THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID UNCONQUERED ABYSSINIA AS IT IS TO-DAY THE AUTHOR IN THE DRESS OF AN ABYSSINIAN DEJAZMACH (GENERAL). The headdress and collar are lion’s mane, the coat is velvet embroidered with silver-gilt ornaments, the chamma of finest cotton, the skirt of silk, and the sword (worn on the right) and shield are both thickly covered with silver-gilt ornamentation. Pe ran) ABYSSINIA AS IT IS TO- DAY AN ACCOUNT OF A LITTLE KNOWN COUNTRY, ITS PEOPLES 7 & THEIR CUSTOMS, CONSIDERED FROM THE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC & GEQORAPHIC POINTS OF VIEW, ITS RESOURCES & POSSIBILITIES, & ITS EXTRA $ ORDINARY HISTORY AS A HITHERTO & UNCONQUERED NATION BY CHARLES F. REY, F.R.G.S. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS & A MAP London Seley, Service & Co. Limited 196 Shaftesbury Avenue os 1923 coe HHT ¥ UNCONQUERED ABYSSINIA AS IT 1S TO-DAY AN ACCOUNT OF A LITTLE KNOWN COUNTRY, ITS PEOPLES & THEIR CUSTOMS, CONSIDERED FROM THE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC & GEOGRAPHIC POINTS OF VIEW, ITS RESOURCES & POSSIBILITIES, & ITS EXTRA- ORDINARY HISTORY AS A HITHERTO UNCONQUERED NATION BY CHARLES F. REY, F.R.G.S. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS & A MAP London Seeley, Service & Co. Limited 196 Shaftesbury Avenue 1923 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN TO MY WIFE opts gr) wef, $0) DT I pt 4 214 KH iN wl } < A © ~ ~’ Ao AUTHOR’S ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER O His Imperial Highness Ras Tafari Makonnen, Prince Regent and Heir to the Throne of Ethiopia, I wish to convey the expression of my very real gratitude for the information he has been good enough to place at my disposal, and for the interest he has otherwise shown in the preparation of this work. It is my earnest hope that it may tend in some small measure towards a better general knowledge of his country and its possibilities. I would ask those of my friends, both in Abyssinia and elsewhere, who have been good enough to give me infor- mation regarding, or photographs of, the country—especially Belata Herui, Signor Bertolani, and Monsieur Schrenzel— to accept my hearty thanks for the assistance they have thereby rendered me. My thanks are also due to the editor of the Morning Post for his courtesy in allowing me to reproduce some of the matter from articles which I had contributed to that journal. The kindness which the publishers of the book—notably Mr. Service and his reader—have shown me and the help they have given me have been of great value, and for this I am sincerely grateful. The stimulus, the encouragement and the practical help from start to finish which I owe to my wife are beyond acknowledgment—to her the book is due. C. 7 R, vi311892 INTRODUCTION ISTORY, tradition, and romance have com- bined to make the land we describe as Abyssinia one of the most fascinating objects of study in Africa. From biblical times down to the present day Abyssinia has periodically emerged from the mysterious obscurity in which so much of its story is veiled, and has appeared on the world’s stage in connection with striking and even start- ling events, only to withdraw once again to seclusion behind the impenetrable barrier of its mountain ranges. Its early connection with Egypt, the wonderful story of the visit of Queen Makeda of Sheba to King Solomon, its early conversion to Christianity at a time when Europe was still a land of semi-savages, its conquest of part of Arabia, the story of its fleets trading as far as India, the asylum it afforded to Mahomet’s family at the time of his persecution, its long series of sanguinary wars against Islam as the bulwark of Christianity in Africa, the romantic expedition of the Portuguese under the valorous but unfortunate Christoforo da Gama, brother of the great navigator, the remarkable adventures of our great traveller James Bruce, the meteoric career of that extraordinary monarch King Theodore, so dramatically concluded by Lord Napier’s expedition, the disastrous efforts of the Italians to subjugate the country, the connection of Abyssinia with the one-time rivalry of France and England on the Nile—these are some of the great events which at one period or another brought Abyssinia before the world, 9 10 Introduction and which create in one’s mind so strong a desire to find out what is between, and to see for oneself how much is left. Tales of customs and practices, hundreds—even thou- sands—of years old, of a religion unchanged since its inception 1600 years ago, of forms of government older than any existing, of which we had read or had been told, stimulated our interest, and it was accordingly with feelings of high expectation, mingled with some fear lest the hand of modernity should have been laid too heavily upon the last surviving independent Empire in Africa, that we set out on our first visit to the land originally described by Father Alvarez in his narrative of the journey of the Portuguese Mission under Dom Rodriguez da Lima in 1520-7. We were, I am glad to say, not disappointed ; and so great was the fascination exercised on us by the country during two periods of residence, the last ending in 1923, that we shall hope to return again. During both these journeys I kept a full record of all that could be seen and learned of the people and of the country as it exists to-day, and in the interval between the two, research among the records of libraries and museums at home and abroad filled in gaps in my knowledge and explained much that had appeared difficult to understand. And H.H. Ras Tafari himself has been more than kind in supplying me with information and giving me access to official records. As a result it has seemed worth while to attempt to give to the public what I do not think exists to-day : a picture of Abyssinia at the present time, its customs, institutions, races, and religions, and an idea of the country as it strikes a foreign observer who has tried to be unbiassed and unprejudiced. It is far from easy to convey a really accurate idea of the state of evolution of this strange land, for it is such a Introduction on quaint blend of the modern, the medieval and the ancient, and the impressions it leaves are so kaleidoscopic, that a clear and definite picture of the country or the people as a whole is difficult of attainment. And this applies to almost every phase of the life and working of Abyssinia. In the palace itself, for example, one meets with such violent contrasts. Compare the culture of Ras Tafari and his wife, the former so advanced as to read the latest Bolshevist works, giving luncheon parties with a European menu and an excellent wine list, and then, perhaps the next day, the royal banquet of 15,000 men devouring raw meat ; the railway running into Addis Ababa, and within a few hundred yards a man having his hand or foot amputated for theft ; native tailors working busily with the latest type of sewing machine, under the shadow of their fellow-countrymen hanging on trees in the market-place ; a reception of Europeans and Abyssinians at the palace graced by cigarettes, coffee, and liqueurs, and in a field near by the priests dancing before the Ark of the Covenant ; the peasants almost within Addis Ababa ploughing with the same implements that were used 2000 years ago, whilst bills are being discounted on Paris and Bombay. The mosaic law, the feudal system, and the most modern ideas jostle each other throughout, and the intro- duction of the new does not appear to displace, but to sur- vive side by side with the old in the life of a nation that, to quote a recent writer, is young to-day, though it was powerful when the book of Genesis was written, and was Christian when our ancestors still worshipped Thor and Odin. The future of the country lies largely in the hands of Ras Tafari, the Prince Regent and Heir-Apparent, an able man, a patriot, and an indefatigable worker. Many difficulties face him, both internal and external ; abuses and malpractices of no mean order call for remedy 12 Introduction and are likely to tax his resources to the uttermost; jealousies and intrigues of countries and of persons exalted and humble stand in the way of a reformed administration and a developed country; and the help of Europeans of ability, experience and integrity is vitally needed in wrestling with the problems raised by an awakening Abyssinia. But if Ras Tafari can only be assured of the united and disinterested support of the three Great European Powers whose territories border on his own the outlook for the ancient Empire of Ethiopia should be a bright one. Inevitable though it may be, the modernizing of this wonderfully beautiful old land must cause a pang of regret to any lover of the picturesque and the antique ; and it is perhaps allowable to express a hope that when the “ spring- cleaning ” does take place, some of the old atmosphere will be left to remind one of the barbaric splendour of 2000 years ago that still exists in Abyssinia to-day. CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 east A Litre Known Lanp . . ; . : > 17 CHAPTER II GENERAL Dzscrirrion oF THE CoUNTRY i . . ; viii2q CHAPTER III THE RACES oF ABYSSINIA AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS . . Vries CHAPTER IV THE Races oF ABYSSINIA AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS—continued . 50 CHAPTER V Customs AND PracTICES . . . . ; : PR: CHAPTER VI Customs AND PrACTICES—continued . . : : ’ ‘70 CHAPTER VII Oricin AND History oF THE AByssiNiANs—UP TO THE RESTORATION oF THE SoLoMoN LINE, circa A.D. 1260. . , ‘ Jie CHAPTER VIII History oF THE ABYSSINIANS—FROM THE RESTORATION OF THE SOLOMON Line (circa ap. 1260) UNTIL To-DAY . . . . Johor CHAPTER IX Form oF GOVERNMENT . . . . . . . . loz CHAPTER X Law AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE . . . . . 114 CHAPTER XI Rericion anp THE CHURCH . . ‘ . . ‘ . 122 13 14 Contents CHAPTER XII ReriGious Practice AND PAGEANTRY ) CHAPTER XIII “Appis ABABA CHAPTER XIV Lancuace, EpucaTioN, LITERATURE AND ART CHAPTER XV THE ARMY CHAPTER XVI SLAVERY AND SERFDOM CHAPTER XVII TRADE AND COMMERCE—VOLUME AND NATURE CHAPTER XVIII TRADE AND COMMERCE—DIFFICULTIES . CHAPTER XIX AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY CHAPTER XX ComMuUNICATIONS, TRAVEL AND TREKKING CHAPTER XXI AnNimaL Lire . . . CHAPTER XXII ForeioN LiFe ANP INFLUENCE CHAPTER XXIII Pouiticar Situation . CHAPTER XXIV Tue Present ConpiTioN oF THE COUNTRY . CHAPTER XXV Tre Future: PossiBILITIES AND PROSPECTS . PAGE 132 14 157 170 181 192 205 217 227 Be 241 256 285 295 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Tre AvuTnoOR IN THE DRrEss OF AN ABYSSINIAN DEJAZMACH . Frontispiece A Younc Woman oF THE ARrussi GALLA H.H. Waizeru MENIN Tue Great Geeur or Raw MEAT BanqQuer AByssiNIAN (GRANDEES . . . H.LH. Ras Tarart Makoxnen, G.CM.G. . Tue Ex-Emperor Ley Yasu ano mis Tutor A NotaBrLE GROUP OF ABYSSINIANS H.I.M. Tue EmMPrEss ZAuDITU OF ETHIOPIA A Warnine To Evir-Dokers T'HE MARKET-PLACE AT ADDIS ABABA TrE DANCE OF THE PRIESTS FacsiMiLE oF A LETTER FROM THE EMPRESS OF AvuTtHOR . A “Roap” iN THE Arussi MOUNTAINS - THE AvuTHOR AND His WIFE 15 FACING PAGE ABYSSINIA TO THE 56 64 64 72 96 100 100 104 120 120 128 136 152 152 16 List of Illustrations FACING PAGE A Gruesome Mean . ; . : v . : . 170 Ax ApyssiniaN Warrior 18 Fantasia Dress ’ . . . 176 Preparing Raw CoTTON FOR SPINNING . . . : + 2200 Weaving . . . . . . : . . . + 200 GriNDpING TEFF FOR BREADMAKING . . . : : . 208 Tre Lion GATE AT HARRAR . . 5 : . . . 208 Tue Court SiLvirsmiTH AT WORK . . : . . 224 Basker-MAKING . : . : . vib : . 224 A Minor Cuier oF THE Arussi GALLA . 5 . . ve Tue Reep Canoes oF Lake Zwar . . : . : . 234 Tue RovaL Stanp Ar THE Races : . . . , . 256 Unconquered Abyssinia As it is To-day CHAPTER 1 A Little Known Land DISTINGUISHED Member of Parliament, to whom I was talking the other day, asked me where I had been lately, and on my telling him that I had just returned from Abyssinia— “ Abyssinia,” he said; ‘let me see, just where is it? It’s a long way off, isn’t it ? It is, and that no doubt is one of the reasons why so little is known of that most fascinating country and so few people visit it. But its remoteness is not the main reason. It has been until just recently one of the most inaccessible countries of the world, perched on its moun- tainous plateaux, surrounded by deserts, cut off from access to the sea, and inhabited by people who bore no love to foreigners, and exhibited their dislike in primitive and drastic fashion. It is difficult to state exactly who was the first European to set foot there—no doubt many who reached the country never returned, and left no trace of their adventurous passage. But we have records of one early pioneer who must have been there as early as 1478. Curiously enough he was a Venetian painter, Francisco de Branca Leone by name, who combined much dialectical skill in theology with his painting and who created a considerable stir in the country. For he painted a very large and beautiful picture of the Virgin holding the infant Christ in her left B 18 A Little Known Land arm. The King Beda Maryam was delighted with the work and placed it in his principal church—but not so the priesthood. Rank sacrilege and blasphemy was their cry—had not the Frank placed the Child on the Madonna’s left arm instead of in his proper place on the right? And as the King would not accede to their gentle request to burn the picture and execute the sacrilegious Frank, civil war broke out and took some time to quell. Branca Leone left no book to tell of his adventures, and neither he nor the next traveller to those realms, Pedro da Covilham, ever left the country. Covilham had been sent by his royal master of Portugal to discover the land of Prester John, that mythical potentate of fabulous wealth and power whose realms were variously described as being in China and in Africa or anywhere else where no one had ever been. The intrepid Portuguese reached Abyssinia in 1490, after some years’ wandering, and here he was found by the Portuguese mission under Dom Rodri- guez da Lima, whose adventures in Abyssinia from 1520 to 1527 have been immortalized in the work of the chaplain to the party, Father Francisco Alvarez, the first book ever to be written by a traveller to the country. Alvarez and his party had some wonderful adventures— he also told some wonderful stories (I use the word in its historical sense!), and one of them is so remarkable that I cannot forbear quoting it. During his march to the King’s headquarters, the country through which he passed was apparently suffering from one of its periodical visita- tions of locusts—a terrible infliction—and the people came to him praying for his assistance in ridding them of the accursed pest. Robed in all his canonicals and armed with cross and prayer-book Alvarez marched to meet the winged enemy. He directed some of the beasts to be caught alive, and then gave the prisoners a terrible message for their companions which he had previously written out —nothing less than to use his own words— A A Little Known Land 19 “ a requisition and admonition of ex-communication . . . that within three hours they should begin to set out on their way and go to the sea or to the country of the Moors or to mountains of no profit to Christians: and should they not do so it called upon and invoked the birds of the air and the animals of the earth and the storms and tempests to disperse and break and devour their bodies.” Terrified by this appalling edict the locusts (who appar- ently understood the Portuguese language) fled in their millions towards the sea, passing on their way Alvarez and his party, who had proceeded in that direction, and who reported that there were so many coming after us that it seemed as though they would break our ribs and heads driving against us—such were the thumps they inflicted on us . . . The next day there was not a single one alive in the whole country.” One really does not know which to admire most, the admirable discipline of the beasts or the historical powers of the priest. Between the arrival of Covilham and that of da Lima’s mission a party of sixteen Christians who had been enslaved by the Turks had escaped from Jedda and had made their way into Abyssinia—Spaniards, Greeks, a Basque, Germans and Genoese—and these men were also found at the King’s Court by the Portuguese in 1520. The heroic Christoforo da Gama with his handful of musqueteers was the next arrival in Ethiopia and he was followed at intervals during the next eighty years by a series of Portuguese missionaries, the most notable of whom was probably Father Paez, who laboured there for nearly twenty years and built churches, palaces and bridges, some of which may be seen near Gondar to this day. For nearly one hundred and fifty years after that the country remained practically closed to foreigners, i.e. until the arrival of our great traveller, James Bruce, in 1769. During this period only two parties are known to have 20 A Little Known Land entered Abyssinia, one consisting of a French doctor and a Jesuit, the accounts of whose experiences require a good deal of credulity to assimilate, a golden rod suspended in the air and a mule miraculously transported over precipices being included in the facts” presented to readers of their memoirs. The other party, consisting of three Italian priests, made a very short stay and hdd a very poor time. They were asked a series of questions to prove how learned they were in their religion, such as * Where are the tables of Moses now ? In what language will God judge the world 2 What was the first language spoken?” Apparently they failed lament- ably to answer these simple queries, and whether it was due to indignation at their ignorance or for other reasons they were turned out of the country neck and crop with nothing left to them but their clothes. After Bruce’s departure in 1772 there was another gap until 1808, when a series of English travellers began to visit the country followed by some missionaries. The first French explorers did not arrive until about 1835, and from that time onwards quite a number of Europeans came to Abyssinia to explore, to travel, to shoot or to convert ; there are interesting records of about thirty of such expedi- tions or missions between that time and the influx of missionaries and artificers who were later on found locked up in Magdala by Lord Napier’s expedition. They came and went by various routes—through Mas- sowa in the north-east, the Soudan on the west, or Somali- land on the south—but one and all had the same tale to tell of difficulty of access, of arduous travelling, and of hostile receptions at one point or another. Not until the railway reached Addis Ababa in 1917-18 was it possible to enter the country with any facility, but now of course that route has made the entrance into Abyssinia via Djibouti easy enough. The excellent steamers of the Messageries Maritimes (the best of which compare more A Little Known Land 21 than favourably with the much overrated P. & O. boats) do the journey from Marseilles to Djibouti (French Somali- land) in ten days and it is only at this stage that travelling becomes less luxurious though far more interesting. Djibouti is the port, capital, and only settlement of any importance in French Somaliland. It is situated on the southern shore of Tajura Bay, on the north of which lies Obok, the original French settlement in this inhospitable region. Obok and the surrounding territory was bought by the French in 1862 from the local rulers for $10,000 (then about 50,000 francs) and was later used as a port and coaling station. It was not until 1884-5 that it was formally annexed or “ protected ”’ in virtue of a treaty made with the Sultan of Tajura—in violation it may be mentioned of an agreement between that potentate and ourselves—and in 1892 the seat of government was transferred to Djibouti because the route from Obok to the interior was found to be impracticable. It is curious how diametrically opposite are the impres- sions often created in the minds of different people by identically the same places or happenings. Thus Lord Hindlip in his book ‘Sport and Travel,” referring to Djibouti in July, 1903, describes the place as “ more dead than alive.” While Mr. Skinner, the American Commis- sioner, who passed through Djibouti in November of the same year refers to it in his book as “ a monument to French persistence and creative skill,” and as being ““ admirable.” I fancy that Mr. Skinner’s impressions must have been slightly tinged by the warmth of the Governor’s reception, to which he refers as follows: “ Our experiences at Djibouti ended in a blaze of glory at the Government (sic) where an amiable Governor and his charming wife, surrounded by the leading residents, made féte over us in the most graceful and hospitable manner possible.” Obviously captious criticism after that would have been difficult ! Personally, in spite of the kindness of the reception of 22 A Little Known Land two different French governors on the occasion of four visits to Djibouti, I find it exceedingly difficult to say very much in favour of the place. The climate is not unhealthy, but it is generally abominably hot, and in the months of the south-west monsoon unbearably so. There is little facility for either recreation or amusement of any kind. There is hardly any vegetation, and wedged in as it is between a rocky desert and the sea, it is a place that one may be glad to have seen, but is not anxious to see again. It has certainly improved in the period between my first and last visits. A few more trees have been planted, electric light has been installed, and a née hotel has been opened. It is clean and bright-looking, but contains little of interest with the exception of the Somali native quarter and the camel and other markets which are not very different from those of any other small East African township. Such as it is, however; Djibouti must (and this constitutes its one claim to fame) be regarded as the outer courtyard of the entrance of Abyssinia. It is a remarkable entrance. The gateway is an abomina- tion of desolation, the arid wastes of which give no promise of the wonderful land that lies beyond. But once through the gateway the country begins to change and gradually as the train rises during the day the memory of the morning’s journey seems but a nightmare. For the first go kilometres the line runs through that hot and dreadful desert which is French Somaliland—rocks and sand, sand and rocks— parched and cracked by the sun, unrelieved by water or vegetation, a forbidding looking tract. And then we reached the frontier station of Daounlé, a funny little primitive place over which flies the Abyssinian tricolour with its green, red, and yellow stripes flanked on one side by a tiny French fort perched up at the top of a great rock, on the other by a square concrete pillar marking the boundary between France and Ethiopia. And then onwards through amazing country. The A Little Known Land 23 land for miles seems to have been rent and twisted by great convulsions of Nature forcing it into every kind of con- torted form. Great masses of volcanic rock are piled one on the other—huge clefts and fissures show their raw rough edges as if split with some gigantic axe—brown earth, red earth, black earth, all piled and mixed together, a sort of vast battlefield of Titans. And on to the west rising out of all this chaos is a miniature Abyssinia ; hundreds of hills, cone-shaped and pointed, leading on to larger flat-topped hills beyond, typifying on a small scale the mountain ranges and the plateaux which constitute our goal. And as we get amongst them, these great crags seem to look down in silent wonder and contempt at the desecrating audacity of our fussy little train puffing along at their feet. If we were glad enough to leave Djibouti we were delighted to reach our first night’s halt at Dirre-Daoua—a pleasant little town about 4000 feet above sea-level which was for many years the terminus of the railway whilst international political and financial interests fought over its future, and incidentally diverted it from its original goal, the ancient town of Harrar, about 35 miles away, slightly to the east of south. Dirre-Daoua is a flourishing little place containing a num- ber of well-built houses, erected originally for the large number of officials and others connected with the construc- tion of the railway ; this attracted European traders and their representatives, Indian and Arab merchants set up in business, and a branch of the Bank of Abyssinia was opened. Its importance has been kept up owing to the enforced col- lection there for Customs purposes of all goods entering or leaving the country and the consequent necessity for the maintenance there of agencies by business houses in Addis and elsewhere. In some ways Dirre-Daoua is the most progressive town in Abyssinia ; water is laid on, the roads are good, trees and shrubs are planted along the main thoroughfares, and the 24 A Little Known Land hotel is able to provide the dusty and train-weary traveller with a real big bath and an excellently cooked meal. The mountain scenery to the south of the town is really grand— whilst to the north stretches the great plain of the Hawash and its tributaries, that strange river which rising to the west of Addis Ababa flows for several hundred miles half across Abyssinia only to die in the sands before it can reach the sea. The second day’s journey took us along the foot of the Tchertcher Mountains to the suspension bridge over the Hawash River, leaving the great peaks of Mts. Afdam and Assabot to the North. Twisting in and opt through gorges and over ravines the train crept along, now hugging the side of a cliff with a deep drop on the far side, now brushing its way through vegetation that swept the sides of the cars, and again climbing painfully up gradients that seemed so steep as to threaten a stop at every moment, until at last we dropped down a long incline to the primitive little station of Hawash, a mere collection of huts in the bush surround- ing the rest-house which is glorified by the name of “ Buffet et Hotel de I.’ Aouache.” A good shooting centre this and one frequented by sportsmen who often start off their safaris from here in quest of game, or by residents in Addis Ababa who feel it necessary to drop down a few thousand feet for rest as a result of too long a stay in the great altitude of the capital. The hotel, though not luxurious, is much improved since the days when we first made its aquaintance ; and though a bath in the fully accepted sense of the word is a blessing yet to come, it is possible to remove the outer layers of the journey’s dust by standing under a tin with a hole in the bottom of it, suspended from the roof of a shed from which water sometimes emerges when a string is pulled. It is, however, a haunt of mosquitoes, and both here and at Dirre-Daoua it is advisable to sleep under nets, a disagree- able necessity which does not arise in the higher levels of Addis Ababa. A Little Known Land 25 The third and last day’s journey is by far the most pleasant even though a start has to be made before 6 a.m., for we have to climb 5400 feet in the day, no mean task. The sun was rising as we got under way, a beautiful sight in this mountain land of which I never tired. First of all a pinkish reflection began to show in the little morning clouds in the east, then the pink glow grew gradually stronger, turning to a beautiful pale reddish colour in the clouds hovering over a bright blue strip of sky; this exquisite and subdued effect in the east was reflected still more delicately in the west while in the north and south the sky was yet dark. ‘Then gradually soft gold began to replace the pink and red, and finally very gently up came the sun itself, blazing over the edge of the mountains and turning the whole sky into a brilliant blue lake without a cloud to mar its serene magnificence. Truly a picture to make the heart rejoice, and to cause one to feel that it is good to be alive. More and more rugged grows the scenery as we jog along, and at the primitive little wayside halts which generally consist of a few hovels and huts and are glorified by the name of stations, the Abyssinian in his chamma accompanied by his beloved rifle gradually takes the place of the Somali, in his bright-coloured cotton clothing, and the Dankali with his dirty covering of rags, his touzled hair (sometimes dyed bright red) topped by a wooden pin or comb, and his long, evil-looking spear. : Native bread, eggs, sugar-cane, live ducks, chickens, guinea-fowl, and sometimes even small gazelles are brought up for sale at these stopping-places, and bargaining proceeds amid a perfect babel of sound, until with a scream from the engine and many jerks as the train faces the ever-steepening gradient on we go again, the little naked children scamper along the line begging for piastres with shrill screams of “ Alamé ”—a corruption of the coast-boy’s cry of “ 4 la mer >> when asking for a coin to be thrown into the sea for him to retrieve by diving off the ship’s side. 26 A Little Known Land Cultivation became more plentiful, villages more numer- ous as we approached the capital—but we were dropped heavily back into the past as we rounded some hills and saw them thickly studded with caves in which people live and have their being even to-day—a possible survival of the cave- dwellers thousands of years ago who are by some supposed to have been the forerunners of the modern inhabitants. And finally, after a few last twists and curls, we run into Addis, nestling in its eucalyptus forests at the foot of the Entoto Hills, and in the midst of an excited, shouting throng of peoples of many races we endeavour to find our friends, pick out our luggage, and get hold of means of transport. Camels for the heavy luggage, Gourages for the light stuff, mules for the Abyssinians, ponies for the Europeans— all seem to be mixed up in inextricable confusion, out of which it is, however, easy to pick up the red and white pennons on the lances of the British Legation Sowar escort, and the picturesque uniforms of the askaris of the other foreign missions in Addis. To add to the turmoil, Ras Tafari, with the kindness that he always shows us, has sent his own motor-car carrying his secretary and others to meet us, and the invincible hostility of nearly every beast in the place is at once manifested to this horrible innovation! Alone the camels look down in solemn, silent contempt on this monstrosity—they know well that the roads of Addis are more suitable for them than for this latest device of the Frangi. Of course the car would not start—that happens some- times in Europe, I believe—but at length amid a picturesque procession of Abyssinians, Gallas, Gourages, Somalis, Indians, Greeks, Syrians, and Armenians, on horseback, on mules, and on foot, resplendent in their many-coloured turbans and costumes, we made our way to the hotel in the evening sunshine through the long avenues of green grass and eucalyptus trees that constitute the roads in Abyssinia’s capital. CHAPTER 11 General Description of the Country HE country that we know to-day politically and geographically as Abyssinia is of very recent creation in its present shape, dating practically from the series of boundary treaties concluded by the Emperor Menelik with England, France, and Italy after his victory over the last-named Power in 1896. Incidentally it may be mentioned that the people do not refer to their country as Abyssinia ” but as “ Ethiopia,” no doubt on account of the historical and religious associa- tions of that term, which in fact was quite a different geographical division. The area covered by Abyssinia has changed a good deal since the country’s early days; it has lost the whole of its sea coast, which originally extended from Suakin to Cape Guardafui ; its former ports, of which Adulis (in Annesley Bay) was probably the most important, are all in the hands of European powers ; its northern provinces have fallen to Italy ; the Sudan has encroached on the north-west. On the other hand, it has extended considerably to the west, the south and south-east consequent on Menelik’s conquests, the results of which were practically to double the area of the Empire previously existing. It is to-day what Menelik made it, a single Empire about three and a half times the size of the United Kingdom, extending from 3° to 15° N. lat. and from 33° to 47° E. long., embracing as provinces what were formerly the kingdoms or quasi-kingdoms of Tigré, Amhara, Gojam and 27 . 28 General Description of the Country Shoa, many smaller states and large districts such, for example, as Semyen, Waag, Lasta, Walega, Kaffa, Boran, Harrar, Ogaden, and Dankali ; and including such various races (in addition to the different branches of the Abyssinians themselves) as Gallas, Gourages, Falashas, Danakils, Somals, and Shankala, the last being a generic term covering the negro or negroid races to the north-west. It is for the most part a mountainous tableland rising out of low country by which it is practically surrounded and falls geographically into four rough divisions—the Dankali lowlands in the north-east, the Somaliland plateau to the south-east, the Galla highlands to the south-west, and the main Ethiopian plateau in the centre extending to the north and north-west. It might in less technical and more homely language be described as a garden surrounded by desert, for indeed I do not think (and I am echoing the words of many other travellers in this) that a more excellent climate, more beau- tiful and varied scenery, and greater fertility of soil, can be found anywhere in Africa. Of course the climate and temperature vary considerably in different parts of the country in accordance with the altitude, which ranges from sea-level to 12,000 feet; for example, while snow is found on some of the highest moun- tains in the north the heat in the lowlands is great and the climate exceedingly unhealthy, so much so that the hill- bred Abyssinian hates to penetrate into these regions, and very often dies there when he goes. The climatic conditions on the main Abyssinian plateau, of which the height is from 6000 to 8000 feet, are delightful ; throughout almost the whole year one enjoys a temperature akin to that of a temperate English summer’s day, and I think the following extract from my diary speaks for itself as to the conditions :— ¢“ Addis Ababa, Nov. 4th. I don’t think any climate in the world could beat this, it’s perfect. Morning after General Description of the Country 29 . morning we awake to brilliant warm sunshine, but it is never unpleasantly hot, on account of the cool breeze and the altitude. Bright sun all day and quite cold at nights, so that we sleep beautifully. It is difficult to realize the close proximity to the Equator. I am often sorely tempted to tell people at breakfast that it’s a fine day, a foolish remark indeed, because it is always fine . It’s impossible to realize that one is in November, the English month of damp and fog, when here every day and all day is just lovely.” It is a climate eminently suitable to healthy Europeans provided always that the heart is sound ; the high altitude and rarified atmosphere of the plateau will soon find out any weakness of that kind, or of the nervous system, and for that reason it is as well to be overhauled before determining on any lengthy stay here. I have known cases of people who have had to leave, sometimes hastily, on account of heart or nerve trouble, but of course they were not sound in these respects on arrival. In any event it is always well to avoid violent exercise for the first days after reaching the capital. Curiously enough the only creatures to which the climate seems really inimical are European dogs, which rarely survive more than a few months ; they develop a sort of anzmia, their gums become white and bloodless, and they just seem to flicker out of existence. The rainfall averages about 1250 millimetres at Addis Ababa, where it is heavier than at other places where obser- vations have been made ; at Gondar, for example, recorded observations give an average of about 1000 millimetres and at Harrar about goo. The year may roughly be divided into two seasons, i.e. the dry (Baga) lasting from the end of September to mid- June, and the rains (K’aramth) which last only three and a half months, i.e. from mid-June to the end of September. Generally there is a period known as the * little rains,” which is supposed to last for about six weeks during 30 General Description of the Country February and March (or sometimes April), when there are a few intermittent showers. But the “little rains” are as erratic and unreliable as an English meteoro- logical forecast ; sometimes they do not come on at all, sometimes they are a month or two late, sometimes they trickle into the rainy season proper, and sometimes, as in the present year, they start at the appointed time (mid- February) and are very heavy—indeed, I was told they have not been so heavy since 1906. This rainy season is not at all unpleasant, for though it rains for some part of the day during most days, and the, rain comes down in torrential showers, short and sharp, yet between these showers the brilliant sun dispels the clouds, and the atmosphere is so dry that there is no feeling of dampness or mugginess in the air such as one generally experiences in the tropics. The whole country looks at its best during and just after K’aramth, the verdure is abundant and the flowers, both wild and cultivated, are gorgeous. But when it does rain it does rain. The water falls in such torrents that in a few minutes the roads are like streams, and the rivers which half an hour before were trickling so slowly that their movement was almost imper- ceptible, become swirling foam-covered masses of water, thundering up their banks and carrying all before them in their mad rush, logs and trees, quantities of stone, boulders and earth. Then the usual fording places are of course impassable, and the traveller must be content either to wait a couple of hours till the swirling tide has abated, or else go round by a bridge, if he can find one. At these times natives coming into market or starting on a trip of some distance are frequently to be seen carrying about with them a sort of shaped mat of plaited grass, looking like a glorified folding beehive; and it is most comical to see them put this up and curl up inside like a tortoise in its shell, until the storm is over. General Description of the Country 3I Hail falls in such large lumps as to be really painful if one is out in a storm for long ; we used, however, to turn it to good account by using it for making ice-puddings— a great luxury, as freezing machines are unknown in Abyssinia. The effects of the Abyssinian rains extend far beyond Abyssinia itself, indeed it is not too much to say that the prosperity of Egypt depends upon them. For at these seasons the Atbara and the Blue Nile, rising in the moun- tains of Abyssinia and swollen by their many tributaries, become veritable torrents, carrying down huge masses of their native earth, rush into the White Nile and convert its originally clear waters into a muddy mass, which pours down into the plains of Egypt and overflows its normal banks. On the waters retiring they leave this rich mud covering the surrounding country, on which the natives have then only to plant their seeds in the sublime confidence that their labours are ended until the moment comes for them to reap the plentiful harvest brought to its fulfilment merely by the everlasting warmth and brilliance of the sun. So important to Egypt is this annual Abyssinian contri- bution, that in a Treaty made in 1902 with the Emperor Menelik, a provision was incorporated by which the latter bound himself not to allow the construction of any work across the Blue Nile without the consent of the British Government. I observed a curious phenomenon on the occasion of our last visit, and one that was corroborated by other observers. It is that the country was undoubtedly drier, and that there was less water in the lakes and in the rivers than at the corresponding period of three years ago when we traversed the same country, or when we could check our observations by those of other persons. For example, at two different places on the Hawash several days’ journey apart, the difference in the river level now and then was seven or eight feet; and on the borders of Lake Zwai in 32 General Description of the Country one place we had to go nearly half a mile from the bush to the water’s edge, whereas at this time three years ago the bush was within a few yards of the water. Whether this is due to the alleged * desiccation” of Africa to which I have seen references, or whether it is merely owing to the fact that the rains have been short for the last two or three years I cannot say—but undoubt- edly the fact is there. As the “ little rains ” in the present February have been considerably above the average, it may be that what I have referred to is only a passing phase. Let us hope so. : There is quite an imposing river system in Abyssinia, but in common with most tropical waterways they are torrents in the rainy season and streams in the dry ; some of them never reach the coast but lose themselves on the way from the mountains through the lowlands towards the sea; such an one is the great Hawash River which, rising in Mt. Metcha, loses itself near the Assa Lake close to the Red Sea west of Djibouti; some flowing towards the south-west are swallowed up by sponge-like country before they can reach Lake Rudolph or the Nile. That at least is the accepted theory, but it is at all events possible that some of these rivers may dive underground and reach the sea in that way. An argument in support of this theory is that fresh water has been found by digging at places between the disappearance of the Hawash and the Red Sea, and it is also alleged that inlets of fresh water have been found off the coast which may well come from a river flowing into the sea at some low level. Abyssinia is rich in lakes—great Tsana in the north gives birth to the Blue Nile—the Abai—and in the south there is a regular chain of nine lakes, ending with Rudolph, over 200 miles long, though only the northern extremity of this inland sea lies within the Abyssinian frontier. A curious feature of these nine lakes was remarked on by Mr. Hodson in some notes contributed by him to the ~ General Description of the Country 33 “ Geographical Journal”; he points out that although there is communication between some of them, some are fresh, some salt ; some are full of crocodiles and in others there are none. There are crocodiles in some of both the fresh and salt lakes, so their presence evidently does not depend on this property of the water. The country must at no remote period have been densely wooded in many parts, but the appalling waste- fulness of the people as regards timber has resulted in the deforestation of enormous areas. Wherever a king fixed his capital, or a general his camp, the trees for miles round were cut down for fuel and building, and as no replanting was ever undertaken, whole towns have had to be removed on account of wood famine. In spite of this there are still some wonderful forests in the country, in the Tchertcher district and near Addis, at Djam Djam for example. There are comparatively few towns of any size in the country, a fact which is hardly surprising in view of the backwardness of industry and the absence of communications. As regards the villages, there is no very marked difference from other African places of the kind as to merit special attention, except that they are invariably built at the tops of hills and in the high land. The Abyssinian is essentially a highlander—he hates the hot climate of the lowlands, and partly for that reason, partly, no doubt, for reasons of safety, he seems to have planted his habita- tions on the highest spots he could find. Apart from the capital, the most important towns are, perhaps, Dirre-Daoua, the main halt on the railway between Addis and the coast ; Harrar, the centre and market town of the province of the same name, known as the Garden of Abyssinia, the ancient city which Burton was the first white man to visit, and which he described so graphically in “ First Footsteps in Africa” ; Axum, far away to the Cc 34 General Description of the Country north of Tigré, the holy city of Abyssinia, the crowning- place of its Emperors, the repository of many of its oldest traditions ; Lalibala, a small place in Lasta, famous only for the wonderful churches cut out of the solid rock by the Zaguean king of the same name in the twelfth century ; Gondar, in Amhara, the ancient capital made famous by the Portuguese. Many and fascinating are the legends and even the “historical happenings associated with these old places, and even to-day the traveller can see the wonderful obelisks erected centuries ago at Axum by the ancient rulers of the land to commemorate their expeditions and victories. { Some of the huge columns are still standing, many more have fallen, but all of them bear eloquent tribute to the engineering skill of this old people which, many hundreds of years ago, without the aid of all the machinery which we have to-day, were able to hew out their great monoliths and hoist them up into position. There is scope for much research and excavation work at Axum ; a little has been done by a German mission, and Mr. Theodore Bent has written an interesting treatise on the inscriptions he found there as the result of a short visit. But only the surface of the subject has been scratched. Some of the old palaces and bridges built by the Portuguese in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries near Gondar are still standing ; sadly battered by time and neglect, but still very beautiful. The most remarkable and the least known, however, of all these old remains are the extraordinary churches of Lalibala. These have, so far as I know, been visited by Europeans on four occasions only ; once in 1520 by Alvarez, to whom we owe a remarkable description of them ; twice by Frenchmen, and once by a German. I believe that another expedition was on its way when we left the country, but I do not know whether they were successful in getting there. General Description of the Country 35 Lalibala, who reigned at the end of the twelfth or the beginning of the thirteenth century, is generally credited with the execution of these remarkable works, but some antiquarians have placed them as far back as the fifth century ; it is at least possible that they were begun at that period and gradually completed through the ages. The work must have been a colossal task ; the churches are literally hollowed out of the rock, walls, floors, ceilings, windows, and doorways being as perfectly shaped and chiselled as though built up in the ordinary way. Tradition relates that the design and site of these churches was revealed to Lalibala in a vision, and that on awakening from his trance he at once set to work on the task, which occupied twenty-four years. He caused the necessary tools for excavating and carving the rock to be forged, bought the land from its occupiers, assembled the people and allotted to each one his share of the under- taking. Angels worked with the labourers by day, and carried on the work alone by night, so that when the men came to their work in the morning they found that for every yard they had accomplished in the preceding day three yards had been done during the night by the labour of their invisible celestial assistants. A more prosaic record, however, states that the king caused 400 or 500 Egyptian workmen to be brought over from Alexandria and Jerusalem—a sufficiently formidable undertaking in itself, given the distance of Lalibala from the sea (250 miles as the crow flies) and the difficulties of travel in those times. There are in all eleven churches, although, as two of them are hollowed out of a single rock, the number is frequently given as ten. They are in two groups, one of six and one of four, and a single one, that of St. George, stands alone ; they vary considerably in size and design, some being of a more elaborate character, and more delicately worked than others. 36 General Description of the Country The largest and most beautiful is that of Medine-Allem, or the Saviour of the World, and a description of this one may perhaps give an idea of the nature of these con- structions. It stands in a courtyard, which is itself hollowed out of the rock, and is 109 feet in length by 75% feet wide : the walls are in places over 6% feet in thickness. It is surrounded externally by a number of square columns or buttresses, which support arches thrown from one to the other, meeting in a sort of vault above the top of the church. Inside there are five naves, each containing seven square columns very well worked with arches dropping a little below the vaulted roof, which is beautifully chiselled and very high. There is an altar with a canopy over it, long and narrow with much tracery, and several doorways consisting of a number of arches diminishing in size as they go inwards. There are also statues carved in the wall but standing out from it. Alvarez says that the tracery work is so fine that “neither a jeweller in silver nor a worker of wax in wax, could do more work.” And every part of each of the eleven churches is carved out of a single rock— walls, roof, altars, canopies, columns, statues, doorways, and windows—truly such a work on such a scale is almost worthy to rank as one of the wonders of the world. There are other monolithic churches in Abyssinia, but none to compare with these in size or beauty or elaboration ; and these and the still older obelisks of Axum are practically the only monuments in the country linking it with its remote and little known past. The inscriptions on the Axumite stones are particularly interesting as showing the connection between Abyssinia and Arabia through the Himyaritic writing which indicates Sabzan influence ; further proof of this connection has been obtained during the present year by the excavations carried out in Tchertcher General Description of the Country 37 (Southern Abyssinia) by a French expedition. This mission, under the direction of the R.P. Azais, who was previously engaged for nearly twenty years in missionary work in the country, and supported by various French official and learned sources, such as the Museum of the Louvre, and the Académie des inscriptions et belles lettres, left Marseilles in June, 1922, and arrived at Addis at the beginning of the present year after a very successful six months in the South. They discovered inter alia some sixty stones in a good state of preservation, on which were cut Himyaritic inscriptions. I have not yet seen the translations of these inscriptions, but they may prove of great historical importance, and in any event they are exceedingly interesting as being the first evidence discovered of old-time connection between Sabza and Southern Abyssinia. CHAPTER 111 The Races of Abyssinia &° their Characteristics N attempting to visualize the people of Abyssinia it is necessary to bear in mind that the inhabitants of the country are not one people but many peoples, and that these differ from each other not only in race, but in language, appearance, customs and religion. It is usual to refer loosely to the combination as Abyssinians, but this is misleading, as the Abyssinians properly so- called form but a minority of the population, probably about a third. It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to say that no official figures exist as to the size of the population, and although nearly every writer on the country has given a figure, it is difficult to understand on what authority these different estimates are based, varying as they do from four to thirteen millions. The truth probably lies somewhere between the two, and from such inquiries as I was able to make, and such information as I was able to obtain in the country, I should say that from nine to ten millions was a probable figure. But I give it with all reserve and with no claim to meticulous accuracy. Of these numbers about one-third are, as I have said above, Abyssinians properly so-called. They inhabit the provinces—Ilately kingdoms—of Tigré, Amhara, and Gojam in the north, and a part of Shoa in the centre; and this area comprises rather more than one-third of the country. 38 The Races of Abyssinia 39 The major portion of the remainder of the population consists of various branches of the great Galla race who commenced their invasion of the country in the sixteenth century, overran a great part of it, settled there, and were successively subdued by subsequent kings of Abyssinia, until their conquest was completed by Menelik, who consolidated his kingdom by adding large tracts of Galla territory, especially in the south and south-west. Along the whole of the western borders are found tribes of negro and negroid races, generally referred to as Shankala ; whilst along the eastern border are strung out the Moslem tribes that for so many years were a thorn in the flesh of Abyssinia, the Danakil, and the Issa and other Somals. Finally, to the south-east are found the Ogaden Somals. Interspersed in these main broad divisions curious enclaves of peoples exhibiting quite special characteristics are met with. Perhaps the most curious of these are the Falasha, a race of Jews who inhabit mainly the mountainous district of Semyen north of Lake Tsana, and the Gourage, living in the country of that name some days’ march south-east of Addis Ababa. I propose to confine my remarks in the present chapter to Abyssinians, and to deal later on with the subject races to whom I have referred above. The Abyssinians themselves vary in type; for example, the Tigréan and the Amharan differ markedly from the Shoan, and to a lesser degree from each other, both in appearance and in characteristics. This is no doubt due in part, in all events, to the greater or less extent to which the different branches have inter-married with their subject races, the Galla or Shankala, and it is accordingly not surprising to find that the Shoan, who is more closely surrounded by these races than his northern brothers, is darker and frequently less aquiline in feature than they are. On the whole, however, they may be described as a 40 The Races of Abyssinia fine type of man, about medium height, well-built, brown in colour, shading in some districts to olive. More techni- cally, it may be said that as a result of anthropological examination by various experts of a large number of indivi- duals, 73 per cent were found to be bronze skinned, 13 per cent fair, and only 14 per cent dark, whilst practi- cally all had brown eyes and black hair. The characteristics of the Abyssinians have been the object of many bitter attacks by persons who have lived there, and by people who have written on the question without having entered the country, or after having spent only a very short time there. As my impressions differed so markedly from views of the above nature, I have cast around to endeavour to find some explanation for the antipathy shown to these people, and for what it is worth I suggest the following explanation. In endeavouring to form a just appreciation of their qualities and characteristics it is necessary not merely to have travelled in the country and to have mixed with the people, but to be armed with a certain amount of know- ledge of their history, and to realize the conditions under which they have lived in recent times. A certain breadth of view is also necessary, for circum- stances in Abyssinia are so different from those obtaining in other parts of Africa. An Englishman coming to the country from, say, a British colony, where the country belongs to the white, and the white man is top dog in every sense of the word, is faced by conditions which need a complete mental volte-face if he is to live there in comfort and in harmony with the people. The country belongs to the native ; he is the top dog ; all power is in his hands ; the white man (or the red man as they call him) is an immigrant. So far from having been conquered by the white race, he has defeated them in the open field. He has been shut off from progress for centuries, and he knows little of the white men; what he does know does not The Races of Abyssinia 41 altogether redound to their credit. And, moreover, a poor class of so-called “mean white” has descended on the country, living little better than do the natives, showing them no higher standards of life than their own, and under the guise of trade and industry endeavouring to exploit, if not indeed to swindle, them pretty thoroughly—never to develop the country. It is therefore not altogether surprising that the white man does not always find himself regarded as the “ heaven- born ” in Abyssinia. And, on the other hand, it is also perhaps not surprising that he is annoyed thereby. They are not an easy people to get to know, and I think they understand our mentality as little as we generally understand theirs. As a result they are deeply suspicious of the Frangi—a suspicion based on fear and experience— and much of the apparent hostility they display to Europeans is in my view merely this suspicion. Many of them object to “ modernization ” and to the attempt to impose upon them the European’s ideals and ideas ; this is doubtless regrettable, but it is at least understandable, and I am afraid I am unable to regard it as a heinous offence. Furthermore, they regard themselves as the equal of the white man, a factor which must be taken into account and for which allowance must be made in dealing with them. This is no doubt partly due to their military successes and to the adulation which was lavished on them after their victory at Adowa, when all the great European powers indulged in what has been referred to by a recent writer as “an undignified scramble ” for a place in Menelik’s affections by sending missions and ministers laden with presents and drafts of treaties. In part, also, I imagine it to be attributable to the fact that they profess the same religion as that of Europe, acquired when Europeans were still pagans, and retained in what they believe to be an older and a purer form. In spite of this, however, I am bound to say that my 42 The Races of Abyssinia impressions, derived during a fairly lengthy stay in 1919-20, and a shorter one during 1922-3, were of the happiest, and during the whole of our sojourn in the country neither my wife nor I experienced even discourtesy, far less hostility, from the many Abyssinians with whom we came in contact, high or low, either in Addis Ababa or during our “treks” about the country. Politeness and courtesy, indeed, are in my view striking characteristics of these people, and in this opinion I am supported by other travellers who had greater opportunities than I of putting the matter to a test. Mr. Wylde, who spent much time in Abyssinia on several occasions, and travelled on foot over a great part of the country, wrote in 19oo: “There is no harder worker than the Abyssinian peasant, and no more harmless and hospitable person when left alone and properly treated.” And again, “1 have been well received everywhere when I have travelled about without an escort.” And in a somewhat wild and adventurous journey from Zeila to Addis Ababa in 1907, Captain Bentley, who was very nearly murdered by Isa Somals and later by Danakil, had similarly fortunate experience of the Abyssinians. He says of some Abyssinian officers who had been sent to meet them : “They proved courteous and kindly gentlemen, and, indeed, throughout the whole of their stay in the country the party experienced both from high and low the same never-failing good-will and kindness.” They are also exceedingly polite to each other on meeting. Repeated bowings and ceremonious greetings take place, and frequently the men salute each other by a kiss on both cheeks, an unusual thing in Africa. In this connection I remember an amusing case of an intriguing foreigner who wished to steal a march on his European competitors by cultivating Abyssinian friendship in any and every way. On the return to Addis of the members of the Abyssinian Mission to Europe he went to meet them at the station, The Races of Abyssinia 43 and to their surprise and to the disgust of all other Europeans present, he kissed them affectionately ! They are eminently a warlike people, mindful of their achievements on the field of battle, and ready to fight again at any time. ‘Their martial spirit is no doubt stimulated by the fact that their country includes huge tracts which they have comparatively recently conquered, some of it still hardly pacified ; and it is typified by their bearing—every man carries a rifle and a bandolier full of cartridges at all times. Their single great defeat of modern times, viz. Lord Napier’s victory over King Theodore in 1868, is too long past to trouble them, and their victories over the Egyptians in 1875 and 1876, and still more so over the Italians at Adowa in 1896 have given them an unduly optimistic idea of their military powers. In talking to Fitarauri Hapta Giorgis, one of the late Emperor Menelik’s generals, and now Minister of War, this point of view was quite clearly brought out. He seemed to think that given a few more machine guns and rifles his army would be a match for any European forces, and he could not understand, in spite of our efforts at explanation, why we had found it necessary “ to dig holes in the ground and hide in them ” in the course of the Great War. But in spite of this and of the fact that they are intensely fearful and jealous of any encroachment on their independ- ence, they do not themselves desire to overrun their boundaries, for they are a race of highlanders, neither liking nor thriving in the lowlands. When their armies penetrated to the Nile in the attempt to join forces with Major Marchand, the heavy loss of life they suffered in the lowland climate forced them to retire; and so far from constituting a danger to surrounding countries it would appear that they are confined to their island mountains by the forces of Nature. I should describe the Abyssinians as a patriotic and 44 The Races of Abyssinia intensely proud race; proud of the independent position they have maintained during centuries of ceaseless warfare ; proud of the alleged semi-divine descent of their ruling house, in which they believe implicitly ; proud of their religion, which they have preserved through 1500 years against attacks of all descriptions. A striking example of this is contained in Menelik’s circular letter to the Powers in 1891, in which he refers to “ Ethiopia having been for more than fourteen centuries an island of Christians in the midst of a sea of pagans.” They are deeply suspicious of foreign enterprise, as por- tending danger in some form or other to their indepen- dence. They are mildly religious in their own curious way, observing the Church fasts and feasts with the greatest strictness, and showing, outwardly at all events, a consider- able measure of reverence to their churches and monasteries. They are entirely uneducated, but possess a keen sense of humour, are very loquacious, and are fond of litigation, in which they indulge freely. They are great sportsmen and are exceedingly fond of hunting or of any sporting event, to watch which they will flock in their thousands. The race meetings organized by the Europeans at Addis are always extremely well patronized by the natives, and the crowd on the great plain on these occasions is distinctly reminiscent of Epsom—if you omit the rifles. It must not however be imagined from what I have said that the Abyssinians expect or would like subserviency in any form, or that anything of the sort would pay in dealing with them. Far from it—they need and respect and appre- ciate a strong man, a straight man, and a good sportsman—a man who is a man in fact. The aspect of the 1868 expedi- tion I am told which impressed them most was that Lord Napier actually did what he said he was going to do—neither more nor less—i.e. march to Magdala, free the captives, evacuate the country, and pay for all supplies. That he kept The Races of Abyssinia 45 his word as regards the last-named item seemed to them marvellous, inasmuch as he was marching through a con- quered country. A pleasing feature of the race, and one which is almost universal, is their fondness for children ; these are merry plump little things and were a great source of pleasure and amusement to us. My wife used to carry about sweets in her pockets to distribute to them, and the parents used to appear as pleased as the children when the latter’s shrill cries of “ 4bateé zukar” were rewarded with a shower of sticky compounds as we rode past their tukuls. They have a pretty habit of touching the ground with their heads by way of greeting, and of touching one’s feet with their heads as thanks for the smallest trifles in the way of gifts. Up to about two years old, children toddle about in the state they are born after a preliminary stage of being carried on their mothers’ backs in a sitting posture, there main- tained by a large square of abougedid, two of the corners ot which are tied round the mother’s waist and the other two round her neck. After two years they put on a little cotton chemise, and there it remains day and night until it drops off and is replaced by another. The children of the better class Abyssinians are carefully secluded, and one seldom comes across them ; they have nurses or slaves, to dress and take proper care of them. Abyssinians are on the whole good to their wives, a some- what surprising fact in view of the marital conditions obtaining which are described in another chapter. They seem to be genuinely attached to them, and of this I may cite two striking examples which occurred while we were in Addis. One of our French friends had a head-man whom he regarded as a paragon among servants, and who was happy, contented, well-treated, and well-paid. His wife became seriously ill and her life was despaired of. One night when at dinner our friend was disturbed by a rifle shot in the house, and rushing out of the room found that his servant 46 The Races of Abyssinia had shot himself through the head by pulling the trigger of his rifle with his toe ; he had just previously told several people that his wife was dying and that he could not live without her. "The other case was in our own household. One of our per- sonal “ boys,” a most admirable servant, was deserted by his wife,who elected to transfer her affections to another member of our staff and was hidden away by him. This so affected our man that he became ill and wretched, threw up his post, and after a fruitless search for the guilty pair with a rifle, disappeared into his own country many days’ journey away. Although bribery and baksheesh certainly exist as elsewhere in the east, I disagree with the conclusion which several writers on the country have come to, i.e. that the Abyssin- jans are an avaricious and money-craving nation, and that anything can be obtained from them if sufficient dollars are forthcoming. I could tell of several cases where, to my personal knowledge, justly earned monetary presents have been declined by men in a good position, who have appar- ently been glad to render service through friendliness or courtesy. 1 have also known cases where no amount of dollars would induce an Abyssinian in poor circumstances to part with a thing that he desired to keep. Apart from their incorrigible wastefulness they make admirable servants, and we found them scrupulously honest. We had a good deal in the way of silver and other household valuables when we were in Addis, and though we never kept anything under lock and key and had as many as 30 or 35 indoor and outdoor servants, we did not lose so much as a saltspoon during the whole of our stay. I have dwelt at some length upon this point because I have found other writers dealing very harshly with the people of this country from almost every point of view, and finding few, if any, redeeming points amongst them. Pos- sibly this may be due to their being travellers passing through, and not residents. Possibly also things may have THE EX-EMPEROR LE] YASU AND HiS TUTOR. On the left is the ex-Emperor, dispossessed in 1916, and on the right is his tutor, the late Ras Tessama, an able and enlightened man. A NOTABLE GROUP OF ABYSSIANIANS. Left to Right—Seated.