A Narrative Of Captivity In Abyssinia With Some Account Of The Late Emperor Theodore, His Country And People By Henry Blanc
- Page 275 of 373 - First - Home
We
Had Not Finished Our Mutual Congratulations When The Firing Ceased:
As Everything Was Calm And Quiet On The Amba,
We could not make out
what was going on, until some of our guards came into our huts and
asked
Us if we had heard Menilek's "faker." Alas, it was indeed
nothing but a mere boast: he had fired from the verge of the Galla
plateau, far out of range, to terrify into submission the wavering
garrison; then, satisfied with his day's work, he and his men had
retired to their tents, awaiting the result of their warlike
demonstration.
The fact of Menilek being encamped on the Galla plain was full of
peril for ourselves without being of any avail to him. The next
morning he sent a message to us through Aito Dargie, asking what
he should do. We again strongly urged upon him the necessity of his
attacking the Amba by the Islamgee side; and in case he deemed it
impossible to assault the place, to stop all communication between
the fortress and the Imperial camp. Our great fear was that Theodore,
on hearing that Menilek was besieging his amba, would send orders
for the immediate execution of all prisoners of note, ourselves
included. No doubt great disaffection existed on the Amba, and if
Menilek had gone the proper way to work, before many days the place
would have been his. But he never did anything; he remained encamped
on the spot he had first chosen, and made no other attempt to rescue
us.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 275 of 373
Words from 75538 to 75793
of 102802
