hibiting himself in so antique
a guise to his troops.

Notwithstanding all the professions of friendship and promises of
assistance he received, Sir Robert very wisely did not put perfect faith
in the prince, but determined to fortify his posts and guard his
advance, as if he was passing through the country of an enemy.

At Anotolo the army was re-distributed in divisions, to each of which a
separate duty was assigned. Tom and his men marched with the second
brigade of the first division. Communication was kept up the whole of
the way with Zulla, and a telegraph wire laid down. On the 20th of
March Sir Robert led forward his forces to Tat. From this station he
began a rapid advance on Magdala. Hitherto every movement had been in
preparation for that undertaking.

By the 31st March the army was at no great distance from the line of
Theodore's advance posts, and scouts were frequently seen on horseback,
but were too nimble to be captured. Precautions were taken against a
night attack, which it was supposed Theodore would make. Several of the
enemy's deserted camps were passed. The inhabitants had hitherto been
universally friendly, and the Gallas, who were now gained over in
consequence of the barbarous treatment they had received from Theodore,
undertook to guard the passes by which the tyrant could make his way
eastward.

Young Alick Murray had bravely endured the fatigues of the march; he
generally kept by the side of Tom, who, indeed, was unwilling to have
him out of his sight. As they and the other officers of the Naval
Brigade sat round the camp fire at night, many a yarn was spun and many
a merry song sung, while during the day, as they marched on, jokes were
constantly cracked by the seamen, whose spirits never flagged. They
were always meeting objects of some sort to interest them, while the
scenery itself through which their route lay was often magnificent in
the extreme. At length the Delanta Heights were reached with the river
of Bashilo flowing beneath them on its course westward, hereafter to
swell the waters of the mighty Nile, of which it is one of the
numberless tributaries.

On either side of the valley through which the river flowed rose a
series of rugged heights forming a crescent, on the eastern horn of
which stood the fortress of Magdala, Theodore's supposed impregnable
stronghold, while on the west was the rugged hill of Fahla, mid-way
between it and the lofty plateau of Selassie.