Photograph of a sketch/cartoon. A pair of horsemen including Napier ride across rocks at the bottom of a gorge. Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia, is depicted with troops and mortars on top of a cliff in the right of the background. A soldier prays on the left, whilst British and Ethiopian horsemen ride down cliffs behind him.

In 1862, faced with ever increasing threats to his country's borders and from within his own country, King Tewodros II of Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia) asked for military assistance from the British. The request was ignored particularly as the British sought to foster both commercial and diplomatic relations with Tewodros' enemies. As a result, King Tewodros captured and imprisoned a British missionary followed by Charles Duncan Cameron, the British Consul, along with his staff. The hostages were eventually released during the Battle of Magdala in 1868 when Lieutenant General Sir Robert Napier led the Bombay Army to victory. Many Abyssinian artefacts were taken from Magdala fortress by the British following the battle.