The day
he was on guard it was very difficult to write, as he was always
putting his ugly grey head in at the door to see what we were doing.
He did his best to do us harm, but could reach no higher than our
servants: our dollars were too much for him.
Everything has an end. With Maskal (the Feast of the Cross) came
sunshine and pleasant cool weather. We had already been two months
and a half in chains, and we expected that soon some comforting
news would reach us, telling us "Be of good cheer; we are coming."
Since our arrival at Magdala we had not received a single letter:
and more than six months had elapsed without news from our friends,
or any intelligence whatsoever from Europe.
Immediately after the rains, Mr. Rassam had his house repaired and
improved, and a new hut built, as Mrs. Rosenthal was expected to
join our party; Samuel obtained a piece of ground adjoining our
inclosure, which was afterwards included in it, and on which he
built a hut for himself and family. Samuel had several times spoken
to me about pulling down our wretched godjo, and building a larger
hut instead; but I thought it was hardly worth the while, as before
many months some change or the other would take place: another
reason was, that part of the old fence stood in front of my godjo,
and I should hardly have gained more than a foot of ground.
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