British Expedition to Abyssinia to his fortress at Magdala. He was engaged in constant military campaigns against a wide array of rebels. Likewise, Abyssinia was also threatened by the encroachment of Islam as Muslim Turks and Egyptians repeatedly invaded Ethiopia from the Red Sea and from Sudan while the Muslim Oromo tribe was expanding throughout Central Ethiopia. As a final attempt to recover his standing, Tewodros wrote to the major powers for help. As Donald Crummey recounts, "Now came the definitive attempt, at the turning point of the Emperor's career. Success might stabilize the internal situation; defeat would pull out the last prop. He
SS Abyssinia Due to such, "Parthia" only burned 47 tons of coal per day. In 1880, Cunard sold "Abyssinia" to the Guion Line when that company needed a mail liner to replace the wrecked "Montana". Two years later, "Abyssinia" finally received compound machinery. In 1884, she was transferred to the John Elder shipyard to partly finance Guion's new Blue Riband winner, the "Oregon". Unable to make the payments, Guion returned its new record breaker to Elders and continued to operate "Abyssinia". At the same time, Elders also acquired the former Cunarders "Batavia" and "Parthia" ("Abyssinia's" near sister) as trade ins for the