THE ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION.

Westport Times, Volume II, Issue 155, 29 January 1868, Page 3

THE ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION.

The following particulars, clipped from the Melbourne papers, respecting 'the commander-in-chief of the Abyssinian Expedition and the captives at present confined at Magdala . The attention excited by the Abyssinian Expedition, leads us to say a few words concerning the distinguished officer who has been placed in command of it. The appointment of "" featherbed soldiers" to posts where experience and practicality is needed, has always been a sore point with those who attack the existing system of military discipline in the British army. It is pleasurable to find that there are no grounds for complaint in the present instance. Sir Robert Napier has won his present position by sheer hard work and ability. He entered the Bengal Engineers in 1827, and was employed for eighteen years in the Public Works Department. In IS 12 he was selecfcd to lay out the new station of UmballaK Up to this time the Indian barracks had been noted for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, and Captain Napier •determined to improve upon the old model. The '" Napier Barracks" were celebrated throughout India, and their erection assisted very materially in shaming the authorities into the present system of improvement. In the sixth war in 1845, Captain NapieT was present at the battles of Moodkee and Ferozeshah. On the occupation of Lahore he was selected by Lord Hardinge for the arduous duty of constructing temporary barracks for the garrison. Hf was chief engineer under General Whish on the occasion of the outbreak of Mooltan in 1848, and served throughout the campaign. On the annexation of tfee Punjaub in 1849, he held the post of chief civil engineer under Lord Dalhousie, and from that time dates the introduction of anything deserving the name of public works in India. In eight years Napier and his staff had placed that country in advance of all our old acquisitions in India. Upon the outbreak of the mutiny in 1857, Colonel Napier was in England on sick leave; but he at once returned to India, and was appointed chief of the staff of Outram's forces—the first to relieve Lucknow. He was then appointed chief engineer, with the rank of brigadier of Lord Clyde's army, and presided over the engineering operations which resulted in the capture of Lucknew, As brigadier-general he relieved Sir Hugh Rose in the command of the Central India field force, and succeeded in pacifying that part of the country. In 18G0 he commanded one of the two infantry divisions which "under Sir Hope Grant captured the Takoo forts, and extorted peace under the walls of Pekin. In 1861 ho was appointed member of the Governor-General's Council, and conducted the military department of the Government until, 1565, when he "was made commander-in-chief of the Bambay Army. No man in the army <has won his different grades more thoroughly. The Sutlej campaign gave him a brevet majority; his great services

at Mooltan were recognised by another step of brevet rank ; the mutiny found him a brevet colonel by seniority, and so, while other officers serving in the same campaign obtained a step of rank as well as the C.8., the chief of Outram's Staff received only the latter. For his services at the capture of Lucknow, under Lord Clyde, Colonel Napier was knighted, but his subsequent command in Central India did not load to any promotion. Some ef the most brilliant cavalry affairs in the mutiny were the actions in Central India fought by Sir Robert Napier at the head of a handful of native cavalry and the 14th Light Dragoons, and they would doubtless have been brought more under notice if undertaken by a less modest or more pushing man. For his services in the China war of 1861 he was promoted to the rank of major-general, which advancement, as he was at the time second senior colonel in the army, gave him exactly one step. His popularity has increased with his reputation, and every member who has ever been on his staff during active service offers tribute of affectionate admiration for his gallantry and skill. If the fit selection of a general can ensure success, the Abyssinian Expedition will not be a failure.

The captives now number about sixty-two, including women and children. At Magdale are confined MrRassam, her Majesty's Envoy, Ottoman ; Dr Blane, physician, English ; Lieut. Prideaux, assistant, English ; Captain Cameron,her Majesty's Consul for Abyssinia; Mr Kerens, secretary to Captain Cameron, English ; Pietro, servant, Italian; Rev. B. A. Stern, missionary, German ; and Mr Rosenthal,, lay missionary, German. At Debra Tabor there are the Eev. M. Elad, wife and children, missoinary; Eev. Mr Bender, wife and children, missionary ; Mr Waldmaier, wife and children, lay missionary; Mr Saalsmuller, wife and children, lay missionary ; Mr Mayer, wife and children, lay missionary ; Mr Steiger and Mr Brandeis, lay missionaries ; Mr Schiller and Mr Essler, adventurer, all Grerman ; Herr Moritz, adventurer, Polish M. Make-rcr, adventurer, French ; MBourgaud, gunsmith, French; Mrs Kienale and child, wife of a deceased missionary, German ; and Mrs Rosenthal and child, wife of Mr Rosenthal, English.