The famous march to Magdala had now begun, and Henty's recorded
recollections are full of interest and observation.
At one time he came upon a party of excited soldiers who had suddenly
disturbed a troop of the great baboons which haunt the stony mountains,
and, with visions of specimens flashing across his mind, he joined in
the chase, revolver in hand, racing and climbing among impeding thorns,
compared to which an English quickset hedge was nothing at all. After a
couple of hours' hunt, followed out as eagerly as when he was a boy, he
found that the quarry was quite at home and that he was not, with the
result that he thought he lost pounds in weight by his exertions, but
that the toil did him good.
Before the starting of the expedition, the press had been full of the
predictions of the busybodies who know all about everything, and had
prophesied that those who went were to die of fever, malaria, sunstroke,
tsetse fly, guinea worm, tape-worm, and other maladies. It was soon
found, however, that everybody enjoyed vigorous health, and that though
the army was in expectation of being hindered by, and of having to fight
their way through, the forces of the petty kings or chiefs through whose
countries they passed, very little of a serious nature occurred to
hinder the advance to the stronghold of the stubborn monarch of
Abyssinia.
Nothing seems to have been too small for Henty's observation, and his
letters to the journal he represented teem with references to the
various objects that caught his eye. At one time he was describing the
appearance, uniforms, and physique of the Indian troops, the Beloochs,
or the manners and customs of the scoundrelly camp-followers. Then he
would descend directly afterwards to such minor matters in natural
history as the feeding habits of the sheep ticks, which in places
swarmed. In another place he discourses in a much more interesting
fashion than a scientific student (for he omits the hard technical
names) of the vegetation seen around, such as gigantic tulip trees, and
a shrub of whose name he confesses his ignorance, though he considers it
notable from the sprays resembling asparagus. He is attracted by plants
of the cactus tribe, particularly by one that spreads out a number of
arms pointing upwards, making it resemble a gigantic cauliflower. Then,
evidently feeling doubtful about the suitability of so matter-of-fact a
description, he makes a brave shot at the Latin name--almost the only
one he records--the scientific italics, _Euphorbia candalabriensis_,
looking novel and strange. Later, with a frank display of doubt, he
declares that he does not vouch for the correctness of this name.
Onward still, hour by hour and day by day, we follow him, noting how
eager and fresh he is in the morning, and how weary as the day's march
approaches its end. At these times we find him recording the
unpleasantnesses of the route, such as the influence upon the atmosphere
of the dead carcasses of the worn-out animals, from whose neighbourhood
the great vultures rose lazily and wheel away.
The heat of the sun was at times intense, but the nights were sometimes
bitterly cold, too cold to sleep, and when at last sleep came, again and
again the weary travellers were disturbed by the antics of one of the
beasts that bear about the worst character of any that have been brought
into domestic use, and whose obstinacy has become a proverb. One of
these mules would break loose from its head ropes, and, as if urged on
by some malignant spirit of mischief, would nearly upset the tent by
stumbling over the pegs and getting itself involved amongst the ropes,
when, as if bitterly resenting the presence of their mischievous distant
relative, the horses would seem perfectly savage, and threaten to break
loose and stampede. Four or five times in a night Henty or one of his
colleagues would have to get up and go out in the cold to stone the
brute, while the grooms, who were sleeping for mutual protection close
to the horses' heads, and who were rolled up in their rugs, wonderful to
state, heard nothing.
But this was not the only manner in which the calm of the night's rest
would be disturbed, for the black followers who acted as servants to the
group of war correspondents seemed to have a natural proclivity for
quarrelling among themselves, often rousing up their masters in alarm to
find out what some outburst might mean. Long after his return from
Abyssinia, Henty would amuse his literary friends by chatting over these
troubles of the night.
