THE 



ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



A 



ABYSSINIA, a country in Eastern Africa, 

 area about 158,000 square miles; population 

 variously estimated at from 3,000,000 to 4,- 

 000,000.* 



The successor of Theodore II. as King of 

 Abyssinia, Prince Kassa, who assumed the title 

 of "Johannes, King of the Kings of Ethiopia," 

 has been entirely unsuccessful in his efforts to 

 subject the whole of Abyssinia to his rule. 

 The King of Shoa, Menelek, has always re- 

 mained independent. A new expedition was, 

 in 1875, undertaken against him by King Jo- 

 hannes ; but, while the latter was on his way 

 to Shoa, a nephew of the late King Theodore, 

 Ledj Ubie, placed himself at the head of the 

 numerous malcontents, and by rapid military 

 operations conquered the wealthiest provinces 

 of Central and West Abyssinia (Dembea, Koara, 

 Begemeder, Vogara, Sakalt), and took posses- 

 sion of the important fortress of Vokhamba. 



Even more dangerous to Abyssinia than 

 these civil wars is the irrepressible progress of 

 the Egyptians. The Abyssinians have looked 

 with alarm and distrust upon their Egyptian 

 neighbors ever since the troops of Mehemet 

 Ali pushed their conquests to the Abyssinian 

 frontier in pursuing the Mamelukes. Abyssinia 

 is now almost powerless to defend herself 

 against her neighbor, who is gradually draw- 

 ing in upon her from all sides. All the roads 

 which connect Abyssinia with the seacoast 

 pass through Egyptian territory. The road 

 from the western provinces on the Blue Nile 

 goes partly by Senaar to Khartoom, the capital 

 of the Soudan ; the remaining and largest part 

 passes by Gallabat and Kassala to Suakim, on 

 the Red Sea. The principal road from Central 

 Abyssinia, Amhara, and Tigre, ends at Masso- 

 wah, the chief harbor of Abyssinia on the Red 

 Sea, which has now for three hundred years 

 been under Turkish rule. From the fertile 

 districts of Southern Abyssinia, too, the roads 

 leading to the Indian Ocean have been in 



" Continued from ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA for 1878. 

 VOL. XT. 1 A 



Turkish hands since Egypt occupied the So- 

 mali coast in 1874. All these facts are well 

 known to. the Abyssinians, and are not calcu- 

 lated to give rise to a friendly feeling toward 

 Egypt. Unfortunately, they are quite con- 

 vinced that they are the first nation in the 

 world, and every Abyssinian Christian firmly 

 believes that his country will, at some future 

 day, conquer Mecca and Medina, take Jerusa- 

 lem from the Turks, and cause Mohammedan- 

 ism to disappear from the face of the earth. 

 European adventurers, who have from time to 

 time sought to mend their fortunes in the 

 country, have encouraged the Abyssinians in 

 this belief; and their sovereigns have only 

 been prevented by incessant rebellions and 

 civil wars from attempting to carry out their 

 supposed mission. Though no open war was 

 carried on between Egypt and Abyssinia, the 

 Khedive, without meeting with any serious 

 obstacle, took possession of the Bogos country, 

 in the north of Abyssinia, and of some districts 

 in the west. In the latter part of 1875 the 

 Egyptians were reported to be farther advanc- 

 ing into Abyssinia. According to dispatches 

 received in November, the Abyssinians had 

 surprised and killed a body of 1,200 Egyptians. 

 Later accounts state that the Khedive was 

 sending a force of 15,000 men against the 

 Abyssinians. 



The English Colonel Kirkham, having re- 

 ceived from the King as a present a piece of 

 land called Ghenda, on the borders of Hamasia 

 and Egypt, gave part of it to the Swiss and 

 Swedish missionaries at Massowah. These 

 built some houses on the land, and sent a na- 

 tive missionary to reside there. The peasants 

 of Hamasia, however, declared that Ghenda 

 belonged to them, and threatened to kill the 

 missionaries and burn their houses. The mis- 

 sionaries then escaped to Eilet; but the Gov- 

 ernment is so weak that it has not yet been 

 able to take any steps in the matter. The 

 ringleaders were the Abyssinian monks and 

 priests, who are strongly opposed to foreign 



