THE ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION

Star (Christchurch), Issue 13, 28 May 1868, Page 3

THE ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION

Tiio Times (March 2'i) ltvys Mvm on tho faob that) Sir 11, Njvpior hrn winnimii nothing to tho Princo oi' ri^J'ti, ftJid tllttfc Wfl ffliftll «a«ur<uUy tako ho aotivo part in Atyrfctintan [h))Wm ivhon tlio war ia ovor. But a clovor pi'OtoudflP, wliothor Klasßai or another, inny fttill muko ft good doal of tho Britioh aliinnco, > Wo |iav<J mu«U to £)'vo away of a kind which Aby«ainiu dooa not produce. Herds of caifclo nml flocks of Bhoop muat bo paid for, and liho oommiaHat'iat dollars may bo con* vortod by tho nowly onrichod chief into rilloH and gunpowdor ; tho armiunonts of Tigro may thus obtain n nplondid pro-eminonco, which will onablo tholr owner ataomo futuro timo to make a bold t oftort for tho throno. 'Phoii a departing army loavoß much bflhindii;," Out 1 faithful friond and ally may rocoivo a» pfesoiitfl, oi 1 lio o-llowod to purcluißO at an oasy prico, matorial« that may bo invaluable in nny futuro con l;o»l;. IC is impoaßihlo not to boo that if King Theodore poraista in hia < do»ign ho will not only bo defeated by our army, but will flu<J tliftthiti rivals, who havo boon onrichod and armed during their intorooui'BO with JDuropoana, havo bocomo more than a match for , him. Tho proßont cfttnpAi^n may, without our aotivo participation in tho, work, «au«o a chango in tlio Abyflninian dynaafcy. ! Tho Daily Telegraph (March 2&) thinks the latest tvdvicoa from Al^h flinia offeotually destroy the notion that tho object of tho oxpodition could have boon, obtainod by a email forco, It in now. manifest; that the "armed ombaosy of a thousand l men" could huvo mado no progross at all. Evory ihilo of its march would havo boon a peril ; a few thousand of those soldiers who "nro not, to bo despised," as a good judge tollfl üb, might havo arrested tho thounand at tho ilrnt doiilo ; and if tho invaders surmounted that obstacle, and mnrchod forward, an angry country would ha vo closed on their truck, and fresh enomiea would havo boaet thorn in front, Tho reduction of baggngo and tho allegoddiminution of camp f'ollowora havo boon hastily accepted as inanifoht uondomnatiohs of tho acalo upon which the enterprise was under, talton. But, in tho first place, tli« ducroaao of non>oombatants ia more apparont than ronl, tho inofliciont boing diseliarged to make way for ofilciont men ; whilo t'lO limitation of baggage is only what our American cousins would call 'Stripping" tho column for action. It is clear that Sir Bobert Napier's design m to push a lightly equipped division, ttß rapidly as the ruughnoua of tho country will permit, at oneo upon Magdala; but tho ob* Hfcttcles which have arison from political circumHtftiicoa will dolay tho arrival of tho British army before tho stronghold of Thoodoro to a period later Uuui the preceding advioos indicated. Novorfchtitotttt, mm there ,aro still three )»i)» ti)» of dry, ttoUlod' svOftUwr, wo hnvo no ruaaon to suppobo i\mi tho <U'iuy will bo unabio to return boforo tho hoginmtig oi tho vmy aeasoa in Juno, ... . , ]