he wind blew it
down, so in order to turn away the anger of heaven four oxen were
slaughtered, and then a negro boy. In the poor wretch's blood a
flag was dipped, and the standard was raised a second time, a
second time to fall.

This last remark is made in reference to his custom of always praying
for his enemies by name.

He went on this Abyssinian embassy with a heavy heart, for the Khedive
had telegraphed to him, "Give up nothing, but do not fight." It really
mattered little what happened, considering that soon Egypt was to give
up even the lands over which she had a legal right, but in November
1879 this could not be foreseen. Khedive Ismail had undoubtedly behaved
very badly to Abyssinia, and had treated the Abyssinian envoy with a
great want of courtesy. Tewfik, however, was not to blame for this, and
he wanted to express his regret at the past and his desire to renew the
old friendship between Egypt and Abyssinia. Johannis was a tyrannical
king, hated by his own people, who thought him partly mad, and he took
to heart Ismail's conduct to his representative and refused to
distinguish between one Khedive and another. Gordon's description of
the Abyssinian king is as follows:--

"Johannis, oddly enough, is like myself--a religious fanatic. He
has a mission, and will fulfil it, and that mission is _to
Christianise!! all Mussulmans_. He has forbidden the smoking of
tobacco in his country, and cuts off the right hand and left foot
of any man he catches doing so! When Christ comes again, how truly
He may say to us all 'I know ye not.'"

Gordon had foreseen that the Abyssinians would probably revenge
themselves upon him for the treatment which their envoy had received at
Cairo, and this probability was rendered a certainty by the fact that
he had nothing to offer by way of compensation. From the day he entered
Abyssinia to the day he left it, he was constantly insulted, and he
gained very little by the journey, in which he risked his life. He saw
King Johannis, and got him to make certain definite demands, but the
king would not put them into writing. When Gordon referred him to the
Khedive's letter it was not forthcoming, and could not even be found
for some time. When it was found the chief clerk received forty blows
for not having before translated it! Amid a pile of letters which were
disregarded, Gordon saw one from the British Government and one from
the French