My Mission to Abyssinia ... With maps and illustrations

Preface

. A part of the following narrative of our adventures in Abyssinia was written immediately after my return to England in 1888, and was even printed for private circulation among friends. It is at the request of these same friends that I now venture to offer these pages to the public. It has been impossible to avoid being struck by the general ignorance which prevails in England, and indeed, throughout those parts of Europe which I have visited, as to the appearance, manners, customs, and country of the Abyssinians. Those who have studied the map of Africa are aware that Abys sinia is a mountainous country in the heart of which lie the sources of the Blue Nile, and from whose fertile valleys and hill-sides the tropical rains wash down that rich loam which is carried by the Nile and the Atbara through many hundreds of miles of desert to the Mediterranean, and on the regular

PREFACE.

. supply of which the whole of Egypt depends for its very existence. Those who are at all ac quainted with the history of Northern Africa know that the Abyssinians are a race of mountaineers, showing strong signs of Semitic origin, and claim ing for themselves descent from the Queen of Sheba — claimiug, in fact, to be the result of her historical visit to King Solomon. Few people, however, appear to have any idea of the wild and striking beauty of this African Switzerland, and still fewer have much knowledge of the curious habits, customs, and traditions of this most in teresting race. For centuries the Abyssinians have kept their religion intact, when all the nations around them have succumbed to the sword or to the persuasion of Islam. For centuries the great Moslem wave has beaten against the mountain barriers of Abys sinia, but never has it succeeded in breaking into the country.

Sturdily, for generation after genera tion, this hardy Christian nation has repulsed every invasion of the fanatical Mahommedan, and has preserved its own form of Christianity. In the course of the long struggle, Abyssinia has become cut off from the rest of the world, a Christian island set in the midst of a stormy Moslem sea. It is probably for this reason that so little has been known of the country, and it is

PREFACE.

. V this which leads me to hope that some interest may attach to a narrative which tends to throw a little light on the darkness hanging over this corner of Africa. I do not pretend to offer in the following pages any exhaustive treatise on the history, customs, or •religion of the Abyssinians, nor have I dared to attempt any description of the country or its inhabitants, except as we saw them with our own eyes. But in traversing this comparatively un known land, as we did, almost from end to end, we saw and learnt so much that was new and interesting to ourselves ; we found both the country and the people so different, in some respects, from what we had anticipated ; that I venture to hope this volume may be of some service to the student of African morals and history. As regards the simple story of our adventures, I can only hope that my readers may feel even the smallest fraction of the interest which was so thrilling at the time to ourselves.

Few men, even among African travellers, have stood face to face with death so often in the course of a few months — from want of water, from the decrees of the highest authorities in the land, and at the hands of unauthorized and over-zealous chiefs — and have lived, absolutely unhurt, to tell the tale.

PREFACE.

. VI Finally, I wish to place on record my con viction that we owe our existence to-day in great measure to my good fortune in having with me such companions as Major Beech and Hutchisson. Before their undaunted resolution and cheerful courage every obstacle seemed to vanish ; and before many weeks had passed they had inspired our native followers with some of these qualities. With the example before one of their unquestion ing obedience and unshaken confidence, it was impossible to feel disheartened, or to " throw up the sponge " even when our fortunes seemed to be at their lowest ebb ; and the best wish that I can offer to every traveller, in Africa or in any danger ous and uncivilized country, is that, when the outlook seems blackest, and when he is in the greatest danger of giving way to despair, he may find himself with two such men as Beech and Hutchisson at bis back.

