THE 



ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



A 



ABYSSINIA, an empire in eastern Africa, 

 known also as Ethiopia. The ruler, whose title 

 is Negus Negusti, meaning King of Kings, is 

 Menelek II, formerly King of Shoa, who succeeded 

 Johannes II. The Italians, who furnished him 

 arms with which he defeated rival claimants of 

 the throne, obtained the treaty of Ucciali on 

 May 2, 1889, under which they claimed a pro- 

 tectorate over all Abyssinia as well as sovereignty 

 in the territories north of Tigre and inland from 

 Massowah which before they were occupied by 

 Italy were dependencies of Abyssinia. Menelek 

 denied the protectorate, and on March 1, 189G, his 

 troops routed at Adowa an Italian army that 

 invaded Tigre and Amhara. Through the media- 

 tion of Russia a new treaty was signed on Oct. 

 '26, 1896, by which Italy renounced the protecto- 

 rate over Abyssinia and Menelek recognized ^s 

 Italian territory all the country north of the 

 Mareb, Balesa, and Muna rivers. 



The area of Abyssinia, including Tigre and 

 Lasta in the north, Amhara and Gojam in the 

 center, and Shoa in the south, with Gallaland and 

 parts of the Somali country and undefined regions 

 in the south and west, is between 150,000 and 250,- 

 000 square miles. The population under the rule 

 of the Negus is estimated at 3,500,000. Abyssinia 

 and Great Britain both claim the region north 

 of British East Africa in which Lake Rudolf is 

 situated, extending as far south as 2 of north 

 latitude, and the western territories to the banks 

 of the White Nile are also claimed by Abyssinia. 

 The Negus has a regular army of about 150,000 

 troops and can command the services of the ir- 

 regular troops and tribal levies of his vassals. 

 The active troops consist partly of trained sol- 

 diers armed with Vetterli, Gras, Snyder, and Rem- 

 ington rifles, and partly of men armed with na- 

 tive weapons who have lands given to them to 

 pay for their services. The cavalry are recruited 

 among the Wollo Gallas. The Negus has im- 

 ported 500,000 repeating rifles of the latest pat- 

 tern. 



The Abyssinians, who have been Christians of 

 the Alexandrian rite since the fourth century, raise 

 cattle, sheep, and goats, practising agriculture 

 but little. Coffee and cotton grow wild. The 

 vine and the date-palm thrive. The sugar-cane 

 and barley, millet, and wheat are grown for do- 

 mestic consumption. Hides and skins, coffee, 

 wax, gums, dyes, medicinal plants, and civet are 

 exported. Gold from the Wallega country and 

 ivory are royal monopolies. American, some In- 

 dian, and small quantities of English cotton goods 

 are imported, the American unbleached cottons 

 constituting half of the total imports, which in- 

 clude also woolens, matches, cutlery, etc. Mene- 

 VOL. XLI. 1 A 



lek's capital is Adis Abeba, which has a perma- 

 nent population of 50,000 and a floating popula- 

 tion of 30,000. The currency of the country is the 

 Maria Theresa dollar and a new one coined by 

 Menelek having the same size and value. Coins 

 representing a half, a quarter, an eighth, and a 

 twentieth of a dollar have been minted, and are in 

 circulation, although at first the people regarded 

 them with distrust. Previously the only medium 

 of exchange of less value than a dollar was the 

 ainule, which was three pounds of salt, worth 60 

 cents. In 1880 the whole foreign trade of the 

 country did not exceed $80,000 in value. Now 

 the imports into Harar alone, the chief commer- 

 cial town, are $2.800,000 a year, and the exports 

 $1,400,000. This trade passes through Jibute, 

 Abyssinia possessing no seaport. This French 

 town, though but a few years old, has 12.000 in- 

 habitants, of whom 1,000 are Europeans. It is 

 the outlet of trade routes from various parts of 

 Abyssinia. A railroad, 184 miles long, from 

 Jibute to Harar, has been built with French capi- 

 tal. It was completed before the end of 1901, 

 having been constructed in two years at a cost of 

 $6,000,000. The Italian railroad from Massowah 

 will be extended into Tigre, giving to northern 

 Abyssinia an outlet through that seaport. The 

 victory of Menelek in the war with Italy stimu- 

 lated the internal progress of Abyssinia and 

 trade relations with the rest of the world, which 

 have been facilitated by French enterprise at 

 Jiboutil. The reconquest of the Egyptian Soudan 

 by the British has given a fresh impetus to this 

 rapid development. An Italian company in 1901 

 built a telegraph line from Massowah to Adis 

 Abeba, Menelek's capital, which is connected by 

 rail with Adis Halem. 



The boundary between Abyssinia and the Ital- 

 ian colony of Erythrea has been settled by 

 agreement. The boundaries separating Menelek's 

 dominions from British East Africa in the south 

 and from the Egyptian Soudan in the west have 

 been the subject of protracted negotiations with 

 Lieut.-Col. Harrington, the British political agent 

 and consul-general at Adis Abeba. Count Leon- 

 tieff, a Russian, who explored and occupied the 

 equatorial province of Abyssinia for Menelek, 

 was, early in 1901, appointed its governor and 

 commander in chief of the forces to be raised 

 there. He returned to this region that he had an- 

 nexed or regained, taking with him a force of 

 Arab and Soudanese soldiers and large quantities 

 of weapons and military and hospital stores that 

 came from Russia, and was joined on the march 

 to Lake Rudolf by a regiment of Ethiopian sol- 

 diers raised and trained by Cossack officers dur- 

 ing his former sojourn in that country, which he 