— (1) Fitorauri Hapta Giorgis (Minister of War) ; (2) The late Ras Tessama (Lej Yasu’s Tutor); (3) The ex-Emperor Lej Yasu; (4) Ras Betwadet Mangesha ; (5) Dejaz- mach Woolie (late husband of the Empress). [Photograph by M. Bertolani.] The Races of Abyssinia 47 changed since they wrote. But in any case I can only speak of the people as I found them, and I am bound to differ strongly from those who would condémn the Abyssinian as the possessor of all the vices and none of the virtues. On the other hand, I do not by any means desire to hold up the Abyssinian as a model for all and sundry to copy ; obviously he has his faults, which, as might be expected, are mainly Oriental in character. For example, they are markedly cruel, especially to animals, of which I have seen dreadful examples, and their punishments are attended with circumstances of almost barbarous cruelty. But even here it may be pointed out that it is not necessary to go to Africa to look for cruelty, when we are obliged to support by public subscription at home Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and even to Children. They cannot be described as industrious ; apart from the peasant (especially in the North) who is a worker, they take more kindly to carrying a rifle than to manual labour. There are large numbers of soldiery attached to every Chief and Governor, and these men have been described by Mr. Wylde as “ truculent, worthless, lazy, conceited, and useless individuals.” Though this is perhaps rather strong it con- tains germs of truth, as these people are merely the hangers- on of some chieftain, and their sole job in peace time is to swell their master’s retinue and lend an air of dignity to him when he goes abroad. Unfortunately the lower classes have little or no idea of morality ; brothels and drinking dens are plentifully sprinkled about the towns, and appear to be well frequented. Probably owing to this and to the filth of their surroundings and of some of their habits, venereal and dirt diseases are very prevalent. Cases of small-pox are still fairly numerous ; from time to time one comes across a case of a man suffering from this illness lying at the side of the high road covered with a dirty piece of cotton sheeting taking a sun-cure ; but thanks to 48 The Races of Abyssinia vaccination, which has become recognised and appreciated by the natives, small-pox is less met with than formerly. Leprosy is very prevalent, as in all eastern countries, and it is greatly to be regretted that these poor remnants of humanity are not confined in compounds instead of being allowed to wander about at will ; as it is, these unfortunates are found all over the town and especially outside the churches, where they beg for charity. They are great beg- gars, and when the disease gets too bad for them to walk they procure old ponies and ride from house to house soliciting alms. In this connection it is related that a well- known Greek, not a connoisseur of horse-flesh, bought a pony, and was surprised to find it continually stopping at houses en route. Inquiry elicited the fact that it had originally belonged to a leper, and had so acquired its habit of house to house visits ! Blindness is also very common, or so it appears to a new- comer to the capital. I do not know the real reason of this, but am told it is due in part to the flies carrying the germ of opthalmia from one to the other, and through ignorance or neglect of the most ordinary precautions the sight becomes impaired. Abyssinians, like most African peoples, have a great dread of sickness, and should they become ill very often succumb, where with a little courage they might have pulled through. But on commencing to suffer they immediately think their end has come and give up all hope of recovery. Thanks however to the very healthy position of Addis Ababa, epidemics have so far rarely occurred there with the excep- tion of the Spanish Flu” which affected the whole world and particularly Africa in 1918. Abyssinia at that time suffered perhaps more than its share of this virulent illness and the victims in Addis Ababa died like flies. A fair number of Europeans also succumbed, amongst them four doctors, who worked day and night most valiantly fighting the disease. The Races of Abyssinia 49 Unless something can be done to improve the habits and conditions of these people, it is to be feared that in the course of time the Ethiopian race may gradually die out. Families are small; mortality is high; and though no figures are available it is obvious that the death-rate must exceed the birth-rate by a considerable margin. It is inter- esting to note in this connection that Abyssinians who have associated as servants or otherwise with Europeans show marked improvement in their habits and cleanliness. Their mental attributes are more difficult to gauge. Sometimes one is inclined to regard them as exceedingly able, at other times they seem to lack the very elements of brain power and be incapable of understanding the simplest proposition put to them ; on the whole I think they may be said to be a remarkable combination of astuteness and childishness, attributable no doubt in part to the medley of conflicting conditions in which they live and have their being. Among minor attributes may be cited their fondness for flowers, especially roses, of which they may often be seen carrying a specimen. This may possibly be due to the fact that a variety of the rose, Rosa Sancta, was formerly con- nected with religious worship, at all events in Tigré where it was grown round the churches, and the petals used by priests to mix with incense. This particular kind of rose is stated to have been found in Egyptian tombs. CHAPTER IV The Races of Abyssinia & their Characteristics—(corzd.) HE Galla are by far the most numerous of the races found in Abyssinia, outnumbering all the others combined, and inhabiting great areas over which they spread when they swarmed into the country after the great Moslem invasion of the early sixteenth century. They are supposed to have appeared on the southern frontiers first of all in 1542, but their origin is obscure. ‘There is much diversity of opinion among writers on the subject; they appear, however, to be a distinct race, Hamitic in source, now split up into branches differing from each other considerably though speaking a single language, and to have originated according to their traditions from across the waters.” Whether “ across the waters >’ means across the Red Sea, or, as is more probable, across the great lakes of equatorial Africa, is still a subject of controversy, into the merits of which I do not propose to enter here. One theory is that coming originally from Arabia in the far distant past, they crossed into British East Africa, migrated south-west to the great lakes and from there drove north into Abyssinia through - Borana. Be that as it may, they poured into an enfeebled and de- vastated country, and though internal dissensions among their different branches prevented their conquest of the whole country, they ravaged, pillaged, and burned enormous 50 The Races of Abyssinia 51 areas, destroying countless treasures contained in the churches and monasteries, and invaluable and irreplaceable old manuscripts. Driven back from the central plateaux they settled mainly on the southern and western districts, although a wedge was driven right through Shoa across to the east, and some of them—the Taltal, Azibu, Yedjow, and Wollo Galla—are found strung out along the eastern borders between Abyssinia proper and the Afar desert coast line. They are a pastoral people, industrious and hard-working, but possessing also markedly warlike qualities. They were only finally subdued by the Emperor Menelik thanks to the arms and ammunition with which he was so plentifully supplied by the French, and even since then there have been frequent risings, and the different tribes still indulge in spasmodic fighting with each other and with their neighbours. When we were in the Arussi Galla country during the present year we could see from our camp south of Lake Zwai the sky at night bright with the reflected light of the burning villages and crops in the fighting zone, and I am told that during the last six years no less than 5000 men have been killed in the desultory fighting that goes on periodically between the Arussi Galla and their neighbours of Gourage. A punitive expedition had to be sent into the Gona country (bordering on Arussi) a few years ago, and the people were fined 20,000 to 30,000 head of cattle ; this, I believe, caused the bellicose people to keep their fighting within their own country. In any case, however, they do not interfere with Europeans or other outsiders, and their fighting seems to be rather Irish in character, something in the nature of a national amusement. The Galla are on the whole darker than the Abyssinians, less advanced, and much less attractive. In Shoa they are less clearly distinguishable from their conquerors, but further away from the capital they become more and more 52 The Races of Abyssinia savage, both in appearance and in habits, especially amongst the pagan branches. In Gille we come across some of the filthiest Galla I have ever seen ; they were very black in colour, their clothes were black—even their cattle and donkeys were black. They lived in primitive reed huts, surrounded by a small zareba about fifty feet across, into which all their cattle—they owned quite a lot—were driven at night for protection. The filth and the smell of this place were beyond descrip- tion, but the sun is a great purifier, and it is mainly on that account I suppose that they appear to suffer no ill- effects from their surroundings. The aroma drove us rapidly outside, and we regretted our enforced retreat the less that these folk were very timid and would not let us photograph them ; they took refuge inside their wretched hovels, and it would have needed greater courage and stronger stomachs than we possessed to join them inside. The Arussi Galla show perhaps the purest race-type, and very remarkable people we found them. They are undoubtedly wealthy, for in the north we passed through huge cultivated areas almost continuously, and in the south enormous herds of cattle, many horses and goats, and some sheep. But the gabar system, which is described elsewhere, presses heavily on them, though to a less extent than in the poorer districts, such, for example, as Gourage. Nevertheless, their clothing is of the scantiest and most primitive description. The men wear, in addition to a filthy loin-cloth, either a half-tanned skin over their shoulders or a piece of cotton sheeting wrapped round them. This piece of material is, when bought, dipped into melted butter, and from that day until it literally de- materializes it is never washed. The filthy appearance and the smell of it are almost overpowering, and when we happened to have a group of these people near us we found it preferable to stand to windward of them and to indulge in our strongest tobacco. The Races of Abyssinia 33 The women generally wear skins ; one as a sort of petti- coat and another thrown over the shoulders. But they make up for the inelegance and inadequacy of this part of their raiment by a very large number of rings, bracelets, and necklets of brass and copper, more rarely of ivory, with which they literally cover themselves. They seem to eat anything of any sort that they can lay their hands on, no matter how revolting it may appear. One day when we were in camp south of Lake Zwai I had had an ox killed for my men, and, of course, some Gallas collected near the camp to pick up anything that might be going. Strolling down to the lake to shoot something for the ““ pot ” I passed one of these men squatting on the ground, his filthy rags pulled round him and his spear on the ground, busily engaged tearing with hands and teeth at the raw entrails (including the bowel) of the ox we had just killed—it was really one of the most repulsive sights I have seen. Some of them—a distinct branch—are known as “ hippopotamus eaters,” the icthiopagi of the ancients, no doubt, and as their name indicated, they hunt and feed on the flesh of these animals. They are regarded with profound contempt by the Abyssinians as eaters of unclean food, and certainly those that came into camp to offer to guide us to the haunts of the hippopotamus seemed of a more debased type than the other tribes, the filth of their persons and the aroma shed around them being more than usually exhilarating. Others live by fishing on the lakes—Zwai and others— and the craft they use for the purpose are really astonishing. They consist of long thick reeds lashed together and brought into a point at either end, the thin ends of the reeds forming the bow and the thick ends the stern. In the middle of this contrivance are two small recesses, in one of which the fisherman sits and plies his paddle and in the other stores his net and the fish he catches. The boat 54 The Races of Abyssinia does not float on but 77 the water, and at all events has the merit of keeping the fisherman cool and the fish fresh— but a more uncomfortable and perilous form of transport can hardly be imagined. Fortunately, though there are hippopotami in Zwai there are no crocodiles, but even so, I was not extraordinarily disappointed when my fisherman friend refused to lend me his boat for a trip. Their customs and superstitions alone would fill a book, but I will confine myself to describing one or two only of the more interesting. Among these is their curious method of giving and collecting wedding presents on the occasion of a marriage. When a young man wishes to marry, his father has to distribute presents, such as goats, etc., among all his relations in order to obtain their consent, and very par- ticular they are as to the quality of these donations—there is no absurd diffidence as to “looking the gift-horse (or rather goat) in the mouth.” This formality takes place when the bride-elect is a child ; when she reaches the age of thirteen or fourteen the date of the wedding is fixed, and the girl’s father goes round amongst all his friends to the number of perhaps fifty or sixty, ear-marking (but not yet taking) the presents which, when received, will go with the girl as a kind of dowry. Subsequently he describes all these animals in detail to a servant (e.g. So-and-so’s black goat with a white blaze, a scar on the near fore-quarter and a white near hind leg), and the servant goes round to collect the “gifts”; apparently mistakes are hardly ever made, as they have wonderful memories. Of course, the father, in selecting his presents, has to bear in mind that his friends will descend on him in due course for their daughters’ dowries, and so no doubt he exercises his choice with discretion. It is, accordingly, perhaps not surprising that girl babies are not appreciated, and are not infrequently put out in the forest for the hyenas to dispose of. But on the other The Races of Abyssinia gr hand, if a wife runs away from her husband and has a child by another man, her lawful spouse can claim it as his own, and, in fact, frequently does if it is a boy. Their tombs are curious ; if the person to be buried is a chief or important personage his grave and that of his family is generally surrounded by a stone wall, and a large stone, decorated in some way, is placed outside the enclosure. One of those that I saw, a very old one, was decorated with an extraordinarily primitive design of what was intended to be a man, cut or scratched into the stone. Another, of more recent date, was ornamented with stripes of red and white, made by rubbing red and white stones brought from a considerable distance on the grey stone forming the pillar. A trophy is generally erected in such cases; I came across two in the bush. One consisted of pieces of material and old baskets to the number of eight or nine hung on a tree ; the other, of over twenty pieces of red and white cloth fastened on a branch fixed to two high posts. The number of baskets or pieces of cloth represents the number of men killed by the defunct warrior, and to these is some- times added the number of elephants or lions killed. It counts, I believe, rather more to one’s credit to have slain either of these kinds of beasts, as they are worthier game and harder to kill than a mere man. They have a quaint superstition as to the powers of a small bird which they believe perches on any tree under which a boa or other large snake may be coiled, and which makes a continuous loud chirruping noise in order to guide the hunter to the spot. It is certainly true that this bird was being very voluble one morning near a spot where some of my men, in looking for wood for the camp fire, tumbled on a boa, and incidentally ran like rabbits back to camp. I called for volunteers to guide me to the place later on, and was told that they would all come—if I went first. But the snake had disappeared when we got 56 The Races of Abyssinia there. They also believe in this bird as an omen; for example, if when a man is starting on a journey he hears this creature on his left, he is certain to be successful in whatever he is setting out to do. If the noise comes from his right, his success is unlikely, but if the noise comes from behind, he will turn back, as otherwise he will suffer disaster. A similar bird is said (with some truth, I believe) to act as a guide to wild bees’ hives. We had difficulties in getting supplies in some districts, especially south-west of Lake Zwai, and had it not been for the ducks and guinea-fowl we were able to shoot we should have gone to bed hungry occasionally. The natives were very wild in those parts and could hardly be persuaded to come near us; they seemed terrified of our Abyssinian escort (who, incidentally, always went out in twos and threes, never alone, and never unarmed), and on one occasion were induced to come into the camp only “if the Frangi was there,” an unsolicited testimonial which our desire for milk and eggs made us appreciate immensely. These particular people could hardly be brought to do business on account of their inability to take their eyes off my wife, whom they apparently regarded as an extra- ordinary phenomenon, especially after she had, with a fairly long shot, bagged a crocodile which was sunning itself on a log in the river. I suppose they must have seen white men before, though possibly not a white woman, but they had certainly never seen matches, for when we offered them a box they looked blankly at it, and when we struck a match to show them its advantages, they refused the gift with emphasis and retired hastily into the bush. Incidentally, they were very difficult to photograph, unlike the Abyssinians, who love to pose before the camera. The Shoan Galla are less interesting than the Arussi, mainly because they are less wild, and being Christianized have lost their old pagan customs and practices. Their A Young WOMAN OF THE ARUSSI GALLA. The clothing consists merely of roughly-dressed skins, and contrasts markedly with the wealth of brass and copper ornaments affected. The Races of Abyssinia 57 proximity to Addis Ababa has, moreover, tended to assimilate them more with their Abyssinian conquerors through inter-marriage and intercourse. But the many other branches of the Galla race, pagan, Moslem, and Christian, would afford an extremely interesting subject to explore, and one which has never been undertaken comprehensively, though works on individual branches of the race have been produced. The Gourage are a curious example of a racial “enclave,” presenting quite special features of their own, though surrounded by a totally different race. They are lighter in colour than most other inhabitants of the country, and have fine features, sometimes almost European in character : the women especially are quite handsome. They live in a very mountainous district, and though they are hard workers they are not apparently wealthy, as for example their neighbours, the Arussi, seem to be. They come up to Addis Ababa to act as porters and manual labourers—‘ hewers of wood and drawers of water ” in fact—where they are to be seen every day; clad in a loin-cloth and a sheep-skin, carrying bales of hides and cotton goods, and working on the roads. Every household is compelled to employ one or more of them to do the dirty work for the Abyssinian servants, dig the garden, carry water, etc. So much have they become associated with the idea of manual labour in people’s minds that their very name has come to be used as synonymous with “porter.” And anyone wanting men for work has only to go into the street and shout “ Gourage—Gourage,” for a number of these useful individuals to appear. There is a curious legend prevalent in their country to the effect that they are the descendants of a colony of European slaves planted there by the rulers of Egypt many centuries ago in order to work Egyptian copper mines which existed in that district. Whether this be true or not, the fact remains that their system of irrigation 58 The Races of Abyssinia and water-wheels differs markedly from that in use in the rest of the country, and is not unlike the system used in Ancient Egypt. On the other hand, some indications point to their having emigrated from Tigré, but I confess that this does not seem very probable. Yet another peovle, which like the Gourage, and perhaps to an even more striking extent, form an isolated unit surrounded by totally different elements, are the Falasha. As in the case of most of the peoples of Abyssinia their origin is obscure. Stern describes them as “that remnant of Israel,” but later investigation would appear to indicate that they are not Jews racially, and that they are not even Semites ; certainly they have no knowledge of Hebrew nor of the Talmud. They probably belong to the proto-Semitic family, which includes the Egyptians, Berbers, Bejas, etc., and at some remote date unknown invaded the North of Abyssinia. They were driven back and confined mainly in Semyen, though another race to which they are akin, and whose language they speak, the Agows, are found also in Lasta and Agoumeder. Up till comparatively modern times they had their own kings and queens, and were frequently at war with the Abyssinian monarchs ; they even seized the throne and held it for some forty years, as narrated elsewhere. They still practise the Jewish religion, and from this fact has no doubt arisen, wrongly, the idea of their having been a Jewish colony. It is more likely, however, that being of a different race to the Abyssinians they merely retained their religion with their partial autonomy when the former became Christianized, prior to which, it must be borne in mind, that Judaism was the religion of Abyssinia. They are an industrious race, skilled in the working of iron, and disliked and regarded with suspicion by the Abyssinians as being possessed of certain supernatural powers, such, for example, as the ability to convert themselves into hyenas or wolves. They have not, however, for a very The Races of Abyssinia 59 lengthy period played any part in the story of the country, and they do not leave their remote and inaccessible mountains, which include some of the highest peaks in the country. The Danakil and Somali are both nomadic peoples, of Hamitic origin, and may be described as tributary races. They have been a thorn in the flesh of Ethiopia for many centuries, and from the districts inhabited by them (notably the Afar country and Harrar) started the waves of Moslem aggression that so nearly engulfed Abyssinia in the sixteenth century. Up to very recent times they have given endless trouble, and even to-day certain districts inhabited by them can hardly be regarded as completely pacified. They caused great difficulties during the pre- liminary stages of the construction of the railway, and many are the little crosses which mark the graves of the pioneers who fell victims to these savages. Fortunately they possess no firearms, and consequently they now constitute no serious menace to law or order. But they are sufficiently formidable individuals, the Danakil and Issa Somali at all events, fine types of savages, with their long businesslike spears and murderous-looking knives from which they are never parted. The men are finely built and the women good-looking, scantily clothed, but plentifully bedecked with copper bracelets and other ornaments made of wire pilfered from the railway line. Burton describes the Issa Somals as ¢“ Childish and docile, kind and fickle, good-humoured and irascible, warm- hearted and infamous for cruelty and treachery ”—a verdict heartily endorsed by Major Rayne in his book on the subject. It may be added that the Danakil closely resemble them. As in the case of all nomadic peoples their wealth lies in their herds and flocks, of which they possess vast quanti- ties ; these being always on the move, I was told that collecting the annual taxes from them was no easy task, 60 ~The Races of Abyssinia and necessitated methods of a nature which would shock Somerset House. The last of the races of Abyssinia on which I will touch are the Shankala, a term loosely used to describe the various negro or negroid races stretched out along the western borders. These various races do not differ in any marked degree from the other similar Africans in that part of the Continent. They have, however, played a not altogether inconspicuous part in modifying the Abyssinian race type. For, as the result of having been conquered and reconquered through the ages, and of having formed a sort of reservoir for the supply of slaves for their masters, enormous numbers of them have been brought into the country, and the result of this admixture with their conquerors is seen in their deviation from the original Semitic-Hamitic type by darkening of colour and coarsening of feature. Their numbers have been greatly reduced by oppression in the past, and it is practically impossible to say to-day, even approximately, how many of these folk exist. CHAPTER V Customs &° Practices HERE are many customs and practices amongst the Abyssinians which differentiate them sharply from most of the other peoples of Africa, and not the least interesting of these are clearly traceable to their ancient connection with Israel, of which they speak with pride in their old records. For example, much of their religious pageantry, which is described in detail elsewhere, is undoubtedly a remarkable survival of rites which must have been introduced by the earliest Jewish arrivals, such as the Dance of the Priests, their ceremonies connected with the Tabot, and many others. Similarly, their method of slaughtering cattle for food, the division of animals into clean and unclean, etc., are all indications pointing in the same direction. Their dislike of Jews to-day is accordingly the more remarkable, and must be due to the sanguinary wars which took place from the fourth to the tenth centuries between the newly-converted Christians and those who remained Jews. Among other customs which are peculiar and interesting, pride of place must surely be given to their fondness for raw meat or broundo. This form of diet is preferred to any other by the mass of the population, and indeed by practically all sections thereof, beef being liked better than mutton. When we were on trek our men could be given no greater treat than an ox, and within an hour of the purchase 61 62 Customs &° Practices of the animal it was killed, skinned, cut into joints and divided amongst the tents, and our followers were busy gorging themselves on the still warm flesh. What the twenty men could not eat in the day was never cooked, but was cut into long thin strips and hung on ropes to dry in the sun and wind for the morrow’s meal—a tempting bait for the vultures, hawks, and carrion crows that used to collect in their hundreds and make frantic dives for the tempting morsels, occasionally picking up a piece from the line in their claws to the intense disgust of the men. It was fascinating to watch the daring swoops and dips of the circling birds, and so reckless did they become that one day whilst we were at lunch a hawk, baulked of his craving for raw meat by the watchfulness of its guardians, actually swooped down on our luncheon table and snatched from the plate on my wife’s knees the wing of a duck that she was about to operate on, brushing her face and knocking her knife out of her hand with his powerful wings; and at the same moment another bird lifted a cutlet from a dish which our “ boy ” was carrying from the cook’s tent to our table. The ¢ boy’s ” expression of indignation and helplessness was most comical to watch. But to revert to the practice of eating raw meat. Early travellers to Abyssinia have not only commented on this, but have gone even further, and have stated that meat is cut and eaten from the living animal. Bruce describes two separate and distinct instances of this practice, which he stated occured frequently. The first was that of three soldiers whom he saw driving along a cow, and on arriving at a halting-place they tied it, threw it down, cut steaks from it which they devoured rapidly, and then drove the cow on again, plastering up the wound with mud. The second (which is given with a wealth of detail too revolting to repeat) was at a regular banquet at which a live cow was brought in and strips cut from it by all the guests until the animal died, which took some time. Customs &° Practices 63 Salt states that Pearce actually saw an example of the first instance quoted above, which he says is by no means uncommon, but he disbelieves the second instance. No other writer that I am acquainted with recounts any such instance of his own knowledge, and the suggestion that such a practice ever existed is hotly denied in the country. Nor could I find any evidence of the existence of such a habit either as to the present or the past. Personally I am inclined to disbelieve the stories or to regard them as gross exaggera- tions, or possibly as isolated instances. Be that as it may, the raw meat dietary, however, is undoubtedly very popular to-day, and it may be of interest if I give an extract from my diary describing a great Gebbur, or banquet given at the Feast of Maskal, which we attended, and at which no fewer than 15,000 soldiers and 2000 or 3000 palace retainers were fed in four relays in the great hall. Tue GEBBUR “ We were received by the Court Chamberlain on the large stone terrace outside the aderatch, and after a short interval led through rooms wrapped in darkness to the banqueting hall, at one end of which was a large raised platform shut in by closely drawn white curtains. Here, seated on a dais, was the Empress, surrounded by Abyssinian notables, and after paying our respects to Her Majesty, Ras Tafari, and others, we were conducted to the table prepared for Europeans on one side of the platform—there were about fifteen of us. At the opposite side of the ‘platform the Ras and the principal chiefs sat down at another table, whilst in the middle green silk curtains were drawn round the Empress’ dais, so that she should be hidden from the vulgar eye whilst eating; a constant stream of attendants bearing every conceivable kind of receptacle, from beautifully wrought gold dishes to enamelled iron mugs, passed in and out of her little tent. 64 Customs &° Practices “ After we had had an excellent, if somewhat lengthy, meal, consisting of a mixed assortment of European and Abyssinian courses, the white curtains by which the plat- form was shut in were pulled back, showing the hall packed with long low tables as closely as they could be got in, the tables being covered with slabs of Abyssinian bread enclosing quantities of cooked cut-up meat. “To the sound of bugles and trumpets the main doors were opened and in poured the chiefs with their soldiery, who had come up to Addis Ababa for the feast from all over the country ; the organization was admirable, and though some 5000 men filled the hall there was no sort of scrambling or disorder whatever. “They set to work at once on the hors-d’euvres, and then the pices de résistance arrived. Hundreds of pairs of men came in, each pair carrying between them a long stout pole, from which hung huge pieces of red raw meat, covered with strips of red and gold cloth. “These men stood closely together all along the tables and one on each side, so that the meat hung down from the poles over the tables just in front of the diners. The guests produced knives, and feeling the joint with their fingers to pick out a tender bit, rapidly sliced off strips of meat, which they put into their mouths, cutting off what would not go in quite close to their lips, an operation which, from personal experience, I know demands great skill if one’s nose is mot to suffer—as the cut is always made upwards. “ After ample libations of #¢j and araki (native mead, or hydromel and spirit) the diners filed out in perfect order, and the stage was cleared for the next party. “The whole function had lasted nearly four hours and the Ras must have been heartily glad when it was over, for he had previously dined one instalment of 5000 warriors, and two more were to follow—Dbetween 17,000 and 18,000 in all partaking of the royal hospitality.” H.H. WAIZERU MENIN, The wife of H.H. Ras Tafari, wearing the national dress of gossamer-like Chamma,spun and woven in the palace from native grown cotton, with silk embroidered border. THE GREAT GEBBUR, OR RAW MEAT BANQUET. A small section (probably about one tenth) of the huge hall where five thousand men at a time partake of the Royal hospitality of broundo (raw meat). [Photograpgt by M. Bertolani.] Customs &’ Practices 65 Broundo may be a nourishing form of diet tending to the development of warlike qualities, but its consumption has one serious drawback at all events, in that it is the cause of taenia (or tapeworm), a disease which is almost universal in the country. So much is this the case indeed that it is a recognized practice for all, high and low, to take monthly as a taenicide ”” a dose of a plant known as kousso, which is so violent in its effects as to incapacitate the patient from work or occupation for the day. Christians will not touch meat unless it is killed by one of themselves, nor will Moslems eat any which has been killed by a Christian. We had one Moslem with us when we were on trek, and as he would not eat the ox which my other men had killed he bought a whole sheep for himself, and killed and ate it himself ; none of the other men would touch an atom of it, even when their own supply ran out and they had no meat at all. Of course the comparatively high price of meat (for an Abyssinian) prevents the too frequent consumption of broundo amongst the people, and their tastes in every-day food are simple. Bread is their mainstay. This is found in many varieties ; some of it soft, slightly sour in taste, and pale brown in colour ; the most popular is of flour made from teff or millet seed, mixed to a thick paste with water and then poured into a large rough slightly concave iron receptacle and cooked over an open fire, without grease or fat of any kind. When finished this bread takes the form and aspect of large pancakes, twelve to eighteen inches in diameter, and is very good, especially when eaten with jam or butter ; we always ate it ourselves when on trek. The native eats with it a kind of mash of lentils or dried peas, ground and cooked, and mixed with butter and a very hot red sauce which is produced from the chili; this latter is very widely culti- vated in several varieties all over the country. : The amount of pepper that is put into their cooked dishes is as a rule disastrous to the European palate at the first E 66 Customs &° Practices time of trying, and how they can swallow the fiery com- pounds that they do passes my comprehension—their tongues and palates must be made of leather. All food, including meat, is eaten with the fingers amongst all classes, a piece of bread being broken off, wrapped round the portion of other food-stuff to be eaten, and the whole put bodily into the mouth. I happened on one occasion to call on an Abyssinian chieftain, a ruler of a distant province who was visiting Addis and who was a particul.r friend of mine, just as he was sitting down to a late lunch in his zukul surrounded by his principal vassal chiefs. I had to sit down on the divan next to him ; and as he was of course eating 4 I’ 4byssine his cook kept on rolling up succulent morsels of teriffically hot curry or stewed meat or raw flesh in bread with his fingers, and pressing them on my jaded palate. Any of his chiefs whom he desired to honour was similarly distinguished, that is to say, he would select a tit-bit, give it to the cook who doctored it up and passed it to a slave, who conveyed it to the fortunate recipient, who ate it with great gusto. And fingers all round all the time ! Except for some few individuals who have acquired the habit in Europe or from Europeans, smoking, curiously enough, is practically non-existent among Abyssinians although the tobacco plant grows freely, and the Gallas make a sort of rough coarse tobacco which is possible,though hardly pleasant. The practice was somewhat drastically discouraged by the late Emperor Johannes (Theodore’s successor), who is said to have punished smoking by cutting off the offender’s lips, and snuffing by removing his nose. I was unsuccessful in ascertaining the cause of their objection to smoking, one of the various obviously inadequate reasons being that the use of tobacco was con- demned because the plant was supposed to have grown originally out of the tomb of the heretic Arius! A more probable explanation is that the practice was regarded as a Customs &° Practices 67 Moslem one and was accordingly originally condemned by the Church. On the other hand they make up for this privation by a pretty free indulgence in their own home-made hydromel (t¢f), beer (talla), and spirits (araki), and also in fearsome alcoholic preparations distilled by some of the small Greek traders in Addis. Tej, their principal drink, is home-made by nearly every family ; this is manufactured from honey which is to be found in great quantities in most parts of Abyssinia, and is fermented by means of an evergreen plant called guecho or geshu. When well-made and matured it is a very pleasant beverage ; to the native it is an intoxicant, and during the feast days one meets many who have partaken well but not too wisely of it. As the people are Christians they are of course monogo- mists, but though they have only one wife at a time, they often have, unfortunately for the race, many wives one after the other, and as a natural corollary the women have a series of husbands. This is due to their appallingly lax marriage laws and to the ridiculous facilities for divorce, advantages which do not apply to the Gallas who “ enjoy ”’ two or three or more wives at a time, but then they are not Christians. 7 Marriage amongst the Abyssinians exists in three forms. Firstly, the man selects a bride and without any form of ceremony they live together, he supplying her with small amounts of money in addition to a home and the necessaries of life, and when either of them so desires they come to a mutual agreement and separate as easily as they united. Secondly, there is the civil marriage. In this case there is a contract made before the Shum (or * Mayor ”’) when the properties of the would-be bride and bridegroom are speci- fied, and an arrangement is made as to division in case of divorce, though usually they agree to divide things equally. In the event of divorce this division is carried out to the 68 Customs ¢&° Practices letter, and should there, for example, be amongst other things only one cooking pot, this is halved. When a woman has been “ married ” and divorced in this manner two or three times she is considered rather a “ catch,” on account perhaps of her worldly possessions which she has acquired from her previous matrimonial ventures. Then if she does not retire from the world and become a kind of nun she often indulges in the third form of marriage, a solemn religious ceremony which is really binding ; it is as a general rule confined to the better class of Abyssinians. Women, some of whom are attractive and even pretty, have, speaking generally, little or no position. There are of course exceptions to this rule, and I have known cases where a wife has by her influence over her husband acquired a certain status for herself. But this is rare, and by a general though not universal rule women are even supposed to eat separately. Nevertheless the higher-class woman manages to hold her own, and if badly treated by her husband has the right of appeal to the Church. And so far as I can gather the woman of any class can divorce her husband as easily as he can divorce her, which gives her a certain protection in itself. In spite of the facility of divorce—possibly to some extent because of the mutual power to exercise it—the lot of women is not at all what one might expect ; they are by no means the hewers of wood and drawers of water that one finds so extensively in Africa. They do little or no work, neither washing nor mending their husbands’ clothes nor cooking ; all this is done by Gourages or others of whom one or more is to be found in almost every household—other than the very poorest—and even amongst one’s own ser- vants, acting as * gentlemen’s gentlemen.” Women of the upper classes are jealously secluded and go out but rarely ; when they do they ride mules astride, are completely veiled or rather covered up in their chammas and are accompanied by an escort on foot, one or two of whom \ Customs &° Practices 69 walk or trot by the side of the mule holding the lady in position. Getting on to the mule is an operation that must by no means be witnessed by the profane masculine eye; I remember on the occasion of the first visit paid to my wife by an Abyssinian lady of rank I went to the entrance to speed the parting guest. To my surprise a number of members ot the escort took off their chammas and held them all round the mule so that their mistress could climb into her saddle in complete seclusion. But rigid as may be the rules of privacy governing the lives of women, there are no harems, and no guard of eunuchs to watch over them as in Moslem countries. Nevertheless other Eastern customs are practised, such as circumcision among men and a mild form of clitoridectomy among women ; this custom, beit observed, is not as is often supposed of Jewish origin, but probably of much more remote antiquity, and is further evidence of the Hamitic descent of the Abyssinians; according to Gibbon circumcision had been practised by the most ancient Ethopians, from motives of health and cleanliness > and presumably not therefore as a religious rite. CHAPTER Vi Customs & Practices— (cond) ERCIFULLY the Abyssinians have not yet adopted our hideous European garments except for an occasional helmet or felt hat, and some- times a pair of boots, and they retain their old picturesque clothing with which we have been familiarized from the sketches of the earliest travellers. The distinctive feature of the dress is the chamma, which is worn by both men and women of all ranks ; and by the beauty of the chamma can as a rule be judged the posi- tion or state of purse of the wearer. It consists of a piece of material about three yards in length and from two to four yards in width according as to whether it is doubled or not. The more beautiful specimens of these are hand-woven from native cotton, spun and prepared by the Abyssinian women. These are usually edged with red or mixed coloured silks, and those worn by the high priests, great chiefs and princes and princesses have a very handsome border varying from twelve to eighteen inches wide, carried out in silks of vivid colours woven into an artistic design. They are as fine as gossamer, though large and warm; they are not as a rule sold, but if ever obtainable by Europeans cost from 200 to 5oo dollars. The more ordinary chammas are also woven by hand, but of imported cotton, and by comparison are of a much harder and coarser character, though still nice to look at. Natives who cannot afford the hand-woven shawl make use of a length of abougedid or cotton sheeting for the same purpose. 70 Customs &’ Practices 71 The chamma, which is not unlike the old Roman toga, is draped round the shoulders, often being brought up over the head to the eyebrow and again over the lower part of the face and nose, leaving but the eyes visible. It is always lowered from the face and head as a mark of friendliness or respect, and generally when passing Europeans, though I have known Abyssinians of the anti-foreign old régime to cover up their faces more closely when passing the Frangi. At court those in attendance twist the garment round the waist and throw the end over the right shoulder from back to front. Asa general rule, however, women turn them up on the left shoulder, whilst men free their right arm and shoulder. They make, floating in the breeze, a very picturesque addi- tion to the costume of the wearers. Very little difference is apparent in the dress of the Ethiopian men and women of any class. This is made of imported white cotton materials of varying design and quality, and consists of roomy trousers tied round the waist and tightened in from calf to ankle, and a loose shirt reach- ing below the knee. The latter is worn longer by the women, with some coloured silk embroidery round neck and cuffs ; this embroidery is also carried out round the bottom of the trousers, which are tightly fastened at the ankle with tiny silver or gold buttons. The shirts of both men and women have very close-fitting sleeves from elbow to wrist, which are also buttoned, the men’s shirts being finished with high tight neck bands which give them a clean, smart appearance. Sometimes I have seen, though rarely, the shirt and trousers, and even the chamma, worn in pink or blue or even yellow. This is a sign of mourning—white is otherwise the universal rule. Most Abyssinians wear a head-covering of sorts. In the case of the people this generally consists of a piece of white muslin twisted round or tied over the head ; I have also, though rarely, seen them wearing straw hats of native manufacture, and, still more rarely, a sort of brown woollen "3 Customs &° Practices cap with a tuft, not unlike a fez in shape. The better- class Abyssinian of both sexes sometimes affects a wide- brimmed soft grey or black felt hat of European manu- facture. The Abyssinian lady and gentleman are frequently to be seen with a black satin three-quarter mantle, ornamented by a little gold braid round the neck and generally a coloured silk lining. In the rainy season a black woollen~ hooded cape or burnous is donned by all classes, women wearing the hood at the back, and men sporting theirs on their left shoulder. The burnous is also a sign of mourning, for which purpose people of every class wear it, even the Prince Regent. A further, and less pleasant, sign of mourning is for the bereaved one to refrain from washing his clothes ; but I only observed this practice in connection with servants and persons of humble position. Ordinarily they are very keen on washing their white garments, and even on trek there was a great “clean-up” whenever we stayed in camp for an extra twenty-four hours. The day before our return into Addis was always the occasion for the most lavish use of soap and water, and the safari on arrival looked really quite smart, the men all having donned spotless white chammas, shirt, and trousers for the occasion, when, I am bound to say, they looked externally a good deal cleaner than our travel-stained garments allowed us to do. A cartridge belt of various colours and designs, from the plain native leather to the gold and silk embroidered specimen, is more or less generally worn by the men, and its value is also often an indication to the position or means of the wearer. In its place women use a girdle of some sort, to which is attached their keys, ear-cleaners, head scratchers, and small silver ornaments. Parasols of neatly plaited grass, intermixed with coloured cottons, are carried frequently by both sexes in all seasons. These are quite ABYSSINIAN GRANDEES. Shewing several typical features —the black silk ceremonial cape worn by men of rank ; the big toe only in the stirrup ; the white chammas of their inevitable rifle-bearing following. Customs & Practices 73 picturesque, and no doubt serve their main purpose, but of course they cannot be closed up. Ordinary umbrellas are never used by the Abyssinians, though huge and brilliant coloured umbrellas are used by priests and other important personages on ceremonial occasions. On feast days the chiefs and other functionaries at Court change their cotton shirt for one of silk or satin, gorgeously embroidered in gold and silver, and in various colours. And finally a pelerine of bright-coloured cloth of velvet, or better still, of lion or black leopard skin orna- mented in silver and silver-gilt, is permitted to be worn by those only whom it is desired to distinguish on account of specially meritorious conduct, generally in war. The full dress costume of a Ras or Dejazmach, with bristling lion’s mane head-dress, velvet cape with lion’s mane collar, embroidered in gold and silver-gilt, and gala shield and sword-scabbard covered with velvet and embossed with silver-gilt ornamentation, is a really magni- ficent one, and the appearance of Dejazmach Nado, the envoy to King George in 1919, at Buckingham Palace, in this dress caused quite a sensation. Mention must also be made of one article which is an indispensable adjunct to the dress of every Christian Abyssinian, and that is the matab, a silken cord carrying an amulet or charm, which is worn round the neck as the badge of their faith. The gentler sex affect as much jewellery of all sorts, bracelets, rings, anklets, necklaces, earrings, etc., as they are able to procure; these are of native make as already described. As a general rule they have extraordinary small “ attaches,” and of all the native bracelets that we collected in and round Addis Ababa none would meet round the wrist of any of our English friends. The fashion amongst the women of wearing the hair, which is jet black, varies, and sometimes it is left about two or three inches long, curling and waving, thus forming a becom- 74 Customs &’ Practices ing frame to the face. More common, perhaps, is the style of doing up the hair into dozens of tiny plaits taking the form of the head, the ends being loosely tied together on the neck and left to hang ; some affect a parting down the middle of their heads, puff the hair out at the sides, and do it up in a chignon at the back like many Europeans. Amongst the lowest classes one finds perhaps most frequently in both sexes the head shaved, the hair being allowed to grow till uncomfortable and then shaved again. This shaving appears to us a somewhat painful process, and to be an apt illustration of the dictum that il faut souffrir pour étre beau ; for one frequently sees the operation in progress, two forms squatting on the ground, one shaving the other with a bit of broken glass bottle. Children as a general rule also have their heads shaved, but a tuft of hair is often left on the crown of the head, or a fringe round their forehead, and young boys frequently have the head bare except for a strip of hair extending from the back of the neck to the forehead over the centre of the head, which gives the appearance of a cock’s comb and is most comical. The Abyssinians of the people are also addicted to buttering their heads, of which unpleasant (though fortu- nately not universal) practice I have been given three explanations. The first is that it is done for purposes of adornment, which is understandable; the habit is not confined to Abyssinia ! The second, which is more curious, is that of protection against the sun’s rays. In this con- nection it is interesting to recall that Mr. Mansfield Parkyns, who spent three years in Abyssinia, used no head covering of any sort at any time other than a coating of butter, which he says he found as effective as any hat. The third (and most frivolous) reason is that butter in the hair hampers the free movement (and consequent irritation) of the little creatures that live there. There is possibly something in this, as a *head-scratcher,” in Customs & Practices 75 the form of a blunt silver or wooden pin, is a general ornament, as incidentally is also an “ ear-cleaner,” which resembles a small salt spoon. In some parts of the country where the hair-dressing mode is of an elaborate character, the women, when lying down to sleep, use wooden head rests for their necks, made of a slightly curved piece of wood supported on a sort of foot, the whole being a few inches high. Some of these are quite elaborately carved or coloured, but however pleasing they may be to the eye—and I have seen some very pretty ones—they must make exceedingly uncomfort- able pillows, and the use of them appears to argue an even greater interest in personal appearance than European women display. These head-rests are of very ancient origin ; they are curiously similar to the one discovered recently in Tutankhamen’s tomb. The more wealthy Abyssinians are very partial to scents and scented hair oils ; the strength of the scent is more important to them than its quality, and the shops in Addis Ababa do a brisk trade in inferior imported toilet requisites of this kind, and charge fabulous prices for them. The curious custom of stopping up the nostrils is still met with, though I imagine it is becoming less and less common ; but one still constantly sees natives on their way to market with a piece of green leaf, or a flower petal, protruding from their noses, and I remember on one occasion when an Abyssinian lady, who had been paying us a visit, was leaving the house, she produced some cotton wool and stuffed it carefully in both nostrils. Their love of pageantry, display, and functions is quite Oriental, and is well exemplified by the splendour of some of their religious and Court ceremonies (which I describe elsewhere), and by the large numbers of men with whom every chief of any importance surrounds himself when he goes out. No person of any standing would think of going out without a retinue of from a dozen to some hundreds, 76 Customs & Practices according to his rank and station, and this practice even extends in a minor degree down the scale to much humbler persons, until one sees the absurd spectacle of a full-grown man mounted on a mule, followed by a couple (or perhaps only one) little slave boy trotting along as escort behind his master, with a full-sized rifle on his shoulder ! Amusements are few. The people seem to prefer to sit and chatter ; they are great talkers, and whether in the servants’ quarters in a house or round their fires on trek one hears the clatter of their tongues almost incessantly. They indulge in spear-throwing occasionally, and in this they are very skilful, being able to throw accurately for a distance of sixty yards. Their throwing spears are loaded at the butt to counterbalance the weight of the iron head, and this causes the shaft to quiver continuously when in the air in a very curious way. Boys play a sort of hockey, using a ball manufactured from natural rubber; but apart from this and a certain amount of music and dancing, active relaxation is seldom to be seen. They have (or had) an old game of chess of their own, which was not imported from Europe; the pieces are similar, but some of the moves are different. I saw an old ivory set of these chessmen in Addis, and very quaint and even beautiful they were—they are very rare now and difficult to obtain. Other games not unlike a variation of draughts are played—on wooden boards sometimes, or even on the ground by marking it out into squares. All Abyssinians can ride more or less, and they are on the whole good horsemen, though indifferent horse- masters. Except in war, or on the occasion of a fantasia, they seldom ride horses ; for purposes of daily use mules are almost universally preferred ; all but the poorest women also ride mules for getting about. The Abyssinian saddle is of wood with a pommel back and front, and a sheep-skin and some padding in the middle, the whole covered with a brightly embroidered saddle-cloth. Customs &° Practices 7. The stirrups are round and very small, as the Abyssinian inserts only his big toe therein. The bits are horrible instruments, consisting of a ring round the lower jaw and a spike which, when the reins are pulled, sticks into the roof of the animal’s mouth, and causes it to bleed freely ; in spite of, or perhaps because of this, I never came across an Abyssinian pony with a hard mouth ; indeed, they can nearly all be ridden on a snaffle. Their mules are so covered with many-hued trappings that sometimes they leave very little of the beast to be seen. These trappings are made of several thicknesses of native-dyed coloured leathers sewn together, machine- embroidered in silks of many colours, and covered with metal ornaments. On special occasions the Abyssinians of rank cover their mules with extra gorgeous drapings in vivid colourings of velvet or silk, decorated with handsome embossed silver or silver-gilt ornaments. The men themselves on these occasions bring out their best sword and buckler, the latter being made of stretched and shaped rhino hide, covered with velvet and ornamented with silver and gilt mountings. The houses of the wealthier people are constructed of stone (of which ample supplies are available almost every- where), plastered together with a sort of mortar called chika, mostly mud and water; the roof is either of corrugated iron or is thatched. They are as a rule one- storied buildings, though I have been in one or two that had an upper story surrounded by a verandah and reached by an outside staircase, but these have generally been acquired from Greeks. In these cases the ground floor is frequently used as stabling for the mules and ponies (even amongst Greeks and Armenians), a state of affairs which can hardly be regarded as sanitary. In the peasants’ tukuls in the country men, women, and children, mules, ponies and other animals sleep altogether in their single room ; if to the aroma arising from this »8 Customs &° Practices combined population be added the acrid smoke from a fire made of dung-cakes, and a plentiful accompaniment of fleas and other insects, the joys of a night’s shelter in such quarters may well be imagined. The house nearly always stands in a very large piece of ground surrounded by a mud and stone wall. It isa curious habit of theirs that in building the wall they generally start with the gateway. Occasionally, for one reason or another, the wall-building suffers a hitch, and one sees the quaint spectacle of a gateway (sometimes with a gate), a few yards of wall, and then nothing to impede general ingress. Some of the chiefs, however, are now building themselves better places, especially those that have been on missions to Europe. But even among these an ordinary tukul sometimes suffices, and most of the important chiefs I met in Abyssinia were content with most primitive installations. The tukuls of the poorer class are mostly constructed in a circular form of sticks plastered inside and out with mud. The roof, which is made separately and put on last, is cone shaped, made of sticks or cane bound strongly together with strips of bark and then thatched : the latter is an art in which the Abyssinians particularly excel. The roof extends two or three feet from the walls, thus the torrential rains run off easily and leave the hut perfectly dry. Inside, a part is usually divided off by a length of sheeting suspended on a string, behind which, on a raised platform, the family sleep on couches or beds made of wood and grass and covered with skins; blankets are uncommon, and the chammas in which they are rolled form their only covering apart from the clothes which have been worn during the day. The remaining part of the hut is used for everything—living, cooking, eating, and also spinning in the rainy season, but of course in the dry weather much work is done outside. Apart from one or two rough Customs &’ Practices 79 wooden stools, furniture is rare or non-existent in these huts. In most of them, however, there are one or more wooden packing-cases containing the owners’ most precious possessions, and fastened with a padlock and key; the remainder of their worldly goods are hung on hooks or put in niches in the walls. A form of basket-table is used at meal times as both dish and plate, and drinking cups made of horn, are still to be seen in the provinces though imported cups are now fairly common in Addis. A draught of mead from a cow’s horn a couple of feet long is delightfully reminiscent of the pictures of the Danish and Norse invaders of England in the distant past. Practically every native has his own bit of ground enclosed by a rough hedge or mud wall, within which the owner grows a plentiful supply of grass which he uses for grazing his beasts, or converts into hay for his own purposes, or for sale. On the death of an Abyssinian great haste is made with his burial, which may take place within three or four hours unless he is a person of consequence. Funerals are accom- panied by numbers of relatives and friends wailing and beating their breasts, but no elaborate function seems to take place, and it is a common sight in the capital to see a corpse being carried to be buried on a native bed with only a chamma covering through which is visible the form of the body, often curled up as if having died in pain. Sometimes the bodies are placed in one of the various cemeteries near the town, but bodies seem to be buried rather casually ; a hole is dug, the corpse placed therein, and occasionally a few stones piled above to prevent jackals getting at it, but these incidentally, are quite inadequate for the purpose and soon get moved. The absence of tombstones or other distinguishing indica- tions results in places of interment soon being lost sight of ; indeed in Addis Ababa the principal place of burial near the market-place is ridden and walked over by passers, and 80 Customs &° Practices occasionally at night the jackals and hyenas come up from the river, dig up the lightly covered remains and indulge in gruesome banquets. This is in marked contrast to the Moslem practice ; their place of burial is very clearly indicated and well kept. The Abyssinians of the upper classes have a very much more elaborate ceremony. The body is taken to be buried in a church enclosure, followed by friends, soldiers, and retainers in numbers, sometimes hundreds, according to the position held by the deceased, and accompanied by much chanting and music. CHAPTER VII Origin &° History of the Abyssinians Up to the Restoration of the Solomon Line (circa A.p. 1260) HERE are almost as many theories as to the origin of the race that we now call Abyssinian as there are writers on the subject, and a good deal of research work has yet to be done before it will be possible to be very definite on the point. Much of what is supposed to be known about the country is found on investigation to be built on the sands of legend and tradition rather than on the rock of fact, and few remains and records exist such as are available in the case of Egypt, for example, to act as landmarks through the centuries, and thus assist the historian in tracing the evolution of the race. Some writers of standing regard the Abyssinians as a Semitic race; some deny them any Semitic ancestry at all ; but neither of these theories seems to me to be capable of substantiation if the question be examined from the various points of view of history, anthropology, legend, customs, and language. I do not propose in the present chapter to go into this thorny question, but I think I may safely venture to say that the modern Abyssinian is compounded of three races : that he is probably originally derived from one of the two great families sharing possession of Northern and North- Eastern Africa, i.e. the Hamites ; that he has been strongly Semiticized by successive waves of Semitic invasion from Arabia ; that a Nigritic element has been introduced by inter-marriage with conquered tribes of negro origin ; F 81 82 Origin & History of the Abyssinians that such evidence as is obtainable tends to show a similarity between certain branches of the Abyssinian race and the pre-dynastic Egyptians ; and that accordingly there is some indication that they were settled in parts of the country as long ago as 5000 B.c. But as to when they migrated or whence they came, I will not venture an opinion; the cradle of the Hamitic race is unknown and will probably remain so. Much confusion has been imported into their early his- tory by the alternative use of the terms “ Ethiopia” and “ Abyssinia.” The Abyssinians of to-day do not describe themselves as such but as “ Ethiopians,” a description which we have learned to associate more readily with the negro or negroid races of the South-Eastern Sudan, especially that part of it known as the Island of Meroé, that great tract of country lying between the Blue and the Black Niles (the Abai and the Atbara). One enthusiastic French writer has gone so far as to date the birth of the Abyssinian monarchy from the foundation of the Kingdom of Meroé by Cush about 5800 B.c., but as he appears to regard the story of the Deluge as a world-wide calamity of historical authenticity I am afraid he cannot be taken very seriously. When I was in Abyssinia this year I had the advantage of many discussions with the ¢ Court historian,” a learned old gentleman who supplied me with a great deal of informa- tion, and who had caused to be compiled for my benefit on the instructions of Ras Tafari a complete list of the rulers of Abyssinia from the beginning of time up to date. The list commenced with Ori (or Aram), one of the thirty-five sons of Adam, who reigned during sixty years from 4530 to 4470 B.C., and contained the names of no less than 312 sovereigns, many of Egyptian origin, from that date up to A.p. 1779. ‘This I think is as good an illustration as any of the difficulties of historical research in the country. The confusion between Abyssinia, Ethiopia, Merog, Origin & History of the Abyssinians 83 Nubia, and Egypt is so great as to be almost bewildering, and I will not attempt here to unravel the tangled skein— it would require a volume to do so. I will confine myself to saying that there was undoubtedly a very close connection between Abyssinia and Egypt and the Sudan ; asis evidenced by the historical records we have of the dominion of Egypt over Cush, and its vice-royalty over Ethiopia ; the develop- ment by the Egyptians of gold mines on the borders of Abyssinia, and probably of copper mines within its borders ; the introduction of an Ethiopian dynasty into Egypt after many years of bitter warfare between the two; and in many other ways, not the least interesting of which, in view of recent happenings, being the embassy received by Tutankhamen from Ethiopia bringing presents of gold and of ships. Equally close is the connection between Abyssinia and Arabia ; there is little doubt but that at some early date one and the same power ruled over part, at all events, of those two lands, and was seated on both sides of the Red Sea ; the meagre records of Himyaritic inscriptions which have been found at Axum and quite recently in Tchertcher clearly indicate a close connection with Sabza in Southern Arabia, and we know that in the fifth century an annual caravan journeyed between Mecca and Abyssinia. Nor was Grecian influence lacking; the language was known in Abyssinia pro- bably about the time of Alexander, and ancient inscriptions have been found there in Greek. But authentic records as to this period of their history are unfortunately few and far between. The Chronicles of Abyssinia which give the names and certain happenings during the reigns of their kings are hardly adequate authori- ties on which to base history. I have compared the data given in numbers of these which are preserved at the British Museum, the Bibliothéque Nationale, the Bodleian and elsewhere, and sad to relate they are not only very scrappy as regards their contents but they do not even agree with 84 Origin & History of the Abyssinians each other, so far as early history is concerned at all events. The learned Abyssinian historian to whom I have already referred assured me that these lists of kings had been com- piled prior to the advent of the Ethiopian dynasty in Egypt ; that the original compilation had been taken into Egypt and left there, and that after Egypt had later subdued Ethiopia, the originals had been lost. A further source of difficulty is that the kings of Abyssinia have always borne two (sometimes three) names, for to their baptismal name is added a regnal name assumed on accession. Thus for example, King Daouit or David is more generally known as Lebna Dengel (Incense of the Virgin) and so far as the early kings are concerned this duality of nomenclature has led to some confusion. The earliest date in the history of Abyssinia at which I will pause is about 1000 B.C. when the Queen of Sheba is supposed to have visited King Solomon at Jerusalem. From the point of view of the Abyssinians of to-day this is one of the most important dates in their history. They are firmly convinced that the Queen of Sheba was the Queen of Abyssinia, that her seat was at their holy city of Axum, and that the son who was born to Solomon and Makeda was Menelik I, founder of the dynasty which rules in Abyssinia to-day, and which has ruled for nearly 3000 years over the whole or part of the country. I do not propose to enter into the historical merits of this tradition. I will merely say that it is regarded as a legend by most writers, though some have treated it quite seriously. Whether Sheba was Saba in South Arabia, or Soba between the White and Blue Niles, or Asab on the borders of Eritrea and French Somali- land, or Axum, or whether the legendary Queen Makeda ruled over a territory embracing several or all of these districts, are hypotheses which have all been advanced in turn, and which require careful examination. The young Menelik is supposed to have been sent back to © Origin &° History of the Abyssinians 83 Jerusalem by his mother to be educated, and to have remained there until he was about eighteen years old, when he returned to rule over his hereditary domains. His departure appears to have been attended by circum- stances which, to put it mildly, might be regarded as peculiar. He had conceived the brilliant idea of taking with him the Ark of the Covenant, containing the Tables of the Law received by Moses, which was kept in the Temple. But as Solomon not unnaturally objected, the enterprising young man stole it by substituting a counterfeit. The theft—if I may dare so to describe an event which is regarded as rather a clever move on the lines of * spoiling the Egyptians ”— was not discovered for some little time, but when the loss was realized cavalry were sent in hot pursuit to retrieve the missing Ark. Just as the King’s forces were about to over- take the party, the earth opened and Menelik and his followers fell into an underground passage by means of which they traversed the Red Sea, and arrived safely at Axum in Abyssinia. But, alas for the success of the venture, just as the party were emerging from the passage the stone which guarded the end, and which had conveniently rolled away to allow them to pass, fell back into place before the Ark could get through, and no human effort could induce it to budge again; thus the Tables of the Law are still walled upsecurely somewhere in theneighbourhood of Axum! Menelik is supposed to have been accompanied by a large number of Jews from each of the tribes of Isracl—some 10,000 or 12,000 in all, though how this is to be reconciled with the anecdote related above I am at a loss to say. There seems, however, little doubt but that a Semitic invasion from Arabia on a large scale did take place about this time, although this is by some attributed to Sabaan merchants who came over in large numbers to Abyssinia to trade. From this time onwards the Abyssinians appear to have been subjected to Semitic influence to an increasing extent, ’ 86 Origin & History of the Abyssinians practising the Jewish religion, and adopting Jewish customs and practices, some of which survive to this day. During the succeeding seven centuries and a half no very striking events seem to have been recorded regarding the country, although from later records we know it must have been developing in civilization and in trade. But then we find interesting evidence of renewed connection between Egypt and Abyssinia, this time by way of the Red Sea. A Greek monk, Cosmas Indicopleustes, discovered in the sixth century at Adulis, a port on the Red Sea, a marble throne, and above it a marble tablet on which were engraved inscriptions in Greek. The inscription on the tablet records how Ptolemy Euergetes, the third of the Greek dynasty in Egypt, in about the fourth year of his reign (circa 243 B.c.) invaded and conquered large tracts of country in Asia and Asia Minor, aided by a brigade of elephants, both Troglodyte and Ethiopic, which he had himself captured in various parts of Abyssinia and trained for war in Egypt. Striking as this is, it is surpassed in interest by the other inscription, which was found on the throne. It was thought by Cosmas and many others after him until the beginning of the nineteenth century that the second inscription formed part of the first. But later investigation proved it to be quite a separate one, and of much later date, probably at least 300 years later. This inscription records inter alia the conquest of a large part of the province of Tigré (the northern part of Abyssinia) by a King of the Axumites (possibly Zoskales), and thus definitely links up modern Abyssinia with the ancient kingdom of Axum. This kingdom is described by Hall as having risen to power in the second