This is the second article in the series. Read part 1.
David Arrigo looks at cameos of potted history with deeply-rooted Malta connections through the extraordinary lives of the Malta-born Bell brothers. In Part 2, he tells the story and demise of John Bell, who changed the course of history in Ethiopia.
Cairo, a magnet for adventure seekers, attracted John Thomas Bell. Here, he sought his next adventure − the search for the source of the Nile. He worked for Thomas Waghorn, who was researching a short mail route to India.
In 1840, Bell travelled to Abyssinia in search of a missing explorer called Airston. Abyssinia was remote, savage and dangerous. It was ruled by warlord princes, who were constantly at war, governing their small kingdoms and taking over others.
Following the advice given to him in Syria by Dervish Ali, Bell went native, attiring himself as a Muslim trader and joining a mule caravan travelling to Gondor. Dejai Goshu, the ruler of the Gojjam Province, who was leading Prince Ras Ali’s army, met Bell and summoned him to join his caravan train. Bell was given a mule, two lances and a gold and silver shield decorated with the tail of a lion.
The caravan was attacked and Bell suffered horrendous injuries as he was speared in the face. On his return journey to Cairo for medical aid, he dressed as an Abyssinian warrior, bare-shouldered and complete with shield and lance, much to the amazement of the European ladies aboard the ferry.
In 1843, having recovered from his injuries in Cairo, Bell met Walter Plowden to whom he painted a glowing picture of adventure, fun and freedom, resulting in the two deciding to trace the source of the Blue Nile in Abyssinia. They were to become two of the most important Abyssinian explorers.
These youngsters rather foolishly presented themselves to the authorities dressed as natives but were denied interviews. They eventually entered Abyssinia where they wandered for two long years, where they were often attacked and had to fight their way out of trouble, which meant killing their assailants.
Bell became totally native, especially after marrying a girl called Woizero, from one of the noble families. She gave him three children, Susan, Mary and John Aligas Bell. The girls eventually married European missionaries while the son disappeared.
In 1847, Plowden proceeded to Britain, where he returned as ‘Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul in Abyssinia’ with a ‘treaty of friendship and commerce’ with Prince Ras Ali, the chieftain of Tigré, who had employed Bell as captain of his army.
The two men, then in their early 30s, led very different lives. Plowden retained his English values, wearing English dress and considering himself as an ‘imperium in imperio’. He was perfect at his job though he was totally ostentatious, travelling with a huge, armed entourage.
On the other hand, Bell identified himself as being an Abyssinian and behaved and fought like an Abyssinian warrior. Who would have thought this of a missionary educated boy from Sliema?
In 1853, the ambitious Prince Kassa attacked his father-in-law, Ras Ali’s army at the Battle of Gur Amba Djisella, in which Bell fought on the side of Ras Ali, who lost the battle and was killed. Bell retreated into a church where he sought asylum while awaiting his fate.
On hearing of a European seeking sanctuary, Kassa sent word to the Englishman to come to him and offered him safety. Bell obeyed and a strong friendship instantly developed between the two. In Kassa, Bell saw the ideals he had dreamed of, as inspired by Dervish Ali, and was thereafter forever by his side and given the rank of Chamberlain. Bell and Plowden together became the most powerful advisers to the king.
The Anglo-Abyssinian War would have not taken place had Bell been alive
In 1854, with Bell by his side, Kassa was victorious at the Battle of Dirasge.
He proclaimed himself emperor on February 8, 1855 and was crowned as Téwodros II of Ethiopia (Theodore II).
Bell joined Theodore on every expedition and fought at every battle. Feared and obeyed by all, he imprisoned many of the feudal chiefs he defeated in battle, promising their release once he had control over the whole country, thus seeing the end of the Zemene Mesafint (86 years with 23 so-called emperors). This was the beginning of the modern Ethiopia.
Desperate for medical attention in Britain, Plowden started his homeward journey to England, only to be attacked and killed by the rebel Garad brothers.
Bell swore that he would avenge his friend’s death.
Abyssinia had from time immemorial encouraged Christian missionaries teaching Christianity but also educated the chiefs as best they could with European civilisation, literature and the arts.
One such missionary was Theophilus Waldmeier, who was presented to King Theodore by Bell. On December 4, 1859, Waldmeier married Bell’s daughter, Susan. Another missionary named Karl Saalmüller married Bell’s other daughter, Mary, in 1867.
In 1860, while riding ahead of their army, King Theodore and Bell came across the Garad brothers. Feeling imminent danger, Bell rushed forward, shielding Theodore from his would-be attackers, while at the same time shooting Plowden’s murderer, Dejai. His brother then shot Bell through the heart. Theodore singled out Garad and killed him, and then executed many of his followers after winning the ensuing battle of Waldiba.
Theodore deeply mourned the loss because Bell was not only a faithful friend but also his most trusted adviser.
In 1862, an English consul, Captain Cameron, went to Abyssinia accompanied by his French secretary. He wished for closer relations with England and prepared ‘nice’ letters to be delivered personally to Queen Victoria and Napoleon III. But these letters never reached their destination.
Naturally, Theodore, who had received no response to his letters and after two years in frustrated desperation, took as hostages Cameron and nearly all the foreigners, justifying his act by this speech: “…I thought that all Europeans were like my beloved John Bell, who always spoke the truth; but you are liars...”
Theodore’s hatred grew, turning him into a monster and the hostages endured six years of horror until, finally, in December 1867, a rescue mission made up of a massive British Expeditionary Force led by Sir Robert Napier left India. This resulted in the Anglo-Abyssinian War, which would have not taken place had Bell been alive and Britain would have saved billions of pounds.
Confronted by a huge army of Redcoats and camp followers armed with Snider rifles, Theodore realised that his army, armed with spears and ancient guns, would be no match against the British. Reluctant to surrender as advised, he took the pistol, believed to have been given to him by Queen Victoria, and shot himself in the head.
On Easter Sunday, April 12, 1868, 59 hostages were released to the English camp. Among them were Bell’s daughters, who all left for Europe, along with the six-year-old son of Theodore II, the crown prince Alamayou, his only legitimate son. It was his mother’s wish that her child be sent to Britain and put in the care of the British government in the event of her death.
On his way to England, under the care of Captain Tristram Speedy, Alamayou stopped in Malta, where he was photographed by Leander Preziosi.
Susan died in 1893 and Mary in 1936. Their future lives have been well documented in a series of articles on the internet found on Tandscandal.wordpress.com. These follow the lives of John Bell’s descendants until this day. A highly recommended and fascinating read.
Part 3 will relate how Thomas William Bell left Malta for Grenada with a shipload of Maltese migrants in 1839.