G. H. P. On the Red Sea, July 20th, 1891. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE Introduction ... ... ... ... 1 I. Cairo to Massowah ... ... ... 15 II. The Start ... ... ... ... ... 30 III. MONKULLU TO ASMARA ... ... ... 57 IV. Prisoners at Asmara ... ... ... 74 V. From Asmara to "The King's Road" ... 92 VI. To the King's Camp ... ... ... 116 VII. In the King's Camp ... ... ... 143 VIII. The Return Journey ... ... ... 185 IX. Final Escape from Abyssinia ... ... 216 Postschiptum ... ... ... ... 241 Appendix ... ... ... ... LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Portrait of Mr. Portal in Abyssinian Costume Frontispiece An Abyssinian Camp ... ... To face page 38 Facsimile Letter from Ras Alula ... „ 66 Hut in which Mr. Portal was confined ... „ 80 Abyssinian Warriors on the March ... ,, 100 Facsimile Letter from Betwaded Gebramesical „ 116 Chief paying a Visit ... ... ... ,, 140 A Startling Incident ... ... ... 194 Group of Shohos ... ... ... „ 2 12 Map showing Mr. Portal's Route ... ... At end

Introduction

. The Mahdi in the Soudan — The Italian Occupation — Reasons for the English Mission. My friends have asked me to give some account of the adventures of the recent English Mission to the King of Abyssinia, with which I had the honour to be entrusted. As I only propose to write a personal narrative, and not a political treatise, I trust that they wiU be content with the bare story of our journey to and from the camp of the King, added to a very brief description of the country through which we passed and of the people with whom we came into contact. It will be remembered that in December, 1883, the receipt of the ghastly news of the total annihilation at Melbeis, in Kordofan, of the ill-fated General Hicks Pasha, of his English officers, and of the Egyptian army of 10,000 men with them, E made it evident that Egypt, in its then disorgan ized and shattered condition, could no longer entertain the slightest hope of being able successfully to cope in the Soudan itself with the semi religious, semi-political rebellion led by Mahomet Achmet, the Mute-Mahdi.

England had under taken to help her to hold her frontiers at Wady Haifa and Suakin ; more than this it was hope less, and would indeed have been madness, to attempt. The Egyptian Government, therefore, at the instance of England, came to the determina tion to abandon the Soudan Provinces, and to direct all its energies to the withdrawal of the garrisons scattered throughout those vast districts. The position of these garrisons was evidently most precarious, but none were in more imminent danger than the unfortunate soldiers quartered at Sanhit, Keren, Galabat, and other fortresses along the Abyssinian frontier, who now found them selves between the triumphant hordes of the Mahdi on the one side and the almost equally savage armies of the Negoos* on the other, despised by both, and without the smallest hope of obtaining quarter from either.

There was no chance of succour from Egypt, except such as * I should here explain that " Negoos " is the title usually given to King Johannis. The word " Negoos " is simply the Abyssinian equivalent for the English word " Emperor."

INTRODUCTION.

. might be afforded by negotiation and diplomacy ; poor Egypt had no army worthy of the name, no officers deserving of confidence, no money, no credit, and no men. Truly the plight of these garrisons was not enviable. To remain at their posts would be to render their reduction by siege, famine, or treachery, merely a question of time, while to sally forth and to endeavour to reach the coast at Massowah would be a confession of weak ness which would infallibly cause the whole of the surrounding country to declare for the Mahdi, and would render their escape impossible. There was but one chance of successfully carrying out the evacuation of this part of the Soudan. If the King of Abyssinia, by English influence or by the offer of a suitable reward, could be induced not only to abstain from attacking these Egyptian garrisons, but even to grant them a safe passage through his country, their eventual arrival at Massowah would be not only possible but very probable.

It was therefore with this object that Admiral Sir William Hewett, with a large staff of English officers, and accompanied by Mason Bey, an officer who had acquired a large experience of the Soudan and Abyssinia under the late General Gordon, as Egyptian plenipotentiary, proceeded to /■*. meet King Johannis at Adowa, now the chief town of Abyssinia, situated about 120 miles to the south-west of Massowah. Without much difficulty the Negoos was induced to sign a treaty, by virtue of which he promised to allow the Egyptian garrisons on his frontier to retreat peacefully through his dominions, and to give them a safe conduct as far as the neighbourhood of Massowah. On the other hand, the places evacuated by Egypt on the Abyssinian frontier, the fortresses of Galabat, Amadib, Sanhit, and all the Bogos country were ceded to Abyssinia, together with all the stores, arms, and munitions of war at that time collected in the different arsenals.