century A.D. and as then being a civilized and well-ordered kingdom, the successor of the ancient Punt and the forerunner of the modern Abyssinia. This period is an important one in Abyssinian history, for not only have we the above-mentioned inscription as a landmark, but also another and a later one in the form of Origin & History of the Abyssinians 87 a great obelisk at Axum, which records further conquests and extensions of territory of the then King Aeizanes. And in his reign (circa A.n. 330) occurred the conversion of Abyssinia to Christianity, an epoch-making event which has affected the whole subsequent history of the country. This king is described under a variety of names, (even occasionally as a pair of twins), but whatever his names may have been his reign coincided with remarkable events. He had first conquered (or at all events defeated) the Homerites, the inhabitants of Yemen, and was evidently known to the Emperor Constantius who in his anger against and pursuit of Athanasius wrote invoking the aid of the * Christian princes of Ethiopia” to exclude Athanasius from the most remote and sequestered regions of the earth. So early in their Christian life were the Abyssinians embroiled in the conflict of doctrines ! Two hundred years later (circa A.p. 520) the Abyssinians, who had apparently withdrawn from Arabia, returned thither and once more subdued the Yemen. Had this con- quest been maintained and made effective it would have changed the whole history of the world, but in A.p. 570, two months before the birth of Mahomet, the Abyssinians were defeated before the walls of Mecca, and shortly after- wards expelled from Asia for ever. This year, the year of Mahomet’s birth, is said to be the first year of the era of the elephant, so-called from the fact of elephants having been used by the Abyssinians in the attack on Mecca. In his incomparable style Gibbon thus sums up the effects of this reverse :— “If a Christian power had been maintained in Arabia, Mahomet must have been crushed in his cradle, and Abyssinia would have prevented a revolution which has changed the civil and religious state of the world.” Prior to their expulsion from the Yemen the Abyssinians had entered into some sort of alliance with the Emperor 88 Origin & History of the Abyssinians Justinian, and an embassy from that ruler had been received with much pomp. They had by that time made considerable progress in the art of navigation and in trade; had estab- lished settlements along the shores of the Red Sea, and it is even said that they had pushed their operations as far as India, though it is more probable that this occurred only at a later date. It is accordingly the more remarkable that there should be little of interest to record during the ensuing four centuries or more. But at a period which is variously chronicled as A.D. 925, 927, 937, and 960 (!) an event most important for Abyssinia took place, and although the precise details are somewhat difficult to determine with any great accuracy the course of events would appear to have been somewhat as follows. When the country had been converted to Chris- tianity a section known as the Falasha refused to accept the new doctrines, retained their Jewish beliefs, and remained a people apart, governed by their own kings, shut up in their mountain fastnesses of Semyen. Probably in about the year g6o the then ruler, a Queen Judith by name, raised the Falasha in revolt, massacred the entire royal family (with a single exception), seized the throne and held it for forty years. Her task was the easier in that by an ancient Abyssin- ian custom every single member of the royal family was confined in a large amba, or natural fortress known as Debra Damo. The origin of this practice, like so many things in Abyssinia, is obscure ; one tradition has it that it owes the origin to Queen Makeda ; another that it was due to the first Christian king, Aeizanes ; but as may well be imagined, such a custom must necessarily be associated with a mass of unreliable legends. Nevertheless it is an undoubted fact that the unhappy royal family, sons, daughters, nephews, and cousins—spent their lives in confinement, and on at least two and probably on three occasions were massacred en bloc. Another amba was chosen later on, no doubt owing to the sinister associations of Debra Damo, and it was on Amba Origin & History of the Abyssinians 89 Geshen that a second batch of royal princes was exter- minated by the Moslem invaders in 1540. The Falasha regime did not last long, but during its sway the country was covered with blood and ruins; they were driven from power in some forty years, and then for nearly three centuries a usurping dynasty held the reins of power ; these were known as the Zagues, and came from the province of Lasta (south of Tigré, east of Lake T'sana). Only one of these sovereigns seems to have made his mark on history, and that was King Lalibala, the author of the wonderful rock-hewn churches which I have described fully in another chapter. He had other ambitious designs, or at all events was credited with them ; he desired to divert the course of the Abai (the Blue Nile) in order to punish the Egyptians, and great works to this end were apparently commenced ; traces of these were reported by the explorer Dr. Beke. But whether he was convinced of the impracticability of his schemes or whether death put an end to them, they were at all events not carried very far. The direct Solomonean line continued meanwhile to reign in the southern province of Shoa ; a single member of the royal family had been enabled to escape through the efforts of some of his adherents, and the uninterrupted line of direct descent was thus preserved, according to Abyssinian tradition. Strange to say there is no record of fighting between the rival lines, nor does any attempt appear to have been made by the dispossessed kings to regain their birthright. At the end of this period (circa A.D. 1260) according to Bruce, Basset, and other writers, the royal line was restored by a series of events almost incredible to those who do not realize the intensity of the Abyssinian belief in their religion, and in their connection with divine power through Solomon. A remarkable ecclesiastic, Tekla Haimanot, who ever since has been venerated as one of Abyssinia’s greatest saints, appears, according to tradition, to have negotiated an go Origin & History of the Abyssinians arrangement between the Zague sovereign, Nacueto Laab, and the representative of the legitimate line then reigning in Shoa, Yekuno Amlak, by which the former was to resign from, and the latter was to be restored to his overlordship of Abyssinia, on certain conditions. These were firstly that Nacueto Laab should be granted irrevocably for himself and his heirs the kingdom of Lasta, that he should be entitled to use the kettledrums of silver and sit on the golden stool, as heretofore only the Kings of Abyssinia might do, and that he should be free from all taxes and tribute ; secondly, that one-third of the kingdom should be ceded absolutely to the Church; and thirdly, that the Abouna, or head of the Church should never be an Abyssinian. Amazing as it may appear, the first of these extraordinary conditions was honourably observed for nearly five cen- turies. The second, though revoked in theory by the Emperor Theodore Iin 1410 and modified in the last century by Menelik, still holds good to a great extent, for if the Church does not own a third of the country at all events it owns an enormous share of it; and the last of the three conditions holds good to-day. Nevertheless I am bound to say that according to other sources of information there is another and a more likely, though more prosaic, account of the restora- tion of the direct Solomonean line. According to this account Yekuno Amlak recovered the throne by defeating Nacueto Laab in battle ; no definite treaty was ever made by Tekla Haimanot, but the above-mentioned conditions were granted partly as terms of peace, and partly in grati- tude to Haimanot for the services he had rendered by prayer and propaganda. CHAPTER VI1Il History of the Abyssinians From the Restoration of the Solomon Line (circa A.D. 1260) until to-day HATEVER may have been the means by which the so-called House of Solomon recovered the throne, the fact remains that it did so and that it has retained it until to-day ; although usurpers have occasionally reigned the rightful rulers have always returned to their own. They have however had to fight very hard for their existence ; the restoration found the coast-line already largely lost owing to the conversion of the population of the litoral to Islam, and this opened the door to the successive Moslem invasions and attacks which all but engulfed the country. That Abyssinia was not attacked by Moslems at an earlier date when they carried the sword and the Book over so much of the rest of the world is prob- ably due to the fact that Mahomet’s relations and followers had fled from persecution in Arabia to Axum, and had there found a safe asylum ; in the commentaries of the Koran it is stated that Mahomet had accordingly given instructions that the country which had sheltered his adherents should not be assailed. But Islam made up for its earlier abstention by the intensity of its later attacks. The story of the kings succeed- ing the restoration is a record of continuous and increasing warfare against Moslems from the Kingdom of Adal and 91 92 History of the Abyssinians the district of Harrar—indeed from practically the whole length of the coast-line. The fortune of war varied; but generally Abyssinia, in spite of periodical internal civil warfare, was able to maintain its position against the invader pretty well until the beginning of the sixteenth century. The records of the time deal at great length with the exploits of the warrior kings, and in particular with the epic of the life and struggles of a great national hero, King Amda Sion I, who during a thirty years’ reign—from 1312 to 1342— extended enormously the boundaries of the Empire, and enjoyed an uninterrupted series of victories over the followers of Mahomet, his solitary defeat being the last battle of his life in which he was killed. But the dawn of the sixteenth century was to usher in a series of terrible disasters for the country. The Turks, who had recently conquered Egypt and Yemen, desired to extend their sway over Abyssinia, and thus to close more securely the Red Sea against Europeans and to facilitate their contemplated attack on India. They took Zeila (now in British Somaliland), assisted the inhabitants of the litoral northwards with firearms, artillery, janissaries, and even Arab mercenaries, and then set this motley collection of fanatics at the throats of the Abyssinians, who armed only with sword and spear were at a terrible disadvantage. Led by a chief of great capacity, Mohammed, or Ahmed Gran (Gran meaning left-handed),fwho had risen from the rank of a mere soldier to be Emir of Harrar, the Moslem hordes poured into Abyssinia and wreaked a terrible vengeance for the earlier (and only) victory gained over the armies of Adal by King Lebna Dengel. They won battle after battle, occupied province after province, massacred and enslaved large numbers of the population, burned and pillaged towns, monasteries, and churches, and seemed in a fair way to become masters of the whole country. But the dauntless young David History of the Abyssinians 93 never lost hope, and though one of his sons was killed and another taken prisoner and he himself was hunted like a wild beast from one hiding-place to another, he maintained a sort of resistance until his death, a resistance which was destined to be ultimately successful, though he was not to see it. During his reign, which lasted from 1508 to 1540, a Portuguese embassy had visited Abyssinia and had remained there for nearly six years (1520-7); a member of this expedition who had been left behind had subsequently been sent to Portugal (via India) accompanied by an Abyssinian envoy to plead for assistance against their common Moslem foe, and after many vicissitudes and delays a small Portuguese force of some 450 musqueteers under the leadership of a very gallant gentlemen, Don Cristoforo da Gama, brother of the great explorer of that name, had landed at Massowa and joined forces with the Abyssinians in 1541. After a few preliminary successes Don Cristoforo was defeated and killed by Gran and his men in August, 1542, but the remnants of the Portuguese with their Abyssinian allies under King Galaoudeous (Claudius) renewed the war in the beginning of 1543, and in February of that year the Imam Ahmed Gran was defeated and slain, and the Moslem forces routed. The victory was a decisive one, the danger of Turkish domination was past, and though during his reign of nineteen years Galaoudeous and his successors had much fighting before them, the independence of the country was for the time being safe. But barely escaped from this danger, the unhappy country had to suffer another invasion, this time from an African race known as the Galla, whose origin and exploits are dealt with in an earlier chapter. These people carried on the work of destruction and devastation begun by Gran and his followers, and though defeated they were never expelled from the country but settled there permanently in large numbers. 94 History of the Abyssinians Peaceful penetration of a religious character on the part of their quondam Portuguese friends was the next danger the Abyssinians had to meet. Relays of Jesuit missionaries began to enter the country, and while intro- ducing much of material good, such for example as the art of building, of which they left many beautiful monuments, they set themselves not only to impose their particular form of religious belief on the inhabitants, but also more sua to endeavour to secure temporal power for themselves. The measure of success they attained by converting King Socinios in 1632 is described elsewhere, but as related there they were shortly afterwards expelled, lock, stock, and barrel, by Socinios’ son and successor, Fasilidas, and those who would not go were killed. Thus according to Gibbon (a little sweepingly perhaps) ¢ the gates of that solitary realm were for ever shut against the arts, the science, and the fanaticism of Europe.” But if the gates of Abyssinia were not shut “ for ever ” against Europe, they at all events remained closed for a very long while. An occasional traveller was able to make his way with great difficulty through the country, as for example did James Bruce between 1769 and 1772, but to all intents and purposes Abyssinia was shut to the world. They appear to have had some connection with India at about this time. Grant Duff refers to Abyssinians as having fought in India with the Mahrattas, about 1740-60, and he also refers to Mahratta marriages with Abyssinian wives. It is at least curious that there should be a native State in the Konkan division of Bombay, the ruler of which is stated to be a direct descendant of Abyssinian (Mahometan) ancestors who were for many generations admirals of the Mahometan rulers of the Deccan. In spite of practically unintermittent struggles with Adal and with the Gallas, Abyssinia never recovered her coast- line ; she was torn by incessant civil war and internal strife, and beyond a certain amount of literary work in the shape of History of the Abyssinians 95 translations of the lives of kings and saints and portions of the Scriptures she made no step in advance along the line of progress. By 1769, indeed, the king of kings of Ethiopia had lost all real power over his dominions, and the monarchy as such had to all intents and purposes ceased to exist. The rulers of Tigré, of Gojam, of Amhara, and of Shoa were in turn either independent or rulers of one or two provinces other than their own, and in about 1800 the main power fellinto the hands of a Yedjow Galla dynasty, though puppet emperors of the royal line were duly appointed, deposed, poisoned or otherwise provided for with regularity ; in 1813 no less than six kings and ex-kings were alive. This unhappy state of affairs lasted until the middle of the nineteenth century, when foreign countries began to endeavour to break in upon Ethiopia’s seclusion. The first country to make a Treaty with Abyssinia was Great Britain, who in 1841, through the intermediary of Major Harris, concluded a’ Treaty of Friendship with Sehala Salassie, King of “ Shoa, Ifat, and the Gallas.” This was followed by the conclusion of a similar treaty in 1843 on behalf of Louis Phillipe by a French envoy, M. Rochet d’Héricourt, and another between England and Abyssinia in 1849—this time with Ras Ali, the Galla ruler of Amhara and Tigré and the North at Debra Tabor, who is reported to have remarked when signing the instrument that he did not believe it to be of the slightest use, as no British trader would be stupid enough to come to Abyssinia. The conclusion of these treaties does not seem to have led to any very useful result, the state of the country became even worse, and then amid this welter of disorder the hour brought forth the man, and one of the most remarkable personages in their history appeared on the Abyssinian stage. Various conflicting accounts of his birth, parentage, and earlier life have been written ; he is sometimes described as the son, sometimes as the nephew, of Dejazmach Confu, 96 History of the Abyssinians a small chieftain of Kuara, and the date of his birth is variously given between 1816 and 1820. However that may be, he appears to have been thrown on the world in poor circumstances at an early date, and Theodore (or Kassa as he was then called) did not find his early life cast in easy or pleasant paths. It issaid (and it has of course been denied) that his mother was so poor as to be obliged to sell kousso in the streets of Gondar ; he appears to have been incarcerated in a monastery, and only when the monastery was pillaged and its inmates put to the sword was Kassa enabled to escape and take refuge with a relative. On the death of this relative, Kassa became the leader of a band of “free companions,” seized large tracts of territory in Dembea, married the daughter of Ras Ali, the Emperor, was confirmed in his ownership of the lands he had seized, defeated Egyptian attacks on the country, quarrelled with, fought and defeated his powerful father-in-law, and cap- “tured and installed himself in Gondar, the capital of the country. After a short breathing space he took the field again, defeated the rulers of all the various states or king- doms in the country with the exception of Shoa, and in 1855 was crowned King of Ethiopia at Axum under the name of Theodore, and recognized by the Great Powers of Europe. Shortly after his coronation he absorbed the Kingdom of Shoa, hardly a blow being struck owing to the death of the King Haile Melikot, and took back with him into captivity Haile Melikot’s son, Sehala Mariam, the boy who was later to become the greatest ruler Abyssinia has known, viz* Menelik II. Thus within the space of about a dozen years this remark- able man had conquered and unified the whole of Abyssinia, a vast and warlike country of many kingdoms, and by his personality and gifts had become the ruler of a state in which he had been a prisoner and a bandit. Unfortunately the tale of his greatness must end here, History of the Abyssinians 97 for he was unable to govern what he had created, or to retain what he had acquired. From being an abstemious, continent and clean-living man he became addicted to habits of drunkenness, immorality, arrogance, and cruelty, which estranged him from his own countrymen ; whole districts rose in revolt against him; the young Sehala Mariam escaped and proclaimed himself King of Shoa ; and finally Theodore brought down the wrath of England upon his head by imprisoning and ill-treating British officials and missionaries and sending offensive messages to the British Government, because the answer to one of his communica- tions had been delayed. And so came about Lord Napier’s expedition of 1867-8 when Magdala, that wonderful natural fortress, fell practically without resistance, and Theodore abandoned by his followers and with most of the country in rebellion against his abominable misrule committed suicide to the accompaniment of the thunder of British guns. He was succeeded by Ras Karsa, a Tigréan chief who had assisted the British in their expedition, and who was obliged to start on the conquest of the unhappy country de novo. After much fighting he forced practically the whole of Abyssinia to recognize his claims, and was crowned as Emperor under the name of Johannes in January, 1872. - He defeated both Dervishes and Egyptians, who had thought the moment opportune to make inroads on the country, and it was during his reign (a wise and tolerant one on the whole) that Great Britain concluded the Treaty of 1884 with Abyssinia through the able diplomacy of Admiral Sir William Hewett. John still had to admit two kingdoms within his own, vassals though they were, viz. those of Gojam and of Shoa. With the former not much difficulty was experienced, but with the latter it was another story. Sehala Mariam (or Menelik, by which name he is better known), who had proclaimed himself King of Shoa on his escape from captivity under Theodore, revived his preten- G 98 History of the Abyssinians sions to the empire of Ethiopia shortly after John’s accession, and preparations for the inevitable hostilities were com- menced on both sides. John marched his forces to the attack, but when the two armies drew near one another matters were arranged without fighting. John confirmed Menelik in his kingdom of Shoa, and crowned him with his own, hands, but forced him to acknowledge his suzerainty ; this agreement was contained in a Treaty dated 4th March, 1878. Further, by the marriage of John’s son to Menelik’s daughter and an agreement that this son should succeed John as King of Kings, it was hoped that the succession difficulties had been overcome. But John’s son died, and when John himself was killed in battle against the Dervishes in March, 1889, Menelik, who had been continually intriguing against John with the Italians and otherwise, once again claimed the empire of all Abyssinia for himself, and so strongly had he consolidated his position that he was able to cause himself to be crowned as Emperor under the name of Menelik II at Entoto in November of that year. This most remarkable man gave us Abyssinia as it is to-day, consolidating the various king- doms composing the empire, subduing (for the first time effectively) the Gallas in the east, south, and west of the country, thus almost doubling the size of the empire by the addition of huge territories, and introducing, or attempting to introduce, European ideas on quite an extensive scale, such, for example, as the railway from the coast, and many roads. An event of interest which took place early in his reign was the arrival of Major Marchand at Fashoda, the effect of which in Abyssinia was considerable. French influence was predominant at that time, and the country was busied with the preparation and despatch of Franco-Abyssinian forces to join hands with that very gallant officer, which for various reasons failed to effect their object. These efforts, typical of a state of feeling happily long since trans- History of the Abyssinians 99 formed, were the cause of a great deal of difficulty, trouble and misunderstanding for a considerable time in inter- national affairs in Abyssinia. But the outstanding feature of Menelik’s tenure of power was his victory over the Italians in 1896, a victory which placed Abyssinia in a new and much stronger position vis-4d-vis the rest of the world. The Italians, with whom as already stated Menelik had been intriguing against King John, had con- cluded the celebrated Treaty of Ucciali in 1889 with King Menelik, and by the interpretation which they gave to the wording of Article XVII. of that Treaty claimed what amounted to a virtual protectorate over Abyssinia. This was hotly disputed by Menelik, strained relations led to war, and after several minor engagements the whole fighting strength of Abyssinia, numbering over 120,000 men, was pitted against a weak force of Italians consisting of some 14,000 rifles and guns at Adowa. The history of that battle is too well known to warrant repetition in extenso ; sufficient to say that the Italians, badly led and suffering from dissensions in their higher command, were induced to commit gross tactical errors, and to attack the Abyssinians in a strong position of the latter’s choosing. They advanced in three columns which failed to unite, and their whole force, beginning with the left wing, was overwhelmed by superior numbers. Fighting with a hope- less bravery which commanded the admiration of their adversaries the Italian troops fell back ; the retreat became a rout and the rout a massacre ; their losses were estimated at over 10,000 men killed, wounded, and taken prisoner. This victory secured Menelik in his position, and enabled him to devote his energies to the consolidation and exten- sion of his power. He gradually overcame all resistance, and when, in 1901, King Tekla Haimanot of Gojam died, Menelik’s authority over Abyssinia was complete. During his reign foreign Missions poured into Abyssinia, and foreign Legations were established at Addis by all the 100 History of the Abyssinians Great Powers ; boundary and other treaties were concluded, and had he lived a little longer his country would have been a far more advanced state that it is to-day. He had received numerous honours from foreign governments, including the G.C.B. and the G.CM.G. from H.M. King Edward VIL Unfortunately he was seized with a paralytic stroke in 1908, and from then until his death in 1913 he was practically hors de combat. He was a remarkable monarch, progressive in ideas, an able ruler and a strong man, and the awe of his name endures unto this day, for even now people swear “ba Menelik,” i.e. “in the name of Menelik,” and so great was the fear of trouble at his death that no publication of it was made ; it was never even admitted that he was dead, he had no public funeral, and it is only now, nearly ten years after the event, that a mausoleum is being erected for his remains. Menelik had married the Empress Taitu (as her fifth husband) in 1883, but had no children by her. He had, however, had three children by previous unions, a son who had died young ; a daughter, Shoaraga, who had married Ras Mikhael, and who had one son Lej Yasu ; and another daughter Zauditu. The succession was consequently as follows :— Haile Meleko! King of 8hoa(died1855) { | Son,MenelikIl,b.1844. King of Daughter, Tanina\Virko Shoal868.succeeded 1889.died 1913. married Shamabil married Tailv,1883.who died FehlL bt 1918., leaving no children. Son.Ras akonnen 3 ehildren by previous marriages. died 1908 | I | son(diedyovng) Davghter,Shoaraga Davghter. Zavdity . + m.Ras Mikhael succeeded as governar of Wollo Galla Empress 1916. | Son.Lej Yasv born 18986. Son. Ras Tafari Nominated 1908. succeeded 1913 bom 1898. regent deposed 1916. &helr apparent 1918. History of the Abyssinians 101 Lej Yasu had been nominated as Menelik’s successor under the Regency of his tutor, Ras Tessama, a very enlight- ened man who most unfortunately died in 1911, it is said by poison. His place was taken by a Council of Ministers until 1913, when the Emperor Menelik died and Lej Yasu became formally Emperor. A protracted diplomatic struggle had been taking place between the Empress Taitu, Ras Tessama and some of the leading Rases between 1908 and 1913, and the nomination of Lej Yasu was alleged by some to have been due to the efforts of the Empress Taitu, in order to maintain power in her own hands as he was a mere boy, and by others to the Rases at that time assembled in Addis, nga the wishes of Queen Taitu. However that may be, Lej Yasu was destined to hold the reins of power for a short while only. He fell into bad hands, and under their evil influences developed character- istics and vices of no mean order. Not only so, but he mortally affronted his subjects by coquetting with Islam, and during the Great War endeavoured to assist both the Germans and the methodically Mad Mullah. He was deposed on 27th September, 1916, when Menelik’s daughter, Zauditu, was nominated as Empress, his grand- nephew, Ras Tafari Makonnen, being at the same time appointed Heir Apparent and Prince Regent. Zauditu was crowned on 11th February, 1917; Lej Yasu, who had taken refuge first in the Dankali country and later in Tigré, was taken prisoner in the summer of 1921 and is now in confinement. This cursory glance into the past will, I hope, be sufficient to give an idea of the stormy times through which Abyssinia has passed, and the consequent difficulties placed in the way of its development ; and it will, I trust, render it easier to appreciate the condition of the country and its people as they are to-day. CHAPTER IX Form of Government “ "ETAT Jest moi” might well have been said by the sovereign of Abyssinia, for the ruler is styled the King of Kings, the Conquering Lion of Juda, the Elect of God, Emperor of Ethiopia, and claims a royal and semi-divine descent of three thousand years. With such a style and title and such an origin it is hardly surprising that the monarchy is an absolute one ; it 1s in fact an autocracy based on a modified feudal system with variations. In theory all power is vested in the hands of the sovereign ; all land belongs to him; every man is bound to render personal service in case of need in peace or in war ; he is the supreme judge pronouncing death sentences and other important judgments, and in short he is generally monarch of all he surveys. At least that is the theory of it ; in prac- tice it does not quite work out in that way. For the feudal system and (until recently) the division of the country into separate kingdoms have combined to weaken the central authority considerably, and to put a practical check on the sovereign’s power whether for good or evil. Thus as one kingdom extended its sway over its neighbours the residence of the Emperor changed from one part of the country to another; Axum, Gondar, Ankobar, Entoto, Addis Ababa have all in turn been the seats of Empire. The other districts remained, conquered it is true, but under the rule of powerful hereditary chiefs, and within their borders 102 Form of Government 103 the writ of the central authority was. little more than nominal. The power of the throne was further limited by the feudal system in force in virtue of which every man owed fealty to his immediate chief, and this immediate chief to the greater man above him, and so on upwards to the ruler of the province, Ras, or King as he might be. . The fealty of the peasant to the crown was thus only indirect, and the result is well exemplified by the Abyssinian proverb “A dog knows his master, but not his master’s master.” It was not until that exceedingly astute monarch King Menelik came to the throne that any change was attempted, and then this African Louis XI set himself to attack the system. He gradually suppressed the hereditary rulers of the various provinces as opportunity offered and substi- tuted for them nominated governors, a practice which has been followed by his successors, so that to-day, with the important exception of Gojam, nearly all the provinces are governed in the name of the Empress by rulers alien to the district. ‘This has naturally to some extent weakened the feudal system in one of its main features, has correspondingly strengthened the central authority, and, most important of all, has tended to the permanence and stability of govern- ment. But the great chiefs, or Rases, still exercise a good deal of power, as the late boy-emperor Lej Yasu found to his cost when he flouted the religion of the country ; and unfor- tunately this power, though undoubtedly wisely exercised on that occasion, is a source of danger when considered together with the existing dual regime of Empress and Regent. The provincial chiefs are the heads of all branches of Government in their districts, administrative, judicial, and financial, and short of inflicting the death penalty they are almost omnipotent. | They receive no salary, but have to look to a portion of 104 Form of Government the proceeds of the local taxes for their pay, and it is to be feared for the formation of a * retirement fund ” as well. They have, of course, to maintain a certain number of troops, and to be ready to join the Emperor with a good many more in the event of national emergency. Periodically they are summoned to Addis Ababa for conferences with the sover- eign of a more or less protracted nature, which serve the double purpose of keeping headquarters in touch with the governors, and of preventing the latter from getting into mischief by too long absences in unfettered control of their own domains. This helps to maintain the practical power of the central authority and focuses control at Addis ; and so far it is all to the good. But it has drawbacks, making as it does for a good deal of congestion, and producing other results which emphasize the difficulties of having two heads to the governmental machine. For although the Empress is the nominal head of the State all business passes through the hands of Ras Tafari; just as Menelik did, so does he endeavour to cope personally with every detail of administration, great and small, impor- tant and unimportant, from the negotiation of a treaty to the granting of a permit for the importation of a revolver ; and the disadvantages of such a centralized form of State management are too obvious to need recapitulation. Yet the approval and authority of the Empress are necessary for various formalities ; and this not only causes endless delay but also frequently much difficulty. Two sets of advisers come into play: the door is opened to intrigue of all kinds, political, home and foreign, commercial and administrative, for applicants disappointed with the judgment of the one authority not unnaturally endeavour to help their cases by appeals to the other. The Empress and the Ras are supposed to be assisted by a Council of Ministers, but its functions appear to be some- what nebulous, though some of the individual Ministers H.I.M. THE EMPRESS ZAUDITU OF ETHIOPIA. Daughter of Menelik II, the Conqueror and the Lion of Juda, the Elect of God, King of Kings of Ethiopia. 2 Form of Government 105 have less sketchy spheres of operations, such for example as the Minister of War or Commander-in-Chief, whose main object seems to be to thwart every innovation or modern improvement ; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, an able man who speaks French well and who looks after foreigners in the country very pleasantly ; and the Minister of Finance. The last-named is, or ought to be, a happier man than our Chancellor of the Exchequer, for there is no budget, no income tax, and no debt to America or other foreign loans. There used to be a sort of Prime Minister, sometimes more than one at a time, described as the Betwadet, or “ favourite,” whose power was very considerable. During the reign of Lej Yasu the occupant of this post was an astute and capable person, Haile Giorgis by name, who has been confined in chains since the fall of his royal master until recently, when he was allowed to come up to Addis Ababa to fight a lawsuit. Whether on account of the difficulty of finding a man capable of undertaking the duties of this office and willing to run the risks attached to it, or for other reasons, the post has not since been filled. The revenue of the country is derived from the Customs and from national taxation. The Customs are mainly leviable on goods coming in on the railway, but also, of course, on the caravans from the other trade routes—at Gambela from the Soudan, and on the northern and eastern boundaries respectively from Eritrea and British Somaliland. Octroi is also leviable on all caravans of goods travelling about the country. The taxation which is imposed is onerous—it is collected locally and consists of (1) Tithe—payable generally in kind, and nominally equivalent to a tenth of the production ; (2) a tax in kind varying in different parts of the country e.g. cattle, cotton cloth, wood, foodstuffs, etc.; (3) personal labour, which theoretically compels every man to work one day in four for his overlord ; (4) Dergo—the supply of food to troops or important personages on the march by villages 106 Form of Government on the route. The incidence of all these imposts varies in fact in the different provinces according to the nature or needs of the governor, and according as the inhabitants are Abyssinians or natives of a subject race. But generally it may well be imagined that although nominees of the central government are appointed to various posts in the provinces, the receipts do not find their way in the due proportions that they should to headquarters. And even at headquarters there is undoubtedly a certain amount of leakage amongst officials, at all events the minor ones, for baksheesh, the immemorial custom of the East, unfortunately plays a by no means inconspicuous part in Government contracts and similar financial transactions. This I fear is encouraged by European concession hunters and undesirables, who in order to outbid each other and to stand well with the minor officials of the Government are not too particular in their methods. This is doubly unfor- tunate as demoralizing the Abyssinians and as tending to give a false impression of European commercial standards. Consequently the power and efforts of the sovereign are further reduced by financial limitations, although to what extent I am unable to say ; there is so far as I am aware no means whereby an outsider can judge at all accurately of the financial position. In any event there is not much money available for public works of which the country stands so much in need, such as railways, roads, sanitation, water supply, and other necessi- ties. A few exist; the postal and telegraph service, for instance, which was originally a French concern, but now an Abyssinian is at the head of it, though the principal employes are French. There is a letter postal service from the coast to Addis twice a week, but there is no distribution of letters—everyone fetches his own. The telephone service is more extensive, and, so far as the capital is con- cerned, on the whole compares not unfavourably with the English telephone service during the War. The parcel post Form of Government 107 service from Djibouti was deplorable—parcels took several months to reach the capital from Europe, and when they did arrive they were generally in a disgraceful condition, having been explored en route, and usually a portion of their con- tents abstracted. It has now been suspended entirely. As for the telegraph service between Djibouti and Addis Ababa, it would be difficult to find words to describe what it was two or three years ago. Telegrams took longer than letters to reach the coast, they were generally so mutilated in transmission as to be quite useless when received, and their contents were frequently public property before the re- cipient had them. This service was, however, improved immensely, and now it is almost good. Telegrams sent by the Italian line via Kasala are generally quite satisfactory when the line is working, which is infrequent, as it is as a rule being alternatively destroyed and repaired. The tele- graph line from the capital to the west (Gorei) was not known to work at all during the whole of our stay in the country. There is unfortunately no public wireless system, as consent for this has been refused by the Government. The Italian Legation has a small private wireless receiving appara- tus, but it is not powerful enough to transmit. There is a Government hospital founded by the Emperor Menelik, and directed by a French doctor ; this I am glad to say was in course of being rebuilt and reorganized at the time of our leaving the country. But beyond these the efforts of the Government have not gone. The whole of the administration is carried on at the Gebbi, which serves as Government offices and as the headquarters of the Court and the residence of the Empress. The Gebbi is however hardly worthy of its inmates ; it consists of a heterogeneous collection of buildings of every conceivable nature, modern stone-built erections, wooden chalet-like houses, tin-roofed shanties, and even tents— 108 Form of Government all enclosed within a series of walled-in courtyards and approached through a huge old gateway flanked by towers. Here are to be met all and sundry who have business with the Court or Government; foreign ministers seeking audience followed by their mounted escorts of Indian sowars, or French or Italian native soldiery ; European travellers paying their respects to Ethiopia’s sovereign ; officers of the Court on their gaily caparisoned mules with their throngs of Abyssinian followers carrying rifles and clad in their picturesque white robes ; traders seeking concessions or contracts ; Europeans, Abyssinians, Greeks, Indians, Arabs, Syrians, Armenians, every variety of race and inter- est and occupation. But to penetrate into the innermost court and to meet the sovereign personally is quite an undertaking. On arrival at the outer walls of the Gebbi one is met by an escort and passed through the entrance which is lined with soldiers sitting up above the gateway even, and of course all carrying rifles. The visitor rides (there is no other means of loco- motion, and the “roads” do not permit of walking), through three or four enclosures full of soldiers lying, sitting and standing about busily engaged in doing nothing. All the way he is preceded by gentlemen who might well be described as “ ushers of the (black) rod ” inasmuch as they are armed with long switches with which they hit at everyone who comes near. Their aim is pretty good, and it is difficult to imagine that they can be really popular. The sure-footed little ponies carry the visitor through gradually diminishing throngs up to an inner enclosure, where he dismounts and is handed over to one relay after another of Court attendants clad in spotless white robes, who finally usher him into “ the presence.” Zauditu, though small in stature, loses nothing in dignity thereby. She possesses the royal attribute of tact of which she gave evidence at the time of her coronation in a Form of Government 109 proclamation which contained a graceful allusion to Queen Victoria who, she said, was a short woman like herself but a great woman like she hoped to be. She is also quick and apt in her conversation, as a foreign minister found to his cost one day when reproaching the Empress with the short- comings of her Government in dealing with the chaotic condition of some part of the country. The Empress knew full well of the chaos prevailing in parts of Europe, some of it not too far from London, and her reply was delightful. “ Yes,” said Her Majesty, «it is quite true ; God is punishing most of the nations of the world by giving them bad Governments, but I do not think He is punishing Abyssinia more than a good many others.” Surrounded by some twenty or thirty ladies and gentle- men in waiting ” the Empress, seated, receives her guests, shakes hands with them, and after they have been given chairs the conversation proceeds more or less smoothly through interpreters until the signal to go is given. It is not always easy to discover suitable subjects for discussion, and one’s first experience of a function of this nature is apt to be a little nerve-wracking. When the Empress receives foreigners in audience, she is always closely veiled and even shakes hands with her guests through her chamma. Up till comparatively recently she had only been seen so closely veiled as to leave no part of her visible but her eyes, but a year ago she attended a private function at one of the Legations, and for the first time appeared in public unveiled before foreigners. At the great State banquets the Empress is not only veiled but is concealed behind silk curtains, for no one must see her eat. Great ceremony attends these banquets ; many officers of the Court are on duty, clad in magnificent old- world robes of gold-embroidered velvet and silk from beneath which protrude the velvet and gold-embossed scabbards of their large curved swords; these gorgeous old-world trappings throw into the shade the foreign corps 110 Form of Government diplomatique in their very modern and, by comparison, in- significant uniforms. Beyond these banquets (which are held at midday) and the reception in audience of foreign notabilities there is little in the way of Court entertaining on the part of the Empress. The reception of a new Minister at Court is how- ever the occasion of great display. On a recent occasion of this nature no less than 6000 soldiers were sent to accompany the foreign envoy from the Legation to the palace; each important chief brought his own quota of retainers, and the roads were blocked with troops of armed men, each following its own chief or sub-chief who were gorgeously bedecked, and were riding mules covered with sumptuous trappings. The Ras turned out his own bodyguard of European-drilled Harrar troops, and the Gebbi was thronged with all the Abyssinian notables dressed in their historic robes. The Empress attends the various great religious pageants, the magnificence of which is greatly enchanced by being held in the open air under a dazzling sun and a cloudless blue sky ; and proceeds in state to the national church of St. George, mounted on a mule and riding under a huge red and gold umbrella, surrounded by a gorgeously dressed Court and thousands of troops and followers. Just recently —horribile dictu—a motor-car has been substituted for the mule, and it must be admitted that this innovation does not fit in with the appearance of the encircling multitudes. The personality of Ras Tafari is a very different one. He was born in 1893, the son of that extremely able and enlightened man Ras Makonnen, who as representative of Ethiopia visited London, Paris, and Rome, and who was designated to succeed his uncle the Emperor Menelik, but who unfortunately died in March, 1906, shortly before that monarch was taken ill. RasTafariat the age of twenty-three was called on to fill about as difficult a post as could well be imagined, and I think it is a great tribute to his natural Form of Government III powers that he has not only been able to maintain his position but to strengthen it, and little by little to improve the conditions of his turbulent subjects. Rather below medium height, slight in build, with refined, even delicate features, and small and well-formed feet and hands, his carriage is full of dignity, and while his courtesy and charm of manner and his keen sense of humour are most attractive there is little doubt but that any attempt at undue familiarity would receive short shrift. He is married to a very charming and cultured lady, the Waizeru Menin, and has four children, one son born 27th July, 1916, and three daughters aged respectively ten, five, and three years. He was educated at Harrar with the help of the French mission there, and as a result speaks and writes French fluently—a gift which enables him to dispense with the services of interpreters when he so wishes. He has read widely, and his literary tastes are catholic ; works of every ~ kind fill his shelves, and they bear obvious signs of use. I even found him one day studying a very modern work on Bolshevism, the tenets of which political faith do not, I need hardly say, commend themselves to him! He is animated by broad-minded and progressive ideas, and is an indefatigable worker, his hours being usually from about seven o’clock in the morning to ten o’clock at night. Owing to the difficulties of his position the Ras has never been able to visit Europe, greatly as he would like to do so; indeed up to the end of last year he had never left Abyssinia with the exception of a short trip to Djibouti just over his borders. But in October, 1922, he was able to realize one of his wishes in part at all events, and to pay a flying visit to Aden. Here he was received with Royal honours—the fort and warships in port gave him a salute of twenty-one guns, and the gunboat on which he came over replied with a similar number; the troops of the garrison were reviewed, and Aden generally broke out into festivities of 112 Form of Government all kinds. The Ras was immensely impressed with all that he saw there, and his hosts were no less impressed with his qualities. For within ten minutes of seeing an aeroplane for the first time in his life, Ras Tafari was flying in it in spite of the almost tearful efforts of some of his entourage to prevent him. Evidently the account of his travels must have inspired the Princess with a desire to follow his example, for during last April Waizeru Menin visited Jerusalem, and after spending the orthodox Easter there, travelled on to Cairo, where she was received by King Fuad and Lord Allenby, and then visited Luxor. The Ras and his consort have recently built for them- selves a small palace on modern European lines, and here they receive the foreign colony, the corps diplomatique and any foreign visitors whom they wish to honour. Very pleasant are the little luncheon and dinner parties here, and after dinner (the product of an excellent chef) His Highness’s guests are often taken into Europe by way of a private cinematograph which has recently been acquired by him. The Ras has in the grounds his own printing press, and a very admirable model dairy which could give points to many European institutions of the kind ; he is building also in his own grounds a hospital with sixteen beds which is to be supported entirely by himself and the Princess, and a small church to which the public will have access. In the neighbouring Ras Makonnen Gebbi (the palace of his late father) the Ras transacts his heavy daily tasks, day in and day out, devoting himself to the welfare of the country in a manner which to the unprejudiced observer must surely be worthy of all admiration. For although he is the overlord of a huge province of Abyssinia wherein he owns vast estates to which he might retire and devote himself to a life of ease and pleasure, yet he chooses to re- main in a difficult and even dangerous position, working Form of Government 113 harder than most men in the world, exposed to all kinds of vilification and intrigue, amid difficulties that generally are neither understood nor appreciated. In my view Ras Tafari Makonnen is a sincere and genuine patriot, and as such is worthy not only of the support of all sections of his own people, but also of the European countries whose territories border on his, and whose interests are therefore to some extent linked with those of Abyssinia. CHAPIER X Law &° the Administration of Justice HE administration of justice appears to be superior to our own in one respect at least, namely, that excepting in the Consular Courts there are no lawyers. This is possibly due to the fact that Abyssinian law is even less comprehensible to the multitude than our own, being written in Geze, a language no one understands except some of the priests. Whether for this or for other reasons the Abyssinian is extremely fond of litigation, and for minor troubles such as accidents, ownership of sheep and cattle, small pilferings, etc., the ordinary courts of law do not meet his needs. Impromptu courts are a regular feature of street life in Addis Ababa, where every man conducts his own case, with the help of friends and witnesses; any passer-by can be called in to act as judge, and the venue of the court is a shady spot in the open street. Here one passes numbers of cases in progress daily, conducted with a wealth of oratory and a vigour of gesture that would seem to imply that immense issues are at stake. Of course these are only minor cases ; for serious offences there is a system of law courts presided over by judges, at the head of whom is the 4fa Negus, or “ Breath of the King,” and governed by an elaborate code of laws known as the Fetha Nagast. This compilation is not regarded with favour by the more advanced Abyssinians, one of whom described it to me as “ a bad book ”” ; it is partially based on the Mosaic Law and on other portions of the Old and the 114 ‘Administration of Justice rs New Testament, and was probably put together by an Egyptian early in the fourth century, assumed its present form about the thirteenth century, was translated first into Arabic, and thence into Geze, in which language it has remained unaltered to this day. As Geze is a dead language, understood only (as I have said above) by some of the priests, the judges are obviously unversed in law—nor do they as a rule appear to be gifted with other striking qualifications for the performance of their functions. They are consequently generally assisted by priests sitting as assessors, and are necessarily guided by these not too enlightened divines—a pernicious system which adds to the already excessive power and influence of the Church. The Fetha Nagast consists of three parts: the first, the most important, deals with Church law and embraces twenty- two chapters; the second with the Civil Code in twenty- three chapters ; and the third with the Penal Code in seven chapters. The latter is obviously based on the Mosaic Law, and very drastic are the punishments. For theft a repeated offence is punishable by the loss of a hand or foot, the sentence is carried out by a butcher in public, and the stump is plunged into boiling fat to arrest the bleeding ; whether the victim survives or not depends, I imagine, upon how clean the boiling fat may be. I am, however, bound to say that I did not witness any case of this sort while I was there. For murder or manslaughter the penalty is death, and the sentence is carried out by hanging. These hangings are of frequent occurrence, and generally take place on trees in the market-place, where the criminals are left suspended for a few days. The hanging is done in a very cruel and primitive manner ; a noose is put round the neck of the culprit, and he is gradually hoisted up and left to die none too quickly, his arms having been first tied behind his back so tightly that frequently his shoulder is put out or his collar bone broken. 116 Administration of Justice One specially painful case of the kind took place some years ago (things are quite different now) when we were first staying for some months at the Hotel Imperial, situated in the centre of the town. At this time there seemed to be a certain amount of unrest prevailing, and the nights were disturbed by frequent discharge of fire-arms. A European’ servant was killed near by, people were said to be attacked at dusk on the roads, and although of course ridiculously exaggerated tales were spread abroad, still the conditions of affairs could not be described as being the best in the best of all worlds. An attempt was made on the hotel, ending in nothing more than a good deal of firing and noise, the house of the Political Director of the railway was the scene of an abortive effort one night, and the climax came, when the house of a Greek working man close to the hotel was attacked by a band of ruffians, a small Greek child was killed, another wounded, and one or two servants killed or wounded. This wanton crime infuriated everyone, and the three Legations together made a very strong protest to the Government, with the result that a few weeks later, small placards were pasted all about the town, with a notice in French and Amharic of the forthcoming execution by hang- ing on such and such a date of the supposed actors in this tragedy. On the appointed day all our servants requested permission to go and see these executions, and large throngs of natives appeared in all directions wending their way to the scene of punishment. For these executions a special example had to be made, so instead of using the large trees in the market-place as was the rule, wooden gallows were erected at seven different points in the town and a criminal hanged on each, the whole party being marched round to the first gallows where six of them witnessed the first man’s fate, and so on from gallows to gallows until they were all disposed of. Needless to say we did not participate in this spectacle, but on going out during the next few days it was almost impossible to avoid one or another corner of Administration of Justice 117 the market-place where these wretched miscreants were hanging. The “ eye for an eye ” doctrine implies the death penalty for manslaughter as well as for murder, and is in fact imposed in such cases unless the family of the victim are prepared to accept blood money, which is by no means always the case. A striking example of this occurred some time ago when a sais belonging to the British Legation, when riding a fresh horse through the town, accidentally knocked a man down and the man died from his injuries. Despite all the efforts of the British Minister the sais was hanged. We were very anxious on one or two occasions where similar accidents were caused by our saises ; they were arrested, but mercifully the victims of the accidents did not die, so we were able to get them off with a fine. The lighter side of this code is exemplified by the follow- ing story which was current in Addis Ababa, and which 5 non ¢ vero ¢ ben trovato. A man was cutting branches in a tree, and in the course of his operations fell from the tree on to an unfortunate individual who was lying asleep below and killed him. The family of the deceased duly demanded the life of the “ murderer,” and blood money having been refused, the case was brought before Menelik to pronounce sentence. He admitted the claim of the family according to the law, but pointed out that to satisfy the requirements exactly death must be inflicted on the criminal in the same way as that in which he had disposed of his victim. Conse- quently it would be necessary for the victim’s nearest relative to fall out of a tree on to the criminal. The family compromised for blood money. I do not vouch for the truth of this story, but the decision was surely worthy of a descendant of Solomon. Confinement to prison is a usual sentence for compara- tively minor crimes, but it is a terrible punishment, for prisoners are not fed and have to depend on their relatives and friends for their existence in the small and filthy 118 Administration of Justice buildings in which they are confined. And if an epidemic visits the prison, well—the prisoners’ troubles are at an end. Gangs of prisoners chained together are employed on road works in the capital, and it is pitiful to pass these wretches clamouring for money, for, as I have said above, they receive no food, and exist on charity. A curious form of procedure is that by which debtor and creditor—and sometimes accuser and accused—are chained together by the hands. They wander about in seeming amity quite unconcernedly chatting to their mutual acquaintances en route, and I have often wondered on seeing these quaint couples which was which. Both seemed equally cheery, though as a form of amusement dragging a chained companion about day and night, would, I should have thought, be likely to pall. A strange example of this I came across was a man and woman chained together. In this case I discovered on inquiry that the lady was the creditor, and very voluble she was on the iniquities of her male appendage; the situation must have become strained at times. An admirable practice is that whereby a “ guarantor ” must always be produced whenever an Abyssinian enters into any undertaking, or as we should say makes a * contract of service.” Thus when engaging a servant, taking on staff for a safari or making a deal, the Abyssinian concerned names a guarantor for his bona fides, and it is to this guarantor that recourse is had if things go wrong. And very faithful are these guarantors to their obliga- tions. They not only suffer as a matter of course the penalties attaching to the misdeeds of their principal party should occasion arise, but I have been told of cases where they have voluntarily given themselves up for punishment in place of an absconding individual for whom they have pledged themselves. / In the provinces cases of crime are judged according to their importance by the local chief, by judges, or by the Ras ¢ Administration of Justice 119 (or governor) of the province. They have no power to impose the death penalty, this being the prerogative of the sovereign, and men accused of murder are sent up to Addis to be tried. If condemned they are generally sent back for for execution at the scene of their crimes as a warning to others. I remember in this connection seeing a well-worn, though tenantless gallows, erected on the railway track a little out of Addis, and thinking what a cheery welcome this must be to the traveller new to the country on rounding one of the last bends of the line before reaching his destination. I am afraid that in some of the provinces judicial adminis- tration leaves a great deal to be desired. I have heard reports when on trek, and have had other instances quoted to me of long-drawn-out litigation, venal judges accepting goubo from both parties to the suit, and exhausting the patience of the unhappy litigants until the case was aban- doned in despair. And I believe that in some of the more remote regions a practice known as libacha, which used to prevail even in Addis Ababa, is still to be met with, viz. the detection of crime by the drugging of a small boy who is then made to wander about the village, and to “smell out ” the home of the supposed criminal, with the physical aid of the relatives of the injured person. A friend of ours told us rather an amusing incident on his return from a week’s trek, and, having the merit of being true, it gives a good example of the morals and methods of the provincial legislature. Our friend had obtained a guide for this trek, with whom he was very well satisfied, being a useful fellow, willing to turn his hand to anything (including valeting), and possessed of a good knowledge of the country. When they arrived at their destination the local chief promptly arrested the guide and put him in chains. Our friend, almost inarticulate with rage, induced an official who happened to be in the district at the time, and who knew this local chief, to go and see him and endeavour to adjust 120 Administration of Justice matters. It was then discovered that the said guide was a well-known and self-confessed murderer, and was “ wanted ” at Addis Ababa for hanging purposes. However, the chief, who was a good fellow, let the man out to complete his duties and look after our friend, on the understanding that he was to be rearrested and re-chained when the job was over. So the murderer-guide-valet came back quite cheer- fully, and worked very well for the rest of the trip, after which he was reincarcerated and, doubtless, hanged. In the more remote parts of the country, one has fre- quently to be one’s own judge and j jury. For example a Greek merchant asked me on one occasion to order him from England a hundred pairs of handcuffs. When curiosity impelled me to ask for what purposesthey were required, ~ the merchant explained that if any of his coffee was mis- laid ” when in course of transport he put the carrier in irons, and that he had already in his own coffee district thirty-five men in chains on this account. The position of foreigners before the law is curious and ill-defined. It is partially dealt with under the Franco- Abyssinia Treaty of 1908, but this only exempts French subjects in suits inter se from Abyssinian jurisdiction, and so far as I am aware there is no instrument which would legally apply this privilege to British or other foreign residents. In practice, however, Europeans are exempted from the jurisdiction of the Abyssinian courts, and their civil difficulties are dealt with by their own Ministers and Consuls. This is a most valuable and indeed an essential privilege ; it would not otherwise be possible for Europeans to live or trade there. But what the position would be in a penal case if a European were, say, guilty of murdering an Abyssinian is not at all clear. Let us hope the case will not arise, but if it should the situation would be extremely awkward. The Consular Court of each country deals with civil cases ity A WARNING TO EVIL DOERS. One of seven executions carried out on the same day in the market place at Addis Ababa. The bodies remain hanging for several days as a useful object lesson. THE MARKET PLACE AT ADDIS ABABA, This centre of the commercial life of the country is a hive of industry for six days a week. In the background are the Customs House Buildings. Administration of Justice 127 for the subjects of that country, and an appeal from its decision lies to the Legation, i.e. to the Minister sitting as a Court of Appeal. In both courts it is usual for one or more assessors to be appointed by the Consul or Minister to sit with him. There has recently been established under the French Treaty referred to above a Mixed Court to deal with cases between Abyssinians and Europeans. The court consists of an Abyssinian President, assisted by another Abyssinian and the Consul of the country whose subject is concerned. One day a week is reserved for the cases of each country— thus Greek cases are taken on Monday, French on Tuesday, QL The litigants are, strenge to say, represented by European counsel—French, English, and Russian—and I am bound to confess that the spectacle of these gentlemen standing as pleaders before the “bench” is not altogether pleasing to European ideas—at least so I thought when I attended the Court. If the “ bench ” are unanimous the decision of the Court is final, but if there is disagreement between the President and the Consul the case is referred for decision to the Crown, i.e. to Ras Tafari. I gather that there is some divergence of views as to whether the second Abyssinian and the European Consuls are judges or merely assessors. The former view seems to be held by Europeans and the latter by Abyssinians, but the issue does not appear to be material. The treaty is not clear on the point. The establishment of the Court undoubtedly marks a step forward, and no doubt when it has settled down, established its procedure and gained a little more experience, it will prove a valuable institution. The first and present President is Belata Herui, a distinguished Abyssinian who was a member of the last Abyssinian mission to England and America in 1919, and who speaks English well. CHAPTER XI. Religion &° the Church ARIOUS forms of religious belief have played a great part in moulding the destinies of most countries in the world, but I think that their effect can rarely have been more marked than in the case of Abyssinia. There is little doubt but that that country owes its present position of independence largely to the fact that, ~ one of the first of the peoples of Africa to embrace Chris- tianity, it has maintained a form of that faith for nearly 1600 years. This fact added to the impregnable nature of its mountain fastnesses, and the warlike character of its people, has caused the country to be regarued somewhat differently to the bulk of the nations of Africa, and has contributed to its escape from the fate of partition amongst European powers which has overtaken the rest of the continent. Originally pagan of course, the country adopted Judaism nearly 1000 B.c. and about the time of the birth of Christ the mythological beliefs of Greece appear to have been introduced without however effecting the supersession of the Jewish faith. It was in the early part of the fourth century (a.p. 330 is the generally accepted date) that the conversation of Ethiopia from Judaism to Christianity is reported to have been effected as the result of the visit to that country of some shipwrecked Christians. Being successful in converting the sovereign and the Court they aspired to extend their sway over the whole country, and accordingly one of them 122 Religion & the Church 123 returned to Egypt, obtained the assistance of the Alex- andrian authorities, was nominated Bishop of Ethiopia, and induced the Abyssinian people to join the Alexandrian or Coptic branch of the Church. According to Abyssinian tradition the first introduc- tion of Christanity took place at an even earlier date. It is alleged that Matthew the Evangelist visited the northern districts of the country about A.p. 30 and attempted the con- version of the people ; apparently however he made only few converts to the new doctrines and was eventually turned out. A further slight extension of the new faith is claimed to have been made a few years later ; indeed Alvarez writing in 1527 refers to Ethiopian books and traditions which describe Candace as the first Christian queen of the country and as having had her principal residence near Axum. Her conversion was alleged to have been due to a eunuch in her service who was sent by her to Jerusalem, and there met with Philip and was baptized by him as narrated in the Acts of the Apostles. This would be about a.p. 34, or some three hundred years before the generally accepted date. I do not propose to enter into the merits of this latter claim, nor even into the claim that Abyssinia became Christianized by divine inspiration during Christ’s child- hood without the aid of any missionaries (!) ; nor is it my purpose to trace the history of the Church from its inception up to now. Suffice it to say that it has passed through many vicissitudes, and that for hundreds of years the Abyssinians had to fight for the maintenance of their religion against external and internal foes. The main attacks were the great Moslem invasion of 1528 which swept over the country and, all but engulfed it, followed by the invasion of the pagan Galla, which came very near to being successful and which would in that event have resulted in blotting out Christianity in the country. And finally, the third attack on their particular form of Christianity, though not on 124 Religion &° the Church Christianity itself, came from the Portuguese missionaries who arriving towards the middle of the sixteenth century produced a good deal of effect on the religious life of the country. They actually succeeded in inducing one king to renounce the Alexandrian doctrine, to profess publicly his belief in Roman Catholicism, and to proclaim this faith as the national religion. But the success was short-lived ; public opinion, bitterly outraged, would not tolerate the supersession of the old doctrines, and the king was compelled to restore the national faith by public proclama- tion. His son, who succeeded him shortly afterwards, completed the work by expelling the Jesuits. In spite of these attacks the Abyssinians retain their faith unaltered to this day, though owing to their later conquests their rule extends over a larger number of non-Christian subjects than there are Abyssinians. The Somals, Danakil, and some of the Galla (in Harrar and Djimma) are Moslems ; the Shankala and other Galla (in Boran, Arussi and Walaga) are pagan, the latter believing in a form of supreme deity they call Wak or Wakwe, and a number of minor spirits