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When, in January, 1866, he received us at Zage, we were struck by the simplicity of his dress, in every respect the same as that of his common soldiers; of late, however, he had adopted a more gaudy attire, but nothing compared to the harlequin coat he wore that day.
On the 6th of June Theodore left Zage with his army; Mr. Rassam and the other prisoners accompanied him; all the heavy baggage had been sent by boat to Kourata. On the 9th, his Majesty encamped on a low promontory south of Kourata. Cholera had by this time broken out in the camp, and hundreds were dying daily.
Second visit to Zage Arrest of Mr. Rassam and the English Officers Charges brought against Mr. Rassam The former Captives are brought in Chains to Zage Public Trial Reconciliation Mr. Flad's Departure The Imprisonment at Zage Departure for Kourata. On the 13th of April we made our third experiment of the bulrush boats, as the Emperor desired once more to see his dear friends before they left.
The Abyssinian navy does not weigh heavily on the estimates, nor does it take years to construct a fleet; two days after our arrival fifty new vessels had been launched, and several hundreds had joined from Zage and the Isle of Dek. The few days we spent on the shore of the Tana Sea were among the small number of happy ones we have seen in this country.
We expected, on seeing all these preparations made and the large number of courtiers and officers assembled in front, that before long we would be called for, and that something similar to the trial and reconciliation of Zage was going to be acted over again.
For this purpose he sent us a polite invitation to come and spend a day with him at Zage, ordering at the same time his workmen to accompany him. His Majesty had sent us by the Ras polite greetings, and mounting the beautiful mules sent from the royal stable, we proceeded to the Emperor's inclosure.
Flad, and shortly afterwards the Emperor sent them cows, sheep, bread, &c., in abundance. The three days we spent in the small tent at Zage were days of great anxiety. We had until then seen but the good side, the amiable mood of our host, and we were not as yet accustomed to his sudden bursts of temper, to his violence and treachery.
Leave the Emperor's Camp for Kourata The Tana Sea The Abyssinian Navy The Island of Dek Arrival at Kourata The Gaffat People and former Captives join us Charges preferred against the latter First Visit to the Emperor's Camp at Zage Flattery before Coercion. On the 6th of February his Majesty sent us word to depart.
Such is Magdala, the sun-burnt barren rock, the arid lonely spot where we had to undergo nearly two years of captivity in chains. We furnished our house without much expense; two tanned cows' hides were all we required. These, together with a few old carpets Theodore had presented us with at Zage, was about the extent of our worldly goods.
Zage was one of the principal towns of the formerly prosperous and populous district of Metsha, but when we came we saw nought but ruins; and had we not been told that the guicho and coffee-covered hill was only a few weeks before the abode of thousands, we could not have credited it; nor that the small circular patches, now green with grass and weeds, had been the homes of a thriving and industrious population.
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