No mention is made in this treaty of Ailet, Sahati, Wia, or Monkullu, the occupation of which by the Italian troops became subsequently the cause of so much bloodshed and expenditure both of money and life. The treaty was, in the first instance, loyally carried out on both sides. The Egyptian garrisons arrived in safety at Massowah, and some hundreds of thousands of Remington rifles, and millions of rounds of ammunition were handed over to King Johannis, together with the evacuated positions. It is unnecessary to recall all the circumstances which led to the occupation of Massowah by Italian troops, which took place shortly after the signature of this treaty. It is enough to say that

INTRODUCTION.

. 5 the Egyptians wished to evacuate the place ; the Sultan of Turkey, to whom it would naturally revert, was not prepared to take over the charge of it ; the English did not want it ; and the Italians stepped in. Disputes soon arose between the Italian Governor and the Negoos respecting the taxes levied at Massowah on goods coming from, or im ported into, Abyssinia, in the course of which King Johannis complained that the Italians failed in carrying out the provisions of Admiral Hewett's treaty, in virtue of which he claimed that no taxes whatever could be levied on such merchandise. The king, moreover, consistently denied the right of the Italian or of any foreign Government to be at Massowah at all. He maintained that by right of descent Massowah and all the south-western coast of the Red Sea had for centuries belonged to Abyssinia.

Tradition lives long in Abyssinia; as far back as the sixteenth century the superior armament and discipline of the Turks had driven the Abyssinians from Zeyla, and later from Mas sowah, and had added these sea-ports to the possessions of the house of Othman. In 1866, Massowah was transferred to the Khedive of Egypt, in consideration of a substantial increase in the tribute payable by Egypt to the Porte.* * The tribute paid by Egypt for Massowah amounts to about £16,000 a year. But during all these 300 years, argued King Johannis, Abyssinia had never given up its claim to the sea-coast ; the Turks, and subsequently the Egyptians, had only held these places as they had acquired them — by the power of the sword. If, therefore, urged his Majesty, God's retributory justice, working through the instrumentality of the Mahdi, had now forced the Egyptians to evacuate Massowah and to disgorge their ill gotten spoils, surely, in common equity, these places should revert to their former and rightful owner !

Instead of this, however, Abyssinia was to be asked to stand by and see Massowah and its surrounding district pounced upon by Italy, a power hitherto almost unknown on the Red Sea Littoral, and the nature of whose interests in Massowah, the Soudan, or in Abyssinia, it was no doubt difficult for the mind of an African potentate to understand. It does not, however, come within my province to discuss either the justice of the Italian occupation of Massowah, nor the wisdom of the various enactments made by the Italian local authorities regarding customs duties, and other restrictions on trade with the interior. It is sufficient to say that the irritation created by these and similar disputes rapidly increased, and reached a dangerous point when the Italians, in order to protect

INTRODUCTION.

. the caravan road between Massowah and the in terior, on which murder and brigandage had become so common as almost to put a stop to all trade, sent a couple of battalions to take posses sion of the position of Sahati, about ten miles inland from Monkullu, a desolate, barren place, but valuable on account of its commanding the only water to be found for a whole day's journey along the road. At this moment Ras Alula, the Abys sinian chief governing the frontier province of Hamazen and commanding a large army recruited in that province and in Tigre, happened to be engaged in an expedition directed against an army of the late Mahdi concentrated near Kassala. This campaign soon ended in the battle of Kofit, at which the overwhelming numbers of the Abyssinians gained a hardly-won victory, but at the price of an immense loss of life ; nor was Ras Alula able completely to accomplish the object of the expedition, i.e. the subjection and occupation of Kassala.

The Abyssinian troops did indeed enter triumphantly into the town, but it was not con sidered prudent to remain there, and they were forced to be satisfied with their empty and per haps doubtful victory, and to return again to the protection of their native mountains. Smarting from his great loss of men, and from his failure to accomplish the complete destruction of the dervishes of Kassala, Ras Alula returned to find the Italians in possession of Sahati. He determined to assume the offensive, and in Jan uary, 1887, directed an attack against the Italian works. This assault was unsuccessful, but on the following day a small reinforcement of 480 men, which was being sent from Massowah to relieve the garrison of Sahati, was attacked by 10,000 Abyssinians* under the command of Ras Alula himself, and, after a gallant and desperate resist ance, was massacred almost to a man.