or Sarosh. The Falasha are Jews. Many of the Galla (in Wollo for example) were converted to Christianity by the Emperor Menelik, but his methods hardly seem to have been such as to inspire the converts with any profound or reasoned conviction of the merits of that faith. When he conquered a Galla country the inhabitants had to become Christians lest worse should befall them, and the process was rapid and simple—immersion in the nearest stream, circumcision, and generally the tying of a piece of blue silk cord round the neck. “~The form of Christianity professed by Abyssinia is the monophysite, which was condemned as a ““ heresy ” by the Council of Chalcedon in 450. This doctrine recognizes only one nature in Christ against the view which has maintained itself as orthodox that the divine and human natures co- existed in him. But in spite of the thunders of Chalcedon 7 Religion & the Church 125 the Abyssinians have held to their doctrine, although controversies as to a single, dual, and even threefold nature have raged in the country right up to the time of Theodore, who possessed decided views on the subject, and exercised drastic methods in giving effect to them. The Church is to all intents and purposes an independent one, its only link with the Coptic Church in Egypt on which it is nominally dependent being the appointment by . Alexandria of the Archbishop, or Abouna: he is an Egyptian, and once appointed he is supposed never to leave the country. I believe this practice is generally maintained, though the present holder of the office, the Abouna Mateos, has gone on ‘leave of absence” twice, once on a mission to Russia, and again recently to Egypt owing to serious ill-health. He is an amusing old gentleman, with whom I have enjoyed many talks; he has a great admiration for English methods of administration, and when I first arrived showed a keen interest in all we were doing after the war to rebuild Europe. Tradition relates that the appointment of a foreign Abouna was laid down as a cardinal principle by the great Abyssinian ecclesiastic and national saint, Tekla Haimanot, in the thirteenth century in order to maintain connection between Abyssinia and the outside world, and to avoid internal rivalry in the nomination to the headship of the Church. Be that as it may, the Abyssinians attach con- siderable importance to their connection with the Alex- andrian Church through their Abouna ; this may be gauged from the fact that the Treaty petween England, Egypt and Abyssinia, made by Admiral Sir William Hewett with King John in 1884, expressly provides that “ H.H. the Khedive engages to grant all the facilities which H.M. the Negoosa Negus may require in the matter of appointing Aboonas for Ethiopia.” His is the power to crown kings, and no priest can be ordained without him. He officiates at all the big religious 126 Religion &° the Church festivals, and his influence in the councils of state is reported to be considerable. Mr. Winwood Reade, in his book “The Martyrdom of Man,” states that “ by way of blessing he (the Abouna) “spits upon his congregation, who believe that the episcopal virtue resides in the saliva and not as we think in the finger-ends.” I am bound to say we never saw or heard of this particular form of benediction while we were there, but even if it were so, it would not be so very surprising in view of the fact that, as everyone knows, at the baptism of children Roman Catholic priests to this day will (unless they are prevented) moisten their thumbs with their saliva and touch the child’s nostrils therewith when they are baptizing it. Up to the time of King Abreha, when the conversion of the country to Christianity took place, the head of the then existing religion was in accordance with Mosaic practice the High Priest. The nomination of a Bishop or Abouna followed, and functions were divided between the two, the Abouna being regarded as the chief in matters of religion proper, settling all questions of dogma and theology, whilst the High Priest controlled the Church staff and property. A further functionary known as the Itcheque was created in the thirteenth century, and duties were divided amongst these three up to the time of the Emperor Menelik, who made the Abouna supreme head of all matters ; the Itcheque second with residence at the great national monastery of Debra Libanos ; and the High Priest third in the heirarchy. The wealth and influence of the Church are enormous, a state of affairs due to the prescience of Tekla Hai- manot to whom reference has already been made. This remarkable man is supposed to have negotiated the restora- tion of the Solomonean line after three hundred years of deposition, and his modest price seems to have been a perpetual grant to the Church of one-third of the country. As a result the extent of the Church lands is tremendous : Religion & the Church 127 not only do monasteries, convents, and churches cover the country but great areas belong to them, and the revenues accruing therefrom are utilized to maintain an almost unbelievable number of monks, priests, and debtera. ‘The numbers of these people were given to me by Abyssinians as over a million—this I can scarcely believe, but I was assured on good authority that over a quarter of the male population are included in these categories of parasites. And parasites they are, for they serve no useful purpose and exist on the taxes raised from the people working on the land : they do no work themselves and are even exempted from military service. They are on the whole ignorant and illiterate, for while some of them can read, very few indeed can write. Monks are not supposed to marry : priests are allowed to marry once, and in fact do so : debtera are free as laymen ; but I do not think that the lives of many of them could profitably he held up as examples for the people to follow. No examination and little or no preparation seem to be necessary for ordination : payment of moderate fees ranging up to $5 (about 10s. to-day) appears to be all that is required. In this direction matters do not seem to have progressed much since Bruce wrote in 1790 giving the following description of an ordination: “A number of men and children present themselves at a distance, and there stand from humility, not daring to approach him. He then asks who they are and they tell him they want to be deacons, (debtera). On this with a small iron cross on his hands after making two or three signs, he blows with his mouth twice or thrice upon them, saying, ‘ Let them be deacons.” I saw once all the army of Begemder made deacons, just returned from shedding the blood of 10,000 men, thus drawn up in Aylo Meidan, and the Abouna standing at the Church of St. Raphael, about a quarter of a mile distant from them. With these mingled about 1000 women, who consequently, having part of the same 128 Religion &° the Church blast and brandishment of the Cross, were as good deacons as the rest.” It is highly regrettable in the interests of Abyssinia that the priesthood, being what they are, should exercise so much power and influence. This is no doubt attributable to a variety of causes, to tradition, wealth, land ownership, and also to the fact that they (or some of them ) are the only persons in the country who understand the ancient Geze language in which the Code of Law (the Fetha Nagast) and other similar works are written. This gives them a great “pull,” and one result is that they are an indispensable adjunct to all the judges, who are very much in their hands. They are, like the priesthood of other Churches through- out history, bitterly opposed to progress and to innovations, more so as regards changes in their own Church than as regards the introduction into the land of alien religions, strange to say. Thus for example a learned individual, a very religious layman whom I knew, had been accused by the priests of expounding the Gospels in a manner somewhat different to ‘that generally accepted, and as a result he was imprisoned for three years. His views on the subject of his own Church were instructive ! On the other hand they are by no means so intolerant to other religious beliefs and efforts in the country ; they are not fanatical, and if left alone and not interfered with are not markedly anti-foreign. Individually I have always found them quite pleasant and friendly, and I am bound to say that Mr. Wylde, who met a great many of them in various parts of the country, seemed vastly to prefer them to European missionaries. But as a body I think they are— to put it mildly—an unfortunate institution, and so far as their possessions are concerned, treatment on the lines adopted by our Henry VIII would seem to be overdue. Moslems, Jews, and others practice their religion in peace. I have seen religious processions of the followers of Islam Religion &° the Church 129 on their feast days pass through the streets shouting and singing completely free from molestation, and on the occasion of my last visit I saw a mosque which was on the verge of completion being constructed in one of the principal streets of Addis Ababa. It is rather remarkable that in spite of the bitter religious warfare in which they have been engaged for centuries Abyssinians should be so tolerant of their age-long enemies and should allow them to profess their faith openly as they do, when one considers the havoc wrought by Moslem invasions and Galla inroads. Even the Falasha Jewish ironworkers in the north, who are doubly regarded with dislike and suspicion as being Jews and as being possessed of supernatural powers, are treated with tolerance, though avoided. No doubt this happy result is contributed to so far as Moslems are concerned by the fact that in Abyssinia they do not appear to be strict or fanatical—in pleasing contrast to their behaviour elsewhere. Mr. Wyman Bury tells a delightful story in exemplification of this latter frame of mind. A pilgrim to Mecca, a plump and prosperous Mos- lem merchant at Aden in ordinary life, was gazing from the deck of the ship in rapt enthusiasm at Jeddah which against the sun-scorched country beyond looked like a stale bride- cake on a dust-heap. ¢ Oh, the sacred land,” he crooned “ the blessed land, where pigs and Christians cannot live.” "The Abyssinians still have a church in Rome, a monastery in Jerusalem, and monasteries and Ethiopic texts were discovered in the Libyan desert by the German explorer Falls. The Abyssinian Church endeavours to maintain friendly relations with the other Christian communities : interest- ing examples of this are the missions sent to the Pope by the Emperor Menelik in 1906, and by the present Empress in 1921. A mission was also in Jerusalem at the close of last year in connection with some ancient rights of the Abys- I 130 Religion & the Church sinian Church regarding the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and other holy places; under the Turkish regime these rights had been transferred to the Coptic community. According to a recent newspaper report the Ras is proposing to place the question of the protection of these holy places before the League of Nations—a strangely modern develop- ment. Possibly owing to ignorance and lack of education, the Church does not make any missionary efforts of its own amongst its subject races of Moslems and pagans, and up to recent years it did not tolerate, or at all events wel- come, such efforts on the part of others. This is perhaps hardly surprising, for much of the missionary enterprise known to the Abyssinians had mingled politics with religious efforts, and had interfered in matters which had better have been left alone. The Jesuits were expelled in 1633, and some who would not go were killed. The Protestant missionaries were expelled in'1838. Theodore can hardly have been said to have welcomed missionaries, though so far from expelling them he chained them up and would not let them go. King John expelled them again in 1886, and Menelik barely tolerated them, although a French mission has been established continuously in Tigré for a good many years. But quite recently more missionaries have been allowed to start operations, especially in the Galla districts, and the Americans are particularly to the fore in this work. In addition, there is a French mission at Harrar and a convent at Addis Ababa, mainly educational and non-proselytizing, and a Swedish mission at the latter town of a similar character. So far I do not think there is much trace of success by any of these institutions, but on the other hand there is evidence to show (and my impressions are confirmed by American, Swedish, and French writers) that Islam, as in other parts of Africa, is making progress among the subject races in the Religion &° the Church 131 country, both pagan and Christianized Gallas reverting to the faith of Mahomet in appreciable numbers. As is well known, practically every Moslem immigrant is a missioner, and I think this is a real danger to the peace and stability of the country. It would be a remarkable happening if the ancient Abys- sinian Church that has resisted attacks on its faith of so violent a character for so many years should succumb to the “ peaceful penetration ” of Moslem teaching at this stage of its history. Such an event is not however likely to occur in the near future, for their religion seems sufficiently strongly implan- ted to hold its own among the Abyssinians, and even to sway the national policy. For example, it was the late Emperor Lej Yasu’s leanings to Islam, rather than his other manifold failings, that caused his downfall in 1916. He was un- doubtedly popular with the rank and file of the army and with a certain section of the people, but when the national institution was in danger concerted action drove him from power. CHAPTER X11 Religious Practice &° Pageantry S I have already said, the number of their churches is legion, and to all are attached many priests who live in remarkably simple—to put it mildly—accommodation in the precincts. The buildings themselves are quite unpretentious, being small circular erections built of the stone that abounds everywhere in the country, covered with pointed thatched roofs surmounted by a cross on the points of which ostrich eggs are generally impaled. The Abyssinians show a con- siderable measure of reverence to their churches, outwardly at all event. I have frequently seen men of importance stop their retinue when passing the church, dismount, and kiss the earth. The principal modern church in Abyssinia is that of St. George, the patron saint of Abyssinia, at Addis Ababa, which has only recently been completed. It is a stone-built edifice, octagonal in shape, surmounted by a large central dome ; it is of no particular style of architecture, though it approximates to the Greek, and externally it is not very pleasing to the eye. The Abouna was kind enough to arrange for us to visit the church, and we were received with ceremony by a number of priests, who were exceedingly kind and enabled us to make a thorough inspection, and even allowed us to take some photographs (which unfortunately owing to the bad light did not come out). They showed us everything with great enthusiasm and begged us to return “ when a 132 Religious Practice & Pageantry 133 great feast was in progress.” The building consists of three portions, a sort of outer gallery, an inner court, and finally the Holy Place or Holy of Holies, an inner-chamber in the centre of the building in which rests the abot or repre- sentative of the Ark of the Covenant to which only the priests are allowed access. , The priests threw open the doors of the Holy Place for us to see in ; it contained a kind of altar where the Sacraments are kept, and was surrounded by priests in very gorgeous vestments, burning incense and holding big crosses and crucifixes. In one of the galleries a service was proceeding. Two priests were beating with their hands very big drums made of wood and hide ; many others were shaking their curious little brass cymbals ; and all were chanting, swaying their bodies, and slowly waving their praying-sticks. ‘The time was really good, and the chant was rhythmic and tuneful, and not at all unmelodious. The galleries were profusely decorated with huge life- size paintings depicting mainly scenes from the Scriptures, scenes from the life of Christ, the miracles, etc. ; one dread- fully realistic picture of the Massacre of the Innocents was very striking. There was also a portrait of the Emperor Menelik, and of other noted characters in Abyssinian history ; the likenesses of royal and other famous persons are frequently to be found on the walls or among the possessions of the principal churches. In this connection an amusing incident is told by Stern. King Sehala Salassie had been given by Captain Harris’ mission to the Court of Shoa, a portrait of Queen Victoria. This had been carefully guarded for many years amongst his treasures until his death, some time after which his successor, King Haile Malekot, presented it to the principal church at Ankobar where the people used to flock on grand festivities to worship it as the representation of the Virgin Mary ! 134 Religious Practice & Pageantry The Tabot to which reference has been made is the object of much veneration and has to be blessed or consecrated prior to being used in the particular church to which it is allocated. In one case the priest in charge of the church had committed a murder, and the Tabot had to be sent up to Addis to be reconsecrated before it could be used again. The most prominent features of the practice of their religion are the fasts, feasts, and pageants; and each of these is sufficiently remarkable. A very large part of the year— about 150 days—falls under the category of fast or feast, and both are strictly observed. During their fasts they are forbidden not only meat, but also butter and milk and eggs, and it is really surprising to see to what an extent this rigid abstinence is followed, especially as the fasting periods are lengthy, that prior to Easter lasting forty days. For a day or so immediately prior to the main feast, that is at the end of a long period of fasting, they eat nothing at all, and so far do they carry this rule that sometimes one or two of our older servants have become so weak that they have had to go home and remain in bed, so exhausted were they. On Wednesdays and Fridays they eat no meat, and wherever they are or whatever they are doing they adhere firmly to this rule. I was immensely struck by this when on trek ; for example, one day we had bought an ox for our men and on Thursday they had had a great raw meat banquet. The next day being Friday they would not touch an atom of the quantities of raw meat hung round the camp, though they had had a long and tiring march and had nothing else to eat. One of the men, who was really ill, would not drink a drop of the fresh milk we had prescribed for him, though he was excessively weak and could not retain anything else. Their feasts are observed just as whole-heartedly, and obviously with more enthusiasm, inasmuch as much eating and drinking and no work are the order of the day. Their main feasts are New Year, the Feast of the Cross or Maskal, Temkat (Epiphany) and Easter. Religious Practice &’ Pageantry 135 Their New Year’s Day, the 1st Maskaram, falls on the 11th September (or the 12th in the European year preceding our Leap year) and is a great feast, and of course a general holiday, the religious side of which is strongly marked, the Empress and the Court attending the Church of St. George in state. No work is done, and there is much eating, an oasis of - plenty in the desert of fasting which starts again on the day after New Year’s Day, and continues until the end of the month. Bands of grown-up people and groups of children wander round serenading the different houses, and although their intentions are doubtless of the best, the sounds they produce leave much to be desired from the point of view of harmony. One New Year’s Day I found a party of small things in our grounds, girls from three to ten years old, and they came right up to the house chanting and beating their hands together in time, a little frightened of the reception they might get. But when a few coins appeared, smiles beamed on every face, and they made their pretty little bows, touching the ground with their heads, much to our relief refraining from an * encore.” Riding back from the town that afternoon, we were way- laid by an enthusiastic band of adult musicians who ran beside our ponies chanting. One of them in his enthusiasm to keep just ahead of us forgot to use his eyes and fell headlong into a ditch full of mud and water, his downfall being greeted with shouts of laughter from his friends, but in no way damping his or his companions’ musical ardour. We addressed the usual letters of good wishes to our Abyssinian friends on this day, and in every case received delightful replies, which is characteristic of the scrupulous politeness of the Abyssinians in these matters. 1 give the reply sent to me by the Empress on one of these occa- sions. (See p. 136.) At the end of September is held the Feast of Maskal. There are three separate functions during the week in this connection, firstly the Dance of the Priests, 21st September, q $A? oes Ho LE 7 0 Lal Es g 2 5 QHAGO QO, C- NAA ED ‘0d; @ E-lh bo: TP WANE nyt tr 4 hang eo Uv: 9¢ ats Hi Ad @ MN ar: A320 g0A3 PL ay ahd ung SOAPY YAY ~ AOL Al 0: CYT CILTSa tt at fA 8 00 F- 434 Facsimile of a letter from the Empress of Abyssinia to the Author. 23 TRANSLATION OF LETTER FROM THE EMPRESS. From the Empress Zanditu, Daughter of Menelik the Second, the Conqueror and the Lion of Juda, the Elect of God, King of Kings of Ethiopia. To Mr. Rey. Salutations be unto you. I am in receipt of your friendly letter congratulating me upon the celebration of our New Year, and I sincerely wish that we might live and enjoy together the happiness and blessings of the coming New Year. Thank you for your kind thought. Written in Addis Ababa. 3rd Maskaram, 1912. (In our Calendar 14th September, 1919). Religious Practice & Pageantry 137 then the Dance of the Cross, 27th September, which includes a fantasia in which thousands of mounted troops take part, and finally the great Gebbur at which 17,000 to 18,000 men are fed (28th September). On the day of the Dance of the Cross, after dinner we could see from our verandah the whole country for miles in every direction dotted with bonfires—a wonderful sight. Every Abyssinian must light something on this night, and they seemed to have done it pretty thoroughly ; even high up in the mountains far away one could see the little points of light everywhere. The Feast of the Maskal itself which took place on the next day is mainly remarkable for the great banquet ; this I have described elsewhere, and though it is held on a religious festival the religious nature of it is less apparent. Temkat (18th, 19th, and 20th of January) is perhaps the most beautiful and remarkable of their various pageants, and I will accordingly endeavour to give some idea of this ceremony, unique as it probably is. It is difficult in mere words to do justice to the really wonderful pageantry attendant on these religious festivals. Their historical significance alone is worthy of the pen of a Gibbon, for they are probably some 3000 years old in some of their features, and half-closing one’s eyes it is possible to imagine the picture before one to be that of David, his priests, and his courtiers dancing before the ark, as the priests in their centuries-old vestments sway and swing before the modern representation of the Ark of the Coven- ant. And the colouring—the gorgeous medley of crimson and purple and yellow and green cloaks of the priests, their gold and silver croziers, crowns, and censers, the soft thrum- ming of the huge old drums, the feathery spirals of sweet- smelling incense curling lazily up into the air—all framed in a grand setting of green trees and running water, while above out of a brilliant blue sky the blazing African sun sparkles and glitters on all the medley of gold and silver and 138 Religious Practice & Pageantry colour below, and—strange contrast—further off, on the rifles of the thousand watching troops and their loose white toga-like chammas. Especially do these considerations apply to the second day of Temkat, the blessing of the waters. On the first day the Tabot is borne from the Church of St. George in the midst of an immense procession of chiefs, priests, soldiers, banner bearers, and musicians, through the town to the spot by the river which has been selected for the ensuing day’s ceremony. The procession itself is sufficiently remark- able, and the inhabitants of the city crowd the roads to watch the brilliant stream of colour flow past, their shrill, tremulous “ el-el-to ” sounding to our ears a strange sub- stitute for the cheers of a crowd in our own countries. The procession winds its way through the town and beyond it to the river, and there tents are pitched, the Tabot is deposited within one of them, priests take up their quarters in others, soldiery in yet others, and with thou- sands of Abyssinians spend the night on the spot in readiness for the morning’s function which, commencing soon after daybreak (between 6 and 6.30), lasts well on to noon. The spot seemed to have been chosen so as to lend additional enchantment to the ceremony. The river shrunken to a stream now in the middle of the dry season flowed smoothly over huge rocks and boulders round a curve, on between high banks sloping for several hundreds of yards upwards and away. Part of the stream had been dammed so as to form a pool just by a natural platform of grass and trees on the very edge of the waters, and here the principal actors were grouped, whilst above and around them thousands and thousands of spectators in rank after rank seemed but to act as a conductor to focus the eye on to the scene being enacted below. Here was Ras Tafari in his robes of state under a magnificent gold-fringed umbrella— here were the great officers of State with their velvet and silk cloaks, their silken shirts, and their great curved gold- Religious Practice & Pageantry 139 scabbarded swords. And here were the priests dazzling one’s eyes by the brilliance of their apparel and their accessories. Standing a little way up the river-bank amid a small knot of Europeans lost in the sea of Abyssinians, it was almost hypnotizing to watch the scene. The drums beaten softly with the palms of the hands accompanied the low chanting of the priests and the rhythmical waving of their praying- sticks, while the fumes from the incense burners crept upwards to mingle with the almost mysterious mistiness of the early morning sunlight. The water was eventually blessed, and some of it in a great gold dish carried to the Ras, who was sprinkled with it —rebaptized in fact—with many rites and much ceremony. Other notables were similarly honoured, and then water was thrown over the nearest of the waiting thousands. Those beyond surged forward to receive their share, and the pressure of the immense multitude must have been enor- mous, but their orderliness was no less remarkable, and no untoward incidents occurred. With some further chanting the first portion of the ceremony came to an end, and the scene was changed to the great open plain between the town and the Foreign Lega- tions, which is used as review ground, polo field, and race- course. In solemn procession ruler, courtiers, priests, and soldiers wended their way up from the banks of the little stream, up through rocky paths and grassy slopes towards the centre of the plain, whilst thousands and thousands of the people poured in a great stream all round them to take their share in the further pageantry. On our sure-footed little ponies we were swept along in the moving masses, all cheery and good tempered, dressed in their clean white chammas, which had been washed for the occasion in the river the day before. With the help of a balderabba we were able to take a short cut to the scene of the next step in the proceedings, and seated on chairs round beautifully 140 Religious Practice & Pageantry coloured Persian and Indian rugs in front of a silk-lined tent which sheltered the throne from the fast warming rays of the sun, we watched amid the waiting multitudes the arrival of the royal procession and of fresh throngs, not the least remarkable members of which were a mounted band of wild-looking men clothed in scarlet robes and playing strange instruments, whilst their shaggy little ponies curveted and plunged like mad things. Dressed in his magnificent Abyssinian robes, carrying a modern rifle and mounted on a wonderfully caparisoned black mule, Ras Tafari rode slowly up to the tent and took his seat on the throne surrounded by hundreds of gorgeously clad notables, and facing what was perhaps the most striking contingent of all, the priests, ranged on three sides of a square in front of the throne. Those on the opposite side of the square were all in white ; those on the right and left wore robes of such dazzling colouring that in the sun’s bright rays it almost hurt one’s eyes to look at them. Red, blue, green, orange, purple, every imaginable colour, thickly covered with heavy gold and silver embroideries, and gold ornaments and head-dresses. And as if this orgy of colour were not enough, servants held scores of gaudy coloured gold-embroidered and much befringed and tasselled um- brellas over them. Many of the priests carried magnificent crosses of gold and silver, others their long silver or ivory-handled praying- sticks,whilst some held various musical bell-like instruments, and about half a dozen managed large drums—things about three feet high made of silver with copper bands. Particu- larly striking were the dresses of ten young boys bearing golden crowns, symbolical of the ten commandments; while the Tabots brought from the neighbouring churches were very gorgeously hedeched, It was a wonderful and barbaric sight. And then the Dance of the Prius began. Low chanting without music at first, followed by slow graceful movements Religious Practice &’ Pageantry 141 of all their hundreds of arms in fine time to the rhythm, then the little bell cymbals joined in, and finally the big drums. All this time the long lines of priests were advancing and retiring, turning this way and that, their bodies swaying to the music. The time got quicker and quicker, others joined in, their movements became accentuated and their voices rose to a climax ; then quite suddenly sound and movement ceased and the long lines were quite still. After this, passages were read from enormous silver- covered Bibles, and with a final boom of the drums it was all over—a morning’s journey back through the centuries, probably unique in the world in its character. The Abyssinian Easter falls a week later than our own and is the occasion of great feasting ; much rifle firing takes place the night before (or used to two years ago when ammu- nition was more plentiful), and much eating and drinking, on the day itself. And I am bound to say they must need it, for they have been fasting for forty days, and for the two previous days have eaten nothing at all. In accordance with the custom, we gave all our servants the usual presents on these occasions : they always seemed very pleased and generally came up en masse to thank us, one of them making a little speech for the rest, and presenting us with bunches of flowers. Bands of priests visit the principal houses, soliciting alms, and I find the following description of one of these visits in my diary :— “ Soon after breakfast a party of about five priests accom- panied by attendants came up the drive, stationed them- selves in front of the house, and began to sing and ring bells to wish us a prosperous Easter. Some of the priests wore their gorgeous vestments, and all had brilliant green or red silk parasols fringed with gold braid. We sent them out a small offering which appeared to please them very much. “ Then they blessed a lot of long grass they had, and gave it to us and we distributed it amongst the staff. Every 142 Religious Practice & Pageantry servant there tied his piece of grass tightly round his head and wore it all day—they all seemed highly delighted.” But in spite of their strict observance of feasts and their pride in the fact of their being Christians, I cannot really think that they could in any sense of the word be described as a really religious people, their lives being in no way a reflection of their theoretical beliefs. Their religion is overlaid with a thick layer of superstition, some of which is merely curious, but some apt to have dangerous results. Thus they wear little charms and amulets suspended round their necks by a silken cord (never leather which is used by Mohammedans for this purpose); they have a strong belief in the power of the “evil eye”; they will not look at a person eating, they will not start on journeys on certain days, and they believe that certain houses are inhabited by evil spirits and will not live in them. We came across some curious examples of this latter superstition. Two important Abyssinian nobles had built in their grounds quite nice stone and mortar houses in the European style. These houses were lying empty, and their owners were living in native built fukuls, for the reason that their tame priests had told them that evil would befall them if they moved into their new residences. : Another and more serious example was that of a chief who was very ill with pneumonia. He was just getting over it when in the middle of one night his priest told him that he had had a vision to the effect that if he did not move at once into his other house some miles away he would die. So on a bitterly cold night the poor old gentleman was removed to his other place, a course of action which, needless to say, resulted in his death. They still believe in the efficacy of writing the sick person’s name on a certain kind of tree; and one of our friends told me that his own “ boy ” had done this when he (my friend) was ill, and attributed his recovery entirely to Religious Practice & Pageantry 143 this cause. Another European who was very ill was cured (so said his “ boy ”) by the latter obtaining from a native medicine-man a piece of paper upon which the sick man’s name was written. The “boy” had actually paid the medicine-man the (for him) very large sum of three dollars for the paper. CHAPTER XI11 Addis Ababa BOUT twenty-seven years ago, just. before his great conflict with the Italians, Menelik was camped in the Entoto Hills in the neighbourhood of Addis Ababa, a small township founded by him some four years previously, collecting his armies for the forthcoming struggle. He was apparently much impressed by the many advantages possessed by this delightful situation, and realizing that its sheltered position and pleasant climate, its abundance of trees and ample water supply would all contribute to the facilities and amenities of a great city, he made the pronouncement that should his expedition prove successful he would return to his camping-place and convert it into his capital. As is well known fortune crowned his arms with victory, and in 1896 Menelik carried out his pledge and established himself and his followers on the southern slopes of the picturesque hills which, rising some 1500 feet higher, dominate the 8000 foot tableland of Entoto, naming the place Addis Ababa, or the New Flower. And from this developed what is now the largest and most prosperous town in Abyssinia, the seat of government, the centre of the commercial life of the country, and the terminus of the 5oo-mile railway from the coast. Addis Ababa was the successor to a number of other towns, each of which, as the seat of the Emperor of the day, had been regarded as the capital of the country. The Imperial residence had, however, been subject to 144 Addis Ababa I45 frequent change, partly on account of the transfer of the supreme overlordship from one of the kingdoms of the country to another, and partly on account of the fact that after a king and his army had resided in a place for, any length of time every tree for miles around had vanished. Addis bade fair to be no exception to the general rule, for shortly after its foundation the city was threatened with a wood famine which, in the ordinary course of events, would have caused its extinction and removal elsewhere. The trees in and around the beautiful place rapidly dis- appeared before the improvident demands for firewood and building material made by the King’s large and extravagant army, and the new capital began to become bare and shadeless. But Menelik was no ordinary African monarch, and saved the situation by a wholesale introduction of eucalyptus or blue gum trees, issuing orders that they were to be planted by everyone, and that cutting was to be regulated. These trees grow in the climate of Abyssinia with the most remarkable rapidity, increasing by as much as twelve feet in height in a single year in some places, and so in a few years the devastated hills reverted once more to their original condition, and the town was again bowered in foliage, foliage which lasts the whole year round. The first distant glimpses of Addis Ababa which the traveller obtains to-day as he winds his circuitous way upwards towards the city are very attractive. So extensive and so dense are the woods in which it lies that one seems to be about to enter a forest, and it is only on a near approach to the town that houses begin to stand out amongst the trees, and the rays of the sun sparkling and glittering on the metal roofs and the white-washed walls make one realize that a town, and an extensive one at that, is hidden in the foliage. Gradually as one gets nearer and nearer the place begins to take shape ; the few white walls thrown into relief by the sun are seen to be but islands in a sea of lesser and K 146 Addis Ababa browner habitations ; two large buildings standing on higher ground than the rest detach themselves from the general outline, and stand out dominating the immense numbers of houses and huts that struggle through the woods for miles ; and as he draws near to the end of his journey the extra- ordinary mixture of buildings of every kind of which Addis is composed begins to make its striking first impression on the traveller’s mind. Addis is like no other African town that I have seen; without having any great individuality, it has features which are all its own, and its beauties and ugliness, its traces of modern progressive effort and eastern backwardness, its combination of sylvan glades and half-constructed streets, make up a picture of contrast, which is quite typical of the people whom it shelters. The town which is traversed by two rivers,the Kabana and a branch of the Akaki, straggles over a very considerable area several miles in extent, centring round an enormous open market-place from which roads or tracks radiate in all directions. All round the market-place are the native stalls and booths, the more pretentious shops of the Greeks, Armenians and better class Indians, and the dilapidated buildings of the Custom House. One of the few real roads in the town runs from here to the railway station, about a mile and a half away to the south-east, and on this road are to be found the two hotels of which the place boasts, the substantial buildings of the Bank of Abyssinia, and the offices and go-downs of the Tobacco Régie. A little way from the market-place on the opposite western side stands the Church of St. George, the one piece of architecture in Addis, and still a little further away to the north-east on a yet higher eminence is the Gebbi, a series of buildings which combine to house the Palace and Government Offices. Some miles beyond here to the south of the town lies the so-called Legation quarter where all the Foreign Legations have their lovely grounds, and to reach them one crosses the Addis Ababa 147 polo-ground and race-course, a huge open space gifted by King Menelik to the Imperial Club. In between, around, and beyond all these main points are thousands of #ukuls with their mud walls and thatched roofs, which make a pleasant contrast to the rather shoddy and glaring houses of the Greeks, built of stone and roofed with corrugated iron, which are mostly to be found in the streets bordering on the market- place. The roads and streets, or rather the open spaces which ought to be roads or streets, many of which are mainly loose boulders and earth, are generally very wide, an uncommon and pleasing feature. This characteristic, added to the trees which are to be found everywhere in leaf the whole year round, and the high-banked rivers and watercourses which intersect the town in every direction, make what might well be rather a sordid conglomeration into a really fascinating township. From an architectural or artistic point of view there is unfortunately nothing to be seen in Addis—the town being a new one no ancient buildings or monuments of historical interest are to be found such as exist in other parts of Abyssinia. The only exception that I know of is the dilapidated ruin of a Portuguese church some centuries old on the hills lying behind the Foreign Legations, but even this is in too advanced a state of decay to make it of much interest. From almost every point of the town the Gebbi (or palace) meets the eye. Constructed on the crest of a hill it dominates the whole town, and at night especially, when it is brilliantly illuminated, it is a guiding point to travellers for miles. It has many attractions, not the least of these being some very fine lions kept in cages close to the royal reception hall. These animals used, I am told, to roam about the palace grounds at their own sweet will, until one day some children teased them—and then “there was not one.” 148 Addis Ababa So after that cages were introduced, greatly I believe to the relief of some of the foreign visitors. And as the Gebbi is the centre of the governing and political life of the city so the market-place, as the centre of the commercial life of the town, is a seething mass of interesting movement. Covering an immense area, and placed in the very midst of the town, all roads converge upon it, and progress through the teeming thousands who are to be found there every day is by no means a feat to be undertaken lightly. But it is a remarkable and interesting sight. In the early morning from every direction strings of natives are to be seen threading their way towards the market-place with their goods for the day’s sales. Here is to be met a small colony of Gallas in their dirty rags, the women laden with packets of dung-cakes and earthenware water- pots, the donkeys piled high with the heavier goods, the men strolling along burdened only with a light spear and a long stick, the children shouting at and beating their unfortunate animals ; there an Abyssinian party, the women carrying little or nothing, the donkeys bearing all the goods, and the men armed with the inevitable rifle, busily engaged in doing nothing except perhaps wrestling with a refactory ram. And sooner or later, with halts for adjusting slipped loads, or for gossip, or for quarrelling, they all arrive at their destination, the great red-earthed centre of the “New Flower.” On every side stretch dilapidated uncovered booths made of heaps of stones, on which are to be found most things necessary to meet the wants of the masses of the population. Coffee, honey, ghi, grains of various kinds, salt, peppers of different varieties, rough grass baskets, earthen- ware pots of all shapes and sizes, coloured straws for the manufacture of the more delicate baskets, native tanned leathers, native metal work, firewood, hay, dung-cakes, bread—all the many local products of the district, in fact— Addis Ababa 149 are here exposed for sale together with imported cotton piece goods, cottons and silks for weaving, and any amount of trashy European bric-d-brac. Sheep and cattle too are bought here, and the confusion caused by the heterogeneous mass of goods and salesmen is added to by the donkeys and mules standing and lying about, on the poor scarred backs of which all the native produce has been brought in from the outlying districts. These unfortunate animals, footsore, sore-backed and weary, are to be seen in hundreds, waiting patiently to be loaded up for the return journey with the results of their masters’ marketing. It happened to be our fate to be going out of the town one morning just at the time when the densest of the throngs were pouring along the road leading into the market-place. We had discovered amongst the Ras’ possessions the original Wolseley motor-car which had been driven by Captain Bentley in 1907 from the coast to Addis and there presented to Menelik—an amazing feat which occupied ten months, and which seems incredible to anyone who has been over the terrific country which Bentley came through. We were anxious to try this historic car (the first that had ever entered Abyssinia), and after a day or two’s preparation the car, driven by a gentleman of doubtful origin but reckless courage, called for us and we set out on our four miles drive. The “ road ” was “ under repair ”’—in other words, from a possible track it had been converted into a miniature Abyssinia, huge trenches had been dug across it in places to drain it, piles of stones were scattered in every direction, loose boulders and great holes made up the remaining surface. Into all this, which was covered with a teeming mass of men and animals coming into market, did our driver hurl the car, always at top speed, to the accompaniment of an unintermittent roar from the hooter sounded by a small boy clinging anxiously to the side of the car. We drove through and over everything—crashed into piles of stones, 150 Addis Ababa fell into holes, jerking, bumping, and lurching drunkenly along. Everything fled in wild confusion before us—sheep rushed headlong up banks and into ditches, ponies reared and bolted, mules and donkeys were charged by us, lost their loads, and galloped along in front or beside us—and always quite unperturbed our Jehu ploughed along, stop- ping or turning for nothing, amid the screams of women and children, the curses of the people whose animals fled before us and the laughter of the others who escaped disaster. We were sore with bumping, breathless from our efforts to hold on, and almost hysterical with laughter when we arrived, but we came to the conclusion that in future ponies would be good enough for us—a resolution I may say to which we strictly adhered. The population of the town is estimated to consist in normal times of about 60,000 persons, this number being considerably augmented on the occasions of the great feasts by the arrival of chiefs from the outlying districts with their retinues of thousands of soldiers. In addition to the native population there are several hundreds of Arabs, Indians, Syrians, Armenians, and Greeks, the European section of this mixed alien community numbering in all probably about 300 persons. Although the town has considerably increased in size within the last few years, and new shops and huts are continually being added, there is a great shortage of houses suitable for Europeans either in the town itself or in the outskirts, and should the European colony continue to increase, the new arrivals will be obliged to build their own homes. Such houses as are available are exceedingly expensive, £200 to £300 a year for quite a small house, almost a cottage, being quite an ordinary figure. Building is very costly, mainly owing to the extortionate price of all imported materials, and land commands an almost incredible value, costing from half a dollar to four dollars per metre. Addis Ababa 151 We were fortunate enough on the occasion of our first visit to be able to secure the Russian Legation for our use, as the Chargé d’Affaires was leaving, and in the then chaotic condition of Russian affairs it was unlikely that a successor to our good friend M. Winogradoff would be forthcoming. This was a delightful place ; a large rambling one-storied building, containing some large lofty rooms with well-laid parquet floors, lying in about fifty acres of well-wooded grounds just outside the town ; and we were indeed lucky to obtain it, for nothing else of any kind was available, and failing this our fate would probably have been to remain at the Hotel, a prospect which filled us with dismay as the wells had dried up there, and there was not water enough for our own needs or for our ponies. The Europeans’ houses in Addis are mostly poorly con- structed, and built of stone, as that material is readily available almost everywhere in large quantities. They are, as already pointed out in connection with most other buildings in Addis, roofed with that most unpleasant of all coverings, corrugated iron, the only merit of which is that it keeps out the rain when new and if well put up. But as this latter condition does not appear to be complied with, even the single merit I have referred to does not strike one, though trickles of water through the ceilings do. The noise of the heavy tropical rains on the iron is deafening, it is hot in the daytime and cold at night, and always a horrible eye-sore. Why thatching has not been more generally adopted latterly I am at a loss to imagine—it is much more suitable to the country, much pleasanter to live under, and not more costly. A few well-built stone houses exist, such as the British and Italian Legations, the Greek Consulate, the Bank of Abyssinia, the home of the Abouna, etc., but the majority of the houses, shops, etc., are indifferently constructed of stone and mud, and they do not show signs of possessing any great durability. The ceilings nowadays are sometimes made of wood, but more often consist of strips of cotton 7 152 Addis Ababa sheeting sewn together and stretched across, fixed by wooden battens and painted white, and sometimes accompanied by an elaborate ornamentation in colours. Happily one still finds some of the old-fashioned cone-shaped ceilings, made of cedar sticks bound together by thick grass-rope artisti- cally intertwisted with red, white, and blue material. Of the two hotels—the Hotel de France and the Hotel Imperial—it is the latter to which the English traveller invariably gives his patronage. This hotel was originally constructed by the Empress Taitu, wife of the Emperor Menelik, as an investment or speculation which her suc- cessors must now find very profitable, and it is said to have been largely furnished with the numerous gifts of furni- ture, etc., presented to her by various European powers. After a generous distribution of Keating’s it is possible to settle there not too uncomfortably ; ample accommodation (including a bathroom) is to be had; the bedrooms are situated on the first floor and all open on to a wide balcony verandah which surrounds the building, from which a magnificent view can be had over the mountains and plains stretching for miles in every direction. It is I think without exception the most beautiful view of and in Addis, and it was always a moot point with us as to which moment of the day or night gave us the more delight- ful picture. Below us on every side stretched the town half hidden in its trees, with here and there a white stone build- ing standing out from amongst the zukuls ; for miles away on the west lay a great rolling plain dotted with trees and patches of cultivation; and on every side were line upon line of mountain-tops shading off in a wonderful variety of mauve-brown colouring until far away in the distance to the south could be seen the summit of great Mt. Zequala, a landmark for many days’ march all around. In the early morning the rising sun bathed everything in a sort of pale pink light, against which the feathery curls of smoke from the thousands of huts and the mist from the river-banks pats A Kat C8 A ““ RoAD ”’ IN THE ARUSSI MOUNTAINS. The ‘“road’’ (marked with a cross) is seen leading upwards in the left-hand top corner. Mules had to be unloaded, the packs man-handled to the top, and the animals afterwards hauled up. THE AUTHOR AND HIS WIFE. Shewing types of Abyssinian ponies. The grey (which was used for riding, driving, polo, steeple- chasing and trekking) is more typically Abyssinian. The bay was a native of the province of Gojam. Addis Ababa 133 showed grey and fairylike amid the dark green of the trees. And at night after the fiery glow of the setting sun had first turned the western mountains blood red and then left them dark purple and brown when it dropped behind them, the gorgeous African moon bathed everything in brilliant silver, thrown up and brightened by black patches of shadow, and the busy hum of the day sank and gave place to the noises of the night. And such a medley of sound it was. The roaring of the lions at the palace would dominate everything for a while, then if they paused some hyenas or jackals would come slinking up from the river after the evening slaking of their thirst, setting all the pariah dogs in the town barking in impotent fury, and themselves howling and crying over their gruesome meal of disinterred corpses from the grave- yard, or the remains of a pack animal that had died during the day on its journey to the market-place. The grunting and grumbling of camels, the lowing of disturbed cattle, and the homely bray of a wakeful donkey, combined to vary the gamut of sound, until seemingly exhausted by their vocal efforts the animal inhabitants of the town would rest awhile, and silence wrapped the “ New Flower ” until the dawning of a new day. As 1 have already mentioned, the Abyssinians are great sportsmen, and consequently the horse and mule market is always a source of attraction to them. It is held in an open space a little way out of the town near the station, Saturday being the favourite day for patrons of this Abys- sinian Tattersall’s. Here the horse-coper gallops his poor animal madly up and down for the inspection of a would-be purchaser, until there is little breath left in the beast and his mouth is dripping with blood on account of the brutal bit used. Formerly many decent horses might be picked up here at reasonable prices, but now European competition has changed this, and the prices asked for wretched-looking mounts are 154 Addis Ababa ridiculous. Consequently those who require horses find it more profitable to send out into the country to bring in a batch, and after selecting the best for their stable sell the others to their less knowing brethren. The dogs are almost as all pervading (in every sense of the word) as their prototypes used to be in Constantinople. They are of a long-coated reddish-coloured variety (when they have any coat), but they are mostly hairless mangy snarling beasts, that lie about asleep in the sun by hundreds everywhere, and never think of moving for a passer-by ; one’s horse carefully picks his way between them, for a false step means an uproar, and unless the rider is armed with a good cutting whip the chances of a bite are not too remote. In the evening they are fed by the Indian butchers on their surplus stocks, after which they begin to wake up and take an interest in things, and incidentally make themselves a general nuisance. But like most other beasts they have their uses, as no doubt but for their scavenging and cleaning up the town would be even dirtier than it already is. About a mile from the centre of the town at Filoha are situated the hot springs, which send up a continual cloud of steam ; these are strongly impregnated with sulphur, and are supposed to be good for many ailments, more particu- larly for diseases of the skin. Here King Menelik constructed some buildings contain- ing large stone baths, into which the bathers descend by steps ; other buildings have since been added and the general arrangements improved. One of these baths is specially kept for the use of Europeans, and is I believe frequented by the Greeks and Armenians to a fair extent. Many people send for this hot water in which to bathe if suffering from rheumatism, or other similar ailments, and so great is the temperature at which it issues from the springs that although when we used it it had to be brought over a mile in open tins on the backs of mules, it was so hot when it arrived that cold water had to be added before it could be Addis Ababa 156 used. It is also given to horses now and again, and serves as a useful form of medicine for them. My wife was anxious to see the baths and springs, es- pecially as no one seemed to know very much about them, and so she went off one day with our Abyssinian interpreter to have a look over them. Some difficulty was made about going in, but this was overcome by the interpreter, and after being assured that the baths were empty she sallied in. The place was rather dark and steamy, and coming out of the bright sunlight she was for a moment or two unable to see clearly. Then, however, she found to her consternation that the place was occupied by native men and women of both sexes in a state of nature. Apparently she hastily beat a retreat and was shown into another bath which, this time, was occupied by men only, also in the same condition. The double shock drove her rapidly to the entrance again, and though no one else seemed to mind in the least, she felt that her visit had better come to an end. = Goodness knows what she might have come across if she had ventured into the other rooms into which she was invited to return. Menelik’s progressive ideas are evidenced otherwise by the many miles of good macadamized roads he had com- menced all about the town. Many of these unfinished efforts, owing to the lapse of time and the great force of the tropical rains, have become almost, if not entirely, impass- able. This is much to be deprecated ; unfortunately it is strongly in the character of the Abyssinians to construct, but not to upkeep, and also to commence and not to finish. All over the town one meets with houses—some of them originally fine structures—which have been begun, and then for some reason or another, perhaps owing to the lack of means, have been abandoned and left to crumble to pieces. Fortunately the Prince Regent has taken in hand the question of road-making in his capital, and quite a number of men were engaged, on our last visit, in improving and extending the highways. 156 Addis Ababa Until quite recently there was no kind of organisation for the supply of water to the town, and there is little now, every house being dependent on its own well. Many of these become exhausted in the dry season, and great difficul- ties are met with by Europeans in obtaining sufficient water. Happily a few lucky people are the possessors of wells that do their duty all the year round, and these fortunates allow their neighbours to send their servants for this necessary of life. The poorer class native is during the entire dry season practically dependent on the few wells in the outskirts of the town, and there many dozens of women are to be seen at nearly every hour of the day patiently awaiting their turn to fill up their large water-pots by means of a mug, for drinking and cooking purposes ; they have to go to the rivers for their washing. Considering that there is abundance of water in the hills of Entoto it is much to be regretted that some proper system of bringing it into the town for the benefit of these poor creatures is not inaugurated. Lately a few fountains have been set up but they are wholly inadequate, and the Prince Regent is considering the possibility of introducing a proper supply service on European lines. Drainage does not exist in the city; every house has its cesspool, and as in the more crowded centres the houses are built adjoining one another the cesspools are very numerous, and in most cases in close proximity to the wells ; why there is so little illness and so few epidemics is a marvel to all. The low-class natives in their ignorance show no modesty or sense of decency or cleanliness, and they relieve themselves outside their huts or in the roads at any place, or any time when nature urges, regardless of passers by of either sex or nationality. Consequently after seven or eight months dry season, one rather looks forward to the coming fierce down- pours, to bring freshness to the air and cleanliness to the town. CHAPTER XIV Language, Education, Literature & Art O educational controversy rages in Abyssinia for the simple reason that there is practically no education. The Emperor Menelik certainly made a start in this direction for he promulgated a decree towards the end of his reign to the effect that all boys over twelve should attend school. But he forgot or omitted to provide such details as teachers and school buildings, and as his health began to fail shortly after- wards the system was practically stillborn. There is one school in Addis Ababa which like so many things in Abyssinia has been begun and left unfinished, and a Director of Education, a well-educated and cultured Egyptian with a great command of languages. But as his flock consists of about thirty children it is to be feared that the results of his labours will not be very great, though that is no fault of his own. Outside Addis, Dirre-Daoua and Harrar I doubt if there is any attempt at education at all except for one or two foreign Mission Schools; practically no man knows his own age, very few people in the country (except a moderate number of the “ upper classes ’ ) can read, and fewer still can write. This does not seem to trouble them at all, for the people have no need to write, and the higher personages have a secretary of sorts ; it is not necessary for them even to sign their letters, as signatures are always affixed by a stamp or seal. All have their private seals, and very quaint and elaborate some of them are ; they are always placed at the 157 158 Education, Literature & Art bottom of the letter except in the case of the Empress, whose seal figures at the top. The finger-print system is used quite extensively as a means of signature amongst the people : for example, when a caravan of trade goods is being sent off into the country each nagadi who may be responsible for a certain number of mule loads has his list of goods read over to him and then impresses his inky thumb as a receipt mark at the bottom of the list. The Brothers and Sisters of the French Catholic Mission in Addis carry out good educational work, though on a very limited scale ; particularly did I admire the courage of the nuns, who with the help of only 1000 francs yearly as a subsidy from their own country carry on a home for the abandoned children of natives, feeding, clothing, and teach- ing them. They keep the girls till they are of marriageable age, when they endeavour, generally with success, to provide them with suitable husbands. Baby boys are kept till they are about eight or nine years old, and then other homes are found for them. When we were first there the convent was directed by a Reverend Mother, a remarkable woman who had resided in the country for twenty-five years; she practically started and, with the aid of four Sisters, ran this convent which supplied the only form of education to be found in the town suitable to European children, for whom she established separate classes. A number of the poorer class Italians, Armenians, and half-castes also attend this school, and by payment of a very small fee are instructed in all that is necessary for their upbringing. Two of these Sisters also do all the nursing in the town, which takes up weeks together of their time; this is extraordinarily valuable work, and very much appre- ciated and in request ; there is ample scope for a lay trained hospital nurse or two in addition. We found the Reverend Mother a most charming woman, and her great tact and policy of non-interference with the Education, Literature & Art 159 religion of those professing beliefs other than her own has evidently been the reason for her general appreciation by both natives and Europeans. Her work is being carried on by her successor, and in addition there are now other means of elementary education for small European children. Recently a Greek school has been started, and it has an ever-growing attendance of children of this nationality, of which there are many representatives in most parts of Abyssinia, mostly of a rather poor class. But this school does not in any way attempt to spread education amongst the Abyssinians, and the efforts of the other institutions to do so are on so small a scale that they can, I fear, produce but an infinitesimal result. A small number of the ruling class, and a few of the more humble members of society, can speak and write French ; English-speaking among the Abyssinians is very rare. This knowledge has generally been acquired (so far as French is concerned) by the efforts of the French Mission at Harrar, which has a school there, and turns out a certain number of French scholars. We met several chiefs of importance who could speak French fluently, while there are a number of interpreters and employes in the Post Office and Customs who can also talk this language. But I only came across two Abyssinians of position who knew English, Kantibar Gaberu and Atto (now Belata) Herui, both of whom were members of the diplomatic mission sent to England in 1919 to congratulate King George on the Allies’ victory in the Great War. They were, I should say, the best educated men we met in Abyssinia ; they were well-read and had, which is more rare, apparently understood what they had read, so that being unusually intelligent into the bargain, they were interesting to meet. But nearly all the interpreters speak only French, and this for obvious reasons is rather unfortunate. Such English as is learned appears mostly to have been acquired at the Swedish Mission in Addis Ababa. This Mission 160 Education, Literature &° Art school was popular enough amongst the natives, as the scholars were fed and lodged, if their parents so desired, and people here (as elsewhere) being ever ready to get some- thing for nothing, the attendance was comparatively large. Unfortunately Mr. Cederquist, the founder of this school— created also in the reign of Menelik—a very holy man, ripe in years and knowledge, died at a great age in 1919, and the school was closed for a time. A successor has since started it again. It is much to be regretted that King Menelik’s far-sighted efforts in this direction should have met with so little success, for it augurs ill for the development of the country. It is, however, difficult to see how the situation could be remedied short of bringing some persuasive or coercive force to bear, until the country is opened up, and the natives realise that they cannot obtain posts in the offices, houses, and factories unless they possess some elementary rudiments of knowledge. Even so, there are difficulties in the way, as we found. My wife thought of starting a small education class in our own grounds for the little girls of our servants and of the natives living near by, having at the time an English girl staying with us who was capable and anxious to undertake the teaching. The subject was discussed with one or two educated Abyssinian men of some position, and though they recog- nized and appreciated the soundness of the suggestion, they seemed to think that it would be opposed on political grounds as being dictated by political motives ; and also by the parents who from the moment they can toddle make use of their children for guarding the goats, sheep, and cattle, drawing water, and in fact in any and every manner. So we were obliged to abandon the idea, though we were told that we might be able to overcome the second objection by paying the parents to allow their children to come and be taught! Education, Literature & Art 161 Possibly the multiplicity of languages used in the country has deterred people from endeavouring to obtain anything more than a speaking acquaintance with any of them. For according to Dr. Montandon there are no less than seventy languages in use in Abyssinia—two hundred if dialects be included. The principal language is Amharic, and of the Semitic languages of the world, it is, according to Mr. Armbruster, spoken by a greater number of people than any other, with the exception of Arabic. Its difficulty may be gauged by the fact that there are over two hundred letters in the alphabet, and consequently the number of guides to the language guaranteed to teach it in half a dozen lessons by correspondence is limited. I am bound to say, however, in mitigation of this appar- ently insurmountable barrier to learning Amharic, that these characters represent syllables and not letters, and are variations of about thirty-seven root characters. For those who desire to master the language a most valuable Amharic grammar and vocabulary has been written by Mr. Armbruster, who is probably the greatest English authority on the subject. The next most important language is Galla, a Hamitic tongue which is spoken and understood by all the different branches of Galla throughout the various districts inhabited by them ; in addition Tigré is spoken in Eritrea, and Tig- réin in the province of Tigré; both of these are Semitic languages as is also the ancient Geze or Geuze tongue, which is to the Abyssinians much as Latin was to the English people in the Middle Ages. But if their language is difficult their calendar is simpler than ours, for instead of having months of differing lengths, they divide the year into twelve months of thirty days each and a thirteenth month of five days, called Quagme, (or Pagme), adding a sixth day to Quagme in leap year. Their year starts on the 1st day of Maskaram, which L 162 Education, Literature &° Art normally corresponds to our 11th September ; it is on and from that day up to the end of our year seven years behind the European date ; on and after the 1st January, until the 5th Quagme (our 10th September), it is eight years behind. But in endeavouring to translate dates from Abyssinian to European computation bad snags await the unwary. In the first place the introduction of the 6th Quagme in their leap year throws all the dates between September and the follow- ing February back a day. The Abyssinian year following their leap year (which incidentally precedes ours ! ) begins on our September 12th instead of September 11th and con- tinues a day behind time until our February 29th, when itis automatically readjusted. And if the translator wishes to compare dates prior to the present century he will find further joys in store for him. For the Abyssinians have counted as leap years the three years we do not (though they are properly leap years), viz: 1700, 1800, and 1900. Nor do they take account of the additional day we dropped in 1800, nor, I think, of the ten days omitted from our calendar in 1582. So they gradually picked up fourteen days out of the seven (or eight) years that they were (and are) behind. This probably explains why their year starts on 11th September instead of 29th August, as in the case of most Eastern nations. The difference in the number of years between their computation and ours is possibly due (i) to their adoption of the Alexandrian era recognizing 5500 years from the creation to the birth of Christ, which was placed three years before that given by the Dionysian era (i.e. 5502 B.C. 29th August) ; and (ii) to their adoption of the Diocletian era, which dropped ten years out of the calendar in A.D. 284. Thus they lost ten years and gained three or two according to the date to be computed. A similar result would have been attained had they adopted in lieu of the above, the calculation made by the Egyptian monk Ponodorus who (circa A.D. 400) struck ten Education, Literature & Art 163 years off the age of the world and placed the incarnation three years after the then accepted date, thus forming the “ mundane era of Antioch” which was adopted by the Christians of Syria. It is possible that this was the era adopted by the Abyssinians ; it is so stated to be in some of their old manuscripts. The Abyssinian calendar for their current year (leap year for them) accordingly compares as follows with ours :— ABYSSINIAN. EuroPEAN. AM. | AD. Month. Days. Months and Days. A.D. 7415 | 1915 { Maskaram | 1st to 3oth | 11 Sept. to 10 Oct. 1922 5 sy | Tekemt 11 Oct. to 9 Nov. ”» i ». | Hidar os 10 Nov. to 9 Dec. 5 oi 2 J Tasas % 10 Dec. to 8 Jan. 1923 ”» 4304 Tire 5 9 Jan. to 7 Feb. » % 4 Yakatit > 8 Feb. to 9 Mar. ” 5 . | Magabit 10 Mar. to 8 April " 5 | Mazya 5 9 April to 8 May > 3 »» | Gimbot 3 9g May to 7 June » 5 i Sane 5 8 June to 7 July i > » +1: Hamle on 8 July to 6 Aug. 3» > .» | Nahasse 7 7 Aug. to: 5 Sept. 0 - » | Quagme 1stto 6th | 6 Sept. to 11 Sept. ” 7416 | 1916 | Maskaram | Ist to 30th | 12 Sept. to 11 Oct. ” a ,5 | Tekemt ” 12 Oct. to 10 Nov. » 3 5» | Hidar 5 11 Nov. to 10 Dec. 2 > 35. {Tass 3 11 Dec. to oan. 1924 » wo) Tir ) os 10 Jon. : to. 8 Feb. ’ 2 2» } Yakatit » 9 Feb. to 9 Mar. os Here the calendar resumes its normal correspondence with ours as, owing to the occurrence of our leap year, February has an extra day. Of modern literature there is nothing, as might be imagined in a country where there is no education. A few manuscript copies of portions of the Scriptures (mainly the Gospels) bound in wooden boards are to be met with, and a modern life of Menelik written by an Abyssinian in the form of an official “ Chronicle ”” is I believe in the possession of the Empress, and is in course of translation by the late French Minister to the Court of Abyssinia. 