3-021-413 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Abyssinian Expedition: the British camp at Senafe on Christmas Day, 1868. 'Senafe, on the Abyssinian tableland, at the head of the Koomaylee Pass, stands at a level of 7300 ft. above the Red Sea, on an elevated plain, covered with grass, and cultivated...partly surrounded by cliffs and steep hills on the other three sides. The point of view in the sketch we have engraved is a hill a mile and half east of Senafe. The road out of the Koomaylee Pass is seen to the left hand, and the village of Senafe, a cluster of wretched clay hovels, is shown to the right. The British tents lie in the middle, and there is a distant view of the lowlands of Abyssinia, intersected by ranges of hills, alternating with precipitous ravines, which must be crossed by the army in its march to Magdala. There is plenty of good water at Senafe, and grass for the cavalry horses and baggage animals...The country so far promises a large supply of useful commodities. Grass, barley, wheat, butter, honey, sheep, goats, cattle, mules, and ponies are already offered in fair quantities. The strength of the British army in Abyssinia is now becoming quite formidable...We have... altogether, in round numbers, about 6000 fighting men landed'. From "Illustrated London News", 1868.