Editing Clements Markham (section)

=== Abyssinia, 1867–1868 ===
[[File:Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala - Project Gutenberg eText 16528.jpg|thumb|Sir [[Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala|Robert Napier]], Abyssinian campaign commander]]
In 1867, Markham was selected to accompany Sir Robert Napier's military expeditionary force to [[Ethiopia|Abyssinia]], as the expedition's geographer.<ref name = AHM210>A. Markham, pp.&nbsp;210–213.</ref> This force was despatched by the British government as a response to actions taken by the Abyssinian [[Tewodros II of Ethiopia|King Theodore]]. In 1862, the king had written to the British government requesting help to modernise his nation, and proposing the appointment of an ambassador, which the British had previously suggested.<ref name= Pankhurst11>Pankhurst, pp.&nbsp;11–14.</ref> Unwilling to risk its monopoly of cotton in Egypt, the British government did not reply. The king reacted to this slight and other snubs by seizing and imprisoning the British consul and his staff, and ordered the arrest and whipping of a missionary who had insulted the king's mother.<ref name= Pankhurst11/> A belated reply to the king's letter resulted in the capture and incarceration of the deputation that brought it.<ref name= Pankhurst11/> After efforts at conciliation failed, the British decided to settle the matter by sending a military expedition. Because the geography of the country was so little known, it was decided that an experienced traveller with map-making skills should accompany the force, hence Markham's appointment.<ref name= AHM210/>

Napier's troops arrived at [[Gulf of Zula|Annesley Bay]] in the [[Red Sea]], early in 1868. Markham was attached to the force's headquarters staff, with responsibility for general survey work and in particular the selection of the route to [[Battle of Magdala|Magdala]], the king's mountain stronghold. Markham also acted as the party's naturalist, reporting on the species of wildlife encountered during the {{convert|400|mi|km|adj=on}} march southward from the coast.<ref name= AHM210/> He accompanied Napier to the walls of Magdala, which was stormed on 10&nbsp;April 1868. As the king's forces charged down the mountain to meet Napier's advancing troops Markham recorded: "The [[Snider–Enfield]] rifles kept up a fire no Abyssinian troops could stand. They were mown down in lines&nbsp;... the most heroic struggle could do nothing in the face of such vast inequality of arms."<ref>Pankhurst, p.&nbsp;16.</ref> Markham added that although the king's misdeeds had been numerous and his cruelties horrible, he had finally died as a hero.<ref>A. Markham, p.&nbsp;20.</ref>

On the orders of General Napier, Magdala was burnt to the ground, its native and foreign guns destroyed and the accumulated treasures in the fortress looted.<ref name= Pankhurst20>Pankhurst, pp.&nbsp;20–21.</ref> The British troops then departed, and Markham was back in England in July 1868. For his services to this campaign Markham was appointed [[Order of the Bath|Companion of the Order of the Bath]] in 1871.<ref name= Baigent/><ref>A. Markham, p.&nbsp;222.</ref>