napier, which terminated in the surrender of Magdala and the death of Theodore, the Abyssinian Emperor, is a desultory, but fresh and spirited narativc, abounding with details of personal adventure, related in a lively and picturesque style, with too great eagerness for effect, and destitute of the compactness and precision which are more important to the descriptive writer than glowing epithets or pointed terms of expression. A single specimen, recounting the circumstances of tho Emperor's death at the assault on Magdala, will interest our readers. "The whole regiment, now urged by the bold example of their daring comrades, scrambled up the almost perpendicular slope, and after a few minutes of breathless work they surmounted the ledges, and seeing men suspiciously moving about on the summit of Magdala they opened fire, at once sweeping them away as with a breath. " Intruding their rifles into the interstices of the hurdle fence which topped the wall, they lifted it up, aud in a second had passed over the lower defences. Scattering themselves over the ground, they made simultaneously for the other defence, which was 75ft. above them, passing over several ghastly relics of the battle. " Shortly we heard them firing quickly, eagerly, as they discovered their enemies moving about. Then were heard their clubbed muskets beating a fierce ' rat-tat-tat' upon the gates. Big rocks were thrown by them with a crashing force against the gates, and now and again they pertinaciously fired through every crevice and loophole. Neither gate, nor fence, nor stone wall, nor bruah heap, nor even sheer rocks and strong barriers could stop the excited Irishmen ; and no sooner had their bayonets gleamed through the fence than it was laid prostrate, and a wild 'huzza!' 'hurrup !' and 'hoorah !' was shouted out as they leaped over. Forward before them they flung their bristling rifles, and fired volleys into the very faces of the Abyssinians ! " But wo must not forget the Icarian charge of Drummer McGuire and Private Bergin upon Magdala. The two men were advancing onward, a few paces from each other, to the upper revetment, when they saw about a dozen fellows aiming at them. They instantly opened fire, and so quick and so well delivered was it that but few of their assailants escaped. Seeing a host of redcoats advancing upward, the others retreated precipitately. Over the upper revetment both men made their way, and at the same time they observed a man standing near a haystack, with a revolver in his hand. When he saw them prepare to fire he ran behind a haystack, aud both men heard plainly a shot fired. Marching on with their Snidera on the present, they came to the haystack, and saw the man who had run behind lying prostrate on the ground, dying, with the revolver still convulsively clutched in his right hand. To their minds tho revolver -was but their proper loot, and without any ceremony they took up what they considered their own ; but on a silver plate on the stock, during an examination of it, they perceived an inscription which read thus : —'Presented by Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, to Theodorus, Emperor of Abyssinia, as a slight token of her gratitude for his kindness to her servant Plowden, 1851.' " ' E'what d'ye think, Pat; can this be that unblessed devil of a Theodorous, tho No-goose as they call him ?' asked McGuire. " 'Meb-be, Mac ; can't say; butwehad better shtop near him till the sergeant shows his phiz inside Mag-da-la. Och, here he comes.' " They saw a swaying lino of Irish soldiers advancing, and at once these two heroes raised | their sun helmets, and swinging them round their heads, they shouted the warlike cry of the [Anglo-Saxons, 'Hurrah!' with the'strength of umisual lungs, to greet their comrades. " With heads bent low, like charging bison, the 'Duke's Own' camo surging up almost intact; the colour-bearer in the centre ; officers cool and martial-like to the rear of companies, all striding audaciously forward, alert, keen-eyed, and prompt as tinder to burst into a white-heat blaze upon the slightest provocation. Near tho spot where the dying man, who had been drawn out to the open, lay, the centre of the regiment halted. " At this momont the rain ceased, and tho sun shone forth into tho full power of his departing splendour. " Eagerly stopped out the standard-bearer at tho word of command, and high and triumphant, in all its silken bravery, streamed tho ' Wavy Cross' emblem of Britannia's majesty and power, above tho surrounding world of mountains—an omen to all beholders that the tyrant emperor had boon humbled and that his proudest stronghold, Magdala, had passed into the strangers' hands. As it fluttered and rippled in mid air, the : 'Duke's Own' doffed helmets, and simultaneously, in the acumo of enthusiasm, they raised their voices, in cheers