A Narrative Of Captivity In Abyssinia With Some Account Of The Late Emperor Theodore, His Country And People By Henry Blanc
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A Faint, Distant Hum, Such As One Hears On Approaching A
Large City, Came Now And Then To Us, Carried
By the soft evening
breeze, and the smoke that arose for miles around the dark hill
crowned by its silent
Tents, left us no, doubt that we should before
long find ourselves face to face with the African despot, and that
we were even then almost in the midst of his countless host. As we
approached, messenger after messenger came to meet us; we had to
halt several times, march on again for a while, and then halt anew;
at last the chief of the escort told us that it was time to dress.
A small rowtie was accordingly pitched; we put on our uniforms,
and, mounting again, we had hardly proceeded a hundred yards, when,
coming to a sudden turn in the road, we saw displayed before us one
of those Eastern scenes which brought back to our memory the days
of Lobo and of Bruce.
A conical wooded hill, opposite to the one honoured by the Imperial
tents, was covered to the very summit by the gunners and spearmen
of Theodore; all in gala dress; they were clad in shirts of
rich-coloured silks, the black, brown, or red lamd [Footnote: A
peculiar mantle of fur or velvet.] falling from their shoulders,
the bright iron of the lances glancing in the light of the midday
sun which poured its rays through the dark foliage of the cedars.
In the valley between the hills a large body of cavalry, about
10,000 strong, formed a double line, between which we advanced.
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