164 Education, Literature &° Art But there is a rich store of legend, tradition, and folk-lore of ancient date and of great interest, mainly of a religious and quasi-historical character. Such of these old manu- scripts as are still in Abyssinia are regarded with great veneration, and are preserved in the seclusion of the great monasteries, Debra Libanos for example, and in the churches, where unfortunately it is difficult to see them, and impossible to acquire them. A large number of the more interesting have found their way to Europe, the most notable collection probably being that of the British Museum, the bulk of which was acquired at Magdala by the Napier expedition. An interesting account of these MSS. is given by Dr. Wright in the preface to his catalogue of the books. Apparently King Theodore had collected nearly 1000 volumes to form a library for the church he intended to build at Magdala, and these fell into English hands on the capture of the fortress ; between 300 and 400 of the best were brought to England, the balance being distributed to the neighbouring churches. Amongst those brought home were two copies of the Kebra Nagast or “Glory of the Kings,” and some years later Theodore’s successor, King Johannes, wrote to Queen Victoria asking for the return of a copy as it was regarded as sacred by his people and contained the laws and precepts necessary to enable him to govern the country. On the only occasion probably in its history, the British Museum accordingly returned the manuscript, and it is now at the Monastery of Debra Libanos where it was seen by a European traveller who noticed the inscription attached to it stating the condi- tions under which the Trustees of the Museum had parted with it. This particular manuscript has been translated into English and published by that indefatigable Orientalist, Sir Ernest Wallis Budge, who almost alone amongst English scholars since the time of Bruce has endeavoured to make these fascinating old Ethiopian records known to the public Education, Literature & Art 165 in this country. Iam glad to say that another portion of the old chronicles of Abyssinia has recently been translated by Mr. Weld Blundell, but unfortunately with very few excep- tions we have left the publication and translation of these delightful old works to the writers of other countries. They contain not only fabulous tales of saintly miracles and other wonderful happenings, but the chronicles of the reigns of centuries of Ethiopian kings, from before the Queen of Sheba up to comparatively recent times. I do not think that these chronicles, which are regarded in the country as history, but which are more interesting from other points of view, have ever been completely translated as a whole, but there are many partial translations of these and other old Abyssinian works by French, Italian, Portu- guese, and German writers, such as Perruchon, Basset, Conzelman, Guidi, Conti-Rossini, and Dillman, to name only a few. It is more than unfortunate that the Moslem and Galla invasions of the sixteenth century by their ruthless pillage and arson of so many churches and monasteries, should have destroyed thousands of old manuscripts of priceless historical interest which were distributed in many centres; there is supposed to have been a “ golden age” of Abyssinian literature in the sixth and another in the twelfth century, but of course the Moslem iconoclasts must have destroyed the bulk of the material then existing in the country. As to their arts, while I would not be so rude as to suggest that their painting is crude, yet I fear they have some way to go before qualifying as Royal Academicians ; I am no judge of art, and I feel some diffidence in expressing opinions on that subject. Pictures are scarce, and of the most primi- tive character, usually carried out in oils on coarse paper or on a piece of cotton material roughly stretched on a wooden frame ; nearly all the churches contain large frescoes. The cloning seems to the uninitiated rather vivid and startling —Byzantine or, dare I say, post-impressionist in style. The 166 Education, Literature &° Art subjects are mainly religious, with a military flavour occasionally, and a sprinkling of historical and hunting topics. Virtuous people are generally depicted full face, evil-doers or enemies en profile, which at all events makes their pictures more easily understandable by the vulgar than some modern European efforts I have seen since my return. But there does not seem to be any very great demand for artistic works, and I fear that painting as a means of livelihood would be unlikely to yield an enormous income in Abyssinia. The Abyssinians on the whole are very fond of their own kind of music and singing, which is not ours. It is a very common sight to meet in the town a group of natives standing round one of their brothers squatting on the ground playing a sort of lyre, sometimes accompanied by singing, and one constantly hears the natives chanting in their huts and at their work. There seem to be about three or four kinds of Abyssinian musical instruments. Two or three differ from each other only slightly in form and in the sounds they produce. They are shaped something like a fiddle ; the body is constructed of a hollowed piece of wood over which is stretched a piece of sheep-skin ; three sticks put together in a triangular shape form the handle, and to this are attached strings, from two to four in number, of cat or sheepgut. These are passed over a small wooden bridge resting on the skin and fastened to the edge of the wooden bowl; the bow with which it is played is formed from a piece of bent cane also with cat or sheep’s gut attached. The other instrument most commonly met with is shaped like a lyre, and is also made of sticks and gut, and perhaps is the most generally used. Besides these one finds a flute of a very primitive nature from which it is difficult for the uninitiated to obtain any sound at all, and which at the best is somewhat discordant. Drums of many kinds and shapes are popular, and the musicians of the Court possess horns and trumpets on which Education, Literature & Art 167 they perform on special occasions with a certain amount of success and a great amount of noise. Some of these drums are very gorgeous, being made of silver with gold or gilt bands ; usually they are made of wood and highly orna- mented. They are always beaten with the flat of the hand, and not with sticks. On the whole I should say that music is certainly popular ; I should describe it as either very ancient or ultra-modern— I am not quite sure which. But it will, I imagine, undoubt- edly tend in a modern direction, for while I was there a dramatic society was founded in Addis by the * Young Abyssinians,” and presumably they will march—or rather play—with the times. Just before our departure in 1920 we were able to assist at their first public performance which took place in the large hall at the Hotel de France, the enter- tainment consisting of a series of weird ¢ turns’ on music- hall lines. First of all the curtain went up and we found five Abyssinians all playing on their fiddles and shrieking songs in turns ; then we were given a song by a lady accompanied by two gentlemen with stringed instruments and others with flutes. These were followed by comic turns, received with roars of enjoyment from those amongst the audience who understood them ; after which various songs and dances. were given, the most weird of the latter being the “ shoul- der ” dance executed by a plump lady who evidently found it very exhausting, as she literally panted for breath before finishing. How long this performance lasted I am unable to say, as after about three-quarters of an hour of its enjoy- ment we found the heat and smell quite impossible to support and so came away. Before leaving, we made arrangements for some of the best of the performers to come and give a short entertainment at our house on the evening of our farewell dinner ; this was a great success and of much interest not only to our guests, but also to their servants and ours who formed a delightful 168 Education, Literature & Art and most picturesque background in their variegated foreign uniforms and native dresses. Wedding ceremonies are accompanied by music, singing, and dancing, the former takes in principle the form of much banging on drums and what to us sounds like indiscriminate twanging of the native lyre and fiddle. Little or no melody is recognized by us in the native lay music ; per contra the religious music given at Church services is distinctive in melody, if it can be so called, of a Gregorian kind, and the rhythm is quite good too—accentuated by drums, by the clapping of hands and the shaking of small wooden-handled triangular brass instruments to which are attached on wires tiny cymbals emitting a bell-like sound. Personally I was much impressed by this accompaniment to the Church service. These little brass instruments to which I have also referred in previous chapters might really be described as sistra; they are exactly like the one which was discovered in Tut- ankhamen’s tomb and of which an illustration was recently published, thus emphasizing once again the connection between Abyssinia and ancient Egypt. Dancing of various sorts and kinds is of course indulged in, but not as commonly as in many parts of Africa. It is in its more decorous form an accompaniment of religious pageantry as described elsewhere, and at the other end of the scale I saw a curious performance by some of our men and some Galla when we were in camp in the Arussi country. The local people had promised to bring in milk, butter, and eggs in the evening from their village some distance away, and at about 9 o’clock we heard chanting in the distance, to the accompaniment of which there presently stalked into the camp three or four sturdy Galla bearing the promised foodstuffs. Our men being, I supposed, rather pleased at this addition to the larder fraternized with the new arrivals ; their greetings developed into a performance which in the flickering light of the camp fires and the pale glow of the Education, Literature & Art 169 moon seemed weirdly fantastic. Doubling themselves down and putting their hands on their hips, two of the men hopped towards each other, hissing like a couple of engines to the accompaniment of a solo chant from one of the onlookers alternating with a chorus by all the rest together, and the rhythmical beating of their hands and stamping of their feet and spear butts ; they met near the fire, hopped round each other in time to the “ music” and then fled back to the corners, repeating the movements with varia- tions again and again until we had to clear camp for the night. On another occasion a warrior gave us a most realistic dance typifying a fight with the lion, again by the light of the camp fire. His frantic leaps and bounds, his shouts as now he attacked the imaginary lion and now fled from its advance, the yell of victory with which he dropped his sword and panting with his exertions, pulled out a villainous looking knife to give the coup de grace to the mortally wounded beast—almost made one feel that the fight was a real one, and that the lion must be really lurking in the shadows thrown by the flickering flames. CHAPTER XV The Army HE Abyssinian army is in effect practically the Abyssinian people, for with the exception of the priests and monks every man is an actual or potential soldier. The love of fighting is in his blood, the story of his country is an almost unintermittent battle, his ambition from earliest childhood is to carry a rifle, and when he attains to manhood he nearly always achieves that desire, for it is rare to see an Abyssinian unarmed or unattended by armed followers. And if he is proud of his warlike record he has some reason to be. For whenever Abyssinia has fought against for- eigners as a nation she has been ultimately victorious, in spite of periods of unsuccess and the adverse results of individual actions. The Napier expedition of 1868 was not resisted by united Abyssinia but by a handful of Theodore’s remain- ing adherents, the bulk of his subjects being in rebellion against him ; the Dervish victory at Gondar in 1887 was won over the forces of Gojam alone ; and in the successes of January, 1865, the Italians were opposed merely by Ras Mangesha and his own men. But when the forces of Abyssinia united they gained remarkable victories, often followed by no less remarkable consequences, even in modern times, such for example as those in 1875 and 1876 over the Egyptians, armed with modern weapons and led by Europeans ; those in 1885, 1888, and 1889 over the Dervishes, in the first of which Osman Digna was defeated and nearly captured; and over the Italians in 1895 and 1896. 170 The Army 171 The reason is fairly obvious ; a national emergency, and only a national emergency, brings the whole military organi- zation of the country into play ; and the result is a large and formidable army of warriors which against anything like equal numbers and armament is undoubtedly a serious proposition. In the old days these forces were called together with very great rapidity ; heralds, riding post, galloped through the country from village to village, and to the accompaniment of blowing of trumpets and beating of drums the procla- mation calling the people to arms was read in the market- place. The men responded gladly to the call, for they love fighting, and the possibilities of plunder are not unattractive. So with some scanty supplies of bread and grain for man and beast tied to the pony’s saddle the peasant was ready for war, and rode off forthwith to join his immediate feudal chief, whose retinue, with those of many others, was to foregather at an agreed spot to swell the ranks of the provincial governor’s army. To-day the modus operandi of mobilization, which like most other things in Abyssinia is based on feudality, would doubtless be the same, though it would be considerably expedited—strange contrast—by the help of the telephone which now stretches its tentacles far afield across the country. There is of course a nucleus standing army always in being ; it is partly attached to the persons of the rulers of the country, partly to the Commander-in-Chief or Minister of War, and partly in garrison in the provinces. Each provincial governor has a quota of men, and any person of importance has his little feudal army, greater or less, accord- ing to his standing and resources. But these forces give little indication of the military strength that can be called upon in times of national emergency. The number of men that could be brought into the field is necessarily conjectural, for the population itself is an unknown quantity, and the past, even the recent past, is 172 The Army hardly a safe guide. Much would depend on the nature of the summons ; a national call to arms to repel a foreign invasion would undoubtedly result in every Ras and local chief, great and small, bringing into the field every man that could carry a weapon, rifle or otherwise, although for reasons explained later various other factors would auto- matically limit the size of any striking force. Cecci estimated in 1887 that the maximum strength Abyssinia could possibly put into the field on an emergency might consist of 145,000 men of which 57,000 would be cavalry, and 71,000 rifles, 28,000 only being breech- loaders. Nine years later these figures were (with the exception of the cavalry) found to be considerably under the mark, for in the 1896 campaign Menelik had probably gathered over 200,000 men of whom at least 100,000 to 120,000 took part in the battle of Adowa, 8600 horse, 80,000 rifles, of which nearly all were breech-loaders, 20,000 spears, and 42 guns, many quite modern. In the following year Menelik had no less than four columns operating in different parts of the country, the combined strength of which amounted to between 70,000 and 80,000 men. Forces co-operated with the British troops in several campaigns against the Mad Mullah in Somaliland in 1901-3, but the highest number engaged did not exceed 20,000 men. And on the last occasion on which any considerable forces were brought together, i.e. in the summer of 1921, Ras Tafari marched north to effect the capture of the Ex-emperor Lej Yasu (a feat accomplished without fighting) at the head of fully 50,000 men, and was joined en route by the forces of Gojam and other contin- gents which nearly doubled his original strength. That the numbers of men brought into action are not larger may seem surprising, but when the conditions under which an Abyssinian army moves are taken into considera- tion, one’s surprise is considerably lessened. It has been estimated by a military writer that an army of 80,000 A GRUESOME MEAL. The Arussi shewn here was discovered by the author tearing with teeth and fingers at the heap before him consisting of the raw entrails and bowel of a freshly killed ox. AN ABYSSINIAN WARRIOR IN FANTASIA DRESS. The rider is wearing the historical lion’s mane collar ; the ornamentation of the shield and the trappings of the horse are of silver and silver-gilt. The Army 173 Abyssinians would be accompanied by about 30,000 women, slaves, and camp followers, and the feeding of this enormous multitude necessarily presents many great difficulties, especially as there are no commissariat arrangements of any sort or kind— the “ Army Service Corps ” simply does not exist. Every man is supposed to bring with him a month’s supply of food, but even if he does (which is improbable), such a supply does not go far in a campaign of any length in a country where it may take a month to get from the centre to any one of the frontiers. As a result the army has to live on the country, which is not over-cultivated at any time, and in which any one district is consequently quite unable to support a host of immigrants for anything beyond a very short while. This was markedly apparent during Menelik’s Italian compaign; before Adowa his army was suffering severely from lack of food, grumblings and desertions set in, and disintegration was commencing: they had started eating their pack animals, and Menelik spent most of his time in church praying that the Italians would attack; had they not done so it is possible that their enemy’s army would have largely disappeared, and they might have won a bloodless victory. I happened to come across an example in a small way of this lack of commissariat arrangements in the army when we were down in the Arussi country. There had been some trouble threatened between the Arussi and the Gourages, and a white settler being a little anxious as to his crops and cattle had reported the matter to Addis. The Ras had sent off some officers with a few hundred men to look into the question, and this force had arrived without provisions of any sort or kind, and were literally hungry when I met them, and anxious to get back to Addis, though they had only been out for about a fortnight. Consequently whatever might be the result of a national levy en masse it is improbable that any army exceeding appreciably that gathered together by Menelik would be 174 The Army formed, or if formed, could be kept together as a unit, and in setting 250,000 as the probable maximum limit of an effective Abyssinian force I do not think I am understating the case, as conditions are at present. There is a further limiting factor which would operate to-day, and that is the supply of arms and amunition. Every man on mobilisation is served out with those necessaries if his own supplies are inferior or inadequate, from the stock held by the Government, and they are reported to have in store very large quantities of both rifles and cartridges. But these must by now be getting somewhat out of date. The national cartridge factory ceased operating during the Great War on account of dearth of raw material, and subse- quent drastic restrictions as to the importation of these commodities has prevented replacement or increase of supplies. While therefore it might be possible to arm large numbers of men, it would be improbable that this armament could be made effective owing to shortage of ammunition. This must still further reduce the actual fighting strength of Abyssinia. The bulk of the Abyssinians, properly so called, fight on foot, the cavalry being principally drawn from the Galla contingents ; the Gallas are good horsemen, which is the more strange as they only acquired their horses after their arrival in the sixteenth century. They have a few machine guns, no other modern guns, and no heavy guns at all. They have no aeroplanes ; these “innovations ” are not allowed to enter the country, mainly I believe on the initiative of the Minister of War, who regards them as childish toys, or as affront to the Almighty by endeavouring to extend the powers of man beyond those granted him by Providence, or as a devilish device of the Frangi to spy out the land from above, and so facilitate ultimate foreign conquest. While I was in Addis an effort was made by an enterprising Frenchman to bring two aeroplanes into the country ; by some mistake of the i PTT i The Army 175 Customs (who couldn’t classify them for duty under any existing tariff heading) they got up in a truck as far as Addis, but there they remained. They were never allowed to be unpacked, and for weeks they lay rotting in open trucks under the tropical sun, until at last the diabolical instru- ments were returned ingloriously to the coast. The size of the army may appear small to us after our experience of the enormous numbers engaged in the Great War, but with the lesson of the Boer War in mind I am quite prepared to believe that the Abyssinians would be formidable to meet, even to-day, in their own country, when one takes into account the extraordinarily difficult nature of the ground, the wonderful mobility of these barefooted warriors, their intimate knowledge of their own mountains, their shooting powers, and their skill in taking cover when attacking. Those who have seen them in action speak highly of their fighting capacity, of which indeed they have given proof on many a field against adversaries as well or better armed than themselves, and in comparatively recent times. Whether these qualities could compete with modern artillery and aeroplanes is quite another matter ; let us hope that the occasion will not arise to put it to the proof. As regards discipline, drill, and uniform, they do not appear to have made the slightest progress towards modern ideas if we except Ras Tafari’s personal bodyguard. The bulk of this small contingent is generally stationed in Harrar, the Ras’ own province, and only occasionally makes its appearance in force in Addis, though some of them are always on duty there. They wear a khaki uniform of European pattern, tunic and knickerbockers, putties, but no boots, and are well armed with modern rifles and machine guns ; they are drilled by ex-N.C.O’s of the King’s African Rifles, Abyssinians who have served their time in that famous corps and have retired to continue their soldiering in their own country. Their discipline seems good, and their appearance is certainly smart ; it was a pleasant surprise on arriving at 176 The Army the Ras’ palace to hear the old familiar words of command given in English and to receive an English salute. Apart from this small corps no uniform is worn by the soldiery; they are dressed like the rest of the population— white cotton shirt, trousers, and chamma, though the last- named garment is sometimes ornamented with a red border ; some carry their rifles in red cotton bags to indicate, I believe, that they belong to the Imperial bodyguard. They do not seem to suffer from any form of drill or discipline, and troops on the march seem to be merely trot- ting along together in a crowd without order or organization of any kind. And yet in fact this is not so at all, for when a halt is called the camp is marked out and arranged in an incredibly short space of time, each contingent seems to know its allotted place, and the apparent disorder of the march is shown to have been disorder merely according to our ideas. I have often noticed the same sort of thing at peaceful ceremonies in which Abyssinian troops have taken part—the apparent chaos covering in reality quite good organization on their own lines. At a fantasia at which I was present in Addis, for example, thousands of men belonging to the forces of many different chieftains were drawn up at one end of a huge field, armed indiscriminately with rifles, swords, spears and shields, some mounted, some on foot, all appar- ently mixed up in a hopelessly confused orderless rabble. And then from the densely thronged thousands at the end of the field at a given signal every chief, with all his retinue, in turn galloped and raced to a post in the middle of the field and rode round it three times as hard as they could manage it to a rhythmic chant, finally pulling out of the whirling mass and taking up position on the other side of the field. It was wonderful, horses and mules and men, gold and silver trappings, modern rifles, embroidered cartridge belts, embossed shields, long, murderous-looking spears, great curved swords in velvet scabbards—thousands of THE DANCE OF THE PRIESTS This ancient rite, reminiscent of David dancing before the Ark, is an accompaniment of the very impressive Abyssinian religious pageantry. Note the praying sticks and the big drums, thelatter beaten with the palm of the hand. [Photograph by M. Bertolani.] The Army I 77 them, apparently in hopeless confusion, but all really ordered, organized, and planned out exceedingly well. Their tactics appear to be simple. Up to 1885 they used the phalanx formation, but after that when they had .acquired modern fire-arms in large quantities they adopted the attack in open order, pouring in a heavy fire for some time, and gradually approaching their enemy (encircling him if possible), taking advantage of the cover afforded by every rock and tree. They carried this out with much success at Adowa where that very remarkable general, Ras Alula, the greatest soldier ever produced by them since Theodore, was quick to perceive the error of the Italians in separating their forces, and attacked and annihilated each of the three columns in turn, though losing fairly heavily, on this occa- sion the casualties being about 7000 killed and 10,000 wounded, a number larger than the total number of enemy engaged. Against a fortified position defended by guns and rifle fire they would, however, probably not make much of a show ; indeed when King John was blockading the Italians in Massowa after the fight at Dogali in 1887, he did not venture an attack, the unsuccessful effort of his forces under Ras Alula against Sahati having evidently taught him a lesson. It is, however, less pleasant to speak of their treatment of dead and wounded and prisoners. The Italian losses at Adowa amounted to over 6000 killed, only 1400 wounded, and from 2000 to 4000 prisoners, which indicates pretty clearly that numbers of wounded must have been massacred or left to die. But the most horrible feature was the mutila- tion of the dead in order to obtain the disgusting trophies in which the Abyssinians, and more particularly the Gallas, used to revel. It is only fair to say that Menelik did his best to stop the practice, and it would not be indulged in to-day ; but at Adowa and in other campaigns, for example against the Wallamo, there is no doubt but that the dead were treated in this way. The Abyssinian explanation of the M 178 The Army origin of the practice is curious ; they point out that David, the man after God’s own heart, the father of Solomon and the ancestor of their own royal family, indulged in the practice in order to stand well in the eyes of Saul, bringing him on one occasion two hundred such trophies, and that there is no word of condemnation of his having done so, rather the reverse in fact! A good example of too literal an adherence to the Scriptures. The pay of the army could hardly be described as princely, the rank and file receiving until recently about $8 a year (less than £1) and food, and the officers not very much more. These stipends have recently been somewhat increased, but even now they are quite inadequate for the needs of the men, who, being ignorant of Talleyrand’s dictum on the subject, consider it necessary to live; it is consequently hardly surprising that they are apt to help themselves by preying on their neighbours, especially when on garrison duty in conquered provinces or on the march. In the capital a good many of the soldiery go in for supplementing their scanty pay by acting as nagadis or small traders, which is certainly preferable. But the bulk of them lead an idle and useless life, to put it mildly, and Mr. Wilde writing some twenty years ago goes a good deal further than this, and in contrasting the soldier with the peasant allows the former no virtues beyond giving him full credit for his fighting qualities. There is of course a regular hierarchy in the army from the Ras or Commander-in-Chief downwards ; thus a Dejaz- mach appears to correspond with our General, the Fitorauri is the commander of the advance guard, a most important individual ; Asmatch, Kegnezmach, and Gerazmach, com- manders of a division, and of the right and left wings respectively ; Yeshambal and Mato appear to correspond roughly to a company commander. But many of these grades are conferred on individuals more as titles than as marks of military rank, and conse- The Army 179 quently no direct comparison or even translation is possible. No doubt as in most other countries all ranks and titles were originally given for combatant purposes, and with the efflux of time they have gradually lost their purely military character. There is, however, one office which although by no means unique in history is sufficiently curious a survival to merit reference, and that is the Likemaquas. I did not come across the bearer of the title (I believe there are two of them), but apparently his function is to array himself in the robes of the Emperor during an action so as to attract the attentions of the enemy and thus divert them from his royal master. I should imagine that this glorified “ whipping boy ” would require a fairly high salary. The most striking figure in connection with the army is the Commander-in-Chief or Minister of War, the Fitorauri Hapta Giorgis. This remarkable old man is one of the most important personages in Abyssinia to-day, and plays a prominent part in the internal politics of the country. A Galla by birth, he is precluded from holding a rank higher than that of Fitorauri—he is I believe Fitorauri of the Fitorauris—and has been a devotee of the “ profession of arms > all his life. He was one of Menelik’s generals, and inter alia commanded one of the four expeditions sent out by that Emperor in connection with Major Marchand’s mission in the autumn of 1897, in the course of which he conquered various districts in the direction of Borana and the Ogaden. He was also in command of Ras Tafari’s forces at the battle near Ankober in 1916, when they defeated the Galla troops under Ras Michael, the father of Lej Yasu, who remained in a convenient place for running away while his father did the fighting and was captured. The Fitorauri is a typical “old Abyssinian,” intensely proud of his country and its deeds, a staunch upholder of the old regime and detesting the foreigner and his ideas of 180 The Army change and progress, though I am bound to say he was always very pleasant and courteous to us, and even wanted to let us his own house. He lives in an Abyssinian-built tukul, in what seemed to me a very comfortless manner, and boasts of never having ever seen the railway, far less used it ; though almost crippled by rheumatism in the legs he performs the long journey to his own territory (he is a great landowner and a very wealthy man) on the back of his mule as his fathers did. He is, needless to say, on the side of the reactionary party and the priesthood, and is probably one of the greatest stumbling-blocks, if not the greatest, to Ras Tafari’s schemes of reform. For he carries a good deal of weight in the country, not merely on account of his fighting record, sturdy patriotism and influence with the army, but strange to say also because he is universally recognized as being incorruptible, and of never having taken a bribe of any sort or kind from any hand. CHAPTER XVI Slavery &° Serfdom T comes as a surprise to persons travelling in Abyssinia when they discover the extent to which various forms of serfdom and domestic slavery exist in that country to-day, although the casual observer sees little or nothing of it. We have grown so accustomed to regard slavery as a thing of the dim and distant past that it is hardly realized what a short period has elapsed since it flourished in our midst, and how strenuously many persons in Europe fought against the abolition of that practice. Our views on the subject have become so crystallized that the question is not one which admits of discussion to-day, and accordingly it is hardly to be wondered at that considerable feeling should have been aroused by the recent publication of certain highly coloured, not to say exaggerated, accounts, not only of the existence of slavery in Abyssinia, but of what was described as a recrudescence of slave-raiding and slave-trading in that country. The subject is one which I have discussed with many persons in Abyssinia, and about which I have been at pains to obtain the real facts ; and I trust that the account given in the following pages will present as accurate a picture as it is possible to obtain. In the first place it must be constantly be borne in mind that, as I have repeatedly stated, in regard to social develop- ment Abyssinia is by reason of its centuries of isolation very considerably behind the stage we had reached when we were slave-dealers and slave-owners. It is consequently hardly 181 182 Slavery &° Serfdom surprising that their point of view on this question should not have attained to ours, and that they are unable to realize the impression made on Europe by their maintenance of conditions on which much of their social system, such as it is, has been for centuries and is still based. This attitude towards slavery was recently expressed to me somewhat as follows. I have tried to keep as closely to the original phraseology as possible. “ We do not regard any individuals or race as intended by Providence to be slaves. We have slaves it is true, but that is because we have until recently for many years past waged war against Moslems and pagans, and the prisoners we have taken and enslaved in the past we regard as a fine or indemnity imposed on the races we have conquered. Moses instructed the Israelites to act in this way, and we were followers of the Mosaic religion before we became Christians ; we only followed his teaching. ¢ Moreover the Europeans in the Great War did the same thing ; they made the prisoners they captured in battle work on roads and railways; this was as a sort of fine or indemnity, and not because they regarded their enemies as intended by nature to be slaves. “ We are not allowed by our law to buy or sell slaves ; to do so is for an Abyssinian punishable by death. Unfortunately having been surrounded by pagans for so long, and having had much of our territory overrun by Moslems, some of their pernicious habits have crept into the country and have led people astray.” } This form of reasoning is for us perhaps difficult to understand, but it is quite clear to them, and it is quite consistent on the one hand with the maintenance of a form of domestic slavery of prisoners taken in war, and on the other with the edicts issued and the agreements entered into with foreign powers regarding the suppression of slave dealing by the Emperors Theodore, John, and Menelik, and by the present rulers. CL Ca ae a SE Slavery &° Serfdom 183 In fact by the Treaty of 1884 (which is still in force) made between Abyssinia and this country King John under- took to prohibit and prevent to the best of his ability the buying and selling of slaves within, and the import and export of slaves into and from Abyssinia—and further undertook to protect liberated slaves. According to Mr. Wylde, who knew the country well at this time, the King faithfully and effectively carried out this Treaty until his death. But of course he did not abolish domestic slavery. The present position is that various forms of serfdom and of domestic slavery on a large scale undoubtedly exist in most of the country, and that the majority of Abyssinians utilize the services of serfs or slaves for house- hold purposes to a greater or less extent according to their position and means. Those slaves, who may have been captured in war or born of slave parents, are on the whole well treated ; they are regarded as members of the family; in the smaller households they live, eat, and sleep in the same house, and often in the same room (the terms are generally synonymous!) as their masters, and frequently rise to positions of trust and confidence in the service of the more important Abyssinians. It cannot be described as an oppressive form of slavery, and is part and parcel of the social arrangements of the country. The servants of Europeans generally have one or more of these domestic helps ”’ ; even the servants of the Foreign Legations had a kind of serf or slave in their ukuls to assist their wives to run their households, and it was only last year that the practice was abolished so far as the French and British Legations were concerned; I believe the bewilderment of the slaves, who could not understand what all the fuss was about, was quite amusing. I cannot refrain from quoting in this connection an instructive incident which was related in the House of Commons by the Foreign Office representative when referring to this twentieth- century emancipation. 184 Slavery &° Serfdom All the servants of the British Legation had been told that whether living in the Legation compound or outside they must as a condition of retaining their posts set free any slaves they might possess. Of course they were recompensed in cash, because if they had merely been told to get rid of them they would have passed them on to someone else, and no practical result would have been attained. One employé of the Legation, a Moslem, protested that he had no slaves, and when he was confronted with evidence which made it quite clear that his statement was, to put it mildly, some- thing less than accurate, he explained that the slaves belonged to his wives. He seems to have borrowed this ingenious device from Europe, where it is not unknown for people to say that property desired by their creditors is not their own but that of their wives. The plea was not, however, considered adequate in this case, and he was told that as long as these slaves were held as slaves in his family he could not be employed in the British Legation. But he was a man of resource and, on the spot, before leaving the room, he issued a decree of divorce against the two ladies and told them they were no longer his wives. The British representative feeling a little embarrassed at having been the means of bringing about this domestic crisis, said something by way of deprecation of such very hurried divorce proceedings, but the gentleman was not at all put out. He said that the ladies could be very easily replaced, and that there was no need to feel disturbed about the matter ; and the final result appears to have been the departure of the two ladies with their slaves, and the reten- tion of the gentleman, minus family and slaves, in the employment of the British Legation. But whatever may be said as to the comparative mildness of the form of domestic slavery prevalent in Abyssinia, there is nothing whatever to be said in mitigation of slave- raiding or slave-trading wherever it exists and whatever form it takes. And unfortunately there is no doubt but Slavery & Serfdom 185 that this practice did exist on a large scale at one time in Abyssinia, and does exist on a small and diminishing scale to-day on certain of the frontiers remote from headquarters’ control. During the reign of Menelik whole districts were conquered, and many of their inhabitants removed ; during the chaos which obtained on his illness in 1908, in the succeeding years while he was hors de combat and during the reign of his successor, some of these districts were prac- tically depopulated and thrown out of cultivation. It is ridiculous to suppose, as I have seen suggested lately, that because he issued an edict against slave-trading Menelik “ abolished slavery,” and that it is only recently that this iniquitious traffic has sprung into being again. So far from having done away with the acquisition of slaves Menelik was probably responsible for the enslaving of larger numbers of persons than almost any other Abyssinian ruler of modern times, not of course by trading or purchase but owing to his enormous conquests. A Frenchman who accompanied him on one of his expeditions relates how the women and children of the conquered population were divided up amongst the victorious army, Menelik’s own personal share being 1800 slaves and 18,000 head of cattle. The same writer also describes how slaves were freely bought under this monarch’s reign, a state of affairs which I venture to say obtains practically nowhere in Abyssinia to-day—such acts of slave traffic as are carried on having to be done secretly and by night. With the gradual restoration of order which has been slowly making itself felt since the advent to power of the present rulers in 1916, an improvement in this, as in other matters, has been made evident owing to the cessation of conquest, the delimitation of frontiers, the establishment of frontier posts, and for other reasons. So far from there having been a “ recrudescence ” of the slave trade as has been alleged, official reports and statements made in Parlia- ment evidence a decline for some years past, and it has 186 Slavery & Serfdom been officially stated that only a single vessel carrying slaves from Abyssinia has been detected during recent times. In connection with this particular case a white paper was published recently, and it contains inter alia a very signifi- cant letter addressed by Ras Tafari to the British Chargé d’Affaires at Addis Ababa. In the course of this letter Ras Tafari states that his Government will help the twenty-six slaves found in the dhow to go anywhere they like and to live in liberty there, and will give them certificates of liberty. He goes on to say : “ As we were very desirous of finding out, to catch and punish these slave-raiders, we have to inform you to send us the copy containing the conversation of these liberated slaves, if they have been examined, whether they knew the persons and places wherefrom they have been raided.” I think this letter is very interesting as indicating the Regent’s attitude towards this question, and it appears no less significant that in his letter to the Regent the British Chargé d’Affaires asks him to assist him “to obtain the manumission of the slaves according to local custom, and to repatriate them to their countries.” There have of course been local raiding incidents and, as I have already said, the distant border countries are difficult to control. They are generally low-lying, hot, and un- healthy, consequently police-work there is not popular amongst the Abyssinian soldiery; communications are lacking, and the passage of troops during the rainy season is hampered by the swollen condition of the rivers, the absence of bridges, and the water-logged state of the soil. These districts are the resort of fugitive criminals of all kinds who, fleeing from the central provinces to escape justice, become outlaws or shifzas as they are termed locally, live by robbery and pillage, and occasionally organize raids into the neighbouring British or other territories for the purpose of obtaining cattle, ivory, and slaves. Slavery &° Serfdom 187 Unfortunately some of the distant governors have not been as unsympathetic as they might be to these operations and have not supported the central government to the full extent of their powers, or carried out fully the orders they received. This has naturally increased the difficulties with which the Government have had to cope. ~The Regent, however, is fully alive to the pernicious nature of this traffic, and is earnest in his desire to suppress it; had he been adequately supported still more drastic steps in that direction would have been taken before now. As it is, he has evolved preliminary proposals for dealing with the evil, an outline of which was published some months ago ; it is briefly somewhat as follows :— It is proposed to select from the Shankala and other tribes living on the borders where the troubles occur young men, slaves, under twenty, and to bring them in considerable numbers to Addis Ababa. There they will be placed in a military police training school to be established by the Government, and will be trained in police duties, etc., by instructors specially engaged by the Ras for the purpose. These men will be formally freed, and given a certificate of liberty so as to establish their position. They will, after completing their training at the school of instruction, remain in Addis Ababa for a period of one, two, or three years, to obtain practical experience of police duties, and acquire habits of discipline under control and supervision. Then, on proving themselves satisfactory and suitable, they will be returned in armed bodies to their own districts, which they know and where they are fever-proof, to act as border police and to hunt down the gangs of shiftas that now infest these parts and bring discredit on the Government. Among the advantages which are claimed for this proposal are the following :— 188 Slavery & Serfdom Firstly. A number of men now in the status of slaves will become free men, will be educated and trained in good habits and will be able to feed, clothe, and keep themselves as salaried servants. Secondly. It will no longer be necessary to despatch Abyssinian troops on police duties to the low country, and much loss of life and other disadvantages will consequently be avoided. Thirdly. The men who have thus been trained and educated in Addis Ababa for several years will, on return to their own country, not merely fulfil their police duties, but will also spread amongst the people ideas of civilization and order which they have learned. Ras Tafari is much impressed with the fact that originally the negro peoples of the Soudan were, as he expressed it, “ poor people without clothes, money, or learning,” and that under English rule they have acquired the advantages of civilization, have become wealthy and are being educated. He accordingly hopes by his new proposals to improve similarly the condition of the Shankala tribes on his borders, and trusts that they also may acquire the benefits which such races have obtained elsewhere. Such are the preliminary steps which the Regent proposes to take. It must not be supposed on the one hand that these measures in themselves will alone be adequate, or on the other hand that, such as they are, they will be likely to go through without opposition. Criticism of various kinds has of course already been levelled at them, but I venture to think that they may at all events be regarded as a “ sign of grace,” a step in the right direction which should be regarded with sympathy, encouraged and even supported, not only in the country but outside it. The Regent proposes to deal not only with slave-dealing but also with the question of slavery. This latter problem is, however, as anyone with any knowledge of the country Slavery & Serfdom I 89 knows full well, an extraordinarily thorny one, and will need the greatest care, and much time and patience to solve. It is, however, under consideration to commence large public works employing many thousands of labourers, who would be slaves. These men would be formally freed, and part of their wages would be paid to their former masters as compensation over a more or less extended period. But the practical difficulties in the way of this scheme are great, finance is not the least of them, and it is improbable in my view that anything very serious is likely to materialize in this direction for some time. There is in addition to slavery a form of serfdom preva- lent in certain districts in Abyssinia which seems to me to be more burdensome, and which is known as the gabar system. This system is not applicable in provinces such as Tigré or Amhara or Gojam, where the farmers and peasants are Abyssinians ; it obtains only in certain districts con- quered by the Abyssinians in which the population is Galla, Shankala or otherwise non-Abyssinian. I came across the workings of it in the Arussi country, and made a good many inquiries about it ; briefly it appears to be based somewhat on the following lines. I have previously explained that the governors of prov- inces are not paid any salary, and that they have to derive their income from the districts they administer ; this applies also to their satellites, the sub-governors and officials in the provinces. The governor having set aside the proportion of the taxation due to the central government, and appro- priated to himself the revenues of the major part of his holding which he collects by means of agents, allots the balance to his subordinates, who in order to collect their shares allocate the peasants among themselves as their own particular gabars or serfs. A sub-governor may have 200 or 300, and so on downwards through the hierarchy until we reach the soldier who may have two or three gabars as his share. These gabars live on and cultivate their own holdings, Ze, Ceo. 190 Slavery &° Serfdom but they have to keep their overlords in wood, food, etc. etc., and if at any time they fail to supply the stipulated quanti- ties they are haled before the judges. The judges, who are the sub-governors’ creatures of course, take the side of the plaintiff in nine cases out of ten, and the gabar is then fined, a process which is cumulative, as he generally has not the wherewithal to pay, and which results in the unfortunate people being squeezed dry. The hotter and more unhealthy the place, the more energetically is the system pressed, for the highland Abys- sinian hates the low country, and wants to collect as much as he can as quickly as possible so as to be able to get back to the mountains. Naturally the system varies in the different provinces according as the governor is a more or less rapacious man, and according to the extent to which he controls his subordinates. And the system presses more or less heavily on the different provinces according to their wealth. In Arussi, for example, where the acreage under crops is large and the herds of cattle immense, the people do not suffer to anything like the same extent asin other poorer districts such as Gourage, Sidamo, and Wallega. But whatever be the comparative incidence of the system in different parts of the country, it is undoubtedly a perni- cious one. And the only remedy for it is the reform of the system of remuneration of governors, so that they may receive fixed salaries, giving them no excuse for bribery or oppression, and no reason for exacting from the peasantry more than the state taxation of 10 per cent, a by no means exorbitant imposition in itself. Such a reform hinges on the reform of the whole financial system of the country—a heavy and hazardous task for a united government, a fortiors for a dual system of rule such as exists in Abyssinia. And it is not easy to persuade even the more enlightened persons amongst them of the necessity for change, for with our Western mentality we are often prone to exaggerate the evils of systems foreign to our ideas Slavery &° Serfdom 191 and which we possibly may not thoroughly understand. In the East people do not look at things as we do, and condi- tions are frequently not as oppressive as they seem to us or at all events are not felt as such. Our ideas may be excellent, our motives beyond reproach, but still we run up against the Arab proverb, a bitter criticism of our efforts— “A Moslem ruler though he oppress me and not a kafr though he work me weal.” CHAPTER XVII Trade & Commerce—Volume &° Nature T was in order to restore the silk trade which had been monopolized by the Persians that Justinian early in the sixth century solicited the aid of his Christian allies, the Abyssinians, who according to Gibbon had recently acquired the arts of navigation and the spirit of trade, who possessed the rudiments of the arts and sciences, and whose vessels traded to Ceylon and India. But in spite of this early commencement the external trade and commerce of Abyssinia is to-day in a very elementary stage, the main reasons for which are no doubt the condition of isolation to which it was reduced for so many years by the loss of its coastline, and the perpetual strife carried on within its borders. So long as Abyssinia consisted of a congeries of quasi- independent kingdoms living in a state of more or less continuous warfare with each other and with their neigh- bours it was obviously out of the question to expect any commercial development, and as has been already pointed out it was not until Menelik had established his position that it was possible for the Abyssinians to turn their minds to the pursuit of industry, and for foreign countries to venture their capital and expend their energy in the country. The impetus then given was brought to a standstill by subsequent events which I have previously described, and consequently it was really not until the middle and end of the Great War that conditions could be said to be at all conducive to trade expansion. Prior to the War a small though profitable trade was 192 Trade & Commerce 193 carried on by a few persons with Abyssinia in the way of exporting from there hides, skins, coffee, civet, wax, and ivory, and of importing thereinto cotton goods, hardware, and a few other manufactures. During the War the export trade from Abyssinia increased considerably, and good profits were made by the few small firms established there. This success encouraged a few other ventures after the War, but these (in common with the existing undertakings) were unsuccessful, owing to the severe “ slump ” which set in in European markets for raw materials and imported produce of nearly every kind. As might be expected this “slump » led to a period of stagnation in Abyssinian trade ; many of the local firms, small people with little in the way of resources for the most part, were hard hit, several left the country, and the position even of the larger firms became precarious. This of course had its effect on imports, for the natives who had become poorer by the lack of demand for their products were consequently unable to purchase foreign goods, and stocks lay in the go-downs or were sold at greatly reduced and unprofitable prices. The recent re-establishment of more normal commercial conditions, however, and the consequent revival of the European demand for raw material, etc., has had the natural effect of reviving Abyssinian trade,and once again there would seem to be an opportunity for commencing to develop the unlimited and almost untouched resources of the country. Matters seem to be inclined to commence to move for- ward, and when once a real start has been made there are practically no limits to the prosperity which should ulti- mately be attained. Much has to be done, however, before developments on a large scale can be achieved ; the system of taxation, the administration of the customs, the means of communication, the management of the railway, all need improvement and in some cases even reorganization. These factors have hitherto contributed appreciably to hinder N 104 Trade & Commerce trade and commerce, the expansion of which has also been checked by other difficulties due to the peculiar nature of the currency, the methods hitherto adopted, the class of foreigner largely engaged in trade, and last, but by no means least, the fact that the country is self-supporting. In spite of all difficulties a certain volume of trade has been done ; full and accurate detailed figures by all routes are not easily obtainable, but the following tables will give some idea of the volume and character of the exports and imports :— Torat Vorume or Trabe. (IN 1000 Francs). Via Djibouti. Vo oue All Routes. Year. Imports and Imports. Exports. Total. Exports. | Grand Total. 1913 20,880 20,600 40,880 8,200 49,080 1914 18,810 20,135 39,945 8,775 47,720 1915 14,320 22,660 36,980 7,510 44,490 1916 16,360 22,465 38,825 8,885 47,710 1917 16,700 27,250 43,875 12,715 56,590 Exports. Via Djibouti. Via the Soudan, Year. Hides. Coffee, Wax, Coffee. | Wax, | Misc. Total, Francs. LE. 1000, 1910 15,700,000 re — es 53 1911 11,831,000 ee — Re! 58 1912 8,060,000 en es — 65 1913 20,600,000 57 19 16 92 1914 20,135,000 47 25 9 80 1000 kilogs, | 1000 kilogs. | 1000 kilogs. 1915 5,758 4,944 358 28 23 5 57 1916 | 4,043 | 4,520 482 69 | 21 8 97 1917 | 5704 | 5093 381 106 | 18 9 {| 133 1918 9,191 3,057 146 155 11 26 192 1919 8,647 | 4510 408 13 | 25:4 37 | 178 1920 8,178 2,945 150 221 4 36 262 1921 2,513 3,908 211 120 5 50 175 1922 3,804 6,470 258 Not yet available. Trade & Commerce 105 The course of events is fairly well indicated by the above figures which show a more or less fluctuating rise until 1919 via Djibouti and 1920 via Gambela, in which years the highest point was reached, and a considerable drop in 1921 owing to the world trade depression, followed by an appre- ciable recovery in 1922. At their best these figures represent a total export and import trade of between [2,250,000 and [2,500,000—an altogether ridiculous figure for a country of the size, population, and resources of Abyssinia. The principal categories of produce included in the fore- going figures are hides, goat and sheep-skins, coffee, wax, and ivory. The hides are on the whole small and light, the general average weight being about eleven to twelve pounds, though some districts produce a heavier hide averaging sixteen to eighteen pounds. The supply is practically unlimited as the herds of cattle are estimated to amount to at least ten million head, and the Abyssinians are great meat-eating people ; in Addis Ababa alone several hundred cattle are slaughtered daily. The hides vary in value according to the different districts from which they come; the “ butcher” hides produced in Addis are of course the most valuable, and of those brought in from the provinces Djimma hides are generally regarded as the best, while those originating in Harrar command the lowest prices. Abyssinian hides would com- mand a higher price on the European market than they do were it not for the faulty methods for flaying and treating them ; they are frequently cut in taking them off, and are generally pegged out in the sun instead of being left in the shade to dry. Theyare then often sent down to Djiboutiina very dirty state, washed in the sun there, and again spread out in the sun to dry. All this treatment is very bad for them and causes them to depreciate in value ; it is, moreover, quite unnecessary for, by proper local treatment (into the technical details of which it is superfluous to enter here) the 196 Trade & Commerce handling and delay and consequent expense could be saved, and the hides put on the market in better condition and consequently at a better price. This aspect of the question is one which is well worthy of attention, and of systematic propaganda in the country; for the Addis ‘ butchery” hides, which are properly treated, already command a much better price. Goat and sheep-skins come from various parts of the country and are available in large numbers; they are of good quality and find a ready sale, though the sheep have little wool ; the best are the Harrar black head sheep-skins. As many as 5,000,000 skins were exported in 1916, but the figures have dwindled considerably since then. There are two varieties of coffee grown in Abyssinia, the production of both of which is extensive, and could be immensely increased both actually and per acre cultivated. The plant is claimed to have been the original mocha, and to have been first grown in Kaffa (from whence it derived its name) ; thence it was transplanted to Yemen where greater accessibility to Europe enabled the Arabian offspring to put its Abyssinian parent into the shade. Certainly the long-berry mocha—by which name the cultivated Harrar coffee is known—is excellent in flavour and compares favourably with any other coffee; it com- mands a ready sale, and from 3000 to 5000 tons have been exported annually for some time. The other, and inferior, variety known as Abyssinian wild coffee, grows in most parts of the country, but mainly in the west and south-west. This does not come to Europe, but finds its way through Gorei, Gambela, and the Soudan to Khartoum, in which market it is all absorbed. The Egypt- ians prefer it to any other, and will always give a higher price for it than for its competitors. The value of the export of this crop varies a good deal ; during the last seven years] it has ranged from LE 28,000 to [E 221,000. Wax of good quality is ported both east and west, Trade & Commerce 197 nearly one and a half million pounds being sent out in 1916. But since the closing of the principal market for this com- modity, viz. Russia, the trade has very much diminished, though it is gradually finding its way to other places in small quantities. Ivory is a diminishing factor; there are no effective game laws in Abyssinia, and the females and young are killed indiscriminately with the inevitable result. The larger male tusks are exported through the Soudan; the female and smaller ones are not allowed to go out this way owing to the salutary British regulations in the Soudan, but unfortunately this does not prevent the trade but merely diverts it eastward through Djibouti. The import trade consists, as might be expected, mainly of cotton goods. The demand for sheeting (2bougedid) should be enormous in normal circumstances, for the Abyssinians, both men and women, all wear the national dress of cotton shirt trousers and chamma ; in 1916 it was estimated that 30,000,000 yards were imported. Other imports for which there are a demand are different varieties of cotton piece goods, such as drills, kouchas, kutas, etc., yarns, silks, fancy stuffs, cutlery and hardware, building materials (especially corrugated iron roofing), tinned food- stuffs, etc. But the Abyssinian market is a peculiar one, and very special knowledge of its conditions and requirements are necessary in dealing with it; moreover, it is hardly in a position as yet to absorb much in the way of imports until it has recovered more fully from its recent period of stag- nation and consequent impoverishment of the population But its ultimate potentialities are boundless. The natural trade routes of the country are :— 1. Eastward from Addis to Djibouti by rail for goods coming from Addis and from the country lying between that town and the coast. Goods are carried from Djibouti 198 Trade & Commerce by French steamer (the only ones that call there) to Marseilles, and thence transhipped to their ports of destination, or are taken across to the Red Sea to Aden and there transhipped into English or other bottoms for conveyance to their ultimate destination. 2. Westward from the western provinces by mule caravan to Gambela on the Baro River where the goods are shipped by river steamer down the Sobat and the Nile to Khartoum, and (if for Europe) thence via Port Soudan. 3. North-east from Tigré by caravan to Massowah, and further south from the Wollo country to Assab in Erythrea? 4. South-east from the frontier districts of Harrar to British Somaliland, Zeila, Bulhar, and Berbera, via Hargeisa. 5. North-west from Gojam and Dembea by caravan via Roseires and Sennar, or via Gallabat and Gedaref via the Nile to Soudan. Of these routes the first is now by far the most important, carrying between 70 and 80 per cent of the total trade; the second and third carry about 20 per cent between them, and the bulk of the remainder (about 4 per cent on the average) goes via route No. 4 ; the others are negligible. The last-named routes were never of any great value although they might well be, for they would tap the rich and fertile provinces of the North now almost untouched ; but the fourth, through British Somaliland, was very impor- tant before it was killed by the advent of the railway, though now only a little petroleum, and salt, and rice for the Oga- den and other Somali’s come in, whilst gum, hides, and ostrich feathers are exported. This is the more unfortu- nate, inasmuch as Somaliland contains at least one harbour (Berbera) which offers far greater natural advantages to shipping than Djibouti, and which by the expenditure of 1 Note at end of Chapter. Shia a SE Trade & Commerce 199 comparatively moderate sums could be made into quite a good port. But, as it is, Djibouti, a poor harbour open to the monsoon and so shallow that boats must lie a long way out, remains the eastern doorway of Abyssinia; the authori- ties seem, moreover, inclined to endeavour to bring it into competition with Aden so far as the Red Sea trade is concerned, if one may judge from the improvements which are being made or contemplated, and the remarkably low charges which are imposed on shipping as compared with Aden, amounting to from two-fifths to one-twelfth.? It is not altogether easy to determine exactly the inter- national share of the import and export trade; the trade figures are not a good index and the nationality of the traders is hardly a criterion. These consist for the most part of Indians, Arabs, Greeks, Syrians, and Armenians, with a sprinkling of French and Italian houses (some of which are of fair size) and a single British firm. About the bulk of the Armenian, Syrian, and Greek traders the less said the better; any traveller with a know- ledge of the East can fill in the gap. I cannot refrain, how- ever, from quoting one example of the methods adopted by these gentry, and as the story, which was told me by the man himself with some pride was corroborated from other sources, it is probably true. He was anxious to get his coffee crop down to the Nile ahead of his competitors in order to secure priority on the steamers, and thus obtain the better prices ruling in’ Khartoum at the beginning of the season. So, as his caravan journeyed along he carefully and systematically broke down all the bridges behind him leaving to his competitors (who incidentally were his compat- riots) the pleasant job of bridge building at every river they came to—a really bright example to set the Abyssinians of “ European ” trade methods and standards. There is quite a large Indian house of business—a branch of a Bombay house—which does the bulk of the import business and a good deal of export in addition ; the Arabs are 2 Note at end of Chapter. 