ABYSSINIA. 



under modern systems of financial exchange. 

 Thus an Irish landlord living in France receives 

 his rental through bills of exchange,not in bul- 

 lion, and these bills represent in the end the 

 value of exports from the United Kingdom into 

 France ; otherwise, the remittance could not be 

 made. While the absentee therefore consumes 

 French goods for the most part, he aids in 

 creating a demand for a corresponding amount 

 of British goods, so that his tenants are bene- 

 fited as much as if he had remained at home. 

 It must be confessed that this argument is not 

 altogether satisfactory from a practical and 

 common-sense stand-point, but it served its 

 purpose in its day. The fact is that the legiti- 

 mate profits made by the tradespeople and 

 others patronized by the absentee accumulate 

 in and about his foreign residence, whereas, 

 if he had remained at home the benefit would 

 have accrued to his own dependents, and the 

 wealth of his native land would have been cor- 

 respondingly augmented. A just conclusion 

 would seem to be, then, that while absenteeism 

 does entail a certain loss upon the home prop- 

 erty, the loss is not fairly represented by the 

 gross income derived from the estates. There 

 are numerous channels through which partial 

 compensations return to the source whence 

 the income is derived. 



Granting a good disposition on the part of 

 the land-holder, it is no doubt desirable to re- 

 duce absenteeism everywhere to its lowest 

 terms, especially in a country where there is 

 practically no middle class, as is measurably 

 true of Ireland. The disposition to relegate 

 the duty of supervision to an overseer or agent 

 is always objectionable, since too often such 

 agents are not on good terms with the tenants 

 and strive only to increase their, own percent- 

 ages while securing as large returns as possible 

 for their principals. 



In free countries enforced residence is of 

 course out of the question, but where the laws 

 are just and properly administered there is 

 little danger that absenteeism will be suffi- 

 ciently general to affect the welfare of the com- 

 munity. Where it has through past misman- 

 agement become a crying evil, the remedy lies 

 in the slow result of reformatory measures rath- 

 er than in any arbitrary or revolutionary pro- 

 ceedings. 



ABYSSINIA, a monarchy in Eastern Africa. 

 The ruler is King John or Johannis, who is 

 usually spoken of by his title of Negus. The 

 territory directly subject to him is about 130,- 

 000 square miles in extent, with a population 

 of not more than 2,000,000 souls. It consists 

 of a high plateau, of the average elevation of 

 7,000 feet above the sea, which is nearly sur- 

 rounded by the low-lying provinces of the 

 Soudan. The tributary kingdom of Shoa has 

 an area of 16,000 square miles, and is much 

 more fertile and populous than Abyssinia prop- 

 er, containing 1,500,000 inhabitants. The King 

 of Shoa has recently occupied Harrar, which 

 extends to the southwest, south, and east of 



Abyssinia, with an area of 700, 000 square miles, 

 peopled by Gallas, Somalis, and other tribes, 

 which are practically independent. 



The Army. The military forces are com- 

 manded by Ras or generals, who are at the 

 same time governors of provinces. The most 

 powerful general is Ras Aloula, ruler of the 

 northern part of the kingdom, who invaded the 

 Soudan and fought a battle with Osman Digma, 

 and afterward attacked the Italians when they 

 attempted to establish posts in the hills back 

 of Massowah. His army numbers about 50,000 

 infantry and 8,000 horse, and is armed with 

 18,000 Remington rifles that were captured 

 from the Egyptians, and 500 Wetterli rifles 

 from the Italians at Dogali. The army of the 

 Negus is of the same strength in point of 

 numbers, but has only 10.000 rifles. Another 

 army in the west consists of 20,000 warlike 

 troops with 4,000 rifles, and finds employment 

 in guarding against incursions of the Soudan- 

 ese. King Menelek, of Shoa, with his subor- 

 dinate Ras Diurgue, has a force of 80,000 in- 

 fantry with 50,000 rifles, besides a large body 

 of cavalry, making a total force to resist inva- 

 sion of over 200,000 men, one third of whom 

 are armed with breach-loaders, and the rest 

 with muskets and spears. The artillery con- 

 sists of 40 pieces, 30 Krupps having been taken 

 from the Egyptians, besides machine-guns. 



The Difficulty with the Italians. The Ahys- 

 sinians are Christians, and their archbishop, 

 called the Abuna, is selected and ordained by 

 the Coptic Patriarch at Alexandria. This cir- 

 cumstance and the former possession by the 

 Egyptian Government of the port of Massowah, 

 which gives the Abyssinians their only access 

 to the sea, gave rise to frequent contentions 

 between the Negus and the Egvptian Govern- 

 ment. When the Soudan was evacuated, the 

 British Government promised freedom of trade 

 through this port in return for Abyssinian aid 

 in extricating the garrisons of Kassala and other 

 posts in the Soudan. The Italians, who in 1885 

 established themselves in Massowah and on 

 the adjacent coast, with the acquiescence of 

 Great Britain, were not hound by this guar- 

 antee. The Negus suspected an intention on 

 the part of the, Italians to conquer and colonize 

 his territory, and resented restrictions that 

 they imposed on trade. 



The English Mission. The almost complete 

 annihilation of a detachment of 540 Italian 

 troops in the vicinity of Dogali in January, 

 1887, by Ras Aloula, who nearly surrounded 

 them with 20,000 men, led the Italian Govern- 

 ment to determine on a regular war. In the 

 hope of averting this, the British Government 

 to which the Negus had appealed in his diffi- 

 culties with the Italians, endeavored to inter- 

 cede, sending Mr. Portal and Major Beech as 

 envoys to the Negus in November, 1887. The 

 conditions on which Mr. Portal was authorized 

 to offer peace were the acknowledgment of the 

 Italian occupation of Saati, the cession of a 

 part of the Bogos country, the conclusion of 



