The enemy and the survival of a part of them in the fort, with the non-evacuation of Qaydar from the soldiers for fear of cutting off the line of communication. Until he said: But if God wills the execution of a decree to deprive the intelligent of their minds, so that He may execute His judgments upon them, then the owner of that opinion, Prince Hassan, did not observe the necessary planning, to the extent that we did not know, due to lack of reconnaissance, whether our cannonballs were reaching the enemy's camp or not, and we only knew of their arrival after the enemy army had left this camp. He said: It is not wise or prudent to send all the soldiers to fight at once without any reinforcements or reserves for retreat, nor is it correct to place soldiers in a place on its right a mountain from which the enemy can ascend and overlook them, and around its edges a wadi surrounding it that prevents retreat. For when our soldiers lined up in that place and the enemy army approached them, they fired at them with cannonballs and rifles. He had no choice but to descend into the wadi and move through it, unseen by our soldiers, until he reached the summit of the mountain. He then gained control of our army's right flank and broke its wing. When our army intended to retreat, the aforementioned wadi prevented them. One of our cannons overturned in it with its animals, and a number of our soldiers fell on each other in it, completely preventing retreat. This led to that failure and defeat, and a detachment of our soldiers falling into enemy captivity. And when the Abyssinians could not take the fort by force, and the fire of its cannons had taken them, they retreated. They called out to them to bury the dead and transport the wounded. So they buried them and transported their wounded. Then their drums sounded for departure, and they immediately turned on the prisoners they had, killing them by strangulation and slaughter, and they were very diligent in this. Then they marched in large numbers with their provisions and belongings until they descended upon the town of Agbese and encamped there. When it was Saturday, the King sent for Ahmed Bey Refaat, who was greatly afflicted by exhaustion, fatigue, and mental distress. He rose and went with the King's messenger, accompanied by the prisoners for Ahmed Bey, and they said to him: "Aman, Aman," and explained to him that he was going to the Negus to speak with him about peace and cessation of war. Ahmed Bey said: When we reached the King's courtyard, I found the prisoners in front of a tent, and I thought it was the King's tent and that they were prostrating to him. But it was the King's church, made of red cloth. As for his tent, in which he resided, it was made of white fabric. He said: After a while, I was summoned, and the first person who met me at the door of his tent was a man who knew a little Arabic. At that moment, everyone who was with the King, noble and humble, came out, and only his uncle, named Ras Saraya, remained with him. That person who met me said to me: "Are you the scribe and the chief scribe? Do you know the amount of weapons, gunpowder, and everything?" I replied: "Yes." When I entered the tent, I found the King veiled in such a way that I could not recognize his appearance. I was told later that it was the custom of the Abyssinian kings to do so when meeting a foreign enemy, for fear that he might recognize them and attack them when the opportunity arose. The King was tall, of medium complexion between black and brown, with a bare head, braided hair, a long face, and hazel eyes.