200 Trade & Commerce concerned mainly with the hide trade; the French and Italians do both import and export business. So far as the different foreign countries are concerned their interest would appear to be somewhat as follows :— The British send a very limited quantity of Manchester goods (cottons, yarns, etc.) and absorb a small portion of the heavier hides, a little of the Harrar coffee, and (in the Sou- dan) all the Abyssinian wild coffee from the west. India sends in cotton piece goods, yarns, and silks. The French send wines and a little in the way of trade goods, take some of the Harrar coffee, and a good proportion of the lighter hides. The Italians also send in little beyond wine, but take some of the lighter hides. The Americans send in a large quantity of cottons (grey sheetings especially) and take some of the Harrar coffee and light hides. The Japanese send in considerable quantities of cotton goods, sheetings, drills, etc., and this in an increasing proportion. The Russian market used to absorb most of the wax; this now goes in small quantities to England and Germany. The Germans began to get a real footing in Abyssinian trade prior to the War—they imported considerable quanti- ties of hardware and miscellaneous goods and exported light hides and skins ; indeed in one year they almost cleared the skin market in Harrar. Austria also took a certain amount of the lighter hides and skins. During the War Russia, Germany, and Austria were eliminated, but Japanese and American cottons came in in increasing proportions ; as compared with British cottons they were after the War much cheaper (especially the Japanese) and of equally good quality. Recently both Germany and Austria, especially the former, have again been taking an interest in Abyssinian trade, and quite a number of Germans have found their way into Addis in the last year. Last summer the late German Minister for Agriculture in East Africa, accompanied by a geologist and a financier, visited Addis Ababa, and it is believed laid cer- PREPARING RAW COTTON FOR SPINNING. By means of a gut-stringed bow and arrow the raw cotton is ‘* flicked ’’ continuously until the seed still remaining (after the bulk has been taken out by hand) is thus removed, and the cotton fluffed out into a white snowy mass. WEAVING. With this primitive hand-loom extremely fine tissues for persons of rank are woven from native cotton, which is as good as the Egyptian variety. Trade & Commerce 201 tain proposals before Herr Stinnes ; the latter, however, is reported to have thought the fact of the railway and its port being in French hands would raise insuperable difficul- ties for German trade. The high price of English cottons was a stumbling-block to the development of that branch of the trade before the slump, and I do not know how prices would compare now. But at that time the natives preferred the English goods and would even pay a little more for them, 5 or even 10 per cent in some cases. They would not, however, pay the very large differences which were asked, and unless more reasonable figures are quoted when the import trade opens out again it is to be feared that we shall be left behind. High wages and large profits and heavy taxes are all no doubt admirable from the point of view of the different recipients, but when pushed too far they do not appear to the outsider to make for the acquisition of new markets against capable and strenuous competitors. As regards internal trade one of the best features in Abyssinia was that with the exception of the Bank of Abyssinia, and of a tobacco régie, there were no monop- olies. Various monopolies had been granted in the past, but these caused such abuses and were so generally detri- mental, that they were all abolished. And by a treaty made between the French and the Abyssinians in 1908 the latter agreed not to grant fresh ones, whilst in the Tripartite Agreement of 19o6 between England, France, and Italy, the following clause would appear to be designed to prevent nationals of any of the three signatory countries obtaining monopolies :— “ As regards demands for agricultural, commercial, and industrial concessions in Ethiopia, the three Powers under- take to instruct their representatives to act in such a way that concessions which may be accorded in the interest of one of the three States may not be injurious to the interests of the two others.” 202 Trade & Commerce Unfortunately by the use of the blessed word “ régie ” the salutary provisions of the above-mentioned enactments would seem to be in danger of being side-tracked. For a liquor monopoly has recently been granted to a foreign company, under the title of “ Régie des Alcools,” and a State match régie has been created. Of course it will be said that these are not monopolies in the ordinary sense of the word, and, moreover, that they deal with commodities which in Europe are subject to similar treatment. The Alcohol Régie will at all events serve one valuable purpose if it succeeds in suppressing the local distillation of filthy and harmful spirit now carried on by small Greek or other traders. Nevertheless a monopoly is a monopoly by whatever name it is called, whether it is run by the State or by an individual, and the innovation seems a dangerous one; whether it is likely to prove successful or not time alone will show. Certainly the tobacco régie has worked well, and has proved a lucrative investment for the holders, two capable Armenian gentlemen, who have I believe made quite a good thing out of it in combination with a general trading business. The Bank of Abyssinia on the other hand has not been quite so successful. It is a branch of the National Bank of Egypt and was established some seventeen years ago, since when it has passed through various vicissitudes and has encountered many difficulties. Nevertheless, thanks to the very capable Englishmen who direct its course at Addis (there are also branches at Dirre-Daoua and Gorei, one has been recently opened at Djibouti, and another has recently closed at Harrar), the Bank succeeded in paying a dividend for the first time in 1918, and followed this up with others in 1919 and 1920. Unfortunately the slump in 1920-1 told its inevitable tale, and the good record was broken in that year. The Bank has a practical monopoly, and theoretically all banking is entirely in its hands, though a good deal of financial business of sorts is done by the banyans and other Indian traders. Trade & Commerce 203 As to the development of the country by means of commercial, industrial, or mining concessions, this has so far been practically a negligible factor. I do not think the Abyssinians are altogether to blame in the matter; for they have given innumerable concessions of one kind and another to foreigners of various nationalities, and with very few exceptions they have derived no benefit whatever from them. The concessions have never been developed, and as a general rule they have merely served to enrich the original holders by giving them something to re-sell at a higher price to equally worthless people, while preventing the exploitation of the subject of the concession by others. I heard of only one concession of any importance that had been granted that was actually being worked on a business- like basis and was showing profits for the concessionaire and for the Government, and that was a small timber felling proposition, the owners of which supplied Addis Ababa with wood at much profit to themselves, whilst paying a substantial royalty to the State. Of course concessions have been granted to perfectly good and sound people, which through no fault of the concession- aires have for one reason or another come to an untimely end or have not so far borne fruit. But these will be found to be the exceptions to the general rule I have indicated above. I said a little way back that it was not altogether the fault of the Abyssinians that nothing had been done in this direction. But I do not mean to suggest that they have been blameless in the matter, for while they may well be disgusted with some of the exploiters who have hitherto been most successful in obtaining concessions, they have on their side done little or nothing to obtain really first-class European assistance to open up their country. Whether this has been due to fear or suspicion, or dislike of progress, or a combination of all these, I do not know, but the fact remains that “ Concessions” have not been looked upon with favour by the Abyssinian Government. 204 Trade & Commerce Possibly the fact that seekers after concessions have usually in the past been backed by their respective Legations (and opposed by the other Legations), and that the grant of a concession has been regarded as a diplomatic success by the country whose national obtained it, is a contributory cause. And also I think that the Abyssinian regards the grant of a concession as giving away part of his country ; certainly he objects to cattle concessions because he thinks that the export of cattle means starvation for himself, or at any rate a diminished supply of meat. Happily this state of affairs is not likely to continue, for the Regent is fully alive to the necessity of overcoming his compatriots’ dislike for concessions, and is determined to facilitate development by this means. I referred a few pages further back to a concession which had just been given to a foreign Company to undertake the alcohol monopoly. This group, which is reported to be a powerful one, is proposing to extend its activities in various other directions, and although at the time of writing it has hardly had time to find its feet it seems likely to mark a new stage in the progress of Abyssinia. It is all the more unfortunate that it is not a British concern, but if its efforts are successful a good effect should be pro- duced as regards foreign enterprises generally, and the path should be made easier for the granting of concessions for much-needed public works, such as water-supply, roads, rail- ways, and the many other requirements of an undeveloped land. There is room and to spare for all in Abyssinia. 1 A recent ministerial statementin the Italian Senate indicates the re- construction of the port of Massowah at a cost of Lire 25,000,000, and consideration of railway extension towards Abyssinia from there “une des portes de P’Empire Ethiopien.” 2 For an 8,000-ton ship the port dues at Djibouti would amount to 400 francs whether calling for bunkers or to load and/or discharge cargo; at Aden the dues would be 19o rupees if calling for bunkers, and 910 rupees if loading and/or discharging cargo—in one case 2} times, in the other 12 times the Djibouti rate. CHAPTER XVIII Trade & Commerce— Difficulties VERY interesting factor in matters commercial, but one which adds appreciably to the difficulties of trade in or with Abyssinia, is the question of currency. The only coin generally accepted in the country is the dollar or birr, which exists in two varieties —the ““ Maria Theresa ”” and the Menelik,” and of these by far the most important is the * Maria Theresa,” a hand- some but unwieldly piece of money about the size of a four-shilling piece, with an effigy of the Empress, who has given her name to the coins on one side and a fine represen- - tation of the Austrian arms on the other. These dollars were originally minted in Vienna in 1780, no doubt for the purposes of Austrian commercial develop- ment in the Near East, and found their way into the Soudan, along the northern and eastern coasts of Africa as far west as Algiers and as far south as Madagascar, where I have seen it stated that until recently “its rudely clipped fragments were meticulously weighed in pocket scales carried by everybody who went marketing.” It was legal tender in Austria up to 1854, in Tunis and Algiers up to 1886, and in Egypt up to 1888 ; and for the Napier expedition of 1868, the Khartoum relief expedition of 1884-5 and the Italian campaigns in Tripoli and Abyssinia, it was necessary to obtain large supplies of these coins from Austria. In Abyssinia it still holds the field and practically nothing else will pass; so particular are the natives that in some parts of the country they will not take it if it is too brand 205 206 Trade & Commerce new, or if it is too much worn ; I have seen natives carefully scrutinizing it to see if the little brooch on the shoulder of Maria Theresa’s effigy is clearly visible, and if not they have returned it to me. The dollar also serves as the unit of weight ; the weight of one dollar (an ounce) is the okette, and the weight of 600 dollars is the frasula (37% lbs.). The former is used for small and valuable articles of trade such as civet, while the latter is the general measure of weight by which hides are bought. Coffee is usually purchased by the kantar (100 lbs.) in the western districts. The Emperor Menelik caused to be struck in Paris from the 10,000,000 lire in silver obtained as an indemnity from the Italians after the 1896 campaign a number of coins of the same size as the Maria Theresa dollar, bearing the lion of Juda on one side and his effigy on the other, and known accordingly as the Menelik dollar ; but in some parts of the country even this coin will not pass, in spite of the prestige still attaching to the late Emperor’s name. He had also minted three other silver coins, namely, half dollars (alad), quarter dollars (rub), and piastres (guerche or tamoun), the last-named being nominally equivalent to one-sixteenth of a dollar, although it was never possible to obtain this number either at the Post Office, the Bank, or anywhere else, the change given varying from eleven to fourteen. The piastre coins, owing no doubt to their convenience, are pretty generally current, but the half and quarter dollars are less popular. Curiously enough these coins are in two varieties ; in one the lion of Juda appearing on one side is given a long curly tail and in the other a short straight tail, and the former variety for some reason I cannot explain is generally rejected by natives in the provinces. I have again and again seen them examine the lion’s tail very carefully, and then bring back the coin to me and ask for another, saying that it is not good, but I have never been able to discover the reason for this, for the coins arc identical in value. Trade &° Commerce 207 Gold sovereigns and half sovereigns (handsome coins, rather smaller than ours) were also minted by Menelik, but were never put in circulation ; I believe silver coins equiva- lent to one-eighth of a dollar were also minted, but they are not used and I never saw one. Two copper coins were also minted by Menelik, about the size of a sixpenny and a threepenny bit, and of a nominal value of a thirty-second and a sixty-fourth of a dollar, but these are rarely seen, and I could never induce any native outside Addis to accept one in payment for his goods, though I have tried to do so as a matter of curiosity. Other forms of currency are bars of salt, cartridges, and in certain remote districts specially shaped pieces of iron, all of which in different parts of the country bore varying ratios to the dollar ; the inconvenience of all these may be readily imagined, especially salt bars which got chipped and melted, and iron which was terribly bulky ; no doubt on that account they are rarely utilized now, whilst as for cartridges the prohibition of importation has made them more and more difficult to obtain. The Bank of Abyssinia has issued dollar notes, but these are not accepted outside Addis Ababa, and I was told that although the notes are practically Government notes, as the Bank has the Government monopoly of issue, yet the Government itself will not accept them ! ; Consequently traders and travellers are for all practical purposes reduced to the use of the dollar, and every pound of coffee or wax, every hide or skin purchased in the interior must be paid for literally in hard cash—paper money, bills, cheques, etc., are of no value. So, in order to buy, say, 100 tons of coffee in the west country for shipment to the Soudan it would first of all be necessary to buy the requisite dollars in Addis—say, some $32,000—Iload them on to mules and send them for a month’s journey across country. And as the weight of these dollars would be about 2000 lb. without packing, it would require over 200 mules for the purpose ! 208 Trade & Commerce I have myself seen a caravan of 300 mules laden in this way setting off for precisely this object. Apart from the inconvenience and expense and delay of this modus operandi, it inevitably entails complications of another kind in the purchase of the coffee or whatever commodity it may be. For it is not only necessary to con- sider the price in dollars at which the commodity is bought, but the price paid originally for the dollars—to say nothing of the value in dollars or whatever currency may be obtained for the goods when exported and sold, e.g. £ Egyptian in the Soudan, sterling in England, francs in France, rupees in Aden, etc. etc. The use of the dollar in this manner in fact causes it to become a commodity rather than a currency, an inter- mediate commodity in the process of purchase or sale of the country’s produce. And as this commodity has since the War suffered alarming fluctuations it is an element of even more vital importance in undertaking business in Abyssinia than it was before. The following little table will give some idea of the vagaries of this Hapsburg survival : Sterling value of Intrinsic value of . 3 Date. alls dollar (based on Price of silver. ' price of silver). 1908-16 To [1 To. £1 Pence per oz. Round about 10 ee From 24-36 Dec., 1917 7°50 6-78 43% » 1918 7 6-05 481% » 1919 = 3-88 76 » 1920 9-60 7:20 40% » 1921 11-50 8:55 348 Mar., 1922 11-10 — — May 10°30 ps — Oct. 10 Ka —_ Nov. 9-65 —_ ee Dec, 5 9-60 ee RE Jan., 1923 9°30 __ —_ April ,, 7°50 - — THE COURT SILVERSMITH AT WORK. With his pincers, hammer, anvil and goatskin bellows, this crafts. man produces a variety of ornamental silver work, such as the horse’s headstall shewn in the photograph, or smaller articles of personal adornment. BASKET MAKING. Made of coloured straws plaited with the aid of long pins, in varying degrees of fineness. They are used for every kind of purpose from tables to trinket boxes. Trade & Commerce 209 Although the above figures cannot compare in gymnastics with some European currencies, yet they are sufficiently striking, showing as they do very pronounced variations from year to year and within the year. Some of the reasons—and there are a variety—are fairly obvious, such for example as the price of silver and the course of world trade. Thus we see a rapid rise from 1917 to 1919 in sympathy with a corresponding rise in the world-price of silver and an increase of Abyssinian trade ; a great fall from 1920 to 1922, owing mainly to the world slump in trade, and a continuous steady recovery since then, until, at the time of writing, the dollar is considerably above its normal pre-war value of about ten to [1. But quite apart from these causes there are other factors that operate to affect the price of the dollar. During the War and for some time afterwards the supply of the coins from Austria necessarily ceased, although the demand continued and indeed increased vigorously—to the obvious enhancement of their value. A similar result is due to the fact that they are wanted not only for purposes of legitimate barter, but are also largely used by the natives for melting down for making their articles of jewellery and adornment. Moreover, the native very generally hoards any possessions he may have in the way of dollars, by burying them in a place which he reveals to no one. Consequently not only are these coins withdrawn from circulation temporarily, but in many cases they are entirely lost, as the man dies without having had time to reveal the whereabouts of his bank. To these drains on the available supply must be added the inducement to export dollars in recent times on account of the price of silver ruling. And though the export of dollars was prohibited it was quite well known that quantities went out by every train that left—it was even alleged, with what truth I do not know, that the engine-drivers used to hide them under the coal in the tenders. 0 210 Trade & Commerce The outlook therefore may become serious if steps are not taken to increase the coinage in circulation, as the effect of an unduly inflated price of the dollar due to an artificial shortage of this kind would be to raise the export price of the produce of the country to such an extent that it would be unsaleable in Europe. And unless the native can sell his produce he will have no money to buy imports of cotton and other goods. To some extent this has happened in the last year or two. Abyssinian produce was unsaleable in Europe during 1920-1 owing to the collapse of markets there, and conse- quently nothing was bought in Abyssinia. There being as a result no demand for dollars, the dollar fell until it reached the figure quoted above, i.e. below its normal value. But the moment the demand for produce (and consequently for dollars to buy it) revived in 1922 the dollar rose again because of the reasons already given for the cessation of the supply. Thus things must move in a vicious circle, and the difficulties of the position are still further emphasized by the fluctuations which go on in the country during the year owing to trading operations being necessarily largely restricted to the dry season. The price of the dollar almost always (though not universally) exhibits a tendency to rise during the dry season and to fall during the rains because of the purchase of dollars by traders as and when they need them in the course of the dry months. This means that produce purchased at the end of the season must necessarily be more expensive to a European than if he bought that produce (or bought his dollars) at the beginning of the dry weather. - The inference to be drawn is obvious, and does not need dwelling upon. The tendencies of the situation and the advantages to be derived from it have clearly been perceived by the Italians, for I observed in a recent report from Vienna that Signor Mussolini had in the course of his negotiations with the Austrian Chancellor during the month of April, 1923, dis- GRINDING TEFF FOR BREADMAKING. The lower stone is tilted forward so that as the grain is crushed by the upper stone rubbing backwards and forwards the flour falls down in front. Note the difference in type between the Abyssinian (left) and the Shankala (right). THE L10oN GATE AT HARRAR. One of the five gateways of the ancient city described by Sir Richard Burton, the first European to visit it. Trade & Commerce 211 cussed a proposal to grant the Italian Government the right to mint the Maria Theresa dollars. While I do not in any way pretend to be an expert, I have devoted some space to the discussion of this question as'it is one which is at the basis of all Abyssinian trade, and should be clearly understood and examined by all who contemplate commercial dealings with that country. Its importance is, I have found, hardly grasped by persons who have not come into actual contact with the difficulties—and opportunities —which it presents. Another factor which limits production, and as a natural corollary reduces the purchasing power of the native, is the system of taxation. I have described this system fully elsewhere, and from this it will readily be seen that instead of being allowed and encouraged to produce as much as ever he can, and consequently to produce more cheaply, the cultivator has been in many parts of Abyssinia treated in such a way as to cause him to produce the minimum. The local governors in many cases took under the guise of taxation not merely the legal 10 per cent in kind, but also as much more as their particular degree of rapacity allowed them to. Their soldiery helped themselves still further. In some parts the natives were not allowed to begin to sell their coffee to traders before a certain arbitrary date, dependent on the will of the local Governor, even though demand might be great, prices good, and transport available at the moment. In one district I heard that when the native had sold his coffee he was not infrequently pillaged of his resulting dollars by the soldiery before he could either buy the cotton goods he needed, or hoard up his money by burying it. (I am glad to say this Governor has been removed). Consequently he has been driven to produce as little as possible, that is, just enough to keep him and his family going, and to pay his taxes. This reduced his buying power, 212 Trade & Commerce and as a result reduced the possible amount of imports, and impoverished the whole country. Fortunately this state of affairs is being looked into and certain alterations are under consideration ; the Ras recently visited one of his provinces, remitted a certain portion of the taxation, and actually abolished entirely the duty on cotton in order to increase production. The merchant is further hampered by the system of Customs administration, and by the fact that all goods coming into the capital by railway have a three-fold Customs barrier to cross—the French at Djibouti, and the Abyssinian at Dirre-Daoua and at Addis Ababa. The Djibouti Customs is a most irritating bit of official- dom. The goods are merely in transit, the port is presum- ably a free one for goods in transit, and unless it is a case of arms and ammunition the authorities are not in any way concerned with what goes through. Yet long lists have to be made out (or had to up till recently) in duplicate and in handwriting, not typewriting, specifying every package, its contents, numbers, quantity, value, etc. etc. In one instance the precise contents of each bottle and box in a large con- signment of medicines had to be specified in detail. Then although no Customs duties as such are allowable, yet so- called statistical and transit dues are charged, making up quite a number of small items. And at one time, nearly a year after the end of the Great War, the authorities were levying, incredible as it may seem, a contribution of 10 per cent iz kind on all transit consignments of sugar, paraffin, and rice, for the purpose of feeding the inhabitants of the Colony because they were short of these commodities ! All this causes expense to the importer, for apart from the actual payments, an otherwise unnecessary staff has to be kept at Djibouti for filling up the innumerable forms, work- ing the goods through the Customs, complying with the official formalities, and getting the goods put on rail. It is interesting to note in this connection that so ardent a 2 Trade & Commerce 213 Frenchman as Prince Henri d’Orleans complained bitterly in his book of the hindrance to trade with Abyssinia caused by the Djibouti Customs. Having run the gauntlet at Djibouti, the goods eventually arrive at Dirre-Daoua. Here is perhaps a still greater burden and handicap, for though the goods may be booked through for Addis Ababa and have to go through the Customs there, yet everything is turned out of the train, opened, examined, and delayed ; it may be imagined what loss and expense is incurred as a result of paying Customs duty in two instal- ments. To repack hundreds of cases in the careful and skilled way in which they were originally packed in Europe is, after they have been pulled to pieces by the Abyssinian Customs officials to satisfy their curiosity, an impossibility. And the cases once having been opened are not properly fastened again, goods are pilfered from them while they are lying about (often for weeks) at Dirre-Daoua, and the remnants frequently arrive broken and damaged. Conse- quently another staff has to be kept at Dirre-Daoua to deal with goods there, and to effect their transport with as little loss and damage as possible by means of hard work, cajolery, and bribery. Again and again were representations made to the central authorities on this question, but matters remained iz statu quo; long delayed improvements have however just recently been put in hand. Finally the goods arrive at Addis Ababa, where there is yet another Customs examination and payment of the balance of the 12 per cent ad valorem duty leviable, And the assessment of the value in the case of goods not previously specially tariffed gives rise to difficulties which may be imagined. For exportation, permits are required, and export duty is payable, leviable by weight. Incredible as it may seem the goods to be exported from Addis—hides for example—are all taken out of the train at Dirre-Daoua and weighed over again! Now they have probably been some time en route 214 Trade & Commerce exposed to the elements ; if it is during the rainy season, the wet will have made them heavier, if during the dry season the sun may have made them lighter. In either case the unhappy exporter is liable to be fined for having made a false declaration. I am, however, glad to be able to say that a slight concession has recently been made in this connection, by discharging only 10 per cent of the consignment for re- weighing and checking. This however is to some extent nullified by charging porterage on 66 per cent of the whole consignment. These are some of the Customs difficulties which apply to goods coming or going by railway. For goods travelling in the interior by mule caravan other joys are in store. A per- mit has to be obtained and a tax per mule load paid before starting. But every local governor through whose territory a caravan journeys has established his own kellz or octroi, and levies anything he likes from a quarter of a dollar to a dollar per mule. His representatives frequently require a certain amount of “financial inducement” to let the caravan through, and as a caravan may have to pass through four or five different governorships the difficulties and cost involved are considerable. Some time ago complaint was made of this, and it was suggested that a single central tax per mule should be imposed at the point of departure, and that local kellas should be abolished. This was agreed to, and the increased central tax was imposed, but some of the local kellas still function, as their proprietors felt aggrieved at this unjusti- fiable curtailment of their revenue. The working of the railway itself also gives rise to real difficulty. It is hard to believe, but none the less true, that goods take almost as long to come from Djibouti to Addis by rail as they did formerly by camel caravan, and the condition in which they arrive is frequently little better. Six weeks to two months is a normal period in which to expect one’s goods, and one consignment belonging to a friend of ours . Trade & Commerce 213 arrived at Aden on 3rd November and was received by him from the Customs in Addis Ababa on the 23rd January, a period of eleven and a half weeks ! This is due partly to the vexatious triple Customs ar- rangement referred to above, partly to the transhipment at Dirre-Daoua, partly to the lack of rolling stock, and partly to the general lack of proper organization on the railway. I was given some remarkable instances of this during my last visit. Apparently the Company refuse to issue rate- books to traders on the grounds that such information is “ confidential ”’—a somewhat humorous effort to disguise the fact that their own staff do not know the rates them- selves. So many were the mistakes, and so heavy the over- charges, that an ex-employé of the railway set up in business as a sort of rate-recovery agent,” and many of the bigger merchants utilized his services with profit to him and to themselves. His modus operandi was simple : the merchants sent him their * lettres de voiture,” and from his inside knowledge and relations he was able to check the charges and to secure repayment of the excess ; his fee was 50 per cent of the amount recovered if successful, and nothing otherwise. I believe that his success was such that he was offered a lucrative post—elsewhere ! Then, again, the Company provide no depots or ware- houses at Addis, and as a result goods sent to the station are exposed to both pilfering and the effects of sun and rain. They are not formally accepted for transit by the Company until they are actually loaded on to the trucks, partly because of the responsibility for custody, and partly because the railway are bound to deliver goods at Djibouti within a limited time from formal receipt, and, though the goods may be lying at the station for weeks, the period of transit does not begin to count until they are loaded up. This is due mainly to the shortage of rolling stock, for which the Company are responsible ; and the effect of the shortage of rolling stock is accentuated by the Dirre-Daoua 216 Trade & Commerce Customs arrangements described above, for which the Company is certainly not to blame. The responsible French representatives of the Company in Abyssinia are very charming and delightful people who do everything they can for the convenience of travellers (travellers, in fact, have very little to complain of), and who always seem to me to be good men struggling against adver- sity. Their job is not an easy one, and they have a pretty poor, if numerous, subordinate staff. Thus currency, taxation, customs, and transport all play their part in hampering rather than assisting trade, and, as I have already said, it is an essential preliminary to develop- ment on a large scale that these services should be improved or reorganized. Taxation and customs are the first things to be tackled in the country, and every well-wisher of Abyssinia can only hope that the Regent’s efforts to deal with these matters will meet with the success they deserve in the interests alike of the Abyssinians themselves and of those who have dealings with them. It is remarkable that, in spite of these hindrances and drawbacks, the volume of trade should be what it is ; it is, however, but a small fraction of what it might be, and of what it no doubt will be. CHAPTER XIX Agriculture & Industry T is the barest truth to say that Abyssinia is self- supporting so far as foodstuffs are concerned; not only does she actually produce more than enough to feed her people, but she could easily produce a large exportable surplus, a fact which is hardly surprising when it is realized that the density of her population is probably less than one twenty-fifth of our own, or, in other words, that a country nearly four times as large as Britain has a population not much over one-sixth or one-seventh of ours. Owing to the varying levels and the consequent difference of temperature almost everything that can be grown any- where can be grown in Abyssinia, tropical and European. Every traveller who has been there bears testimony to this feature of the country. For example, Mr. Wylde reported in 1896-7 that “within a few hours’ march the following variety of fruit, grain, and vegetables will be found. . . . The banana, grape, orange, lime, pomegranate, peach, apricot, and blackberry ; dhurra, maize, wheat, bhamea, tomato, potato, and many other sorts of vegetables.” And again, describing another part of the country, he says : “ First the tropical reeds, then the sugar-cane and bananas, followed by cotton fields . . . dhurra followed the cotton, and this was succeeded by maize, linseed, and other semi-tropical Abyssinian grains; and after another stiff climb up an execrable path we opened out on to the wheat and barley land.” 217 218 Agriculture & Industry I have myself seen blackberries and tropical palms grow- ing in close proximity, and in our own garden, where roses flowered from January to December, tuberose and violets, lilies and chrysanthemums, were growing in the same beds at the same time. And as to vegetables, I think that an English gardener’s envy will be roused when he hears that we laid out a kitchen yard in an uncultivated field in December, and in January we were eating some of the produce. The fertility of the soil is such that three and even in some places four crops are obtained by the natives, in spite of their extraordinarily primitive methods and appliances, and in spite of the long duration of the dry season and the pretty general absence of irrigation, practically the only form of which is the digging of trenches round the fields to carry off the heavy rains, and to retain a little moisture on into the dry season. Of course, the more far-seeing among them give the ground a rest from time to time, and if they own a fairly extensive acreage they even occasionally allow the ground to lie fallow for a year or more. The native implements of agriculture are still excessively primitive : they appear to have very few iron utensils. For digging they use long, pointed poles ; several natives, stand- ing in a row, force these into the earth, and then prize up a lump of sod which is afterwards broken up with a kind of short, two-pronged wooden fork. The majority of their ploughs are also made of wood, but often, especially in the districts within reach of the railway line, the wooden point which enters the ground is covered with a piece of iron; the result is that the surface of the earth is merely scratched. Even the native hatchets are often of wood, cut from the mimosa tree, and it is quite a common sight to see a woman hacking up her firewood with an all-wooden chopper. The method of gathering the crops and threshing is indeed primitive. The cutting is done by hand, of course, with knives or rough sickles—scythes are never used—and Agriculture & Industry 219 the corn is cut off quite near the top, close to the ears ; this is then generally made into quite good little stacks, or some- times is threshed at once. A smooth piece of ground is chosen, the corn piled upon it, and threshed by oxen tread- ing it round and round, after which it is thrown up into the air by hand, and the winds carrying away the chaff, the grain is left. In some districts—Arussi, for example—the grain is then stored in quaint egg-shaped mud huts about five or six feet high, raised from the ground on three or four wooden legs and thatched with grass ; here it remains until it is needed for local consumption, or until the travelling zagadis come round to buy it, load it on to their mules, and take it into the towns or other districts to sell. Excluding coffee, to which reference is made elsewhere, the principal food-crops which are grown are, in the order of their importance, zzff (a kind of millet), barley, doura, chick-peas, maize, wheat, flax, pepper, and guecho. The first of these is by far the most important, as it is the basis of the principal food of the population—namely, their endjera or dabo. It is grown on most of the high ground in the country, and is found in two varieties, red and white. Barley is almost as important a crop, and it is grown in some of the low country as well as in the highlands ; it is used for the manufacture of talla, the native beer, and with grass is the universal foodstuff of ponies and mules. Doura is grown extensively in the low country and takes the place of teff. Chick-peas are fairly extensively cultivated and are much eaten, especially in the Gourage country ; they are eaten raw or made up into a peppery compound, and are also used for horses and cattle, which appreciate them immensely. Maize is not grown very extensively. I believe it is found principally in the Harrar district. Wheat is not grown very much; of course, it is only 220 Agriculture & Industry planted in the highlands, where it is found in three varieties —red, white, and yellow ; its consumption is mainly by the Europeans in the country, though a little is exported. Flax is used mainly as cattle food. Pepper, a very hot variety of chili, is immensely popular, and enters into the composition of nearly every cooked dish in the country, and is widely cultivated. Guecho is grown very generally ; the leaves are in great request for the fermentation of talla and tj, the national beverages, of which the consumption is considerable. It is a shrub which would appear to belong to the genus laurel. Possibly, however, the most general and most useful crop of all is grass. This is a most valuable asset, and many of the population in the neighbourhood of Addis draw the bulk of their livelihood from it; the grass market, with its hundreds of donkeys piled high with huge bundles of grass, is a really remarkable sight. Consequently it is not sur- prising that, whereas during the dry season it is possible to ride almost anywhere over the country, directly the rains commence fences and barriers spring up as if by magic, paths are barred, and many of one’s former short cuts are found to be closed to traffic.” And any attempt to ignore the newly formed landmarks is apt to be resented with stones and even rifles; riding over grass by Europeans ignorant or callous of native feeling on the subject has been the cause of several unpleasant incidents in recent times. It is a remarkable commentary on the way in which the opportunities of soil and climate are neglected that fruit and vegetables (especially the former) are hardly met with near the capital, except in private European gardens. Ihave never been able to obtain a satisfactory explanation of this, for it might well have been thought that these products, which grow easily and luxuriantly in so many parts of the country, would be cultivated near or brought into Addis Ababa; yet they are, with a few exceptions, almost un- procurable there apart from a few bananas and oranges Agriculture & Industry 221 brought up from Harrar. The Galla in the district grow a sort of coarse-looking cabbage which reaches a height of from three to six feet, and which is uncommonly nasty ; potatoes, onions, and the ordinary cabbages are generally to be obtained in the market. A fair amount of pumpkins and gourds are grown round the tukuls outside the city. The pumpkin serves the native for several purposes ; the flesh makes good eating, the seed is dried and pounded and taken medicinally as a cure for internal parasites, and the rind is dried and used as a receptacle for butter, milk, etc. Needless to say, the gourd is used all over the country, and is found in all sizes and shapes, and a very useful article it is to the native for carrying water or any kind of liquid. The wild fig tree grows abundantly in many districts and reaches a tremendous size ; but the fruit is hardly fit to eat, though birds and monkeys seem to enjoy it thoroughly ; the specimens I tasted near Lake Zwai were very small and exceedingly nasty, being both dry and sour. The production of honey is quite an important factor, and is carried on fairly widely ; it is used mainly for the manufacture of 7¢j. The method of obtaining it is simple : The natives place high up in biggish trees long, cylindrical baskets about three or four feet long and a foot in diameter, containing a little honey, and in these the bees build their hives. The baskets are then pulled down, and the honey is squeezed into goat-skins in which it is carried long distances to market on the backs of donkeys. Needless to say, it re- quires boiling in order to remove the dirt before it can be eaten as honey, but after this has been done it is quite good. The wax is roughly compressed into large blocks and sold to the travelling nagadis, who bring it into Addis or other centres for refining by boiling ; it contains about 10 to 30 per cent impurity when brought in, and the price, of course, varies accordingly. But, although all the produce I have described is raised 222 Agriculture & Industry in quantities sufficient for the immediate needs of the population, I do not think it an exaggeration to say that it is the minimum that could be produced. Far more could be raised per acre by the use of proper methods and imple- ments, very many more acres could be put under cultiva- tion, and a still greater variety of produce could be got out of the soil, given the necessary instruction and encourage- ment. I have so far referred only to foodstuffs. From an industrial point of view, the utilization of the possibilities of the country is still less advanced, and nearly everything remains to be done. I noticed in a recent Press statement that the Soudan Government, the Kassala Railway Company, and the Soudan Plantations Syndicate have in contemplation the extension of cotton growing in Kassala near the Abyssinian frontier, and that the railway is to be extended there ; it is therefore possible that the cotton possibilities of Abyssinia may at no distant date be brought more into the limelight. At a time when the world is being ransacked for suitable cotton-growing areas it is remarkable that the known and recognized possibilities of Abyssinia in this connection are not made use of. It is no new thing ; the suitability of the country for cotton growing and the excellent quality of the cotton produced were pointed out by Dr. Beke, who travelled extensively in Abyssinia so long ago as 1842-3, and who later advocated before the Manchester Cotton Association the undertaking of cotton plantations there. Other travellers of different nationalities have at intervals since then repeatedly confirmed these views, and some samples which have been examined just recently by experts proved to be equal to good Egyptian. It is actually grown in many parts of the country and is used by the natives for the manufacture of beautiful finely woven chammas ; the Regent is so much interested in this product that he has recently remitted the 10 per cent tithe. Agriculture & Industry 223 Of course, the method of ginning, spinning, and weaving is very primitive : the seed is taken out by hand, the cotton is then “ flicked ”” with a gut string stretched tightly across a wooden bow, by which means the cleansing is completed and the cotton fluffed out into a fine soft mass ready for spinning. It is spun backwards and forwards on to reels, and from these wound round and round posts placed in the ground twenty or thirty yards apart, from which it is once more wound off into skeins with the help of rough square frames : all this work is done by hand. Then it is ready for the weaver, who, sitting on the ground with his feet in a pit, produces really fine tissues with the help of his primitive hand-loom. Of course, the amount of time involved in these various processes is very great, consequently the products are more expensive than the imported sheetings, and the industry is on a small scale. In this it is typical of all other industries in the country, the condition of which is embryonic. For example, although oil seed (linseed, castor, sunflower, and others) is produced, the quantities made available have hitherto been so small comparatively as to preclude the possibility of creating an export trade of any dimensions in these commodities. And though the seeds are used locally to express oil, the methods in vogue are not such as to inspire enthusiasm. I was watch- ing some Abyssinians engaged on this work one day ; in the middle of a shed was a very large hollow tree-trunk about a yard high filled with oil seed, in which was resting a heavy log with a branch projecting from it at right angles. The projecting branch was heavily weighted with large stones and fastened to a camel, which with its eyes bandaged with plaited grass blinkers walked round and round the tree-trunk turning the log as it circulated, thus crushing the oil seed between the log and the hollow tree-trunk, so that a thin trickle of oil emerged from below. This was sold at a piastre a glass, and was highly recommended to me by the enthusiastic manufacturer as being excellent for cooking 224 Agriculture & Industry purposes. I was invited to taste it from the filthiest glass I have ever seen; but the combination of smells in the shed, the appearance of the oil, and the fact that the gentle- man who offered it to me had previously removed an insect of repulsive appearance from the glass with his fingers (he had just been fondling the camel) led me to decline. Apart from cotton production there is not much to be said for national industry. Basket weaving is carried on fairly widely, and very beautiful are some of these pro- ductions, woven by means of large pins with straw of many colours and varying thicknesses, sometimes so fine as to be almost like cloth in appearance. They are of many sizes, from a few inches to a couple of feet or even more ; the larger sizes are used mainly as eating tables, on which the large flat, pancake-like loaves of #¢ff bread are spread to receive the other viands. Other shapes and sizes are used for a variety of purposes, i.e. carrying small quantities of ght, pepper, salt, grain, etc. Roughly baked pottery is also made from the clay which is found fairly freely ; they vary in size from huge gombos 3 or 4 feet high, mainly used for carrying and keeping water, down to small bottles and tumblers; some of these are quaint and even picturesque in shape and ornamentation. Silversmiths’ work is also to be met with; the manu- facture of the highly ornamented trappings of mules and horses used for fantasias and on other gala occasions is fairly general, and so is the making of crosses, rings, earrings, and | bracelets, head scratchers and ear cleaners, with which the ladies of the country bedeck themselves lavishly. These are mostly made of silver wire, very often gilt, worked in a filigree design and soldered on to silver plates which have been previously hammered out to the shape desired. The silver is obtained by melting down Abyssinian dollars, and the price of the articles is generally fixed at their weight in dollars plus a percentage for workmanship, frequently half as much again. Agriculture & Industry 225 Their outfit is simple—a hammer and anvil, a pair of pincers, a charcoal fire, and a goat-skin bellows seem to con- stitute the bulk of the necessary stock-in-trade ; and with this primitive equipment they certainly produce some very attractive things. My wife was given a really artistic bracelet made by an Abyssinian ; it was composed of gold wire strands and elephant hair woven together in a very pretty design, and the workmanship left nothing to be desired. Gold is found in the country, but has never been ex- ploited industrially. The French engineer Comboul, who was engaged in prospecting and survey work for four years during Menelik’s reign in Wallaga and Enarea, reported the discovery not only of alluvial gold which the Gallas had obtained from time immemorial by washing, but also of seams of auriferous quartz ; in his view “ Le Ouallaga n’est certainement pas inférieur au Transvaal.” ‘The same en- gineer also reported the existence of iron, copper, and nickel ores, and of two deposits of lignite. Stern stated that iron ore was found in many districts, and that the very primitive form of smelting utilized by the natives produces never- theless a metal which established the superiority of the ore.” As is well known, indications of oil have been found in British Somaliland not far from the Abyssinian borders, and it is at least conceivable that this oil might derive from the Harrar foothills ; efforts have recently been made to verify this, with what success I have not heard.? Salt has been exploited in the country for a considerable time, and is produced in small quantities, and lime is also found, but neither can be said to have been really properly worked at all. The presence of other minerals has been reported by prospectors from time to time as the result of spasmodic and unorganized research, but no comprehensive survey of the country on a systematic basis has ever been undertaken. 1 Note at end of Chapter. P 226 Agriculture & Industry The available information is inadequate to enable any very definite pronouncement to be made as to the mineral possi- bilities of the country from an industrial point of view, but there is probably enough evidence to make it worth while to undertake the examination of such possibilities ; various concessions have been granted, but none of them is being exploited. There are no factories or workshop-industries of any kind in existence, if we except a few flour mills worked by water power, the only use to which this great national asset has been put. 1 Since the above was written it has been reported that the Anglo- American Oil Company have taken up a concession for oil boring in Harrar for 50 years—work to start within 2} years. CHAPTER XX Communications, Travel & Trekking EW subjects in Abyssinia have caused such bitter controversy amongst the European powers con- cerned as the question of the communications of the country. And as a result they may be said to be practically non-existent with the exception of the 500 miles of railway from Djibouti to Addis Ababa. This railway, a French enterprise of which the original capital was largely British, is naturally the main artery of communication between Abyssinia and the outside world. Monopoly as it therefore is, great things might have been expected of it ; but unfortunately it has not fulfilled expec- tations. It has been a source of constant trouble to all concerned from its initiation, and up to the present has been run at a considerable loss annually at the expense of the taxpayers in France, in spite of the imposition of heavy and continually increasing charges.? I do not propose to go into the early history of this railway now; it is dealt with fully and accurately in Mr. T. Lennox Gilmour’s little book on the subject, published in 1906. At that time the railway had not got beyond Dirre-Daoua, 306 kilometres from the coast (go in French Somaliland and 216 in Abyssinia), which section had been building from 1897 to 1902. During the next seven years financial and political difficulties hampered further extension ; and it was not until the end of 1909 that work started again, and of 1917 that the line was com- pleted to Addis, a further 460 kilometres—a total length of 766 kilometres. j 1 Note at end of Chapter. 227 228 Travel & Trekking The political difficulties had been settled by the 1906 Agreement between England, France, and Italy, which provided inter alia for the appointment of a British Director to the Board of the Franco-Ethiopian Railway. Unfor- tunately this appointment has not been made—a great pity, as much friction might be avoidedif thiswere done, especially if the British Director visited Abyssinia occasionally. It is to the interest of all those in any way concerned with Abyssinia that the railway should be a success, and the efforts of the nationals of all countries should be directed to assist the company to achieve this. In present circum- stances the railway does not by any means afford that help to development and expansion which is the raison d’¢tre of such an undertaking. Whether this be due to the fact that the railway was constructed more from political than from commercial considerations, and that its course was planned more with an eye to engineering difficulties than to trade possibilities (it runs for over a third of its length through unproductive country) ; or that it is badly managed and consequently too costly to pay; or that the other conditions in Abyssinia (described elsewhere) inimical to progress have equally affected it;-or to a combination of all these causes, it is hard to say. But the fact remains. So long ago as 1902, when it had only just reached Dirre- Daoua, Lord Hindlip writes of the rolling stock: “The engines, however, were sadly in want of repair; during every journey nuts had to be tightened, and frequently when drawing heavy loads the engine would refuse an incline, and had to retire for another ¢ go.” ” These words might have been written yesterday ; these very incidents (and others) happened during journeys that we ourselves made on the railway in 1919 and 1920. In many other respects also the rolling stock leaves much to be desired. I do not in any way wish to minimize the difficulties of the Travel & Trekking 229 railway management; they have to carry on their work under conditions which are not exactly everyday features of such undertakings in Europe. Some of the tribes (Danakil and Somali) through whose territory the railway passes appear to be still under the impression that the rails, sleepers, and fishplates have been placed there mainly for the purpose of supplying them with materials for the manufacture of spear-heads, and telegraph-wire for the purpose of making copper bangles and other articles of personal adornment. This is apt to impede the traffic and to cause unexpected developments, to which breaks in the monotony of railway management may be added the periodical disappearance of portions of the ‘ permanent” way during the rainy season. Consequently trains run only in the day-time. Even so, passengers occasionally enjoy (?) unrehearsed effects. On one occasion the line had given way on or immediately adjacent to the great Hawash bridge, and the unhappy travellers amid rain and mud had to clamber across a bridge never intended by its constructors for pedestrian traffic, and with their hearts in their mouths watch the swirling torrent below (incidentally plentifully supplied with crocodiles) whilst making their way to safety and another train on the other side. Whilst I was in the country a party of raiding Danakils descended on the line, cut down eight or ten kilometres of copper wire, loaded it on to a regular caravan of animals they had brought up for the purpose, and disappeared into space. A commission of investigation was despatched to look into the matter, and whilst pursuing their labours the Danakil (or some of their friends) returned, pulled up twenty or twenty-five iron telegraph poles and carted these little objects away, just to show how easily it could be done. Decrees have been issued thundering out denunciations of the crimes, threatening all sorts of penalties, and even menacing with imprisonment persons found wearing bangles 230 Travel & Trekking of copper wire. But all in vain. So the railway company, whether in despair or to minimize temptation, replaced the copper by iron wire. Promptly arrived our friends the Danakil and proceeded to pull it down, but finding it was not made of copper and being no doubt justifiably annoyed at finding their supplies of raw material for ornamentation thus arbitrarily cut off, they signified their disgust by cut- ting up the inferior substitute into short lengths and leaving it lying there. These and other similar incidents do not make the working of the line an altogether simple matter, and the difficulties they have to contend with must be taken into account when criticizing the Company. But when due allowance has been made for the peculiar conditions under which they have to work, it is impossible altogether to acquit those in authority of blame for the many and obvious shortcomings of the line, and the troubles suffered by the users thereof. Of course journeys on the railway may be interesting and amusing—especially if someone of authority is on the train. When the Prince Regent went down the line recently the driver was instructed to stop whenever he saw any game, and after various fruitless stops at last a lion was sighted about forty yards from the track gazing at the train in mild interest. Amid great excitement the engine was pulled up and the Ras and the Europeans with him seized their rifles and prepared for the fray. But unfortunately one of the many soldiers on the train in the excitement of the moment loosed off his gun and the lion disappeared in the bush, followed by the royal party. They were however obliged to return minus the king of beasts, and the excitable soldier had leisure to regret his impetuosity during a period of imprisonment. Apart from the railway, caravans of mules and camels, donkeys and pack-ponies form the only means of transport if a very limited number of ox-wagons in the immediate vicinity of Addis be excepted ; indeed, on one route at least Travel & Trekking 211 human transport has to be resorted to. The reason for this is that the waterways are with a few small exceptions non- navigable, and there are no roads. The only river which can be said to be suitable for trans- port purposes is the Baro on the western frontier, and that only from Gambela downwards. It is about 100 miles from here to the frontier where the Baro joins the Sobat, the two together running into the Nile near Taufikia. These rivers are generally navigable from about the middle of June to early in November as far up as Gambela; as far up as Nasser on the Abyssinian frontier they are navigable for a good deal longer. But the Baro has a very steep slope, its level varies rapidly and falls directly the rains cease, and then it quickly becomes too low to be of any practical use from the point of view of navigation. The caravans have to follow tracks winding tortuously through valleys and over mountains, and across rivers and streams, generally by fording. The rivers are bridged— sparsely—but such bridges as there are do not inspire confi dence on close inspection; they seem to have been con- structed by optimists for optimists. And the Abyssinians themselves seem to share this view, for they have a habit of blocking them up by driving in posts, or by piling up huge heaps of brushwood at the approaches during the dry season, so as to compel travellers to use the fords, and thus presumably to prolong the life of the bridge. Fording rivers is pleasant and amusing enough as long as they are not too deep, and crocodiles not too conspicuous, even though the ponies stu ble and slip among the big stones in the river-bed and threaten their riders with a duck- ing, and the pack-mules manifest a sudden desire to stop in mid-stream and have a cooling roll. But crossing the same rivers in the rains is by no means a simple proposition ; for example, the navigation of the Abai at these times is per- formed by the aid of a raft of ox-hides stuffed with grass and 232 Travel & Trekking with one’s personal belongings, which floats quite well and so buoys up the traveller across the torrent: a method similar to that in which the crossing of the Euphrates used to be effected in the time of Herodotus. All journeys have to be done by trekking, and provided the traveller is not in a hurry no more delightful method of moving about can be imagined. So whether it be a business or a shooting trip or merely a holiday jaunt for rest and change, you map Out your route, prepare your caravan and disappear, not to be heard of again until some time after the appointed day of return, for things do not work out to time there as a rule. Trekking in the wilds is popularly supposed to be an arduous and uncomfortable form of procedure, full of risks and hardships, and an enterprise only to be undertaken by the hardy pioneer. And though it may be so in (for example) ‘waterless country or through desert, yet in most cases there is no reason why one should not be more com- fortable on trek in Abyssinia than in a house in Europe. Given the proper equipment, the right sort of tent, comfortable beds and chairs, an ample supply of the things you want and rigorous rejection of the unnecessary para- phernalia that makes travelling a burden, and I feel sure that the people whose ideas of trekking are gathered, for example, from the miseries of “camping out” by the Thames in England, would never wish to return to civilized modes of travel. The delightful freedom of the life, the early morning feeling of freshness and vitality as one wakes soon after dawn after a night in the open air, the day’s ride through beautifu! and ever-changing scenery, now winding along a rocky mountain pass looking down hundreds of feet on a panorama of forest and plain stretching for miles around, now dipping down into a valley or crossing a lazily moving river : and all the while birds, butterflies, flowers, and trees, dazzling and delighting the eye. Then the evening camp, Travel & Trekking | 242 the twinkling fires, the merry chattering servants, the last visit to the ponies before turning in—and you drop off to well-earned sleep in the almost audible silence of the African bush, broken only perhaps by the cry of a nightbird or the yap of a jackal. Of course you will strike snags in the course of your treks, and all is not always couleur de rose. For example, the caravan has a little way of missing the camping ground, or of arriving late—sometimes the cook who ought to be the first man “ home ” goes astray and turns up just when you are resigning yourself to a dinner of cold tinned stuff. Or if it is in the rainy season a storm may develop as the tents are going up, with delightfully unexpected results. Or just when settled for the night the ponies may stampede, or a hyena may get at a mule, and the camp wakes with much yelling and cursing, to the detriment of one’s beauty sleep. We had a pretty good example of the last-named trouble on our last trek. An ox had been skinned and cut up rather too near the camp, and the smell of blood and of the joints of raw meat hanging in the trees had attracted a number of jackals and hyenas to the neighbourhood at a very early hour of the evening. Soon after six the long low bodies of the jackals had been slinking round calling with their melancholy howls their friends the hyenas, and then these ungainly brutes with their curious lopsided trot had appeared from many directions, until at about eight o’clock literally dozens of them must have been around us. Shrieks of demoniacal laughter made the night hideous as they fought over the scraps lying about, varied by lugubrious howls and wails to the accompaniment of which we retired to sleep. Large fires had been built, a guard stationed, and the ponies and mules strongly piqueted by ropes fastened to pegs driven into the ground. But in spite of all our precautions at about one o’clock the ravening beasts burst right into the camp, the terrified ponies and mules broke their ropes, and with a thunder of hoofs fled in every direc- tion. They fell over the guy ropes of the tent and nearly 234 Travel & Trekking brought it down, our men added to their terror by shooting wildly at the hyenas and yelling at the tops of their voices, and by the time I had got outside my tent the camp was empty save for a couple of men left to guard the remains of the meat. All that night and the next day parties of men came dribbling back, mostly with their feet full of thorns, and by the evening we could reckon up our losses—five mules and two ponies irretrievably lost, half a dozen men too lame to walk, the rest of the party weary, sulky, and thoroughly out of conceit with themselves. But fortunately that sort of thing does not often happen, and anyway, these little misadventures taken in the right spirit serve to prevent monotony. A bush fire is about the most unpleasant thing to meet when on trek, especially if the traveller happens to be on the wrong side of it. I know few more awe-inspiring sights than this, and on the few occasions I haveseen it, it has seemed to represent to me hell materialized. A great sheet of fire stretching perhaps for miles, huge pillars of flame shooting up round the large trees, dense volumes of smoke, the crackling of the blaze, the tremendous heat of the fire, the suffocation of the smoke ; the terrified wild animals flying headlong before it, forgetting their everyday feuds in their common terror of their mighty and devastating foe—all this makes up a spectacle of grandeur that is hard to rival, but which is more pleasant if less thrilling to witness with the wind behind one—as fortunately occurred to us on our last trek. There is another somewhat disconcerting” element of trekking in Abyssinia, and that is the complete ignorance of either time or direction on the part of one’s so-called “ guides.” Of course the traveller may be lucky enough to find a man who really does know the part of the country he wishes to visit, but I have generally found (and I notice other travellers have said the same thing) that although at the beginning of the trek the guide knows all about it, it does A MINOR CHIEF OF THE ARUSSI GALLA. A typical specimen of this fine-looking pagan race, east of Lake Zwai. THE REED CANOES OF LAKE ZWAI. Floating in (not on) the water this craft is made of reeds lashed together, the thin ends forming the bow and the thick the stern. It accommodates the fisherman, his nets, paddle, and his ‘‘ catch.” Travel & Trekking 23 5 not take very long to find out that he has either never beento the district at all, or perhaps only ten or fifteen years ago. When we were going to Zwai we were making for the north- east top corner of the Lake—we actually struck it near the southern extremity ! It was a really beautiful spectacle when we did get there— we had caught glimpses of it for some time lying many hundreds of feet below us like a bright blue jewel set in a circle of dark green forest, all framed in a great ring of savage-looking dust brown mountains. We had for some days been trekking through wonderful country, dropping through great gorges and chasms in the rocks amid thick mimosa forest and quantities of the futurist-looking euphorbia trees, crossing dried-up river-beds densely covered with vegetation of every kind and colour, scrambling across streams the beds of which, composed of large boulders, made us tremble for our ponies’ legs, crossing a river at a ford were the water lapped up on to the saddles, and finally struggling through a pass up a track where the mules had to be unloaded, their packs man-handled to the top, and the poor beasts hoisted up by main force. And then on Christmas Eve we came to the lake and— strange coincidence—found mistletoe growing on some trees near by. That was the only thing to remind us of the season, for the blazing sun, the bright blue sky, the green vegetation and the thousands of birds of every size and shape and colour on the lake were about as unlike an English December as anything could well be. As is the case with so many places in Abyssinia, Zwai is rich in tradition. It was supposed to have been originally dry land, an area some fifty miles in diameter divided amongst seven chiefs. Then in a single night it was sub- merged to the accompaniment of terrific rumblings and upheavals, and in the morning where there had been land there was now a lake in the midst of which floated five islands. One of these islands is in fact used to-day as a sort 236 Travel & Trekking of State prison; there is a monastery on it in which all sorts of valuables and literary treasures were supposed to have been stored for safety when Gran invaded that part of the country. King Sehala Salassie sent a man there to see what could be found, but he reported that there was nothing but manuscripts, and when Menelik investigated the place himself he did not find anything of great interest even among the manuscripts. Trekking in Abyssinia, as anywhere else in Africa, may be comfortable or uncomfortable according to the traveller’s experience and resources. But, as I have said above, given the proper equipment (and knowledge) nothing could be more delightful. There are, however, certain peculiarities attaching to this form of travel in Abyssinia of which the traveller should be aware if he wishes to avoid trouble or inconvenience. In the first place, it is necessary to have a permit from the central authority, specifying the number of persons, horses, mules, rifles, and revolvers in the party; this is easily obtained and costs only about $15. (The dollar is now equivalent roughly to 2s.). Then it is usual (unless the trek is to be a very long one extending over many months) to engage a nagadi, or master muleteer, who provides all the mules and mule drivers at an inclusive charge of $3 per pack mule per day when on the move and $1 when in camp. This avoids a lot of trouble, as the nagadi is responsible for finding, feeding, loading, and unloading the mules, and as they are his property he will take more care of them than if they belonged to the traveller. On our last trip we had about twenty-two pack animals. It is, however, well to examine the mules a few days before starting, and to reject any with sore backs—a detail which does not trouble the Abyssinian. Apart from the horrible cruelty of loading beasts in that condition, it will mean delay and trouble en route, ending probably with a shortage of serviceable animals, Travel & Trekking 237 When the poor beast gets too sore they “fire” it; the mule is thrown down and a hot iron laid on the flesh near the sore. Itsounds barbarous, but strange to say it is remarkably effective, and I have seen this done, the animal get up, eat a sort of bran mash, trot off to graze, and be fit for work in a couple of days. This soreness is no doubt due frequently to the primitive nature of the pack saddle, and the curious way of fastening on the loads. The saddle has no girth, it is merely laid on the mule’s back, the load divided into two nearly equal weights laid across it, and the whole then fastened on by leather lashings which are ingeniously brought round under the animal’s belly and fastened over the ‘top of the load. It is remarkable how effective this method of saddling is— and it needs to be. For commend me to an Abyssinian mule as being a concentrated essence of almost devilish ingenuity in ridding himself of his load if for some reason he thinks there is a chance of being successful in his efforts. He will suddenly charge a tree so that one side of the pack hits the trunk fair and square, and with any luck and a few subsequent bucks off it comes. Or he will run under a low- lying branch of a nice prickly mimosa so that the limb of the tree just misses his head and catches the load, with alarming results to the position and condition of the load, the mule- teer’s efforts to put matters right being considerably ham- pered by the two-inch thorns of the mimosa, no doubt carefully selected by the mule for that purpose. But the nagadi is pretty good as a rule in coping with his animals’ eccentricities—the pair are fairly matched. In addition to the z#agads and his men it is necessary to have a number of 2abanias or soldier-guards. These men guard the camp at night in pairs, help with the loading and and unloading, put up and take down the tents, and act as general utility men. And finally there is the usual complement of personal servants, such as personal boy, cook, 238 Travel & Trekking cook’s boy, and grooms, and generally a good head-man or caravan leader. The following will give an idea of the necessary outfit for two persons for a month or two’s trek :— Head-man . : $20 to $40 per month. 