CONCLUSION. 371 
they must surely fall before the first well-organized Euro- 
pean force that opposes them. The Italians suffered 
defeat because their army which marched to Abba Garima 
was miserably organized in every department. Italy “sent 
a boy to do a man’s work.” A line run from Ime, on the 
Shebeli River, to a point immediately below Bonga, in 
Kaffa, will mark the southern limits of any country to 
which the Emperor Menelek can at present lay claim, 
either by virtue of peaceful occupation by treaties with the 
native chiefs, or by conquest. 
To the west, Abyssinia is bounded by a line running 
north and south along the western border of Kaffa. J. 
Theodore Bent, in the “ Fortnightly Review,” September, 
1896, states that Italy is of the opinion that if Shoa, Harar, 
and the Juba districts were permanently colonized, “ they 
would have to maintain perpetual warfare in the Shoan 
mountains; for the inhabitants of this district, being a war- 
like race, would never submit.” This view of the case I 
believe to be erroneous. There would be no fighting at 
all unless there arose a war against Menelek’s united 
forces. If Menelek were defeated, his highly organized 
army and all the tribes at present under his sway would 
submit to the dictates of the conquering nation; and if 
that nation were England, or if the wise colonial policies 
of the British were carried out, there would be no subse- 
quent uprisings. Colonists would be amply able to pay 
for their own protection, the only provision for the pro- 
tection of their property which would be required being a 
very small police force to prevent petty attempts at theft. 
It is absolutely imperative that the British prevent the 
Abyssinians from advancing to any great distance beyond 
the lines above mentioned. Aided by the French and 
Russians, the Emperor Menelek will see his domains ex- 
tending rapidly south and west, unless he be prevented 
