red in Annesley Bay and landed at Zula.

[Footnote 1: The average strength of the regiments was as follows:
10th and 12th Bengal Cavalry, each 9 British officers, 13 Native
officers, 450 non-commissioned officers and men, 3 Native doctors, 489
horses, 322 mules, 590 followers. 21st and 23rd Punjab Infantry, each
9 British officers, 16 Native officers, 736 non-commissioned officers
and men, 3 Native doctors, 10 horses, 350 mules, 400 followers. I
found that six ships were required for the conveyance of a Cavalry and
four for that of an Infantry regiment; for the Mountain battery three
ships were necessary, and for the coolie corps (1,550 strong) four; in
all twenty-seven ships, besides nine tugs. In selecting ships, care
was taken to secure those intended for Artillery or Cavalry as high
'tween-decks as possible; a sufficient number of these were procurable
at Calcutta, either iron clippers from Liverpool or large North
American built traders, with decks varying from 7 feet 6 inches to 8
feet 2 inches high. I gave the preference to wooden ships, as being
cooler and more easily ventilated. The vessels taken up were each from
1,000 to 1,400 tons, averaging in length from 150 to 200 feet, with a
beam varying from 30 to 35 feet, and usually they had a clear upper
deck, where from forty to fifty animals were accommodated.]

[Footnote 2: Now Major-General Sir Edwin Collen, K.C.I.E., Military
Member of the Governor-General's Council.]

[Footnote 3: Now General Sir Edward Lechmere Russell, K.C.S.I.]

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXXVII.
1868-1869

Sir Robert Napier to command--Defective transport
--King Theodore commits suicide--First A.Q.M.G

It will, perhaps, be as well to recall to the reader's mind that the
object of the expedition in which we were taking part was to rescue
some sixty Europeans, who, from one cause or another, had found their
way to Abyssinia, and been made prisoners by the King of that country.
Amongst these were four English officials, Mr. Rassam, and Captain
Cameron, who had at different times been the bearers of letters from
Queen Victoria to King Theodore, and Lieutenant Prideaux and Dr.
Blanc of the Bombay Army; the rest were chiefly French and German
missionaries, and artisans, with their wives and children. The
prisoners were confined in a fort built on the Magd[=a]la plateau,
9,150 feet above sea-level, and 379 miles inland from Annesley Bay.

The repeate