'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From January 1865 to December 1867. (Edited by the Honorary Secretary.) Volume XVIII.' [‎3] (138/268)

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If the 1
PRESENT STATE OF ABYSSINIA. 3
requires money, he orders certain districts to furnish the necessary
amount, and if they fail to do so, the troops are ordered to lay waste the
district. He has given instructions for the immediate seizure of all
Europeans within his territory ; and during the stay of the Dalhousie,
news reached us of the sacking and burning of the Homan Catholic
Mission-house at Hallai, in Lat. about 15 deg. N. and Long. 39 deg.
23 m. E. on the top of Mount Taranta, 9,000 feet above sea-level,
which had existed for years- The Abuna, or Head of the Church,
had been imprisoned, and was only released about a month before we
left; this dignitary had been always looked up to, as only second to the
King in power, and his holy office gave him privileges and emoluments
enjoyed by no one else. These have been entirely taken away from
him by the King, and he now occupies a very inferior position. At
the time of my leaving Massowa, the King was said to be at the head
of (30,000) thirty thousand men, subduing some insurgent chiefs, three
davs’ march from Gondar. The district of Walk ait was also said to be
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in a state of insurrection, and Gondar to have been entirely sacked
and ruined by the King’s own troops. The merchants of the city, who
had any property left to lose had all tied, some to Egypt, and others
to Massowa and other Turkish territories. The army is said to num
ber between 40 and 50 thousand men; about 4,000 armed with
matchlocks and muskets, and the remainder with spears and swords.
The metal of which these arms are manufactured is of very inferior
quality; and English steel knives and weapons in general, are held in
small estimation, from their hardness and the difficulty experienced in
sharpening them. Fire-arms of all descriptions, of English manufacture^
are esteemed superior to any other ; and a present of gunpowder and
percussion caps is perhaps more esteemed than any other present.
The rumours of the causes that led to the imprisonment of our Consul,
are numerous; one matter, however,. appears certain, namely, that
Captain Cameron left King Theodorus to visit a district under the
^ urkish Government, directly against the wish of the King; and on
his return to the capital he was seized whilst proceeding from his tent
to pay his first visit to the King; that he was ironed to an Abyssinian,
an( l continued so up to the last date of intelligence. Whether the
• •
nussionaries were imprisoned immediately before or after the Consul
I did not correctly ascertain ; it would appear, however, that the Rev.
Mr. Sturm was the first imprisoned, and the immediate cause is said