The attack was made at a place called Dogali, where the road to Sahati runs through a barren plain about three quarters of a mile wide, commanded on every side by rocky hills, from which an incessant and well directed fire was poured in upon the little band of Italians. The favourite Abyssinian mode of war fare was well exemplified on that day, for, despite their great superiority in numbers, the Abyssinians never left their cover till hardly an Italian soldier was left alive. One of the very few survivors, an * Such, at least, was the estimate of the numbers of the Abyssinians made by the few Italian survivors. Ras Alula himself, and subsequently King John, told me that there were not more than 5000 present. It is probable that in the excite ment and confusion of the assault, the surviving Italians (who were all seriously wounded) considerably exaggerated the number of their assailants. At the same time Ras Alula, in his report to the King, appears to have multiplied the number of Italians by ten.

INTRODUCTION.

. Italian officer, said that until there were scarcely thirty Italians still capable of holding a rifle he never even saw a single Abyssinian, but that an incessant hail of bullets was poured down from behind every rock and every tree on the neigh bouring hills all around them. At last came the final rush, with its invariable Abyssinian accom paniments of plunder, slaughter of the wounded, and mutilation of the bodies. Two days later the garrison of Sahati was withdrawn to Massowah without meeting with opposition. This battle, or rather massacre of Dogali, may be looked upon as the beginning of all the Italian troubles on the Red Sea coast, and in what is now called in Italy the colony of Erythrea. Few people could then foresee how far-reaching would be its consequences, or how much it would eventually cost to the already overburdened tax payers of Italy ; but even at the moment it was impossible, while admiring the courage and devo tion shown by the Italian soldiers, to avoid criticizing the rashness and over-confidence which allowed this half-battalion to be caught in a veritable rat-trap.

It is the old, old story — con tempt of a gallant enemy because his skin happens to be chocolate or brown or black, and because his men have not gone through orthodox courses of field-firing, battalion drill, or "autumn manœuvres." It is to be hoped that we in England have at last learnt the lesson which has been dinned into our heads by the loss during the last half-century of so many thousands of valuable lives and so many millions of pounds sterling ; but it would appear to be a law of Nature applicable equally to nations and to individuals, that the youth born in 1870 shall refuse to be guided by the warning experiences of his old mentor, until in his turn he has more or less severely burnt his fingers at the same grate and in the same manner as all those who have gone before him. The universal cry for vengeance which arose on the news of this massacre reaching Italy, will be remembered by everybody.

Preparations were at once made for an expedition on a large scale, which should inflict signal punishment on the Abyssinians ; the work of fortifying Massowah and its suburb Monkullu was pushed on, with a view to making these places impregnable to attack by any force without artillery ; and measures were taken for the despatch to the Red Sea of some twenty thousand or thirty thousand men. The favourable season was, however, passing, the tropical rains and heat were beginning, and it was decided to take no aggressive action till the following winter. As the summer months went on, the first violence of the outburst began to

INTRODUCTION.

. subside ; the eager, almost hysterical, passion for revenge, so easily aroused in Italy, began to give place to calmer and perhaps more reasonable con siderations. Men began to inquire more closely into the matter, and to count the cost ; and as they did so, the serious nature of the undertaking which lay before Italy became more and more apparent ; a war of revenge could bring but little practical benefit, and would cost many millions of pounds and probably many hundreds of valuable lives ; in the meantime Italy's action in Europe would be cramped proportionately to the magni tude of her task in Africa, and in the actual state of European politics it was most desirable, and might at any moment become imperatively neces sary, that the hands of Italy should be free. English influence was supposed, and rightly supposed, to have greater weight with the Negoos than that of any other Power.

