Not That We Ever Expected, - Such, At Least, Was The Opinion Of The Majority Amongst Us, - That We Should Be Allowed To Leave The Country:

But, at all events, we should not be in daily fear of our lives, of tortures, and of starvation, as we were then.

We should not have liked to fall into the hands of the peasants or of some petty chief: the first would have at once put us to death out of hatred to the white men; the second, most probably would have ill-treated us or have sold us to the highest bidder. The great rebels would have acted differently: we should have been, for a time, at least, comparatively free, and allowed to depart on a suitable ransom being given. Therefore, to Ali, to Gobaz, to Ahmed the son of Mastiate, or to Menilek the King of Shoa, Mr. Rassam's answer was always the same, "Come; invest this place, and then we will see what we can do for you."

It amused us sometimes to watch all these different rivals of Theodore, each of them endeavouring to seize upon Magdala even before Theodore was quite out of the way. Gobaze and Menilek, had both in view to make themselves rulers of Abyssinia, by the possession of Magdala: (indeed the latter had also written before the rainy season, informing the Bishop of his coming to take possession of his amba, and requesting the bishop to take care of his property.) Apart from the great prestige it would confer upon them, they would obtain the three things they rightly judged would most likely insure the fulfilment of their ambitious views:

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