THE 



ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



A 



ABYSSINIA, an empire in eastern Africa. 

 The reigning sovereign is Menelek II, formerly 

 King of Shoa, who on the death of the Negus 

 Johannis in 1889 proclaimed himself Emperor 

 of Ethiopia, and subsequently overcame the rival 

 claimants to the succession. He had already ac- 

 cepted an Italian protectorate, May 2, 1889, in 

 a treaty that was confirmed and supplemented 

 by a convention concluded between his plenipo- 

 tentiaries and the Italian Government in Octo- 

 ber of the same year. Under the Negus the 

 country is ruled by 24 feudal vassals, who col- 

 lect and pay into the royal treasury the taxes, 

 and owe the King service with their 'retainers in 

 time of war. Menelek has, moreover, a perma- 

 nent army of paid soldiers, most of whom are 

 armed with rifles. 



Area and Population. The provinces of 

 Tigre, Lasta, Amnara, and Gojam have a com- 

 bined area of 80,000 square miles and a popula- 

 tion of about 2,000,000 persons. The kingdom 

 of Shoa is more populous, having 1,500,000 in- 

 habitants on a territory of 26,000 square miles. 

 The dependencies of the Bogos, Shoho, Mensas, 

 Barea, Kunama, Hababs, and Beni Amer in the 

 north cover an area of about 28,000 square miles, 

 with a population not exceeding 100,000. Dana- 

 k-il, the country between the Abyssinian plateau 

 and the sea, inhabited by the Afars and Adals, 

 is 40,000 square miles in extent, with 200,000 pop- 

 ulation. The extreme political boundaries of 

 Abyssinia include also a territory of 6,000 square 

 miles, inhabited by the Issas and other depend- 

 ent Somali tribes, numbering 60,000 individuals, 

 and the lands of the conquered Gallas and Kaffas, 

 64.000 square miles in extent, with about 3,500, 

 000 inhabitants. According to this calculation, 

 the empire embraces 244,000 square miles, with 

 a total population of 7,360,000 souls. Prof. Gui- 

 do Cora, of Turin, estimates the area of the King- 

 dom of Abyssinia, including Shoa, Kaffa, Harrar, 

 etc., at 190,000 square miles, and the population 

 at 5,000,000; the dependencies of the Hababs, 

 Bogos Beni-Amer, etc., at 18,000 square miles, 

 with 200,000 inhabitants ; the Danakil territory, 

 with the sultanate of Aussa, at 34,000 square 

 miles, with 200,000 inhabitants ; and Oppia and 

 other districts of the Somali coast, with a tract 

 in the interior extending to Wadi Nogal and 

 Mudug, at 90,000 square miles, with 300,000 in- 

 VOL. xxx. 1 A 



habitants. The districts that had been occupied 

 as Italian possessions up to the close of 1889 were 

 the country around Massowah, Keren, and As- 

 mara, having an area of 3,100 square miles, with 

 250,000 inhabitants. 



The dominant race, of Arabian origin and 

 speaking the old Ethiopic language was con- 

 verted to Christianity in the fourth century. 

 The abuna or head of the Church is always a Copt 

 who is appointed and consecrated by the Patri- 

 arch of Alexandria; but the actual control of 

 religious affairs is shared by the ecbegheh. an 

 Abyssinian dignitary who presides over the mo- 

 nastic orders. There are about 12,000 monks in 

 the country. 



The people raise large herds of cattle, as well 

 as sheep and goats. Little attention is given to 

 agriculture. Wild indigo, tobacco, sumach, coffee, 

 cotton, sugar-cane, the date palm, and the vine 

 thrive, and the forests contain valuable woods, 

 such as ebony, tamarind, sycamore, baobab, and 

 the wild olive. Tobacco was successfully culti- 

 vated on a considerable scale by Greeks in the 

 vicinity of Keren until Ras Aloula destroyed the 

 plantations. The soil is exceedingly fertile, pro- 

 ducing abundant crops of wheat, barley and leg- 

 umes in the elevated regions, and the plants of 

 tropical and sub-tropical climates in the plains 

 and valleys near the sea, 



Commerce. Foreign commercial exchanges 

 take place only through Massowah. The com- 

 merce of that port rose from $200,000 in 1861 to 

 $1,400,000 in 1881, and then ceased to a great ex- 

 tent during the hostilities with Italy. The prin- 

 cipal export articles are mother-of-pearl, skins, 

 mules, and butter, which amounted to a tota. 1 of. 

 $300,000 in 1889. Gums, coffee, ivory, ostrich 

 feathers, skins, and cereals from the interior 

 have ceased to be exported, owing to war and 

 anarchy. 



The 'Pacification of Tigre'. The basis of 

 an arrangement for a combined action against 

 the Negus Johannis by Menelek, the rebellious 

 King of Shoa, in the south, and the Italians at 

 Massowah, who were to advance to Asmara or 

 Gura, in Tigre, was agreed to in the summer of 

 1888 by Count Antonelli and Menelek. In ac- 

 cordance with this secret treaty, Menelek was 

 supplied with munitions. Yet neither he nor 

 the Italian military authorities, who doubted his 