King Johannis owed not only his throne but life itself to the admirably-conducted expedition of Lord Napier of Magdala in 1868. That expedition had deeply impressed the king and the people of Abyssinia with the determination, honesty, and disinterested ness of a nation who sent a large army through the very heart of a distant and mountainous country, and who, having vanquished all oppo sition and effected its object — i.e. the liberation of Mr. Rassam and his companions, Consul Cameron, Mr. Stern, and the other "captives" — freed Abyssinia from the bloodthirsty tyranny of the mad King Theodore, placed Prince Kassa of Tigre' on the throne, with the name of King Johannis, and then rapidly evacuated the country ; paying fair prices for all provisions, for labour, and for information, and finally leaving no trace of a hostile expedition except the existence of a greatly-needed road, which was a very triumph of engineering, from Magdala in the south, to the head of Annesley Bay in the north-east corner of the kingdom.

Had this influence been utilized at an earlier stage, there can be no doubt that many of the subsequent difficulties and complications would have been avoided ; but unhappily it was not until October, nine months after the massacre of Dogali, that England was asked whether she would use her good offices in the hope of averting a serious and unremunerative war. It must be remembered that for months past all Italy had been ringing with preparations for the forthcoming campaign; battalion after battalion, and battery after battery, had been shipped from Naples to the Red Sea, while at Massowah itself, and its suburb Monkullu, incessant activity had been displayed in the erection of fortifications, the mounting of guns, and the construction of

INTRODUCTION.

. huts and camps. In Abyssinia, on the other hand, the king and his chiefs, who were kept well informed of the proceedings of the Italians, had been engaged for months in collecting and mobi lizing aU the available forces of the nation, and in stimulating the almost fanatical patriotism of the soldiery by promises of the destruction and plunder of the invading white men. Such forces in semi savage countries, when once roused to great excitement and expectancy of war, cannot be dispersed and sent quietly back to their homes like European troops by the mere issue of an order from a superior authority. To the average Abyssinian soldier a national war represents little if anything more than a freebooting expedition on a large scale. He leaves his village with a good deal of bombast and garrulous anticipation of the booty and trophies which he will bring back.

He is not, therefore, willing to submit to be " returned empty," and exposed to the jeers of his friends without having at least tried to flesh his maiden spear in the body of an enemy, or without having had a chance of cutting from his vanquished foe the barbarous and disgusting trophy which after wards becomes the pride of his household, and on the production of which he will base his hopes of military promotion. On this occasion, too, it must be remembered, the enemy to be despoiled was not, as usual, the lean and hungry Arab of the desert, but an unknown nation of white men, supposed to be well-furnished with every luxury, and credited with almost unlimited wealth of cloth, cartridges, powder, and guns. It was therefore very evident that any attempt at pacification would have had a far greater chance of success several months previously, before the two great opposing masses had been actually set in motion against each other.

Her Majesty's Government were, however, willing to do their utmost to help the Italians, and it was eventually decided that an English mission should be sent to King Johannis to submit to his Majesty certain terms on which Italy would consent to refrain from any act of war.

Chapter I. Caieo To Massowah

Suez — The Voyage — Jeddah — Suakin — Massowah — Difficulties and Suspicions. On the 17th of October, 1887, her Majesty's Government decided to entrust to me the honour of taking a mission into Abyssinia, to attempt to bring about a pacification between King John* and the Italians, it being impressed upon me at the same time that there was not a moment to be lost, as the favourable season for warlike operations was already commencing, and the Italian Government could not undertake to refrain from acts of overt hostility for more than five weeks, i.e. till the end of November, even though I should not have returned by that time. As there was no ship * Throughout this book, in speaking of the Negoos, I have used indifferently the names " Johannis " and " John." The former is the appellation by which he is universally known in Abyssinia ; but my readers are probably more familiar with the name of " John," which has been unanimously bestowed on his Majesty by the English and European Press. sailing for Massowah before the 21st of October, it would be impossible to arrive there before the 29th or 30th ; this would leave me about four weeks in which to equip and organize a caravan, to make the journey to the king wherever he might be, to exchange visits of ceremony and to conduct the negotiations to a conclusion, to make the return journey, and to arrive at the Italian camp.

