We fancied the rage his Majesty would be in;
and our close proximity to him made us earnestly pray that nothing
of the kind would occur. The sight was well worth witnessing:
Theodore standing on a projecting rock, leaning on his spear, sent
his aide-de-camp at every moment with instructions to those who
directed the five or six hundred men harnessed to the ropes. At
times when the noise was too great, or when he wanted to give some
general instructions, he had but to lift up his hand and not a sound
would arise from the thousands engaged in the work, and the clear
voice of Theodore would alone be heard in the deep silence that his
simple gesture had produced.
At last the big mortar was safely landed on Islamgee. We climbed
up as fast as we could, and complimented his Majesty on the achievement
of his great undertaking; he sent us word to examine the mortar.
We all three jumped on the gun-carriage, greatly admired it, and
loudly expressed our astonishment and delight to the bystanders.
His Majesty was evidently well pleased with the praises we had
bestowed upon his great favourite, and made us sit down near him
on the verge of the Islamgee plateau whilst the remaining cannons
and waggons were being drawn up. The wonderful work of dragging up
the 16,000 pounds weight of "Sebastopol" once over--though some of
the cannons were also of a considerable size,--the rest of the
operation was only child's play, and his Majesty, though present,
never interfered.
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