2 Personal boys (8 10)... $20 ,, i Cook . . ‘ $20. ,, 5 Cook’s boy . . . $8. ,, 5 2 saises (grooms) ($8) . $16. .,, 6 Zabanias ($10) . : $60 55 Nagadi (including men : and pack mules) say $295 5 Total wages of safari, say, : : $440 or about [44 It is usual to ride when on trek, and personally I infinitely prefer ponies, though many people prefer mules. But the mule though surefooted is a dull animal as a rule, and when he isn’t dull he is often vicious ; moreover, the Abyssinian pony is just as surefooted. The men all walk with the exception of the caravan leader, the cook and the principal personal boy, who are usually given mules to ride (provided by the nagadys), as they are expected to get into camp early and have everything for the master. Other expenses include allowances to all the safari of $1 each for sandals, $2 each for a blanket, and $3 each a month for food ; and it is a good thing to give the men occasionally an ox or a couple of sheep for food en route; as the former beasts costs from $6 to $12 and the latter $1 to $13 the ‘expense is not great. The whole cost of a trip of this kind for two persons worked out in our case at about $600 per month (roughly, £60). This of course does not include the cost of camp equipment—tent, beds, mattresses, blankets, chairs, tables, Travel & Trekking 239 mosquito nets, mule trunks, water bottles, food basket, cookbox, etc. As regards equipment I would only say that I have always found the ant-proof and water-proof green Willesden canvas double tents best for hard wear ; they should be fitted with plenty of pockets round the inside in which to put clothing and odds and ends, and a window at either end covered with mosquito netting. Iron tent pegs are essential. The ground sheet should be attached to the sides and should be large enough to have a good overlap (six inches to a foot) in the middle when down ; this makes an enormous difference to the dryness and cleanliness of the tent, and the general comfort and warmth at night. We found the chairs and beds of the Roorkee pattern the most practical, for as the parts are made entirely of wood any of them breaking or getting out of order can be easily replaced. It is useless to save the expense of a few pounds in endeavouring to lessen the luggage, and by so doing leave the necessities of comfort behind ; and it is unwise to rely in this country solely upon what may be picked up in the way of food or even meat. It is often possible to get milk and eggs, but these can by no means be relied on everywhere ; for example, some of the Arussi Gallas to the south-west of Zwai we found very reluctant to supply us with anything, and we were loth to press the chiefs though we were armed with all sorts of authorities for doing so. For the objectionable custom of dergo is one against which travellers should in my view resolutely set their faces. As I mentioned in an earlier chapter, troops on the march, and travellers whom the Cen- tral Government may wish to honour, are entitled to receive dergo from the countries through which they are passing, in other words the chiefs send in provisions—eggs, milk, bread, honey, sheep, goats, or even cattle—collected from the wretched peasants. It is perfectly useless for the traveller to try to salve his conscience by paying the chief: the money 240 Travel &° Trekking will never get to the people who originally provided the goods. It is very advisable to have a well thought-out * larder ” of preserves with the caravan such as tinned fruit, milk, jam, sardines, biscuits, etc. They are invaluable to fall back on in times of shortage, or to supplement the produce of one’s gun, for, as a well-known traveller said to me once, luxuries are much more important than necessaries in the way of food on trek. And finally, it has to be remembered that though the days are pleasantly hot the nights are bitterly cold in the mountains of Abyssinia, so that half a dozen blankets apiece (half above and half underneath) will by no means be des- pised towards one or two ¢’clock in the morning when the night chill seems at its worst. 1 Since writing the above it has been reported that the railway has made a net profit of 367,602 francs for the year 1922—the first year of the operation of a new financial arrangement between the Company and the French Government. Improvements in railway organisation are also announced. CHAPTER XXI1 Animal Life UST as almost every kind of produce that the earth can render is to be found in Abyssinia, so is it possible in the various districts of the country to find an immense variety of animal life. To do justice to such a subject would require much time and travel and a book to itself ; it is much to be hoped that a work of this kind will be undertaken, for it would be of great interest, and little literature bearing on the subject exists. One or two natural- ists have made expeditions into the country, such as that of Ruppell in 1831-3 and of Erlanger in more modern times; but the published results of their works are far from being comprehensive or up to date. Elephant, lion, leopard, serval, civet, wild cat, antelope of many kinds, giraffe, zebra, ostrich, hippopotamus, rhino- ceros, crocodile, otter, hyena, jackal, wild dog, hare, wild pig, monkeys of many species, birds innumerable, butterflies of wonderful colouring, snakes, fish, insects, are all to be met with to a greater or less extent in one part or another, and amongst them are found species which do not exist elsewhere. Unfortunately it is improbable that this state of affairs will long endure, for the Abyssinians are mighty hunters before the Lord,” and as game laws are to all intents and purposes non-existent, game is decreasing rapidly, and is being driven further and further into the more inaccessible parts of the country since the population have become possessed of rifles. This applies specially to elephant and Q 241 242 Animal Life lion ; even before rifles were introduced the Abyssinians hunted these animals with spears, and it is a mark of even greater distinction among them to have killed one of these than to have killed a man. Over two thousand years ago Ptolemy feared that the supply of elephants from his hunting grounds along the Abyssinian coast would fail, and offered the Trogodyte savages rewards to refrain from hunting them, apparently unavailingly. But they still exist, as do lions, and it is to be hoped that measures may be taken to stop their extermination before it is too late. Leopards are still plentiful, they even penetrate into Addis Ababa itself, or at any rate did so a couple of years ago. One of them had made his headquarters in a room at the Russian Legation (which had been shut up for some time before we took it), and when the door was opened the animal’s presence was made evident in no uncertain manner ; he got away into the bush but left bones and other traces behind him—a leopard’s lair is not the sweetest-smelling place in existence. A little later two more were killed in the grounds of the Italian Legation ; one of them made himself particularly offensive by carrying off sheep destined for the larder, and dogs from the very verandah of the Legation. The black leopard is a beautiful creature, and its skin seems rare and little known in Europe ; it is very scarce, and is, I believe, found mainly in the Djimma and Magi districts. I do not think it is a different species of the race, but more probably an example of atavism, as I am told that a black cub is found in a litter of ordinarily marked animals ; the colour of the skin is dark brown, almost black, and the leopard markings show faintly through the dark colour. Antelope of every kind abounds from the Greater Kudu to the tiny dik-dik, but in the case of the larger of these animals it is again unfortunate to have to record that their numbers are diminishing sadly. The little dik-dik is a delightful creature weighing only a few pounds, and quite Animal Life 243 tame and friendly after he has been kept for a little while. Some friends of ours had one which used to wander about on the dinner-table eating the flowers out of the vases ; he was, I remember, particularly fond of carnations. This trait is less attractive when the animals are in a wild state, for then their inroads into the gardens and their predilec- tion for the young shoots are apt to be exceedingly irritating, especially as their appetite seems to be unlimited. The most remarkable species of Abyssinian antelope is the nyala, otherwise known as the Buxton Kudu, which is exceedingly rare, and is, I believe, only met with outside Abyssinia in one or two districts of south-east Africa. They are found, when at all, in the Arussi country, and people have spent months fruitlessly looking for them. While we were in Addis a well-known sportsman, Major de Laessoe, had a remarkable experience with nyala ; although only able to devote three weeks to a trek for shooting purposes, ham- pered by the defective sighting of his rifle which threw eighteen inches to the left, and with a cartridge jambed in one barrel, he was fortunate enough (with one other gun, Mr. Adams) to secure three specimens of this very rare beast. Hippopotamus is found fairly extensively in the big lakes north and south (Tsana and Zwai, for example), and in the rivers ; they are hunted for their skins, which are used for shields. The rhinoceros is met with more rarely; the Abyssinians used to hunt this latter animal with spears, and I cannot forbear quoting a delightful story of one of these hunts told me by the ruler of a large territory in the north. He had rounded up a fine old rhinoceros and had attacked it in the historical method with his spears, four of which had failed to bring the animal to earth. As the rhino was then too near for him to have time to use his rifle (which he apparently carried ex abundante cautela), he lay down in the long grass and the rhino sniffed all round him and, not seeing him, departed. Up jumped the sportsman and shot 244 Animal Life him in the eye as he was leaving—the animal’s eye must have been curiously situated, by the way. The rhino fell, and my friend seated himself on the apparently dead body and began to intone a song of triumph, a little previously as it appeared. For the beast was not dead, and, galvanized into life no doubt by the dreadful discords proceeding from above him, he staggered to his feet and cantered off with his assailant on his back. It was, however, his “swan song,” if I may so mix my metaphors; and after a short gallop he fell to rise no more, really dead this time. May I add that I do not vouch for the accuracy of this story. Monkeys of very many different species abound, from the large baboon down to tiny creatures smaller than a squirrel, and very impudent some of them were. We were resting one day under a big fig tree waiting for our safari which had gone astray, lazily watching the animal life all around us when a half-eaten fig fell on my arm. Another and yet others fell on us, so I looked up carefully and saw amid the branches a number of little white whiskered totas apparently quite annoyed at our invasion of their privacy ; to mark their displeasure they were throwing the fruit at us with quite a good aim, and it was most amusing to watch the way in which after each shot the little creatures peered down through the branches to see the effect of their attack. The manceuvres of the baboons were always interesting, though it was difficult to get near them. A party of about thirty or forty crossed the river just by our camp one day, and it was quite instructive to watch their modus operandi ; apparently they had been disturbed at their feeding grounds and so, barking and growling, they were en route to pastures ‘new. The advance guard came down to the water’s edge, peered through the bush, and then giving an “all clear” signal, bounded from rock to rock across the river above the falls, followed in single file by the whole party until the rear-guard only, consisting of a savage-looking old gentleman, remained on the other side. Very deliberately and turning Animal Life 245 round from time to time to bark his disapproval at whatever it was that had disturbed him, he followed the troop, and with a final look round, and what sounded suspiciously like a parting curse, he also disappeared in the bush close to us, where we were silently watching. Of course our cameras had been left behind. On another occasion we managed to get quite close to a large troop of baboons in an endeavour to get some pictures of them, my wife riding round to head them off whilst I crawled through the grass towards them. Unfortunately we could not approach quite near enough; there were “ women and children ” with the party, and they slipped between us down a very steep ravine, through which we followed in a vain attempt to catch them up. Two old warriors brought up the rear, and whenever I lifted my camera (which they took for a rifle, I suppose) down went all their heads behind rocks or trees, and there was nothing visible ; as soon as I dropped the camera up they came again, obviously jeering at my clumsy efforts. It was very trying. The most beautiful variety of monkey found in Abyssinia is, I think, the Goreza, a handsome creature standing about two feet high, with coal black hair, a large white bushy mane stretching all down the back, and a bushy white tail ; it is a pretty sight to see a troop of these creatures passing almost like a flight of birds through the tops of trees far above one’s head. As for birds, words fail me to describe the exquisite beauty of the infinite variety of these creatures ; every colour and combination of colours in natures palette, every shape which she has seemed able to devise, are there to delight the eye. I shall not easily forget our passage through some marshy ground early one morning shortly after breaking camp; we had left vultures, hawks, and carrion crows disputing over the fragments near the cook’s tent when we came on the most remarkable collection of birds I have ever seen together in so short a space of time. A flight of wild 246 Animal Life duck passed overhead, and then in the swamps before us appeared quantities of snipe; a parrot decked in all the colours of the rainbow was sitting on a low bush watching us with interest but without fear as we passed, and other members of his genus were brightening the neighbouring trees and evidently asking him what he thought of us ; blue, green, and yellow birds flew past us and over us, and then we came upon some large storks with black and white striped wings breakfasting in the marshes, round each of which was fluttering a tiny bird with blood-red plumage shrilly warning his bigger friend of the approach of the strange- looking animals. Some fifteen or twenty guinea fowl ran along ahead of us as if suggesting that luncheon would be wanted some time, and that a bird inthe hand was worth consideration ; and quaint long-legged little white birds got up at our approach only to settle down immediately we had passed to a resumption of their interrupted meal. Tt was difficult to drag oneself from this natural aviary, and a little further on we were glad enough to seize the excuse of the route having been lost (a daily occurrence) to sit down and watch our feathered friends. Some of them seemed as interested in us as we were in them, and an exquisite grey creature, about the size of a thrush, with black and white markings, hopped nearer and nearer to us as we sat, calling to his mates to come and look at these weird beings, until at least eight or ten were perched on bushes within a few feet of us chattering vigorously, and showing no sign whatever of fear or timidity. Further south on Zwai we saw again a lovely collection of birds, pelicans in hundreds dotted the lake like patches of snow ; pale pink flamingoes, propped on their long stilts, fished away unconcernedly; while geese and duck of all kinds, large and small, bright coloured and black, seemed literally to invite one to lay the table for supper. There was one epecially gorgeous littie creature that used to hop quite fearlessly around us, and he was so lovely that I Animal Life 247 made a note of his markings at the time. The head was a darkish royal blue, paling towards the neck, round which was a pure white band ; the back was blue shading to green along the sides and ends of the wings ; the long tail dark blue above and pure white below; the breast and body brilliant orange, and the under side of the wings pale grey. Can anything more exquisite be imagined ? It was, however, merely a question of degree—everywhere these gorgeous examples of nature’s handiwork were to be found ; even in Addis itself our garden was full of them. Two funny brown hammerheads had built themselves there an enormous nest some six feet in length in a tree almost touching the house, and they with their two youngsters used to play great games, volplaning off the opposite roof and sweeping up into one of the various entrances of their three- tiered home ; the tiny little brilliant-hued long-tailed honey birds, so small that they could perch on a petal of the glad- ioli while draining the flower of its sweetness ; or the bril- liant blue-green iridescent thrush coming both “ as a single spy and in battalions ”—all these and many others used to fill the place with brightness. The birds of prey were less attractive, their thieving propensities marked, and their impudence and daring extraordinary ; I supposed they realized they were not fit to eat, and were worthless from any other point of view, and so felt no fear of coming to an untimely end. It was always a source of amazement to me how the vultures would appear from nowhere, dropping literally like manna from heaven, directly an animal fell to one’s gun, or even when an ox or sheep was slaughtered for food. Not a bird would be in sight, and then suddenly one and then another would drop down noiselessly a few yards off, until a ring of the horrible bare-necked ghouls would be perched all around with their eyes fixed on the prospective banquet. And what a revolting scene when they could get at it—tearing with their strong beaks and their evil claws, ba mad so pr. rule eh be ape Al ln ¥ ki 248 Animal Life beating with their wings, bustling and hustling each other, a mass of ugly untidy-looking brown and grey plumage, and nasty bare necks, showing an inch or two of dirty white flesh. Hawks, of which there are, I was told, more different species than anywhere else in the world, and crows, join in these feasts, and the latter even hunt in combination. An instance of this was given me on good authority. Looking out of the window of the train while stopping at a wayside station, my informant saw a flock of crows circling above a hare which they were actually coursing ; as the poor beast doubled to right or left the crows twisted and turned above it until at last one bird detached itself from the rest and swooping down with a vicious peck at the head rolled it over dead. I am glad to say they were cheated of their meal however, for my friend who had witnessed the scene sent his boy to bring in the spoils of the chase. Ostriches are found in the south, and an ostrich farm isrun by two Germans in the neighbourhood of Zwai on a small scale ; there were over a hundred birds when we passed through, and the handsome black and white males with their more sober looking grey female companions seemed quite contented in their large enclosures fenced in with euphorbia. We happened to witness one of the males courting a female bird, and a more ridiculous sight is hard to imagine ; the ungainly great animal danced about, swaying his body, waving his long neck, and taking up the most absurd pos- tures before his inamorata, who with her head on one side seemed to regard the dancing dervish in front of her as though he were demented, as indeed he seemed to be—our fits of laughter unfortunately broke off the touching scene just before it reached the climax. He is I believe quite 2 devoted parent when it comes to hatching out the eggs, and takes his turn of sitting on the nest ; generally his turn is by night, probably because the grey female is less con- spicuous in the day-time, and with that wonderful instinct Animal Life 249 for camouflaging themselves against suitable backgrounds possessed by all wild animals, they arrange their periods of duty so as to involve the least danger to their offspring. I believe also that this instinct is to some extent responsible for the performance described as hiding its head in the sand when in danger ; the bird knows that his long neck is apt to betray him to his enemies, and so lays it along the ground in an effort to avoid attracting attention. It is curious that they do not suffer more from the attacks of hyenas, but I was told that none had been lost in this way at the farm, though the euphorbia fence would offer no impediment to the ingress of these disgusting brutes, who abound in the neighbourhood and indeed all over the country. They seem particularly attracted by mules and ponies, and I have seen some really awful wounds inflicted on these unfortunate animals by their powerful jaws, jaws which can crunch bones that a lion could not ; it is fortu- nate that they are such cowardly creatures, but even so, two or three of them together would if hungry undoubtedly attack an unarmed man at night, and the natives knowing this will rarely go about after dark alone or without weapons of some kind. They would hardly seem to be suitable creatures of which to make pets, and yet some friends of ours at Addis kept one running loose about the grounds and even in the drawing- room, until their children arrived from Europe when they thought it better to get rid of their four-footed guest. His place was, however, well filled by a quaint marabout bird who always seemed wrapped in thought, and generally stood like a sentry near the tennis-court as if he were trying to master the intricacies of the game ; an extremely savage lynx which had to be kept behind wire ; several monkeys, some tor- toises, and a few other creatures, all of whom (save the lynx) seemed to get on very well together. Porcupines run to quite big dimensions ; one that was brought alive into camp one day had to be carried in a sort 250 Animal Life of wicker cage by two men who had caught it for us in response to our request for a tortoise—they assured us that it was really the same thing, or alternatively that it would do just as well, quite in the best manner of London shop assistants endeavouring to palm off on a credulous customer something he doesn’t want in place of something they haven’t got. Insects it is hardly necessary to say abound, from locusts which there, as elsewhere, are a terrible plague when they do happen to descend on the country, to the homely kuncha, or flea, whose presence and activities are taken as a matter of course. This was brought home to us in a number of ways, many of them painful, some otherwise as the following example illustrates. My wife had given a “ book tea” in Addis one day, which, like all other functions there was attended by all the European community, and the competi- tion for the prizes was keen and strenuous. By universal consent, however, the blue ribbon was given to a visitor from one of the Legations, who arrived with a card in his buttonhole to which was fastened a fine fat flea (defunct) —the book thus represented being Our Mutual Friend.” White ants are a great nuisance ; their insatiable appetite for everything except iron and green Willesden canvas makes them a real plague in the houses, where they get into the furniture and woodwork, work their way up between the stonework and the woed or paper covering, and are only discovered when this falls down. At one season of the year these insects develop four large wings, rather like those of the dragon-fly; they appear towards sunset after a stormy day, coming up out of the ground in thousands and millions, until the air is thick with them ; they fly about for a short while, drop to the ground, shed their wings and crawl away again, their short flight towards the sun reminding one of the ambitious effort of our late unfortunate friend Icarus. On these occasions my wife’s pet monkey Adelina—so Animal Life 251 called because of her piercing scream—used to have a great feast ; with both hands she picked them up or caught them flying, sometimes two or three at a time, and stuffed them into her mouth as fast as she could, not forgetting to eject the wings ; she must have eaten hundreds, and always seemed ready for more. Apart from white ants and fleas, however, and of course the ubiquitous house fly, I do not think that one is as much pestered by insects there as in the country-side in England— if we except our friend the mosquito, who makes life a little wearisome in the low country. But at Addis we were quite untroubled by insect life, whether in the dry season or the rains. Abyssinia is rich in cattle and well provided with domestic animals ; as I have already mentioned the herds of cattle run into many millions, and the opportunities thus offered are incalculable. Of course many prejudices would have to be overcome, and much spadework carried out before the country could hope to rival Argentine or New Zealand or even Paraguay; but the raw material is there in quantities, and under conditions which are probably unrivalled. Up till now little or nothing has been done; in parts of the country the native prefers his cattle to his dollars, and will not sell ; export has until recently been prohibited because it was thought that every beast sent out of the country was one lost to Abyssinia, one less to eat or to breed from, and that that way spelled hunger ! King Edward VII sent some magnificent specimens of some of our good breeds of bull to the Emperor Menelik, but unfortunately these all died on the journey save two, and even they only survived for a few days after reaching the capital—the long trek from the coast in an alien climate had been too much. Other efforts on a very small scale have not proved more satisfactory, but with all our East African experience as a guide there is no reason why the importation of stock should not be successful—it is an essential to the proper develop- 252 Animal Life ment of the cattle possibilities of the country. The animals are small, and are distinguished by the hump common to African cattle ; in the north I believe there is another and a different breed, but I have not seen them. Flocks of goats are plentiful, especially in those districts where sheep do not thrive so well ; the latter are of various breeds of which the black head and the fat-tail varieties are probably the most valuable. Touching these animals Ludolph, writing in the seventeenth century, included in his book a delightful illustration showing the fat-tail sheep, dragging behind it a neat little cart on two wheels com- plete with breast harness and traces to carry its tail—a flock of some thousands of these would have created quite a boom in the local carpenters’ shops ! The rams have long and curling horns, and one of these beasts played the star-part in an incident which convulsed Addis Ababa with laughter for a long while. One afternoon we were on our way to call on Ras Tafari with another European whom we will call Monsieur X, who had explained to us that he was not much at home on a pony and was accordingly riding a mule. In a narrow path near the palace we passed through a flock of sheep going in the opposite direction, and somehow a ram’s horn got fixed in our friend’s stirrup iron much to the disgust of the mule and the consternation of its rider, whose foot was firmly jammed and who appeared in the depths of despair. The mule and the ram revolving rapidly in circles kicked and butted each other with enthusiasm ; the horseman clung on frantically, and the onlookers shook with helpless laughter. Then the mule bolted, dragging the ram along by its horn at such a pace that it was carried off its feet and flung up and down in the air being kicked vigorously by the mule, and banging against that terrified creature and the no less alarmed M. X, who fell forward on the mule’s neck, which he embraced fondly. Faster and faster galloped the mule, M. X’s mackintosh streaming behind him in the wind and rain, the Animal Life 253 ram flying up and down in the air like a large black balloon, bumping the ground, the mule, and the rider in turn. After about a couple of hundred yards of this exhilarating progress M. X came off heavily and rolled into the quagmire of mud by the wayside amid shrieks of joy from the assem- bled multitudes, and the mule with the ram still in close attendance disappeared in the distance, the latter dropping off dead about a quarter of a mile further on. M. X, whom we discovered on all fours in a mud bath hunting for his eyeglass, was physically not much the worse for his adventure, but the most bitter blow for him was yet to come ; for when he offered compensation to the shepherd for the loss of his animal, that individual, still shaking with laughter, and his eyes streaming with tears, refused to accept a single piastre, saying that he had never enjoyed anything so much in his life, and that he wouldn’t dream of being paid for it. As to domestic animals, horses, mules, and donkeys are found everywhere, and with the exception of transport in the low country, for which camels are employed, they are used for everything. The Abyssinian horses are small but strong and compact-looking, sure-footed little animals about polo-pony size. They must have been pretty numerous some centuries ago, as Ludolph refers to a King of Ethiopia having entered Egypt at the head of 100,000 cavalry; incidentally he also described the then prevalent colour as being black, whereas now it is grey. The breed appears to be one sui generis, possessing no noticeably special features of its own, but not exactly like any other breed. It has certain points of resemblance with the Arab, e.g. in the way it carries its tail, but the head is not similar. They are remarkably free from vice; indeed, I only met one horse during the whole of our stay that could even remotely be described as vicious. But they are exceedingly nervous when first brought in, no doubt owing to the way in which they have been handled by their native owners. 254 Animal Life And they practically all have an almost incurable habit of shying at anything and everything, even the most ordinary objects. The only possible explanation that has been offered for this is that when they are foals they are, during the rains, kept in the huts of their owners, and the smoke from the fires therein permanently injures their sight ; I give this explanation for what it is worth. They are easily trained otherwise, and are used by Europeans for every purpose, not merely as their only means of locomotion, but also for polo, paper chases, gymkhanas, etc. ; after they have been well cared for in a European’s stable for a short while they become quite creditable hacks, and are good natural jumpers. They are never shod by Abyssinians, and by Europeans only in the rainy season, as the hoofs become softer then. Abyssinians do not as a rule ride horses, they much prefer mules, though these cost a good deal more ; for a first-rate riding mule anything from $100 to $300 may be paid, whilst a good horse can be bought for from $30 to $8o—the latter is an outside figure. As a general rule the natives are not fond of animals, and regard them purely as a means of transport either for them- selves or their belongings. In fact, I think without being unfair, I may say they are extremely cruel to their pack animals, and one seldom meets a horse, mule, or donkey used for this purpose that has not its back and sides more or less covered with sores. From religious reasons they are extremely averse from killing either mules or horses, and consequently when any of these poor creatures are ill they are left to die, and drop when they can no longer stand, the bones being soon picked clean by vultures or pariah dogs. It is a common saying that none has ever seen a dead donkey, but if that is true in Europe it certainly does not hold good in Abyssinia where unhappily the carcasses of these beasts can be seen only too frequently. Animal Life 255 A very noticeable point in connection with domestic animals, such as horses, mules, cattle, sheep, poultry, etc. (goats seem to be excepted), is that they are almost invariably smaller than animals of the same species in other countries. The largest horse I have seen in Addis Ababa—and I think I may say the pick reach there for the benefit of the Euro- peans—was 15.2 hands, and this was considered a phenom- enon. This was especially notable in the case of poultry imported from Europe, which in a few generations dwindled to almost the same size as the native variety. CHAPTER XXII Foreign Life & Influence HERE is quite a large foreign community in Addis Ababa, mainly consisting of small Greek merchants, minor French employés of the railway, and a mixed smattering of small traders and artisans (French, Italian, Armenian, Syrian, etc.). Exclud- ing those individuals, the European colony may be said, for social purposes, to consist of about thirty or thirty-five persons. ‘This small contingent lives very comfortably, and manages, in the intervals of its commercial or political work, to put up a good deal of amusement and entertainment in one way and another. Polo, race meetings, paper-chases, tennis, lunch and tea parties, picnics, gymkhanas, bridge, and even golf are all laid under contribution. Of course Addis Ababa is the only town in Abyssinia where anything of the sort is possible ; in no other centre is the European population adequate to allow of social amenities on this scale. In the town itself there are the senior English officials of the Bank of Abyssinia (a branch of the National Bank of Egypt) and their wives and families ; the French political Director of the Railway and the French political adviser to the Abyssinian Government. There are also a French and an Italian doctor, and the senior representatives of one or two European trading Societies with their families. Then about three miles from the town lie the Legations, where, in addition to the Ministers and their families and staff, there are constantly guests, either on a visit to their friends, or else men passing through in quest of some good 256 THE ROYAL STAND AT THE RACES. The Empress, closely veiled, is seated in the centre of the dais; in the chair on her right is Ras Tafari. This was the first occasion on which the Empress had attended a public European function. [Photograpg by M. Bertolani.] Foreign Life &° Influence 257 shooting, or looking at the commercial possibilities of the country, and making Addis Ababa their headquarters. The Legation quarter as it is called is, as might be expected, the centre of social intercourse and amusement. The Legation buildings are all situated in their own large grounds, given by the Emperor Menelik, lying slightly above and well away from the dirt and noise of the town. A more lovely spot would be hard to find, for the grounds are well- wooded, the gardens are full of beautiful flowers of all kinds, and they command gorgeous views over the surround- ing country. Alone in Addis they enjoy their own supplies of fresh running water, for streams flow down from the mountains immediately behind them and are piped into their very grounds. The British and Italian Legations are of modern European appearance and structure, and are roofed with a compound known as éternite imitating tiling. The French is older and has retained the aspect of the native house externally with thatched roof, but internally it has been modernized and made most artistic and comfortable. The Russian Legation, which is the largest construction of the four, I have pre- viously described. The servant difficulty has not yet penetrated into Abyssinia. They are plentiful and good, but though their wages individually are low, the total wage bill mounts up to a good figure, as it is necessary to keep so many, no doubt mainly on account of the Eastern habit of one man one job. They are inclined to quarrel amongst themselves, and violent altercations are a not uncommon occurrence in the domestic quarters sometimes leading to blows, even to bloodshed. On one occasion our table boy, after cutting the chief cook’s head open with a stick, swore he would finish him off, and rushed off to fetch his gun; the trembling cook had to be escorted to his hut by two or three Zabanias ; but the next morning they were all at work together as if nothing had happened. R 258 Foreign Life & Influence No native servants sleep in the house, but huts are usually provided for them and their families in the grounds. Though very dirty in their homes, they are comparatively (and certainly superficially) clean in their master’s house. The white national costume is supplied to them to wear when on duty, and these they themselves wash and as a rule keep them beautifully white; worn with a coloured sash they look extremely clean and smart. A good headman, other than Abyssinian, to look after the household is a necessity, as at first they are apt to clean boots, knives, and silver with the same brush and have other little peculiarities. They are dignified and respectful, but not by any means servile. They make remarkably good cooks, and a native carefully trained may turn into a culinary expert that would not disgrace the kitchen of a European gourmet. They seem to have a special aptitude in this direction, and but for some lack of attention to cleanliness they leave little to be desired. Wages, as I have said, are low; the junior servants, both indoors and out, are paid about 8 dollars per month, and the upper servants from 12 to 18 dollars, with the exception of the head cook, who generally earns from 25 to 35 dollars per month. In addition to their wages they are given three times a year—at Xmas, Easter, and Mascal—a costume length of abougedid, a sill monetary present, and an ox or some sheep wherewith to celebrate the occasion. The head indoor servants and saises have their serving clothes and uniforms supplied to them; but apart from this they have nothing but their quarters, no furniture nor food. Though a good deal of the produce of the country is cheap, living is on the whole dear, mainly owing to the extortionate price of commodities imported from Europe. Thus while on the one hand in Addis an ox costs only from fifteen to twenty-five dcllars, a sheep a dollar and a half, a fowl a quarter of a dollar, eggs sixty for a dollar—all of course very much less out in the country—yet on the other Foreign Life &’ Influence 259 hand grass to feed one’s cows (which it is necessary to keep for milk and butter) is very dear, and wood for firing costs a dollar a donkey load. Oil for lighting purposes is a huge price, and the sundries, such as jams, biscuits, preserves, cereals, etc., which play such a large part in one’s house- hold economy, are more than double post-war European prices. To light our house with oil lamps cost us £120 a year, and our kitchen fire worked out at about £110 per annum. This, I am bound to say, was due in part to the price of the dollar, which rose in 1919-20 to double its normal value, i.e. from ten to five to the £1. Now that the dollar is back again to almost its normal value of ten to [1 things would cost English people a good deal less. It is necessary to grow one’s own vegetables, as curiously enough practically none that we should like, except potatoes, are to be bought. The Legations and most of the European houses contain their own kitchen gardens in which most varieties of vegetables are to be found, everything growing abundantly in this wonderful fertile soil. All these gardens are crowded with the most gorgeous flowers of every description, both English hot-house and garden specimens, all growing alike in the same beds, and practically all the year round. Roses, too, of every variety thrive particularly well, and as can be imagined an immense amount of pleasure may be derived from a garden in Addis, where it is almost possible to watch things growing, and where the climatic variations so disastrous to European products need never be feared. But so many forms of occupation and amusement are available, especially in the dry season, that gardening is not allowed to claim too much of one’s time. Naturally in a country where riding is practically the only means of locomotion, horses play a prominent part in everyone’s life, and so, although the European community is so small, there is actually a polo club and race course at Addis. 260 Foreign Life & Influence Both polo and race meetings take place on a large plain between the town and the Legations, and H.H. Ras Tafari, the present Regent and Heir-Apparent, is President of the Imperial Club, the members of which manage the polo and racing. The late Italian minister to the Court of Abyssinia, Count Colli, was a splendid all round sportsman and was Chairman of the Committee, the representative of the British Legation being Vice- Chairman. Polo is played twice a week during the dry weather, and it is, I think, rather remarkable that in such a small community it should be possible to get together two teams for the purpose. The eight generally consisted of three or four from the British Legation, a native officer of the Indian escort attached to the Legation, an Italian, a Russian, and one or two other Englishmen. The Club provide tea on these days in their picturesque little club-house, and there is usually quite a gathering of onlookers reminiscent of Hurlingham on a small—a very small—scale. But though plenty of fun is to be got out of the game, I fear that the Hurlingham authorities would look with surprise and horror at the rather marked inequalities of the ground. Race meetings are organized by the Club twice a year, and very admirably they are carried out, under the able direction of Major Dodds of the British Legation, who is not only a first-class horseman and horse master, but a keen enthusiast for every form of sport. The meeting held in June, 1920, was attended by the Empress and Ras Tafari; it was the first public European function attended by the Empress, and great preparations had been made. A special pavilion was arranged, lined with cloth of the Abyssinian colours, beautiful rugs being laid down inside and along the front. | It was a remarkable sight to watch the approach of the Empress and her cortége from the palace across the plain— thousands of officers, attendants and soldiers, mounted and Foreign Life &° Influence 261 on foot accompanied her, the gorgeous trappings of the mules and the immaculate white robes of the men making an impressive picture. And the interest shown in the pro- ceedings may be gauged by the immense crowd of Abyssinians who thronged round the club-house where the prizes were distributed by the Empress. Paper-chases across country are another means of passing the time ; but these are as a rule only attended by the English members of the community. They are rather wild pro- ceedings, as they not only involve jumping mud and stone walls, banks and hedges, but also galloping over country plentifully sprinkled with holes and other bad places. They provide capital sport, however, and the spills that occurred while we were there had no serious results. Owing to the lack of roads not many people care to risk driving. There are, however, a few venturesome folk who have brought out four-wheeled dog-carts, and a good deal of amusement is obtainable from trying different numbers of ponies in these conveyances. Major Dodds, who was an excellent whip, occasionally turned out a team of four in his cart, greatly to the edification of the population to whom driving is an unknown art, and my wife managed to induce a team of three to progress more or less irregularly in a cart of hers, out of which she was, mirabile dictu, only thrown once. The others contented themselves with a single animal, or more rarely a pair, which on the whole was probably about the wisest thing to do. Tennis on gravel and earth courts flourishes during the dry season, and a tennis party in the grounds of one of the larger houses makes a picturesque scene. The setting of luxuriant vegetation and brilliant flowers, the tea-tents among the trees, the groups of horses of the guests held by saises in their different coloured liveries, or by the Sowars or troopers of the escorts of the other Legations in their smart uniforms, and the little knot of Europeans, with numbers of quaintly dressed servants to pick up the 262 Foreign Life & Influence balls—all combine to make a picture of brightness and galety that is sadly lacking from a European function of the kind. Entertaining is fortunately easy in Addis Ababa—riding being the universal means of locomotion there is no bitter competition in smart ‘ toilettes ” among the female mem- bers of the community, nor does this spirit of rivalry and ostentation figure in other ways. People entertain to lunch or to tea (more rarely to dinner) for the pleasure of meeting, and the uniform of breeches and riding coats makes a choice of costume easy. There are small or large luncheon parties very frequently and teas every day in any season, the cosmo- politan nature of these gatherings adding appreciably to their attractiveness ; I remember one day at lunch conver- sation was going on round the table in five different languages simultaneously. One of the most pleasant functions of the sort was a children’s tea party and gymkhana organized at the German Legation, which was attended by Ras Tafari’s three youngest children. All the small competitors were dressed as pierrots, and they made a delightful picture on their little ponies in the pretty grounds tilting at the ring, playing musical chairs in improvised stalls, and throwing balls into baskets. Not the least impressive part of the function was an egg and spoon race (on foot this time) in which the future ruler of Ethiopia with an expression of tremendous determination on his small face managed to defeat his elder sister by a short head after a great finish up the straight. The Abyssinians, who are very fond of children, enjoyed the proceedings intensely ; and the stately looking chiefs who had accompanied the Ras’ children so far unbent as to be almost doubled up with laughter. The break-up of the party was extraordinarily interesting to watch ; the Ras’ children, veiled up to and over their eyes, rode off in the midst of a band of wild-looking Abys- sinjan warriors armed to the teeth, the picturesque Legation Foreign Life & Influence 263 escorts provided a wonderful touch of colour, whilst a motor car which had recently arrived in Addis introduced an incongruous element into the picture, and drove the ponies of the other guests almost frantic in their terror at this uncouth innovation. Dinner is more complicated, for that generally means putting up friends in or near one’s house, as long rides after dinner are almost impossible in the rains, and not very pleasant at any time except just at the full moon. Mr. Jorrocks’ dictum of “ Where I dines I sleeps ” applies very much in this connection. Nevertheless there were a few dinner parties from time to time ; Ras Tafari has entered wholeheartedly into this form of entertaining, and his little parties are very pleasant. As in most outposts of civilization the spirit of hospitality is strongly marked, and this, added to the excellent feeling which obtains in the little European colony, the perfect climate always about as warm as a temperate summer day in England, and the grand mountain scenery, make life in Addis a very agreeable one. No account of the foreign community would be complete without mention of M. Chefneu, the Grand Old Man of Addis. Having inhabited the country for forty years, need- less to say there is very little he does not know about it or its inhabitants. A Frenchman by birth, and an engineer by profession, thanks are due to him for the very important part he played in obtaining the concession for, and in the construction of the Franco-Ethiopian Railway—to him also was given by the Emperor Menelik the concession for estab- lishing the first postal service between Addis Ababa and Djibouti. At one time he embraced with success the trade of merchant, but Menelik’s calls on his time were so great that this had to be abandoned, and he took up the position of foreign adviser to the Emperor. M. Chefneu is liked and respected by all who come in contact with him, and though he is becoming somewhat advanced in age he is still ad Sie. Sama Rr A ARS 264 Foreign Life &° Influence able to take part in affairs of importance, and is indis- pensable at Court, where he acts as a kind of Master of the Ceremonies at large functions where Europeans are present. He has naturally enjoyed many unique experiences— amongst others he told us how he was deputed before the railway to the coast was constructed to conduct two young lions all the way from the capital to Djibouti, the animals being led only by a collar and chain. Part of the way they were carried on camels in loosely made crates, and when camping at night were chained to a tree. M. Chefneu assured me that these lions were absolutely quiet, and easily managed, and he succeeded in taking them without any mishap to France where he presented them to the then President of the French Republic. He is one of the few foreigners who have lived in Abys- sinia for a long while without a breath of scandal ever attaching to his name in matters financial ; by universal consent he is regarded as an absolutely honest and straight- forward man, and as he has never made use of his manifold opportunities to benefit himself he is, I am sorry to say, a comparatively poor man. Unfortunately little of the foreign element in Abyssinia has been of the calibre of M. Chefneu, and no doubt that is partly the reason why foreign influence is not greater than it actually is. I do not think that it counts for very much to-day, although it is, I think, showing signs of growth and of change of orientation. Generally speaking, there is next to no foreign religious influence, no foreign financial influ- ence, for there are no foreign loans, and foreign commercial influence, for reasons I have explained elsewhere, is not the hardy plant it might be. Nevertheless, Europe has exercised, and does to a limited extent exercise, a certain amount of influence on the country, and would have exercised a good deal more had it not been for the existence of international rivalries. The various foreign countries have endeavoured each in Foreign Life & Influence 2635 their own way to extend their influence, and each has its own institutions in Addis and elsewhere. The French have hitherto been probably the most active of the principal countries there in this respect. Their influence has made itself felt by the railway and in the other directions I have described, and they have also a branch of the “ Alliance Francaise ” at the headquarters of which, the Hétel de France, meetings, dinners, dances, and cinematograph displays are held. The British community is held together by the Patriotic League to which belong British subjects of a variety of nationalities, Cretan, Arab, and Indian; between them they subscribed the means of buying two aeroplanes for the British forces during the Great War, no mean contribution for such a small and comparatively poor community. Russian influence is practically non-existent ; the fear of Bolshevist agents spreading their doctrines in the country has led to the exclusion of many would-be immigrants of that nationality, though a few have found their way in, and one —an ex-colonel—is employed to look after the Ras’ gardens and dairy. But the growing influences in Abyssinia seem likely to be American, Belgian, and German. For each of these there is a different reason, though they have one in common, namely, that these countries having no territory contiguous to Abyssinia the activities of their nationals are regarded with less suspicion. The reasoning may seem to us rather far-fetched, but it is so nevertheless. As to the other reasons, they seem to be somewhat as follows. Germany having lost her colonies not unnaturally seeks for an outlet for her manhood and a favourable opening for her goods and her enterprize. Practically the only place of the kind left in Africa is Abyssinia, and what therefore is more likely than that special efforts should be made to secure a foothold there? I read recently an interesting work on the country published a couple of years ago in Germany, 266 Foreign Life & Iufluence and giving in three volumes as a result of four years’ labour of a scientific, economic, and political mission a penetrating analysis of the country’s capacities from several points of view. It is a thorough work, and the author, after arriving at his conclusions as to the future, which are very optimistic, adds that Germany, in view of the loss of her colonies and the restriction of her territory, must look to emigration as a solution of some of her economic difficulties, and points to Abyssinia as the field for such emigration and as one of the most promising features of Germany’s future. Whether concerted action in this direction is being taken or not I cannot say, but it is at least certain that I heard a good deal of German spoken in Addis this year, which was certainly not the case on the occasion of previous stays, and that quite a number of newly arrived Germans are at the present moment to be found in the country. As regards Belgium the case is very different. The financiers of that country are paying marked attention to Abyssinia, and a powerful group has already commenced operations in the direction, as I have described in the chapter dealing with trade and commerce. The result is that they are viewed very favourably by the native Government, and at the moment their star is so much in the ascendant that if they play their cards well it is not at all unlikely that in the course of a few years they may require a really pre- dominant position. American activities have taken another form, and it would perhaps be unkind to suggest that they are directed to the end of obtaining political influence in the country especially as they have no diplomatic representative in residence. Nevertheless their influence is considerable, and is likely to grow, and they are well liked there; they are erecting a large hospital with 300 beds in Addis, a sure road to popularity in Abyssinia, and their missionary enterprize has been considerably extended in the Galla and other BE ae a i Sd Ty Foreign Life & Influence 267 districts. In one way and another they are spending a good ‘deal of money, and are endeavouring to interest Americans in the country, by writing and cinematograph propaganda. ‘The favour which is shown by the Government to American visitors to Addis is marked, and is an instructive indication of the trend of feeling towards their country, and of the ‘degree of influence which it might exercise should occasion arise. Numerically England is not strongly represented in Abyssinia ; apart from the Legation and consular officials and the representatives of the Bank of Abyssinia and of one or two commercial houses, there are practically no English people in the country, and very few visit it nowadays. This is the more remarkable, inasmuch as it is impossible to imagine a more delightful place in which to spend a holiday, whether for purposes of travel, sport, or otherwise. The climate is everything that could be desired. The scenery is an ever-changing panorama of beauty—mountainous, wooded, watered—and life on trek under canvas in sur- roundings such as these is about as healthy and enjoyable a form of existence as the world can offer. Moreover our influence in Abyssinia is not likely to be increased by the campaign of misrepresentation of Abys- sinian’s affairs and of attacks on the Regent and the Govern- ment which has recently been carried on here. That there are failings and shortcomings in their Government methods and abuses which ought to be remedied no one would deny— they are indeed fully recognized by the Regent himself— and no self-respecting person would dream of suggesting fatuous adulation in order to curry favour in the country and so to increase our influence there. But to pour ridicule and abuse on all things Abyssinian and especially on the Regent’s efforts to improve matters in the face of great and—to most Europeans—unknown and ununderstood difficulties, is simply to play into the hands of the reactionary party who point to such abuse as the 268 Foreign Life &° Influence foreigner’s encouragement to the progressive party, and are not slow to suggest that behind all this is a deeper and more sinister motive, and a desire to represent the country in so bad a light as to justify and even to necessitate foreign intervention. And any country once tarred with that brush may look in vain to the possibility of being able to influence the Government and the rulers of Abyssinia in the direction in which all right-minded persons would wish them to go. CHAPTER XXIII Political Situation HE Abyssinian equivalents of our Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs must find it exceedingly difficult to direct their respec- tive spheres of influence without impinging on each other, for it is almost impossible to draw a dividing line between home and foreign politics in that country, each enters to so great an extent into the domain of the other. Both present factors of considerable complexity and diffi- culty, and a crisis in the affairs of the one might easily be the cause of serious trouble in regard to the other. As in most countries there are two political parties er schools of thought. At the head of the one is the Prince Regent and Heir-Apparent, standing for progress, for the development of his country by foreign aid, for the intro- duction of ideas and reforms from Europe and America and generally for “ modernization.” He is surrounded by the more intelligent and better educated Abyssinians, and there is little doubt but that were he in sole and supreme authority the advance of Ethiopia along the path of progress would be considerably more rapid than has actually been the case. Unfortunately the opposite school of thought acts as a very powerful drag on Ras Tafari’s efforts. Around the Empress, the nominal ruler of the country, is gathered all that is reactionary and anti-progressive, and consequently anti-foreign (by anti-foreign I mean opposed to the intro- duction of foreign ideas) and this party ineludes some of the most powerful nobles and, of course, the priesthood. 269 270 Political Situation Until 1921 there was also a third party, the supporters of the ex-emperor Lej Yasu, but the capture of this stormy petrel produced a very salutary and tranquillizing effect on the disturbing elements who had hoped to gain something by fishing in the troubled waters which would have flooded the land had Lej Yasu regained power. : Now it may readily be imagined how a situation such as I have described lends itself to intrigue and wire-pulling of every kind by persons of native or foreign nationality, who, whether to further their own ends or to defeat the objects of their rivals, take every advantage of the two- headed monarchy to sow trouble. There is no doubt but that rivalry between the two political factions was at one time great, indeed serious; efforts were even made by the reactionary party to “im- peach” the Regent on a series of perfectly trumpery charges, the main burden of the song being that he was selling his country to the Frangi. At that time things did not look too hopeful, and it might well have been feared that in a country where matters political have generally been settled by the sword, such methods would recur. But in fact they did not, and in the last two or three years relations between the two parties have considerably improved, largely no doubt owing to the gradual if slow increase of the power and prestige of the Regent. He is still, of course, opposed by the reactionaries ; certain dis- tricts of the country are still governed by rulers who do not share his ideas and who would be glad that the country should remain in statu guo ; but his political views are, I. think, making headway, though he is much hampered and is compelled to proceed with great caution. Accurate information on political movements and currents are not easy to obtain, there are no local newspapers to guide (or mislead) the student of the political barometer. But on the other hand there is a good deal that cannot be concealed and that is common property to those residents Political Situation 271 in the country who care to try and find out and who are at all “in the know.” Alarmist rumours of portentous political events are, of course, always rife—very often these are due to persons with gifted and super-heated imaginations—sometimes they are put about by individuals with whom the wish is father to the thought, and naturally such rumours if they reach Europe are likely to get a good deal more publicity than sober statements of fact. The home political barometer, however, if it cannot yet be said to be Set Fair, is at all events at the moment steady and seems likely to rise, and the situation is more satisfactory than it has been for some time. It is just as well that it is so, for if the internal political situation were likely to lead to active outbreaks where danger to European life and property were involved, the question of foreign intervention would at once come to the fore, and the further difficulties that might and probably would arise as a result would be far-reaching. Fortunately both political parties are fully alive to this, and as they are absolutely united on the common ground of attachment to their independence and intense aversion to foreign domination or even interference, they have a very powerful inducement to keep their domestic rivalry within bounds, an inducement which, as I have already pointed out, is proving quite effective in improving their mutual relationship. The foreign political situation is by no means free from elements of discord as it is even now, though it has greatly improved in recent years. To understand it clearly, it is necessary to consider the geographical position of Abyssinia and some events of recent history. Abyssinia has a frontier of some 3000 miles, of which nearly two-thirds is British, the bulk of the remainder Italian, and a very small portion of some 200 miles French. It is entirely cut off from the sea by the Italian Colony of 272 Political Situation Eritrea in the north-east, British Somaliland in the south- east, and French Somaliland between them. Its natural harbours from Massowah to Berbera are in the hands of one or other of these three Powers. The terminus of the railway from the capital is the French port of Djibouti. Its trade routes (which are described elsewhere) have to run through one or other of these European settlements; it can receive nothing except with their permission. Its border tribes have been very troublesome, and their raiding proclivities have been a frequent source of difficulty with the other neighbouring powers,—consequently it is and must be brought continually into touch with the three great Powers concerned, and with which more than with the British Empire, whose frontiers it touches in the Soudan, Uganda, British East Africa, and British Somaliland, a distance of nearly 2000 miles ? As an example of the frontier difficulties that have hap- pened I may refer to that which occurred on the South- Western Frontier and to deal with which a joint British and Abyssian Mission was despatched early in 1919. The British representatives whom we had the pleasure of meeting in Addis Ababa on their return were naturally and properly reticent about the political side of their Mission ; but from the lecture given by Major Athill before the Royal Geographical Society in June, 1920, we learn that “The Governor of Magi” (a place some eighty miles north of Lake Rudolf), * whose geography was not his strong point, had made a small error as to the position of his frontier. The unfortunate result of this error was a fight between Abyssinian and Sudanese troops, in which | three Sudanese officers and several men were killed. We were sent with three Abyssinian Commissioners to investi- gate and to try to prevent further friction.” | It may well be understood even from this light and tactful reference to the trouble that had arisen, how serious a question the border one is and how fraught with pos- Political Situation 272 sibilities of real danger, given the enormous extent of co- terminus frontier. | As an instance of the importance of other political interests involved between the two countries it is only necessary to point to the Egyptian irrigation question. For the origin of the waters so vital to this great work isin Abys- sinia, and consequently Egypt depends to a considerable extent on Abyssinia for her prosperity. This was recognized in the Convention of 1902 between England and Abyssinia, in Article III of which Menelik bound himself, ¢ not to construct or allow to be constructed any work across the Blue Nile, Lake Tsana, or the Sobat which would arrest the flow of their waters into the Nile, except in agreement with H.B.M. Govt. and the Govt. of the Sudan.” And yet in spite of the obvious political and commercial interests involved, it is not until comparatively recently, i.e. 1897, that any serious efforts appear to have been made to cultivate or develop them, although the first great modern explorer of Abyssinia was an Englishman, and the first treaty concluded with an Abyssinian monarch was that signed in 1841 by Captain Harris and King Sehala Salassie of Shoa. The Napier expedition had raised our prestige in the country to a pinnacle—the uninterrupted success of our forces, the admirable behaviour of the troops, the strict adherence to our promise of payment for supplies and of evacuation after liberation of the prisoners, had earned us unrivalled respect in the country. Had we then left with the Emperor Johannes a representative to keep us in touch with the development of the country it is possible that its history might have been very different, as was pointed out by Mr. Wylde in his book over twenty years ago. But so far from doing anything of the kind we appear to have ignored the country from 1868 to 1884 and then we had to invoke its help. For we were clearing out of the S 274 Political Situation Soudan and being unable to remove the unfortunate garrisons therein stationed, Admiral Sir William Hewett’s mission had to be despatched to secure King Johannes’ assistance in delivering our troops. A treaty was signed, mainly for this purpose (and also another one to endeavour to effect the abolition of the slave trade), and in 1886 a naval officer was despatched to convey to King John a sword of honour from H.M. Queen Victoria, as a mark of thanks for having carried out his part of the first of these two agreements. The year 1884 was also signalized by our abandonment of the fertile province of Harrar which was handed over to its native ruler ; this unfortunate individual was attacked and defeated by Menelik (then King of Shoa) and Harrar was annexed by him in 1887. In that year Mr. (now Sir Gerald) Portal was deputed to undertake a mission to King John to endeavour to avert the impending hostilities between Italy and Abyssinia, but the mission was unsuccessful, and very nearly had a tragic termination. It was during this decade (i.e. between 1880 and 1890) when we were withdrawing from all connection with the country that Europe first began to take a real interest in matters Abyssinian. At this period Italy from the north through Eritrea and France in the south through Shoa were beginning to reveal their designs and intentions, which though very different and opposed to each other were both of a bold and drastic character. The Italians contemplated the declaration of a protectorate over Abyssinia as part of Crispi’s dream of an empire stretching from the shores of the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, and France’s project was the linking up of her possessions across Africa from east to west from the Congo to French Somaliland. : The next decade, 1890-1900, was perhaps the most momentous in modern Abyssinian history, so far as its Political Situation 275 external political relations were concerned. This period witnessed the failure of both the great projects to which I have just referred ; but whereas Italian prestige as a result vanished for the time, the position of the French became predominant and the Power with the least stake in that part of Africa and with no contiguous possessions of any commercial value became facile princeps. This was in part due to the assistance given by the French to the Abyssinians, and in part to the assiduous efforts made to cultivate Abyssinian friendship by the French representatives in the country of whom there were many, notably the Minister M. Lagarde, who, in the words of M. Hanotaux, concluded “un véritable traité dalliance” in 1897. By this Treaty M. Hanotaux states that : “ Ménélik affirmait sa volonté de revendiquer comme frontiére occidentale de son empire le Nil entre le 5 et le 14 degre Nord. Les principes d’une action commune dans’ tous les ordres d’idées, commerce, finance, travaux publics, expansion géographique, entente diplomatique, furent établis, et si ces résultats n’eurent pas toutes les suites quon en eut pu attendre encore est-il juste de reconnaitre qu’on les avait préparé. On s’assurait en somme par ces diverses tentatives des concours qui pouvaient étre précieux a ’heure décisive.” The treaty was never published; the conquering expeditions engineered by M. Lagarde in accordance with his instructions hardly realized expectations, and the Emperor Menelik’s circular to the Powers of 1891 in which he announced his intention of re-establishing the traditional frontiers of Ethiopia up to the Nile as far north as Khar- toum and as far south as Lake Nyanza together with all the Galla countries, and expressed a hope that the sea coast would in part at all events be returned to him, remained in the pigeon holes of the European Foreign Offices. 