Waizero Terunish, Almayou's mother, never made any complaint; though
forsaken by her husband, she remained always faithful to him. She
spent usually the long days of her seclusion reading the books she
delighted in - the psalms, the lives of the saints and of the Virgin
Mary - and bringing up by her side her only son, for whom she had a
deep affection. Although she had never loved her husband, in difficult
times she bravely stood by his side. When Menilek, the King of Shoa,
made his demonstration before the amba, and treachery was feared,
she sent out her son and made all the chiefs and soldiers swear
fidelity to the throne. Two days before his death, Theodore sent
for the wife he had not seen for years, and spent part of the
afternoon with her and his son.
After the storming of Magdala, Waizero Terunish and her rival,
Waizero Tamagno, were told to come to our former prison, where they
would meet with protection and sympathy. It fell to my lot to receive
them on their arrival; and I did my utmost to inspire them with
confidence, to assuage their fears, and to assure them that under
the British flag they would be treated with scrupulous honour and
respect.
It was on the 13th of April, 1866, that Theodore, still powerful,
had treacherously seized us in his own house; and strange to say,
on the 13th of April, two years afterwards, his dead body lay in
one of our huts, while his wife and favourite had to seek shelter
under the roof of those whom he had so long maltreated.
Both his queens and Alamayou accompanied the English army on its
march back, Waizero Tamagno left, with feelings of gratitude for
the kindness and attention she had received at the hands of the
English commander-in-chief, as soon as she could with safety return
to her native land, Yedjow; but poor Terunish died at Aikullet. Her
child, Alamayou, the son of Theodore, and grandchild of Oubie, has
now reached the English shore, an orphan, an exile, but well cared
for.
CHAPTER II.
Europeans in Abyssinia - Bell and Plowden - Their Career and Deaths
- Consul Cameron - M. Lejean - M. Bardel and Napoleon's Answer to
Theodore - The Gaffat People - Mr. Stern and the Djenda Mission - State
of Affairs at the end of 1863.
Abyssinia seems to have had a strange fascination for Europeans.
The two first who were connected with the late Abyssinian affairs
are Messrs. Bell and Plowden, who both entered Abyssinia in 1842.
Mr. John Bell, better known in that country under the name of
Johannes, first attached himself to the fortunes of Ras Ali.