As a change from this we find Henty noticing the beauty of the country,
the picturesqueness of the narrow gorges through which they passed, and
the profusion of wild figs, golden-blossomed laburnum, and acacias, the
last white-flowered and with pods of the clearest carmine. Getting now
upon colour, he describes the beauty of the numerous humming-birds
(query, sun-birds) and the gorgeous plumage of others of larger size
that, startled by the strangeness of their visitors, perched at a short
distance from the path. Again, the descriptions of the brilliant
butterflies which flitted here and there among the flowers are strongly
suggestive of the observant boy longing for a net and a few cardboard
boxes and pins.
These charming rides had to give way to work of a very different nature,
which included dismounting, leading their ponies, and preparing to
ascend the mountain side; for the valleys and ravines gave way to steep
tracks covered with boulders, the tropical valley with its beautiful
foliage was succeeded by stunted pines, and the sappers were set busily
at work forming a track of zigzags for the force to ascend.
At times the store and ammunition-bearing mules had to ascend places as
steep as flights of stairs, with the steps as much as three feet high;
but, nothing daunted, the force pressed on.
Later, an ambassador from one of the local kings, whose country was
being traversed, met the advancing force, and it was considered an act
of wisdom to give him a sample of what our well-drilled troops could do,
in the way of a little sham-fight. The display was so effectively
carried out that this monarch considered it good policy not to support
King Theodore with his army of seven thousand men.
At the first camp among the mountains the native Abyssinians, led by
curiosity, or possibly with other intentions if opportunity served,
swarmed around, exciting Henty's interest in their swords and spears.
Certain specimens he managed to secure (not those of the poorer classes,
but those of costly silver), and these he afterwards hung upon the walls
of his study at home.
As compared with the slight bayonet of our men, fixed to the rifle
barrel, the Abyssinians' spears were formidable weapons, from six to ten
feet long, and weighted at the butt. Their bearers could throw them
over thirty yards with great force and with no little accuracy, while in
a hand-to-hand fight, or when offering resistance to a charge, they were
dangerous weapons in the grasp of an active man.
At one time Henty records an unpleasant check to his proceedings in the
shape of an order being promulgated that no correspondents were to
accompany the expedition; but when another general took over the
command, this embargo was removed, and we find him at the front again,
after a long weary pause which had forced him into inactivity at the
base.
In spite of obstacles upon obstacles the troops were progressing. The
heavy guns surmounted the rugged mountain-paths, and the savage cruel
tyrant passed from mocking defiance to alarm, as his scouts brought him
tidings of the slow and determined march, higher and higher towards his
stronghold, of the punitive force which conquered slowly and steadily
every physical difficulty.
Then there were rumours that King Theodore was beginning to repent, and
that he was ready to give up his many prisoners, releasing them from
their long captivity. But the expedition still rolled onwards and
upwards--cavalry, infantry, and the heavy and light mountain guns--ready
to carry Magdala by _coup de main_ if it were feasible, or bring the
tyrant into submission by a prolonged siege.
Though everything seemed to be done very deliberately, the advance never
stayed, with the troops still healthy and well, the losses only
occurring among the transport animals as the result of accident, hard
usage, and disease. It was a varied little army which composed this
expedition, horse and foot--light-mounted Hussars, sturdy infantry, and
dark-browed men of India in their picturesque uniform,--green frocks,
red sashes, and scarlet turbans. The picturesque was not lacking,
either, in the work of surmounting the stern rugged passes, where the
engineer officers with their sappers cleverly and speedily constructed
bridges over gully and gash.
The progress by this time had become steady and methodical. The losses
were terrible, but fresh animals arrived to take the place of those
which were swept away by disease. The chief halts were made at the
stations formed at the wells, many of the latter being constructed on
the new ingenious principle which came into note at that time. These
wells were afterwards familiar at home as Abyssinian wells. Thus
slowly, but steadily, our lightly burdened troops continued on their
way, each day bringing them nearer to where Theodore had gathered his
forces in the mountain aerie, which he had believed impregnable.