THE 



ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 



A 



ABYSSINIA, a kingdom or empire in East- 

 ern Africa. On account of our little acquaint- 

 ance with this country, the statements on its 

 area and population widely differ. Brehm's 

 OeographiscTiea Johrbuch, (vol. i., 1866), one of 

 the best authorities on population, puts down 

 the area at 7,450 geographical square miles and 

 the population at 3,000,000. Dr. Kuppell (Seise 

 in Abessinien, 1831-'33, Frankfort, 1838) esti- 

 mates the population in the territory from 12 to 

 16 north latitude, and from 37 to 40 east longi- 

 ide, at not more than 500,000 inhabitants ; and 

 the remainder of Abyssinia, comprising the 

 western provinces of Quara, Madsha, and Agov, 

 and the southern provinces of Gudjam, Damot, 

 Amhara, and Begemeder, at 1,000,000, thus 

 giving to the whole of Abyssinia (with the ex- 

 ception of Shoa) a population of 1,500,000. 

 The province of Shoa has, according to the 

 missionary Dr. Krapf, one of the best writers 

 on this country (" Travels, Researches, and Mis- 

 sionary Labors in Eastern Africa," London, 

 1860), about 1,000,000 inhabitants. These 

 statements, taken together, and the natural in- 

 crease, indicate a population of about 3,000,000. 

 The same estimate is made by the Roman 

 Catholic bishop Massaja, who for many years 

 lived among the Gallas (Annoles de la Propa- 

 ion de la Foi, January, 1865). According 

 the missionary Isenberg (Abessinien, Bonn, 

 864), the population of Abyssinia, Shoa, and 

 1 e country between 7 and 16 north lat- 

 de and 36 and 42 east longitude, amounts 

 five or six millions. The whole Ethiopian 

 ilateau, comprising Abyssinia, and the Sidama 

 id Galla countries, has, according to Massaja, 

 2,000,000 of people, 9,000,000 of whom are 

 Mamas and Gallas. This statement agrees 

 ith that of Krapf, according to which the Gal- 

 .as number from six to eight millions. 



Abyssinia is ruled by emperors, who are sup- 

 posed to be descended from King Solomon and 

 VOL. vi. 1 * 



the Queen of Sheba, but until the present mon- 

 arch seized the throne, their authority was 

 merely nominal, the real power being in the 

 hands of the governors of the provinces, who 

 gave them a formal allegiance. The present 

 emperor, Theodore, succeeded in 1855, and his 

 attention was soon directed to obtaining rec- 

 ognition and friendly intercourse from the 

 power which holds India, and has established 

 itself in the neighboring stronghold of Aden. 

 A treaty had, therefore, been made between 

 Great Britain and Abyssinia so long ago as 

 1849, and it was ratified in 1852. In this 

 treaty it was stipulated that each state should 

 receive ambassadors from the other. The em- 

 peror, desirous to strengthen his authority, re- 

 solved to assert the rights thus assured to him : 

 but, unfortunately, the officer who represented 

 British interests in those regions was suddenly 

 taken away. Mr. Plowden had been for many 

 years English consul at Massowah; though not 

 an accredited agent to Abyssinia, he had^ been 

 intrusted with presents for the people in au- 

 thority, and with these he went into the coun- 

 try, where he remained, taking part in a war 

 which broke out at the accession of the present 

 emperor, and thus ingratiated himself ex- 

 tremely with that potentate. 



Mr. Plowden was killed in 1860, and Mr. 

 Cameron was sent from some other Eastern 

 post to succeed him. Mr. Cameron arrived in 

 1862, and shortly afterward the emperor told 

 him that he desired to carry out the treaty 

 made so many years before. Toward the end 

 of 1862 he wrote an autograph letter to Queen 

 Victoria, requesting permission to send an em- 

 bassy to England.. This letter reached London 

 in February, 1863, and, for some reason or other, 

 was left unanswered. Then came a quarrel with 

 a missionary, Mr. Stern, who had committed the 

 unpardonable offence of remonstrating against 

 the flogging to death of two interpreters. 