which sounded to those on Islamgeo, 500 feet below, like tho deep roar of an ocean's tide. Tho cheers were recognised, caught up, and flung from Magdala to Selassa, thence to Fahla, and that gray crag aentit quivering far below; finally tho British camp nearly two miles off caught the sounds, and strengthened the universal ' Hurrah' ' by their own exuberant voices. Strains of music burst from tho martial bands. The national anthem of England, ' God Save the Queen,' was never sung or played with greater effect and vigor than when tho hoary crags o£ Magdala responded to its notes in an overwhelming chorus of echoes ! "A few unarmed Abyssinians, attracted by the clamor of music and shouting, mustered courage enough to approach the standard, which waved so gaily in tho mountain gale, and on beholding ono of their countrymen on the ground, they bent over tho body, but quickly recoiled with fearful dismay on their faces, exclaiming, ' Todros I Todros I' "The words attracted the attention of every ono, and together they strode towards tho body, jostling each other eagerly in tho ondeavor to obtain a glimpse of him tho

natives styled 'Todros, Negus, Negashi of Itiopia !' " Aud what did they see ? The body of a native seemingly half-famished, clad in. coarse ■upper garments, dingy with wear, ragged with tear, covering under garments of clean linen ! " The face of deep brown was the most remarkable one in Abyssinia ; it bore the appearance of one who had passed through many anxious hours. His eyes, now overspread with a deathly film, gave evidence yet of tho piercing power for -which they were celebrated. The mouth was well defined and thin-lipped. The lower lip seemed well adapted to express Bcorn, and a trace of it was still visible. As he gasped his last, two rows of .whitest teeth were disclosed. Over his mouth two strong lines arched to a high aquiline nose. The nostrils expanded widely as he struggled to retain the breath which was rapidly leaving him. Tho face was broad, high-cheek-boned, with a high, prominent forehead, and overhanging eyebrows. The hair was divided into three large plaits extending from the forehead to the back of the neck, which latter appeared; to be a very tower of strength. The body measured sft. Bin., and was very muscular and broad-chested. There was a character aboiit the features denoting great firmness or obstinacy mingled with ferocity; but perhaps the latter idea was suggested upon remembering the many cruelties ascribed to him. And thus was it that we saw the remains of him whom men called Theodoras, Emperor of Abyssinia, the Descendant of Menilek ; Son of Solomon, King of Kings, Lord of Earth, Conqueror of Ethiopia, Regenerator of Africa, and Saviour of Jerusalem, now dying—dead by his own hand ! "At the post-mortem examination the surgeons found that, except a slight flesh wound in the right leg,' he was uninjured by foreign missiles. The palate was destroyed and the roof of the mouth scorched, and a hole was found through the back of the head. The united opinion of the medical authorities was that a pistol fired hi the mouth had caused the death. "Fitting punishment was it that the red right hand, which had bereft so many hapless ones of their lives, should have deprived that of its outlawed owner. Fitting was it also that the banner of St. George should first shadow his body, as it first proclaimed his downfall. "The Irish soldiers took hold of his legs, and roughly carried him to a hammock, where, after two or three gasps, he breathed his last. " Curious remarks were passed upon the body by the dense groups which surrounded it. One man, with a spice of Latin in him, uttered sententiously, ' Sic semper tyrannis,' to which many a one responded heartily 'Amen and amen !' Another Celtic warrior hoped the scoundrel would trouble ' nobody no more ;' and another, with some regard for decency, covered up the bared - abdomen, evened the nether limbs, and folded the arms upon the breast. " Larger grew the crowd around the body. Officers and privates as they came up hastened to get a glimpse of it. The roleased captives hurried to obtain a farewell glance at then- dead captor, and when they recognised him all doubts as to his identification were at an end. Theodore had been fighting in disguise, knowing that bright colors attracted England's marksmen. The Commander-in-Chief, -with his staff, rode up to view the corpse, but not one kind word of sympathy for the dead Emperor's fate was uttered. He who had been merciless to others was not deserving of sympathy. "Not until the last moment, when on the threshold of certain* defeat, did he surrender his life. Seeing speedy death in the levelled muskets of the advancing soldiers, he quickly retired behind the haystack, and with the revolver—the Queen's gift—into his mouth, the Imperial Suicide had fired and died."