British Expedition to Abyssinia to Ethiopia. In 1999, several prominent figures in England and Ethiopia created the Association For the Return of the Magdala Ethiopian Treasures (AFROMET) which has pursued an information and lobbying campaign to see all treasure repatriated back to Ethiopia. Tewodros had asked his wife, the Empress Tiruwork Wube, in the event of his death, to put his son, Prince Alemayehu, under the protection of the English. This decision was apparently made in fear that his life would be taken by any aspirant for the empire of Abyssinia. In accordance with these wishes, Alemayehu was taken to London where he was
SS Abyssinia December 1891 off the coast of Newfoundland a fire broke out in her cargo hold which quickly overpowered her crew's firefighting efforts. Captain G.S. Murray ordered the ship to be abandoned. Lookouts on board the eastbound Norddeutscher Lloyd liner "Spree" spotted the smoke from "Abyssinia" and removed all passengers and crew by 4:15 pm. "Abyssinia" sank shortly after. "Spree" made port with the survivors in Southampton on 21 December. SS Abyssinia Abyssinia (1870) was a British mail liner originally operated by the Cunard Line on the Liverpool–New York route. She later served the Guion Line on the same route and