It was easy to see that this would probably be an absolute impossibility ; but I was too much delighted with the prospect of the mission and the journey to make any remonstrance, and all that could be done was to hurry on preparations for departure with almost feverish haste and activity. My first step was to ask permission to take with me Mr. Beech, A. V.S., then serving in the Egyptian army, whom, of all my acquaintances in Egypt, I considered to be the best adapted for the sort of work which lay before us. Throughout our expedition I never ceased to congratulate myself on my good fortune in having secured his invaluable assistance and companionship. I then engaged the services of an interpreter, named Ahmed Fehmy, a most respectable Egyptian of some education, who had lived for two years on the borders of Abyssinia, and said he could both write and speak Amharic fluently.

He had ac companied Prince Hassan as interpreter in the CAIRO TO MASSOWAE. ill-fated Egyptian expedition against Abyssinia in 1876. I also took with me my English servant, named Hutchisson, who volunteered to accompany me in spite of the gloomy picture of the dangers and troubles before us which I drew for his edifica tion, and who, I may at once add, behaved throughout with the greatest pluck, self-possession, and cheerfulness under difficulties. It had been impressed upon me that the greatest secrecy was to be observed about my mission ; except the members of her Majesty's Agency not a soul was to know anything about it. Our preparations were therefore made with much mystery and many precautions : candles, tea, and other stores were purchased in small instalments, and at different shops ; the ammunition and tent were supposed to be wanted for a shooting-expedition ; and our passages on the steamer from Suez to Massowah were booked in the name of my servant Hutchisson " and three friends."

In three days our preparations were completed as far as was possible in the short time at our disposal, and I left Cairo at six p.m. on the 19th of October for Alexandria, to meet the English mail steamer from Brindisi, which was bringing letters from the Queen and Lord Salisbury, accrediting me to King Johannis, and certain presents for the King and Ras Alula. c The presents for the Negoos consisted of a sword of honour, a Winchester repeating rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition, and a very large and excellent telescope, with its stand, suitable equally for astronomical and terrestrial purposes. For Ras Alula there was another Winchester repeating rifle with ammunition in a handsome case, and for Ras Aria Selassie, the King's son, another sword of honour. In taking over the long wooden tin-lined cases containing these presents from the captain of the P. and 0. steamer, the thought struck me that these would indeed be awkward loads for a mule to carry in a mountainous country, but I little foresaw the amount of anxiety, trouble, and imprecations both loud and deep, of which they, especially the telescope, were destined later to be the cause.

Leaving Alexandria by the Indian mail train, I arrived at Suez on the evening of the 20th, where I found Beech, Hutchisson, and Ahmed Fehmy, who had just arrived from Cairo with all the stores and baggage of the expedition. The next day we embarked on board the Egyptian steamship Narghileh, a small, dirty, greasy-looking steamer, bound for Jeddah, Suakin, and Massowah, in which we very soon discovered that our travelling companions consisted of cockroaches and other smaller animals innumerable, a flock of sheep, a few cows, many cocks, hens, turkeys, and geese, a dozen of the evil-looking Greek adventurers who always appear like vultures round a dead carcase whenever there is a possibility of a campaign in North Africa, a discharged convict who was travelling in the first-class saloon, after undergoing one year's imprisonment in Egypt for an offence which would have earned him twenty years' penal servi tude in England, and, to crown all, about a hundred Arab pilgrims bound for Mecca, picturesque perhaps at a considerable distance, but on closer inspection decidedly offensive both to the eye and nose ; full of fanaticism and vermin, and an all-pervading odour of sanctity.

It was not to be expected that I should be able to embark at Suez without being recognized, and many were the indiscreet questions which I had to parry as best I could as to my destination and the object of my journey ; it is to be feared that both Beech and I came well under the definition of diplomatists as " men who were sent to lis abroad for the good of their country." The Narghileh would not have been worthy of Egypt if she had started at the advertised time, so we were not surprised to find ourselves still at Suez at sunset instead of having got under way at mid-day. At last, however, with much creaking and splashing, swearing and shouting, we got clear of the jetty, and the crazy old tub rolled solemnly down the Gulf of Suez at her extreme speed of five knots an hour. Next day we touched at the quarantine station of Tor, where it appeared that there was nothing to disembark nor to take on board, but two or three hours were wasted, apparently because the captain wished to have a chat and a friendly cigarette with an acquaintance.