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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He Had Not More Than 5,000 Men With Him, All More Or Less In Bad
Condition, Weakened By Famine, Discontented, And Only Awaiting A
Favourable Opportunity To Run Away.
The camp-followers, on the
contrary; numbered between forty and fifty thousand helpless and
useless beings whom he had to protect and feed.
He had, moreover,
several hundred prisoners to guard, an immense amount of baggage
to carry, fourteen gun-carriages, with cannon or mortars - one of
them the famous "Sebastopol," weighing between fifteen and sixteen
thousand pounds - and ten waggons, the whole to be dragged by men
across a country without roads. Theodore did not let himself be
influenced by all these unfavourable circumstances; he seemed, for
a time, to have regained much of his former self, and behaved with
more consideration towards his followers. His daily marches were
very short, not more than a mile and a half to two miles a day. A
portion of his camp marched early every morning, carrying the heavy
luggage, dragging the waggons, and protecting the followers from
the attacks of the rebels, who were always hovering in the distance,
watching a favourable opportunity to avenge themselves on the
Emperor's people for all the miseries they had suffered at his hand;
another portion remained behind to guard what could not be carried;
off, and, on the return of the first batch, all started for the
spot fixed upon for that day's halt, conveying what had been left
behind in the morning. Even then the day's work wast not over; the
corn was as yet not quite ripe, and stood in the fields by the side
of the road; Theodore would set the example, pluck a few unripe
ears of barley, rub them between his hands, and, satisfied with
this frugal meal, repair to the nearest brook to quench thirst.
From Debra Tabor to Checheo, such was the daily routine of the
reduced host of Theodore, - harnessed to waggons, in place of the
horses and mules now so scarce in the camp; constantly on the alert,
as the country was all up in arms against them; with no supplies
available, only the unripe barley plucked by the wayside; no peace
by day nor rest at night:
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