276 Political Situation Nevertheless French penetration continued to progress successfully ; the railway concession was granted to a French Company in 1894, and the procession of foreign missions to Menelik soon afterwards did not affect the position materially, although the British mission under Sir Rennel Rodd negotiated an Anglo-Abyssinian Treaty, and as a result Captain (now Sir John) Harrington was appointed in 1898 as the first diplomatic representative of England at the Court of Abyssinia. The railway concession proved a veritable apple of discord which not only caused difficulties between Abyssinia and France, but also between France and England. For in the first place the construction of the railway with its terminus at Djibouti could but have the result of diverting through French Somaliland the camel-borne traffic between Zaila in British Somaliland and Abyssinia, which had been the principal route into the country from the south until then. And in the second place during the construction of the railway (which took over twenty years to reach Addis Ababa) difficulties arose between the French and English shareholders, ending in the dispossession of the latter. And thirdly the concession provided for a further section of the railway from Addis Ababa to the Soudan, a possibility the obvious objections to which can be seen by a glance at the map. These difficulties with France were accentuated by those caused by the French efforts to form a “ line of influence ” across Africa from east to west to which reference has already been made. These efforts commenced just before ° the arrival of the Rennell-Rodd mission in 1907 and matured after his departure—they were indications of a state of feeling and a policy which mercifully have long since ceased to exist. Thus the three European Powers mainly interested in Abyssinia were, to put it mildly, not exactly pulling together, and it was not until 1906 that the third difficulty referred Political Situation 277 to in connection with the railway was to some extent met, and other points of friction eased, by the Tripartite agreement between England, France, and Italy, whereby each Power was assigned a more or less defined “ sphere of interest,” railway construction in the east being reserved to France and in the west to England. But an important point to note in this connection is that the Treaty is not signed by the Abyssinian Government, and consequently it is not bound by it. Indeed Menelik took a long time to acknowledge it at all, and then only did so in a half-hearted manner. Mainly during the decade 1900-1910 various treaties delimiting the frontiers of the country were signed by the Powers interested, treaties which the Abyssinians of to-day do not regard with very great favour inasmuch as by these instruments the cession of all their ports was made absolute. They attribute this to Menelik’s desire to stand well with the Powers and his non-realization of the per- nicious effect on Abyssinia’s interests of being cut off from the sea. It is possible that this point may be raised at no distant date. Little by little the heat engendered by past events has died down although much intrigue and rivalry of a minor character has been carried on, but unfortunately the legacy of the past remains. Each foreign Legation has endeavoured to support the demand for concessions in the country by its own nationals and as a corollary to thwart the efforts of the others. The French having acquired a predominating position by the construction of the railway and the staffing of the posts and telephones, seem in the past to have regarded Abyssinia as their special preserve, apparently forgetful of the great frontier and other interests which England had at stake—an attitude which I think may be to some extent understood and therefore excused owing to the lack of interest in the country shown by England for so many years. 298 Political Situation It might be imagined from the foregoing remarks that foreign politics in Abyssinia are and have been confined to the Three Great Powers mentioned, but this is by no means the case. True they have been the principal actors, but others have played no inconspicuous part there, and as they are likely to do so again in the near future, a short account of the corps diplomatique at the Court of the Negus may not be without interest. As 1 have said above our first diplomatic representative was Captain Harrington, who was originally appointed as as Agent in 1898, then as Consul-General in 1900, and finally as Minister in 1903, since when there has always been a British Minister accredited to Abyssinia. The Hon. Wilfred Thessiger, who succeeded Sir John Harrington after the latter had served over eleven years, died whilst on leave in England at the beginning of 1920 ; the present Minister Mr. Claud Russell has not long been appointed, and during the interval British interests were in the capable hands of consuls acting as Chargé d’Affaires—first of all Mr. Campbell since appointed Consul-General at San Francisco and later of Major Dodds. In addition to a Minister and his staff at Addis Ababa we have also a Consul and a Vice-Consul there, and either Consuls or Vice-Consuls at Gorei in Western Abyssinia, at Magi, at Gardula in South Abyssinia, and at Harrar. The Consulate of Gorei is obviously most important. Gorei is the collecting station for the major portion of the exports of produce from Abyssinia to the Soudan, and the Consulate covers the land leased by the Emperor Menelik to the British Government as a commercial station at Gambela on the Baro River by the Treaty of 1902. The importance of the Consulates in Southern Abyssinia and at Magi is less obvious to the outsider, but they are doubtless to some extent valuablein dealing with the frontier difficulties that might arise in the South owing to the activity of Abyssinian raiding parties. Political Situation 279 Harrar would appear to be declining in importance, and from a commercial point of view at all events, it would appear preferable that the Consulate should be at Dirre- Daoua, the most important station on the railway, and the main stopping-place between Addis and Djibouti. The Bank of Abyssinia have recently closed their Harrar Branch. But that there is no British representative at Djibouti is a matter of astonishment and regret to all commercial people. For the difficulties experienced by traders in transit through there are such that the presence of a British representative would seem to be imperative. The Italians have, I believe, recognized this so far as their own trade interests are concerned, and it was said that they were appointing a Consul there just as we were leaving. To-day there are four other countries represented by Ministers, namely, France, Italy, Belgium, and Germany, and of these the first two have Consuls or Vice-Consuls at Addis Ababa and elsewhere in addition. Their interests are sufficiently obvious to need no explanation, but the necessity for Belgian and German Legations is less apparent, as they have no contiguous territorial interests. The recent commercial interest in Abyssinia shown by Belgium may, however, possibly account for the new appointment of M. Gerard there as Minister ; there have been Belgian Consuls in Addis intermittently in the past, but their stay has generally been of short duration. The appointment of the German Minister, Herr Weiss, a very pleasant and capable diplomat, has no doubt been dictated on commercial grounds to protect and further German trading interests in the country ; these had attained respectable proportions before the War and would doubt- less have increased rapidly in normal circumstances. Ger- man political efforts in Abyssinia had not been very happy up till recently; two German ¢ political” doctors had arrived towards the end of Menelik’s reign, their object being to obtain the posts of physician to the Emperor 280 Political Situation and tutor to the heir; they got into trouble by bringing accusations which they failed to substantiate against some Abyssinian Ministers of attempting to poison the Emperor. As they failed to prove the truth of this some- what serious charge they were obliged to leave the country rapidly. During the war the Germans were active ; numbers of their Secret Service men were in Abyssinia endeavouring to assist the Mad Mullah and working closely with the ex-Emperor Lej Yasu. A German, Emil Kirch, who was sent to assist the Mullah to repair his guns left behind him an interesting diary which fell into British hands in 1920, and which showed the trend of German political activity even in Abyssinia. The lot of the then German Minister at Addis cannot have been a happy one during the war as the other diplomats being all enemies” he was “in coventry,” and moreover was to a large extent dependent on the Abyssinians for financial support as he could get no money from home. There is a very popular Greek gentleman, an out- standing specimen of his race, acting as Consul-General in Addis, and his task must be no sinecure, for there is a large Greek colony containing many “doubtful ” elements, engaged in a variety of activities. M. Balanos’ predecessor, an individual of quite a different stamp, had been the first appointment as Greek Consul General, and having quarrelled bitterly with most of his compatriots at whose request the appointment had been made he was recalled. There have also been Russian Ministers and Consuls, and American and Turkish Consuls. The Russian Legation had been established on a most elaborate scale ; there had been a Minister and his staff, a Consul, several doctors and an escort or Legation guard of twenty cossacks. This had gradually dwindled until some time before our arrival the whole personnel of the Legation consisted of a Chargé d’Affaires, M. Winogradof, Political Situation 281 whose sole duties appeared to consist in protecting the interests of the Armenians. And even he left at the end of 1919, and Russian (and Armenian) interests were given over to the French Legation. Possibly the original idea of the Russian Government in establishing such an imposing representation was to have acquired influence through the similarity of the religions of the two countries—the Orthodox and Coptic Churches being not unlike. They are said to have made an unsuccessful effort to induce the Abyssinians to place their Church under the protection of the Russian in lieu of as at present the Alexandrian Church. But as Russia had no territorial or commercial interests in or near Abyssinia, it is not very clear what was to be the precise objective of the political influence when obtained, unless the acquisition of territory or rights in Abyssinia was desired. The American Consul died some years ago and has not been replaced, American interests (solely commercial) being looked after by the very able American Consul at Aden, Mr. Southard. A commercial treaty between the U.S.A. and Abyssinia had been concluded in 1903 by the efforts of a special commissioner, Mr. R. Skinner, who concluded his negotiations in the record time of nine days. The treaty contained no very striking clauses—the main features being the usual most-favoured-nation clause, and another clause providing for the mutual establishment of diplo- matic representatives. The Turkish Consul died while we were there and he has not been replaced—it is difficult to see what duties he can have had to perform. Italy has been fortunate in having been strongly repre- sented in Abyssinia. In this country the personality of the representative counts for a good deal more than the interests represented, and to this fact must be attributed the influence of the Italian Legation at Addis. People seemed to think that since (and because of) Adowa, Italy 282 Political Situation did not count in Abyssinia, but this was far from the truth. Count Colli de Felizano, who was Minister when we arrived, had been in the country for twenty years, was the doyen of the corps diplomatique, and carried a great deal of weight at Court. He not only knew the country well, but was an exceedingly able man, a charming personality, and a first-rate horseman and sportsman. These qualities carried great weight with the Abyssinians, and the equally charming personality of Countess Colli helped him still further in his relations with the other Europeans; with the English these were particularly cordial. Count Colli left during our stay, and the general regret at his departure was to some extent mitigated by the personality of his successor. On the appointment of M. Piacentini, the Italian papers were full of praise, I remember seeing it stated that one of the most promising diplomats in the service had been selected, a fact which became fairly obvious shortly after his arrival. Though he had to succeed so strong a personality as Count Colli, and had to overcome the difficulty—nowhere greater than in Abyssinia—of being a new-comer—he rapidly began to acquire a position for himself. He was not only an able man, but also possessed a great deal of Count Colli’s personal charm, and was an excellent sportsman. Unfortunately his health broke down, and he has just recently had to leave the country. To the strength of the French position I have already referred ; their recent representative, M. de Coppet (who has just been transferred), is an intellectual and a delightful personality, whose tastes incline largely to litera- ture. He is keenly alive to French interests, and rumours of further new French concessions and projects were in the air when we left. They have not only the railway, and a large voice in the postal service, but have also secured the appointment of a French Military doctor to be in charge of the hospital founded by Menelik, and of a French ¢¢ Adviser ” to the Abyssinian Government. I believe Political Situation 283 that officially this description of his appointment is denied ; but he is always known as such and referred to as such— and in any case that appears to be his job. From the details I have given above it will be seen that the corps diplomatique is a fairly extensive one, and a remarkably active one; I should like to have been able to add that it is also a united one. It is certainly more so than it used to be; joint action is by no means unknown to-day, and it is sincerely to be hoped that such action may continue and extend. But as regards the past the fact remains that the progress of one European country in Abyssinia has been in my view wrongly and mischievously regarded as a set-back to the others, and that far too much political weight has been given to the acquisition of commercial and industrial concessions. All three of the great Powers concerned—England, France, and Italy—have publicly declared their policy to be the maintenance of the independence of Ethiopia. It is so stated most explicitly in the preamble to the Tri- partite Agreement of 1906 between the three countries, which commences with the words ¢ It being the common interest of France, Great Britain and Italy to maintain intact the integrity of Ethiopia.” Our policy towards Abyssinia has been set out repeatedly and publicly. It was stated in the following words by Sir John Harrington in a speech to the Emperor Menelik on the 11th April, 1905 : “In my character of British Minister I am glad to state that the British Government does not follow, in reference to Ethiopia, any other policy than the maintenance of its complete independence.” It was last clearly expressed by H.M. King George V when he received the Abyssinian Mission sent to Europe to congratulate the Allies on their victory in the Great 284 Political Situation War. This speech again contains a specific reference to the maintenance of the independence of Ethiopia, and I am quite sure that the only desire of England is to see | Abyssinia a strong, independent, rich, and progressive country. The days of foreign international intrigue should be over, there are no territorial questions left to vex the souls of the Chancelleries, and their joint interests are presumably solely concerned with the development of Abyssinia’s com- mercial possibilities along the line of peaceful progress. Hitherto Abyssinia cut off from the outside world has been left largely without light or guidance; of con- certed European effort to assist the country there has been little or none, and the Abyssinians believe, rightly or wrongly (wrongly, let us hope), that the Foreign Legations have never urged any but the interests of their own coun- tries and their own nationals; let them disprove this belief by jointly urging and supporting measures which while benefiting all nationalities will mainly and immedi- ately benefit Abyssinia. CHAPTER XXIV The Present Condition of the Country S 1 stated in the introduction to the present volume, it is difficult to form a really correct impression of the state of development at which Abyssinia and its people have arrived, and it is still more difficult to convey a clear idea thereof to others. For any basis of estimation is necessarily comparative, and to compare Abyssinia with any other country is impossible. You cannot judge by the standards of other African races a people with thousands of years of history behind them, a people that at one time must undoubtedly have attained a high degree of development, possessing ports, trading far afield, extending their dominion over many races. Nor is it possible to compare them with European countries, inasmuch as for centuries they have been isolated and cut off from the world, and have indeed been thrown back entirely on their own resources. Only by a consideration of these factors can the problem be at all understood and the strange mixtures and glaring contrasts which make up the country’s life to-day be brought into focus. Abyssinia has only recently emerged Hom a period of “sturm und drang,”’ following the first real effort that she has made in modern times to pursue a policy of develop- ment and progress under the guidance of King Menelik. Swept back into chaos after the death of that ruler, and cut off from commercial intercourse with Europe by the Great War, the country for several years exhibited all the 285 286 Condition of the Country signs of disintegration and reversion to its former congeries of semi-independent States. And on his accession to power the present Regent had the inherited difficulties of his position augmented by the dual regime of government which necessarily makes for a certain amount of unrest, by plots of a minor character and intrigues of all sorts, and also (until recently) by the activities of the fugitive Emperor and his adherents. For as long as Lej Yasu the Emperor, dispossessed in 1916, was at large he commanded a measure of support, and from his refuges, first in the Dankali country and later in Tigré, he was continually threatening invasion. His capture and imprisonment in the summer of 1921 effected a great improvement and increased the prestige of the Ras ; this necessarily exercised a quietening influence on the country. The general position has undoubtedly been steadily, if very slowly, improving since then, and I noticed many indications of this having occurred even during the interval between our two visits to the country. For example, when we first arrived in Addis there was a certain amount of indiscriminate shooting about the town and it was unwise for Europeans to be about after dusk; several houses were attacked by thieves, and one or two murders took place. These burglaries were generally carried out by armed men and some of them were tragic, some almost comic. On one occasion it must have become known that a certain firm had drawn a considerable number of dollars from the Bank in preparation for sending a caravan into the country for trading purposes, for on going into the office one morning, the man in charge of the money found to his surprise a large piece cut out of the wall close to where the bags of money had been laid ; he congratulated himself greatly at having had the dollars removed to his own bedroom the night before! Of course during the night he had heard firing, but this had been such a common occurrence owing to the nervousness of the guards, who Condition of the Country 287 fired on the smallest noise, that he had not paid any attention to it. Another night some twenty or thirty Abyssinians Broo into the store of one of the big Indian merchants; the owner himself rushed off for the police, leaving his guards letting off their fire-arms in the usual useless manner and fighting with the robbers. Meanwhile the thieves had collected a lot of his stuff and marched déwn the main street carrying it off—inter alia, a number of loose sheets of corrugated iron. It is said that on these occasions, the police used to find it convenient to keep out of the affray on promise of a share in the spoils, and I was told that after one of these kind of ¢ entertainments ” one of the burglars who had left his rifle behind came back the next day aided by the police to find it! But I have my doubts as to the literal truth of this story. Supposed would-be burglars visited our house in the outskirts of the town on one or two occasions. We were awakened by a tremendous noise of firing close to the windows; by the time I got outside the invaders had disappeared and I was met by a crowd of servants who on hearing the firing of the guards had rushed up armed with spears, sticks, and anything they could get hold of in their hurry. Though we discovered a native parasol abandoned near the house the next morning (this may have belonged to a native who had ““ dined ” too well and lost his way), I always believed this and other similar affairs were got up by the night guards to show what fine fellows they were, for whenever I went on to the verandah at night I used to find our gallant watchdogs fast asleep, and often my movements did not awake them. In the wild parts of the country there were, here and there, bands of robbers who made it their business to attack caravans, as for instance, early in 1919, when a powerful and well-known Governor was returning from Addis to his country. Having stayed in the capital two 288 Condition of the Country or three months and bought a quantity of valuable imported goods to take back, he had sent his very large caravan on three days before his own start. Some cheery fellows attacked it and looted it, clearing the whole thing off. = So the Governor hurried out, and when he reached the place where the attack had occurred burned the villages, strung up some natives, took others along with him in chains, and generally proceeded to make himself popular. No attacks on caravans have since been made in that district. Weheard of a fewhalf-hearted attacks in the West on caravans carrying merchandise belonging to some European trader or firm, but these are usually safe if in charge of a white man, of whom the native seems to have a wholesome awe. However, in considering these incidents it is as well to reflect that murders and robberies are, I believe, not un- known in Europe, a fact of which the Empress reminded a foreign diplomat one day when he was complaining of some recent happenings of this nature: “ Have you then no criminals in your country?” remarked Her Majesty. No events of this sort took place during our last visit, nor did I hear of any having taken place recently. A shot fired in the town was of the rarest occurrence, indeed the Foreign Legations had been asked not to shoot in their own grounds (some three or four miles out of the town) s0 as to give no excuse to the natives to follow the example of others. The police had been considerably strengthened, little police posts were to be found distributed all over the town, and a general appearance and atmosphere of law and order prevailed to a far greater extent than formerly. The Government offices though still in an embryonic condition were beginning to function, and the establish- ment of the Mixed Tribunal which I have described else- where marked a further stage in evolution. Road-making was also in full swing, As to the provinces there were indications of a similar, if perhaps less pronounced improvement. The complete Condition of the Country 289 success of the 1921 expedition to the north was highly significant, and other signs were not wanting to show that civil war will not be so lightly entered upon in the future as it has been in the past. The present condition of the country has been por- trayed in somewhat unnecessarily vivid colours by some recent paragraphists. It is, however, hardly surprising that Europe should be ill-informed as to the state of affairs in Abyssinia, for I have never passed through Djibouti on my way up or down without being deluged with alarmist statements ranging from epidemics to revolutions. But in the course of a fairly long stay in the country and of pretty continuous intercourse with many of the leading personages one can gather a good deal, and I have no hesitation in saying that some of the pictures which have recently been drawn of rebellious provinces on the verge of breaking out into wholesale revolt, and of the contending factions of the Empress and the Ras only awaiting consign- ments of arms and ammunition to fly at each other’s throats are—well, to put it mildly, * terminological inexactitudes.” It is my conviction that, apart from a few outlying districts imperfectly controlled from headquarters (in the Dankali and Ogaden countries, for example), it would be quite safe for a European to ride through most of Abyssinia with no more lethal form of weapon than a hunting crop. But even so it must not be imagined that the country is otherwise than extraordinarily backward, looked at from a European point of view. The existence of feudality in the form that it does is perhaps as good an indication of this as any, and many interesting instances of it can be witnessed by any traveller in Abyssinia to-day. For example, an important source of national wealth is the grass of the country, and the commencement of the cutting is the occasion of a great festival. The Ras in person and his chiefs go out into his grasslands accompanied T 290 Condition of the Country by all their tenants, soldiers, servants, and followers; the Ras personally cuts a little, his example is followed by the chiefs, and then his dependents get to work, and the fields are rapidly stripped of their produce by the small hand-sickles of the multitude. On another occasion I learned that the Empress had expressed a desire to proceed to a church some three or four miles from Addis, but a few days beforehand it was discovered that the road was impassable. Again the sub- jects were requistioned by their liege lords ; the Ras and every noble and chief then in Addis each personally moved a few stones on the road, their example being followed by the lesser chiefs, and so on downwards, until nearly ten thousand men were working on the road, which for miles was black with the toilers, the scenery being enhanced by the bright-coloured robes, parasols, and trappings of the mules of the great men who were superintending the operations from the shade of the roadside. I came across a further example of the system, and one which well illustrates its more unfortunate aspects. The governor of a large and fertile district in the south-east was discussing with me the question of introducing modern agricultural machinery on his estate. I had explained the advantages of motor-ploughs, and had given him figures showing the cost of ploughing per acre with these machines and the rapidity with which the work could be done. His reply was, “ Yes, that may be cheap in your country, but it is very dear in mine. For what does it cost me to plough? Every ‘man in my district is obliged to come with a yoke or more of oxen and do a given amount of ploughing on my lands. I kill a few oxen to feed them, which means little to me, and I have no other expenses. Why should I spend all this money on getting my land ploughed a little more quickly ? ” That may be good for the governor, but it does not help progress ; this last example shows a vicious state of affairs, which is one of the several Condition of the Country 291 factors accounting for the non-development of the country. The peasants are on the whole pretty badly treated, as the soldiery, who are ill-paid, are apt to supplement their official salaries in ways that would not commend themselves to British farmers. It must of course be borne in mind that this is probably to some extent due to the fact that quite a large extent of the country, nearly one half, has comparatively recently been conquered, and that these tracts are for the most part not inhabited by Abys- sinians properly so-called, but by Gallas, Danakils, Somals, Shankala, Gourage, etc., in which districts the Abyssinians are represented merely by their officials and troops. The position as regards land tenure is also obscure and unsatisfactory. In theory all land belongs to the Crown and no one can absolutely own it; it reverts to or is con- fiscated by the Crown on the misconduct of the holder. In fact, however, they do buy and sell land among them- selves ; and the payment of the prescribed taxes in cash, kind, and labour over a period of years seems to be held to constitute a title to the land, although there are I believe no title deeds outside Addis Ababa. Europeans are not supposed to be able to own land, though they do so in Addis, but it is difficult for them to acquire it by purchase, and all sorts of subterfuges have been adopted as a conse- quence. We came across two interesting examples of this. The first was the case of the Russian Legation, the land belong- ing to which had been given to the Russians by Menelik. But although the Russians had themselves at their own expense built the Legation, and surrounded the grounds with a wall, yet on the departure of the Legation in 1919 the land was taken back again by the Government. The second was a case where a merchant wished to buy a small piece of land adjacent to his own in Addis Ababa, which belonged to an Abyssinian. He was unable to do 292 Condition of the Country so directly and was compelled to go through an elaborate pantomime of lending money to the owner on the security of the land, foreclosing the debt, and getting the land adjudged to him by judicial process in payment of his debt. This I was told was a common form of circumventing the difficulty, though even in these cases the covering permission of the Ras had to be obtained. Divided between their desire for European improvements and their suspicion of Europeans, the Abyssinians from time to time move forward in one direction while steadfastly re- maining imbedded in antiquity in another—their acceptance of the railway and their refusal to allow an aeroplane to enter the country is an example of this—and the result is a picture not unlike that recently drawn by one eminent politician of another—one foot in the Middle Ages and the other in the League of Nations. From the point of view of the traveller and the re- searcher it is all very interesting and very fascinating; from the point of view of the people, however, I am not quite sure that the same epithets would be applicable ; and from the point of view of the trader I am quite certain that they are not. If it is not easy to describe faithfully the state of arrested progress and partial development in which the country finds itself, it is even less easy to give a satisfactory explana- tion of it, or to determine the causes that have operated to keep this country, the last independent empire in Africa, so far behind the world’s advance. Is it due to the mentality of the race and their unwillingness or in- capacity to assimilate new ideas, or are external or other causes operative ? In my view there are a variety of causes, and among them I would give first place to the historical. Their story is one of perpetual warfare from the very earliest times almost up to to-day. They have fought against Arabians, Egyptians, Turks, and Dervishes, neighbouring Condition of the Country 293 races of all kinds such as Adals, Danakil, and Gallas, later against ourselves, and finally against the Italians. When there was a pause in external warfare, civil war took its place, and Amhara, Tigré, Gojam, and Shoa have in turn conquered and been conquered through the ages. They have lived surrounded by enemies, and have had no leisure to turn to peaceful development. They have had all their ports and coastline taken from them, and so have been cut off from the world and from progress, and their ships which centuries ago traded up the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean are now dim memories. And recent events have not been more helpful. For after the devastating wars prior to the Emperor Menelik’s accession the country was beginning to find its feet when the monarch’s illness and death threw back the dawn of progress. Peace seemed to have settled on the land; foreign enterprise, heralded by the railway, was beginning to turn its attention, very tentatively, towards Abyssinia ; European innovations were regarded with less disfavour ; the feudal system was being attacked charily, when the mainspring of development failed. The consequent in- trigue and misrule were intensified by the fact that the Powers of Europe had neither men nor money nor interest to spare for Abyssinia, and as ships and produce were not available, something like the old historic isolation of the country enwrapped it once more. After the War, the trade slump fell upon and blighted the commercial efforts which were then being tried again, and it is not surprising that the country is poorer and per- haps less settled than it was fifteen years ago, even though a great deal better off than it was three or four years ago. It is really astonishing that the lapse has not been greater than it has, and for this we must thank the railway, which reached Addis at the end of 1917, and which although otherwise disappointing, has at all events provided a link with the outside world. 294 Condition of the Country Another contributory cause is undoubtedly the feudal system which I have described above, of the effect of which I have given some examples. And of course the absence of all means of communication and transport outside the railway has exercised a paralyzing effect. Finally, I am sorry to say we must look at home for yet “another cause of lack of development. For foreign inter- national political rivalry has done a great deal to prevent development rather than forward it. Every foreign Power was so jealous of any advantage obtained by another in the country that much negative labour seems to have been spent in the past in merely checkmating the efforts of others, unmindful of the fact that the benefit of one must in fact be for the benefit of all. I will not enlarge on this aspect ; it is a delicate one, but it has had a sinister effect. These half-dozen causes that I have given are in my view the main contributing reasons for the backwardness of this land so favoured by Nature. And the natural point to which this brings one is the question of how long this is to last, and what means are possible to improve matters. What, in short, are the possibilities that the future holds for Abyssinia? CHAPTER XXV The Future : Possibilities &° Prospects HAVE endeavoured in the preceding chapters to give my readers as clear a picture as I could of what Abyssinia is to-day, of the state of development reached by its government and people, and of the historical and other causes which in my view are responsible for the very curious and anomalous position of this African Empire. : What, then, is to be its future? How long is this strange survival of the past likely to continue to exist in its present form? Will it so far continue in or relapse into a state of semi-barbarism as to cause it to share the fate of the rest of Africa, and be either divided amongst or adminis- tered by some of the mandatories of the League of Nations? Or will it develop itself and gradually take its place among the other great nations of the world ? Prophecy is a dangerous and thankless role—and so many forecasts regarding Abyssinia have been made only to be stultified by subsequent events that it is with some diffidence that I attempt the task. Writing in 1891, shortly after his return from Abyssinia, Sir Gerald (then Mr.) Portal said, referring to the recently declared Italian Protectorate over that country: * Thus has ended the independence of Abyssinia. With the death of King Johannes died also that autonomy which had been the pride of this race for so many centuries. . . . No other European can ever grasp the hand of an independent Emperor of Ethiopia.” But since then Abyssinia has 295 296 Possibilities &’ Prospects made patent her independence in no uncertain manner, and has produced one of the greatest rulers she ever had. The break-up of the Empire at the death of Menelik was also foretold by writers well acquainted with the country—and, as we know, that prophecy has not been fulfilled. And on the other hand great and immediate developments were foreshadowed directly the railway should reach Addis Ababa—but we have yet to see them. The subject I think must be looked at from two points of view, namely, the latent potentialities of the country, and the probabilities or possibilities of their utilization. The visions which one has are almost limitless. Is it impossible to conceive of the opening up of the country by a railway running east and west from the Red Sea to the Soudan in continuation of the present line, and its junction in Western Abyssinia with the Cape to Cairo railway running north and south, now only 150 miles from the north-eastern frontier, both railways throwing out feeders to tap the provinces that lie near them? And the conse- quent development of the trade and industry of the country on a huge scale, the cultivation of cotton, rubber, sugar, coffee, and grain of all kinds; the im- provement of the breed of cattle, and the establishment of factories for dealing with the by-products of the cattle industry ; the construction of roads; the utiliza- tion of the water supplies of the country for irrigation and for power; the development of its mineral re- sources, etc. etc. Are these idle dreams, or are they ideas capable of realization ? And if so, when and by what means? It is difficult to refer to the possibilities of the country as one sees it to-day without seeming exaggeration, and I do not desire to emulate the efforts of a distinguished American traveller, who, on the faith of a nine days’ stay in Addis Ababa, which he reached by a rapid dash from the & w i Possibilities &° Prospects 297 coast whither he returned equally rapidly, wrote of having seen gems “ scattered over the desert waste washed down from the mountains above,” crystals which he was told “ suggest diamonds > and “ specimens pointing to rubies, opals, and emeralds.” The extraction of copper, iron, and the ordinary ores was ‘merely a question of finding facilities for shipment,” and ‘gold was hidden away in the mountains in quantities which can be estimated by no existing data.” I am not prepared to endorse these remarks. But if you have combined a sojourn in the country with some study of its history and an examination of the map it is difficult not to feel optimistic as to its possibilities. | The wonderful climatic conditions which allow of the growth in one part of the country or another of almost everything the world produces; the remarkable fertility of the soil as a result of which three crops a year can be harvested in many districts; the vast herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep and goats scattered all over the country ; the abundance of natural water power; the probability of mineral deposits — all these factors contain the germs of almost unbounded prosperity, and constitute a fair claim for Abyssinia to be regarded as one of the richest, if not the richest, undeveloped portion of Africa. Now it is clear that development on anything like the scale indicated needs more than the spasmodic efforts of a few traders and small concessionaires ; the work could only be undertaken : (1) by the Home Government. (2) by powerful private native groups. (3) by Foreign Governments. (4) by private foreign groups. or (5) by a combination of some or all of these, 298 Possibilities &’ Prospects I think that the second and third possibilities may be eliminated at once. For there are no Abyssinians with the capacity, the wealth, or the knowledge to undertake, unaided, anything of the sort themselves. And the idea of foreign State aid would not merely be unwelcome to, but would be bitterly resented by the Abyssinians. As I have already pointed out, they are intensely jealous of foreign government interference in any domestic matters whatever ; and in any commercial concession which they now give, they insert a clause to the effect that it shall not be sold or transferred to a foreign State. No foreign State is likely to thrust itself in or to take any action which might be regarded as infringing the sovereign rights of Ethiopia, for the three mainly concerned (England, France, and Italy) have formally and publicly professed support to the doctrine of an “independent Ethiopia.” It may be asked, why, if this is so, the Abyssinians should hesitate to avail themselves of foreign State aid. Why, if these foreigners have pledged themselves not to violate the independence of the country, should their assistance not be invoked to develop it? Well, the answer is, that despite treaties and public professions of faith, suspicion remains — and suspicion is a pretty strong factor in Africa. The Abbysinians know that practically all Africa has been partitioned out amongst European Powers, and even as they have hitherto been “an island of Christians in a sea of pagans” so now they desire to remain an island of independence in a sea of conquest. And they fear the thin end of the wedge. So I think we may rule out direct and material foreign State intervention in matters commercial, until and unless very considerable changes take place in the country, though in another sphere and in another way (to which I refer Possibilities & Prospects ~~ 299 later) the Governments of Europe might well be of assist- ance to Abyssinia. There remain the possibilities of the Abyssinian Govern- ment itself undertaking developments, or such develop- ments being undertaken by powerful private foreign groups. There are valid reasons why either of these courses alone would be unlikely to be successful ; the Abyssinian Government does not possess adequate financial resources, nor men with the necessary capacity and experience. And foreign private enterprise needs the stimulus and the sup- port, even the active co-operation, of the home Government before it would launch itself on any very extensive under- takings in that country. . We are therefore thrown back on the last of the several courses I suggested, namely, a combination of the home Government and private foreign capital and enterprise. For if the assistance of foreign groups with their capital and their resources is essential yet it is no less essential that there should be stability of government, maintenance of law and order, encouragement of enterprise, safety for the individual and his goods, before undertakings on the necessary scale can be launched. And these preliminary conditions cannot all be said to exist at present to the extent which it is essential that they should. Indeed trade and industry may be said to have existed until recently in spite of the difficulties they encountered from the existing form of government and from its officers, imposts, and burdens. Therefore if foreign capital is to be introduced on a large scale to develop the immense possibilities of this land so favoured of Nature, it is obvious that the Government must put its house in order, and hold out to it a helping hand. We come, therefore, to the question of whether the 300 Possibilities & Prospects Abyssinian, or any of them, realize the position, whether they are manifesting any desire or intention to grapple with it, and what prospect of success attends their efforts. J To the first two questions at all events I think I can safely give an affirmative answer. The Prince Regent Ras Tafari is, as I have pointed out in the sketch I have previously given of him, an enlightened man, devoted to the interests of his country, and an enthusiastic supporter of reform and progress. He has recently evolved a * pro- gramme,” and if he is able to give effect to this programme there should be little doubt as to the future of his country. It includes : 1. The regulation of commercial transactions. 2 a 5 land taxation. 3: igs hs the tribunals. 4. Disarmament of the population. 5. Suppression of traffic in slaves. 6. Organization of education. It is an ambitious list of projects and needs but few words of explanation. The first item refers to such matters as the granting of concessions on a proper basis, the enact- ment of mining laws, the registration of companies, and other questions affecting trade. The second is of vital importance and is likely to have a more immediate and far-reaching effect than anything else which could be done in the country. For if the system of taxation and the method of collection could be properly revised and placed under capable control the peasant would have an incentive to produce which he lacks at present (as I have explained in detail elsewhere), and the production of the country would thus be increased enor- mously, the trader would find an infinitely greater market for his goods, the financier would be attracted to the Possibilities & Prospects 301 country, and the Government would acquire the where- withal to carry out numberless much-needed reforms in various directions. This step is beyond doubt the most important, the most requisite, and the one which should be carried out first. If to this be added the reform of the Customs, and later on of its allied system of taxation, the Government would have to its hand an immediate and direct way in which it could not only obtain a good deal of money, but could also assist trade enormously and give an earnest of its desire for the material welfare and progress of the country. The maladministration of the Customs is a subject I have dealt with elsewhere, and I will consequently not enlarge upon it here. But I will merely repeat that the burden the present system inflicts upon trade is incalculable, and that a very small proportion of the receipts finds its way into the pockets of the Govern- ment. If the whole customs and kella system throughout the country were placed under the control of a strong, compe- tent European, who was persona grata with the Abyssinians and with the three main European Legations at Addis, but entirely independent of the latter and of their Govern- ments and responsible only to the Abyssinian Government, paid by it, and armed with full powers by it, then I feel that the first step would have been taken towards real and material progress. If this reform were successful, and there is no reason why it should not be, others would follow ; but it does seem that this is the most practicable and the first step to be taken. It would not impinge on Abyssinia’s inde- pendence nor be violently revolutionary, but it would in a few years bring practical and obvious results in the shape of dollars and thus commend itself to the people of the country. / 302 Possibilities & Prospects As to the other proposals, the reform of the judicial tribunals is a self-explanatory one; it hangs very largely # on the financial reforms referred to above, which if carried out, would permit of and indeed necessitate the payment of local governors and officials (who now act as judges) on quite a different basis. I have referred elsewhere to one important step which has already been taken in this con- nection, namely, the establishment of the Mixed Court at Addis Ababa. Preliminary steps in connection with the disarmament of the population have been taken. In certain districts orders have been issued for the registration of the names of those possessing fire-arms, together with the number of cartridges held by them. It is obvious that the power of the central government must be greatly increased by the limitation of armament of the subjects of the various feudal chiefs throughout the country. With regard to the two remaining items of the pro- gramme the question of the abolition of the traffic in slaves has been dealt with very fully in a chapter devoted to that subject, and the organization of public education is a reform the nature and desirability of which need no explanation. It is obvious, therefore, that the man who is the practical head of the Abyssinian State is not only alive to the necessity for reforms but that he is also doing what in him lies to promote them. His difficulties, are however, very great, and unfortunately these difficulties which are mainly internal have not been materially lessened from abroad. The sacred voice of * public opinion” is frequently invoked by publicists in this country to point to and urge the necessity of this, that, or the other action being taken, whether in their own or some other land. And it is of course obvious that any European Government that deliberately flouted genuine and widely held public opinion Possibilities &° Prospects 303 in its own country would rapidly reap its reward—at the polls. Critics of Abyssinia seem to forget that there is a form of “ public opinion” in that country also; not expressed by newspapers and democratic orators but none the less real for that. And if the rulers of Abyssinia endeavoured to enforce drastic changes too rapidly in the country against the views of the mass of the population, they would also reap their reward—not at the polls but in a more drastic and painful fashion. Now while it is true, as I have said, that the Regent is fully alive to the necessity and desirous of the introduction of change he has been, and still is, hampered (just as Menelik was) by the antipathy and even hostility of much of the population, and he is still further hampered (as Menelik was not) by the existence of a dual form of Government part of which is known to hold reactionary views and to be opposed to foreigners and all their ways. Consequently it behoves him to proceed with caution, and in such progressive efforts as he does make he is entitled to the active support and assistance of Europe, support which so far he has not received to any appreciable extent. He needs moral support to encourage him to commence his work of reform, and material support to carry it through and deal with such opposition as may arise. By this I do not mean interference, direction, or control which as I have already pointed out would be bitterly resented, but a knowledge that his motives are understood, his efforts appreciated, and his position assured. If this were done it is highly probable that internal opposition to reform would lose in intensity and gradually pass away. It is true that such opposition does exist, but other influences may come to affect the position. Signs were not wanting, even when we were there, that all were not satisfied with their lot, and that reform would not be so generally resisted as might be thought. It was rumoured that the soldiery on being ordered to undertake 304 Possibilities & Prospects a recent expedition had questioned the desirability of it ; that their treatment by their chiefs had been openly discussed ; and that their views had to be listened to by their chiefs. Whether this was true or not, I cannot say, but it is at least remarkable that it should have been openly talked about. I have spoken with various of the more enlightened people in the country, men who might be described as “ Young Abyssinians,” and I have been surprised to find how interested they were in the progress of their country and its development on European lines, and how reasonable were their ideas. There was nothing revolutionary about them—they seemed merely anxious that the obstacles standing in the way of the Prince Regent’s progressive schemes should be removed so that his programme should be carried out. The reactionary and oppressive policy of the Church and of its supporters and its manifold shorts, comings were quite strongly condemned ; and the impres- sions I derived from these talks were that support given to Ras Tafari to push on with his ideas would be welcomed by most of what is best in the country. Abyssinia though surrounded by the possessions of other countries on all sides is at present singularly little affected by them, for they consist for the most part of thinly populated little developed territories. But they will not always remain so, and even as it is, foreign ideas trickle in. So that there is always the possibility of new and now non-suspected sources providing incentives to progress. If nothing is done to improve matters, if the Regent’s plans are frustrated or indefinitely postponed by opposition from within or lack of encouragement from without, then I fear that there is a serious risk that the country will go back. And if this happens, then the outlook will be grave, for discontent will make itself manifest, and sooner or later lead to revolution. Discontent is not found as a rule in ~» Possibilities & Prospects 30% a country growing rich under an enlightened government really working for the prosperity of the population. But when the country grows poorer, suffers under heavy and unjust taxation, and the many are exploited for the benefit of the few, then is trouble likely to arise. There is, however, no reason why it should do so, if only the Regent is enabled to move in the right direction as he wishes to do. If the Abyssinians could be persuaded that the three great foreign Powers with which they have to deal are single-minded and united in their desire to further the prosperity of the country, and if these three Powers would jointly and genuinely give practicalisupport to development on the lines I have ventured to sketch, then I feel sure that we should see the dawn of an era of really remarkable prosperity for Ethiopia. And just as it is essential for the Powers to act together (to convince the Abyssinians of their bona fides, if for no other reason) so it is essential for England to be amongst them. For England in defence of her own external in- terests, is interested in the strengthening and development of the Government of Abyssinia to an extent greater than that of any other foreign Power. Our vast co-terminous frontiers, protected by treaty it is true but otherwise largely unguarded; our immense interest in the waters of Lake Tsana and the Blue and Black Niles for the welfare of Egypt and the Soudan ; our neighbouring commercial and transport interests—all these make our stake in the matter of a strong and stable Abys- sinian Government a most important and far-reaching one. A weak Abyssinia is a danger to the neighbouring Colonies by which she is surrounded, and a continued source of trouble and expense to their administrations, be they English, French, or Italian. On the other hand a strong ‘government, a contented country, and a progressive com- ‘mercial policy would not merely be to the incalculable ‘advantage of Abyssinia itself, but must also tend to the u 306 Possibilities & Prospects easing of its neighbours’ difficulties and to a great expan- sion of their trade. Where the interests of all concerned are, as in the present case, identical, it ought not to be impossible to find means to achieve the desired end ; I feel convinced that this is well worth doing, that it ought to be done, and that in spite of its difficulties it can be done, given the united and tactful co-operation with Abyssinia of the three great Powers who stand for the progress of civilization in Africa. INDEX A Abai, the, 32 — method of crossing, 231 Abouna, the, go, 125-6 Abreha, King, 126 Abyssinia— Entrance to, 20, 22-3 Extent of, 27 Geographical and climatic conditions 27-33 Abyssinians, the— Appearance, 39-40 Characteristics, 40-9 Distribution, 38 Numbers, 38 Origin and evolution, 81 Addis Ababa— Arrival at, 26 Climate of, 29 Foundation of, 144 Horse market, 153 Population of, 150 Sulphur baths, 154-5 Water supply, 156 Aden, 199 Adowa, battle of, 99, 173, 177 Adulis inscriptions, 86 Acizanes, King, 87 Aeroplanes, 174-5 Afa Negus, the, 114 Afdam, Mt., 24. Agricultural implements, 218 Ahmed Gran, 92-3, 236 Akaki River, 146 Alarmist statements, 289 Ali, Ras, 95 Alliance Francaise, 265 Alula, Ras, 177 * Alvarez, Father F., 18 Amda Sion I, King, 92 American influence, 2635, 266, 267 Amhara, 27 Ambharic, 161 Amusements, 76 Animals, 241 Ants, 250 Arabian influences, 83 Araki, 67 Aram (see Ori) Ark of the Covenant, 85 Armbruster, C. H., 161 Army— Commissariat, 173 Discipline and uniform, 175 Grades, 178 Pay, 178 Strength, 172-4 Arussi, 190 Arussi Galla— Clothing, 52 Food, 53 Superstitions, 55-6 Wedding customs, 54 Women, 53 Assa, Lake, 32 Assabot, Mt., 24. Atbara River, 31 Athill, Major, 272 Attitude to Europeans, 40-1 Axum, 33-4 — Kingdom of, 86 B Baboons, 244~5 Bada Maryam, King, 18 Baga, 29 Baksheesh, 46, 106 Balanos, M., 280 Bank of Abyssinia, 23, 202, 207 Banquets, 63-4, 109, 110 Baro River, 231 Basket weaving, 224 Beke, Dr., 222 Belgian influence, 265-6 Bent, Theodore, 34. Bentley, Captain, 42, 149 Berbera, 198 Betwadet, the, 105 Birds, 245-7 Birds of prey, 62 Boran, 28 Branca Leone, Francisco de, 17 Bread, 65 Bridges, 231 British influence, 267 Broundo (see Meat, raw) Bruce, James, 19, 94, 127, 273 Budge, Sir E. W., 164 Buildings, Portuguese, 19 Burglaries, 286 Burton, Sir Richard, 33 307 308 Cc Calendar, the, 160-3 Campbell, Mr., 278 Candace, Queen, 123 Caravans, 230 — attacks on, 287 Cattle, 251 Cave-dwellers, 26 Cederquist, Mr., 160 Chalcedon, Council of, 124 Chamma, the, 70-1 Chefneu, M., 273-4 Chick peas, 219 Christianity— Conversion to, 122-3 Effect of, 122 Extent of, 124 Chronicles of Abyssinia, 83-4 Chronology, 162-3 Church, the— Independence of, 125 Non-proseletyzing efforts, 130 Power of, 115 Services, 133 Wealth and influence, 126-7 Church of St. George, 132-3 Churches, 132 Circumcision, 69 Clitoridectomy, 69 Coffee, 196 Colli, Count, 260, 282 Comboul, M., 225 Communications, 227, 231-2 Concessions, 203-4 Consuls, 278-9, 281 Conventions (see Treaties) Coppet, M. de, 282 Cosmas Indicopleustes, 86 Cotton growing, 222 — imports, 197, 200, 201 Court, the, 108-110 Courtesy, 42 Courts, consular, 121 — Mixed, 121 Covilham, Pedro da, 18 Critics of Abyssinia, 303 Crocodiles, 33 Currency, 205-7 Customs, the— Administration, 212-14 Addis Ababa, 213 Dirre-Daoua, 213 Djibouti, 212 Duties, 213 Internal, 214 Reform of, 301 D Danakil, the, 28, 39 Index Danakil, the appearance, 59 — — characteristics, 59-60 — — distribution, 59 — — origin, 59 Dance of the Priests, 61, 140-1 Dancing, 168-9 Dankali country, 28 Debra Damo, 88 Debra Libanos, 126, 164 Dergo, 1035, 239, 240 Desiccation of the country, 31-2 Development of Abyssinia, 285, 297 Dirre-Daoua, 23-4 Disease, 47-9 Divorce, 68 Djam Djam, forest of, 33 Djibouti, 20-22, 198-9 Dodds, Major, C.M.G., 260-1, 278 Dogs, pariah, 154 Dollar, the Maria Theresa, 205, 211 — the Menelik, 205 — fluctuation of, 208-9 ~Dourah, 219 Dress, 70-3 E Early travellers, 17-20 Easter, 141 Education, 157-160 — Director of, 157 Egyptian influences, 83-4, 86 — irrigation, 273 Empress, the (see Zauditu) Endjera, 219 Entertaining, 262 Ethiopia, 27, 82-3 Eucalyptus trees, 26, 145 European influence, 264 — interests and frontiers, 305 Europeans, 256 Excavations, French, 36-7 — German, 34 Factories, 226 Falasha, the, 28 — attitude to, 129 — characteristics of, §8—9 — distribution of, 39 — origin, 58 — religion, 58 — revolt of, 88 Fantasia, a, 176 Fasting, 134 Feast days, 134-41 Fertility of soil, 218 Fetha Nagast, 114-15 Feudal system, 102-3 — — examples of, 289-90 Fig trees, 321 Finger-prints, 158 Flax, 220 Fondness for children, 45 Food crops, 219 Forests, 33 France, difficulties with, 276 French aspirations, 274 — influence, 275, 277, 282 Frontiers of Abyssinia, 271 Funerals, 79-80 G Gabar system, 52, 189-90 Gaberu, Kantibar, 159 Galla, the, 28, 39 — appearance of, 51-2 — Arussi (see Arussi Galla) — characteristics of, §1 — invasion of, 93, 123 — language, 161 — origin of, 50-1 — religions of, 124 — Shoan, 56-7 — tombs, 55 Gama, Christoforo da, 19, 93 Gambela, 231, 278 Gebbi, the, 107-8, 147-8 Gebbur, the, 63-4 German influence, 265-6 Geshen, Amba, 88 Geze, language, 115, 128, 161 Gibbon, E., 87, 94, 192 Gilmour, T. Lennox, 227 Gojam, 27 Gold, 225 Gombos, 224 Gondar, 19 Goreza monkeys, 245 Gourage, the, 28, 39 — appearance, §7 — characteristics, 57 — origin, 57-8 Government offices, 288 Grass, 220 Grecian influences, 83, 122 Guarantors, 118 Guccho, 67, 220 H Hail, 31 Haile Giorgis, 105 Haile Melekot, King, 96, 133 Hairdressing, 73-5 Hamites, 81-2 Hand-looms, 223 Hangings, 115-6 Hanotaux, G., 275 Index 3009 Hapta Giorgis, Fitorauri, 43, 105, 174, 179, 180 Harbours, 272 Harrar, province, 28, 274 — town, 33 Harrington, Sir John, 276, 278, 283 Harris, Captain, 273 Harvesting, 218 | Hawash, rest-house, 24 — River, 24, 32 Hawks, 248 Herui, Belata, 121, 159 Hewett, Admiral Sir William, 97, 274 Hides, 195-6 Himyaritic inscriptions, 36-7 Hindlip, Lord, 21, 228 Hippopotamus, 243 — eaters, §3 Hodson, Arnold, 35 Honey, 221 Horsemanship and horse furniture, 76-7 Horses, 253 Hospital, American, 266 Hospitals, 107, 112 Hotel de France, 152 — Imperial, 152 Houses, 77-9 Hyenas, 249 — an attack by, 233-4 1 Independence of Abyssinia, 283, 298 India, connection with, 94. Iron, 225 Islam, progress of, 130-1 — warfare with, 91-3 Italian influence, 281-2 — protectorate, 274 Itcheque, the, 126 Ivory, 197 J Jewish influence, 61, 122 John (Johannes), King, 97-8 Judith, Queen of Falashas, 88-9 Justice, provincial, 119-20 Justinian, connection with, 192 — Embassy from, 88 K Kabana, River, 146 Kaffa province, 28 K’aramth, 29 Karsa, Ras (see John, King) Kassala Railway Company, 222 Kebra Nagast, the, 164 Kings, list of, 82 ! Kirch, Emil, 280 320 L Laessoe, Major de, 243 Lagarde, M., 273 Lakes, chain of, 32-3 Lalibala, King, 35, 89 — — attempt to divest Nile, 89 - — rock churches of, 35-6 Languages, 161 Land-tenure, 291 Lasta, 28 Law, courts of, 114 — position of foreigners before, 120 League of Nations, 293 Lebna Dengel (David), King, 92-3 Legations, Foreign— Belgian, 279 British, 257, 278 French, 257, 281 German, 279 Italian, 257, 281-2 Russian, 151, 280-1 Lej Yasu, Emperor, 100-1, 103, 131, 270 Leopards, black, 242 Likemaquas, 179 Lima, Rodriguez da, 18 Literature, 163-5 Locusts, excommunication of, 18-19 Ludolph, 252 M Mad Mullah, 172, 280 Mahomet, connection with Abyssinia, 91 Mabhrattas, relations with, 94 Maize, 219 Makeda (see Sheba, Queen of) Makonnen, Ras, 100, 110 Manchester Cotton Association, 222 Mangesha, Ras, 170 Manuscripts, 164-5 Marchand, Major, 43, 98, 179 Maria Theresa dollar (see Dollar) Market-places, 148—9 Marriage customs, 67-8 Maskal, feast of, 134, 136-7 Maskaram, 135 Matab, the, 73 Meat, eating raw, 61-5 — — — effect of, 65 — — live, 62-3 Mecca, defeat at, 87 Menelik I, King, 84-5 Menelik IT, Emperor, 44, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 103, 126, 1435, 155, 156, 160, 185 Menin, Waizeru, III, 112 Mental attributes, 49 Meroe, 82 Metcha, Mt., 32 Mikhael, Ras, 100 Minerals, 225 Index Minister of War (see Hapta Giorgis, Fitorauri) Ministers, 104-5 — Foreign, 279-80 Mission to Europe, 159, 283 Missionaries, educational work, 157-8 — expulsion of, 94, 130 — Jesuit seventeenth-century success, 94 — modern efforts, 130 Mobilization, 171 Modernization, 269 Monophysite doctrine, 124-5 Monopolies, 201-2 Montandon, Dr., 161 Morality, 47 Mosaic Law, 1135, 117 Moslem invasion, 92-3, 123 Mourning, 72 Mules, 236-7 Music, 166-8 Mutilation of dead, 177-8 N Nacueto Laab, King, go Nado, Dejazmach, 73 Nagadis, 222, 236-8 Napier of Magdala, Lord, expedition of, 43544, 45,273 Nile, Blue, 31 — White, 31 Nubia, 83 Nyala, 243 oO Obelisks of Axum, 34, 87 Obok, 21 Ogaden, 28 Oil, 225 — seed, 223 — — crushing, 223-4 Ori (Aram), 82 Ostriches, 248-9 P Paez, Father P., 19 Pageantry, religious, 110, 137-141 Painting, 165-6 Paper chases, 261 Patriotic League, British, 265 Penal Code, 1135, 116, 117 Pepper, 65-6, 220 Piacentini, Signor, 282 Political parties, 271 Polo, 260 Population, 38 Portal, Sir Gerald, 274, 295 Index Portuguese Embassy, 1520-7, 93 — military mission, 1541, 93 — religious penetration, 94. Postal and Telegraph service, 106-7 Pottery making, 224 Present condition, reasons for, 292-3 Prester John, Land of, 18 Priests, numbers of, 127 — ordination of, 127-8 — power of, 128 Princes, confinement of, 88 — massacre of, 88-9 Produce, variety of, 217 Ptolemy Euergetes, 86, 242 Punishments, 47, 115, 118 Punt, Kingdom of, 86 R Race meetings, 60 Railway extension, 296 Railway, Franco-Ethiopian— Condition of, 228 Concession for, 276 Construction of, 227 Difficulties to loaders, 214-6 Management difficulties, 229-30 Political difficulties, 228 Travelling on, 20-6 Rains, 29-30 — effect on Egypt, 31 Reade, Winwood, 126, 273 Red Sea, 32 Reforms, 190, 301-3 Regent, the Prince (see Tafari, Ras) Religious tolerance, 128-9 Revenue (sec Taxation) Rhinoceros, 243 — hunting extraordinary, 243-4 Riches of Abyssinia, 297 River system, 33 Rodd, Sir Rennell, 276 Rudolph, Lake, 32 Russell, Mr. Claud, 218 Russian influence, 265 280-1 — Legation, the, 151, S Sabzan influence, 36-7 Salt, deposits of, 225 Salt, H., 63 Schools, 157, 160 Seals, use of, 157-8 Sehala Mariam (see Menelik II, Emperor) Sehala Salassie, King, 133, 236, 273 Semitic influences, 85-6 Semyen, 28 Servants, 257 Shankala, the, 39, 60, 187 311 Sheba, Queen of, 84-5 Shoa, 28, 38, 89, 95-8, 273 Silversmiths, 224. Sistra, 168 Skinner, Robert, 21 Skins, 196 Slavery, attitude to, 182 — extent and nature of, 183 —proposals regarding, 189 Slave Trading, decline of, 185 — — proposals for dealing with, 186-8, 302 Smoking, 66 Sobat River, 231 Soldiery, characteristics of, 47 Solomon, King, 84-3 Solomon’s Line, expulsion of, 88 — — foundation, 84 — — restoration of, 89, go, 91 Somaliland, French, 81 Somals, the, 28 — Issa and Ogaden, 39 Soudan Plantations Syndicate, 222 Soudanese, 272 Southard, Mr., 281 Sporting qualities, 44 Stern, 133, 225 Superstitions, 142-3 Suspicion and pride, 44 T Tabot, the, 133-4, 138, 140 Tafari, Ras, 26, 100, IOI, IT10, ITI, 112, 113, 138, 140, 155, 156, 172, 173, 175, 179, 180, 186-8, 204, 216, 286, 300, 302-4 Taitu, Empress, 100-1 Tajura Bay, 21 — — annexation of, 21 Talla, 67, 219 Taufikia, 231 Taxation, 105-6, 211 Tchertcher, Mts., 24 Teff, 219 Tej, 67 Tekla Haimanot, Saint, 89-90 126 Tekla Haimanot, King, 99 Tembkat, 134, 137-141 Tessama, Ras, 101 Theodore, King, birth, 95 — — defeat and death, 97 — — early history, 96 — — seizure of power, 46 Thessiger, the Hon. Wilfred, 278 Tigré, 27 Tigrein, 161 Trade routes, 197-8 Treaties— First treaty with England, 1841, 95 — —— Prance, 1343, 05 Second treaty with England, 1849, 95 312 Treaties— Treaty between Kings John and Menelik, 1878, 98 Anglo-Abyssinian Treaty, 1884, 125 — — — (Slavery), 1884, 183 Italo-Abyssinian (Ucciali), 1889, 99 Anglo-Abyssinian Treaty, 1897, 276 — — — 1902, 31 Tripartite (England, Italy, and France, Agreement, 1906, 201 Franco-Abyssinian, 198, 120 Trekking, cost of, 238 — equipment, 236, 238, 240 — outfit, 236-7 — pleasures of, 233-4 — supplies, 240 Troglodyte savages, 242 Tsana, Lake, 32 Turks, attacks on Abyssinia, 92 Tutankhamen, 75, 168 — embassy to, 83 U Ucciali, treaty of, 99 Vv Vegetables, 217, 221 Victoria, Queen, 133 Index Vultures, 247 The Mayflower Press, Plymouth. w Waag, 28 Walaga, 28 Warlike qualities, 43 Wastefulness, 46 Wax, 196-7, 222 Weld-Blundell, H., 165 Winogradoff, M., 151 Wives, affection for, 45-6 Women, position of, 68-9 Wright, Dr., 164 Wylde, A. 47, 183, 217, 273 Y Yedjow Galla, dynasty of, 95 Yekuno Amlak, King, go Yemen, conquest of, 87 Young ” Abyssinians, 304 Zz Zabanias, 237-8 Zague, usurpation of, 89, go Zauditu, Empress, 100-1, 108-110 — — letter from, 136 Zequala, Mt., 152 Zwai Lake, 53-4, 56, 235-6, 246 — — canoes on, 53-4 William Brendon & Son, Ltd. 1923 SPORT&ADVENTURE \ IN AFRICA A Record of Twelve Years of Big Game Hunting Campaigning & Travel in the Wilds of Tropical Africa BY CAPTAIN W. T. SHORTHOSE, D.S.O., F.R.G.S., F.R.A.L, F.Z.S. ” TN QS ley SRY Ni { Ai SNE 2.5, | § a> I= Ex : WARUSHA MORAN WARRIORS IN FIGHTING KIT, With Many Illustrations & a Map. Demy 8vo. 21s. nett. SOME EARLY REVIEWS. “Captain Shorthose is a sportsman-traveller-soldier of keen observation and wide interests. He gives us details of elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus and buffalo shooting and some striking adventures. VIES WITH THE WORKS OF F. C. SELOUS, COTTON OSWELL AND ROUALEYN GORDON-CUMMING."—7%e Scotsman. +“ Another of the admirable books of travel and sport in which Messrs. Seeley, Service & Co. specialise, . . . The author enjoys excitement, and enables us to enjoy it as he goes out to meet some of the most dangerous animals.”—Daily News. ‘The book, WELL ILLUSTRATED FROM VERY UNIQUE PHOTOGRAPHS and packed with epic adventures, is the racy record of a full twelve years in the life of an observant, impressionable explorer and soldier.” — Western Daily Press. “The book is A CHEERY, ENTERTAINING, PERSONAL NARRATIVE, unpretentious, and yet quite capably written. It will be thoroughly enjoyed by that large circle of Englishmen which enjoys hearing a plain narrative of exciting adventures.” Birmingham Post. Captain Shorthose tells Jpany Siiange: true travellers’ tales in the volume and tells them well. . . . FULL OF EXCITING AND VARIED EXPERIENCES. . . . HE IS A MIGHTY HUNTER."—Northern Whig. «« A record of twelve years of big game hunting, campaigning and travels in the wilds of Africa, all graphically written, and full of exciting incidents and quaint experiences.” Naval and Military Record. «Captain W. T. Shorthose, D.S.0., narrates an exciting fight with an elephant—in which the elephant nearly won—in AN EXCELLENT.BOOK OF TRAVEL. The book isa ry addition to the publishers’ great library of travel stories.”—Daily Graphic. ¢ The author, as becomes a successful hunter, is a keen observer of country; tribes and their ways, and wild beasts and their haunts. In addition he is gifted with a facile pen which immediately grips the reader's attention until his story is told.” Sheffield Daily Telegraph. SEELEY, SERVICE &* CO.,LTD., 196 SHAFTESBURY AVENUE, W.C.2 3 A BURMESE ARCADY An Account of a Long & Intimate Sojourn Amongst the Mountain Dwellers of the Burmese Hinterland, with a Description of Their Engaging Characteristics & Customs, &e., &ec., Ge. BY MAJOR C. M. ENRIQUEZ, F.R.G.S. (Kachin Rifles) A Burmese METHOD OF TRANSPORT. With Many Illustrations & a Map. Demy Sve. 21s. nett, SOME EARLY REVIEWS. ‘“ An attractive record and distinctly valuable. AT ONCE ENGAGING AND DECIDEDLY IMPRESSIVE. "Glasgow Herald. “FULL OF CHARM. The Kachins are a simple, engaging people, and the account of their habits aud customs is extremely interesting ”— Newcastle Chronicle. “It is delightful in these days to come upon such a record as this of old-fashioned civilising administration among the Kachins of the hill country of North Burma, carried through in the old spirit of tact and simpathy firmness and mutual goodwill."—Guardian “A new volume in the fine series of Iravel books issued by Seeley. 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