ABYSSINIA. 



I 



him. His initiation into all the depravities of 

 h.uvin life waa unusually early and complete; 

 but his vigorous constitution withstood the 

 fltVcU of the excesses that undermined his 

 brother's health, and when he married he was 

 a strong, hurdy lad. He accompanied his un- 

 cle, Abdul- Aziz, and his brother Murad, to the 

 Paris Exhibition in 1867. On this journey he 

 was continually kept in the background by his 

 uncle, who wished to advance the interests of 

 his own son as heir-apparent to the throne. 

 Abdul-IIamid also acquired on this journey a 

 great taste for geography, and in his kiosk on 

 the Sweet Waters, which he has since inhab- 

 ited regularly every summer, he has a very ex- 

 tensive and comprehensive collection of maps, 

 military, geological, and statistical, the study 

 of which constitutes his favorite pastime. He 

 also contracted a fondness for European man- 

 ners and dress, and has introduced French 

 customs and demeanor into the daily life of 

 all those by whom he is intimately surround- 

 ed. He inherited from his father a small 

 palace on the Sweet Waters, where he resided 

 witli his wife and two children, a boy of six 

 and a girl of three years, up to his elevation 

 to the throne, eating at the same table, and 

 playing with the little ones. He is an orthodox 

 Turk, and a resolute opponent of the "Young 

 Turkish" party being an "Old Turk," but 

 not an extreme one. He is considered a much 

 abler man, mentally and physically, than his 

 brother whom he succeeded. The only symp- 

 tom of Orientalism in his own personal ap- 

 pparance is in the fez, which he dislikes, but 

 still continues to wear, because it is the neces- 

 sary token of his nationality. The state of 

 affairs has not been changed by his accession 

 to the throne. He introduced a few financial 

 reforms, but the condition of the empire re- 

 mains in the same precarious state as under his 

 predecessor. (See TURKEY.) 



ABYSSINIA, a country of Eastern Africa; 

 area about 158,000 square miles; population 

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

 000. 



The war with Egypt continued during the 

 year. The cause for this war was stated by 

 K-ryptian authorities to be the punishment of 

 baods of Abyssinians, who for more than three 

 years had disturbed the neighboring territory, 

 and continued their depredations in spite of all 

 remonstrances with King John. At the same 

 time all commercial intercourse with Egypt 

 was prohibited, and a small army was sta- 

 tioned in Hatnasen for hostile purposes. Ha- 

 massn, the scene of all these battles, is the 

 northern part of Tigr6, that part of Abyssinia 

 lying nearest to the Red Sea. On the north, 

 east, and west, it is surrounded by Egyptian 

 territory. The Abyssinians, on the other hand, 

 claim that the war was commenced by Egypt 

 for the sole purpose of aggrandizement; that 

 only one incursion of any account had boon 

 nude by Abyssinians into Egyptian territory 

 during the year, that of the Dembelas to Ku- 



nama in 1878, which was, however, imme- 

 diately punished by Munzinger. This raid was 

 decidedly free from all political objects ; it was 

 one of those made to capture slaves and cattle, 

 and undertaken regularly every year, not only 

 by the Abyssinians, but also by the Egyptian 

 troops and the Mohammedan tribe of the Al- 

 gedes against the heathen tribe of the Kuna- 

 mas. Munzinger put an end to these raids by 

 the Egyptian troops and the Algedes, and since 

 the defeat of the Dembelas they have also en- 

 tirely ceased on the part of the Abyssinians. 

 The other disturbances resulted from quarrels 

 between the different nomadic tribes, where it 

 was hard to tell who was right and who was 

 wrong. These quarrels deserve no attention, 

 and were only raised to the dignity of state 

 affairs by Egyptian officials in Massowah and 

 Keren. The statement that the Abyssinians 

 interrupted commerce also lacked all founda- 

 tion. Every day a larger or smaller number 

 of Abyssinian traders arrived in Massowah, 

 while Arabians traveled unmolested through 

 all parts of Abyssinia. Only with Amhara the 

 intercourse was temporarily interrupted by 

 internal disturbances. There were also no 

 Abyssinian troops in Hamasen at any time; 

 only in Asmara, on the road from Massowah 

 to Adowa, a few troops were kept by the gov- 

 ernor of the town to preserve order. After 

 the decisive defeat which the Egyptians sus- 

 tained at the close of 1875, the Khedive imme- 

 diately took measures to retrieve the disaster. 

 A large army was collected in Massowah early 

 in January, under the command of Prince 

 Hassan, the khedive's son, General Loring, 

 and Ratib Pasha. This expedition left Mas- 

 sowah on January 10th, and toward the end 

 of the same month reached Goura, 50 miles 

 south-southwest of Massowah, without having 

 encountered the slightest obstacle. An in- 

 trenched camp was then established, to let the 

 soldiers rest without exposing them to sur- 

 prise ; for it was known that King John, at the 

 head of the armed population of Abyssinia, 

 was moving about the provinces. According 

 to the spies, he did not wish to disperse his 

 army in face of an invasion of the country, 

 because none of his provinces were rich enough 

 to permit him to fix himself anywhere with his 

 troops. The Egyptian expedition, without pro- 

 visions, remained a month in the intrenched 

 camp at Goura without seeing the enemy. On 

 February 17th they were informed by spies 

 that King John and his army would have to 

 pass between the intrenched camp and the de- 

 file of Oazachor. The Egyptian troops, then 

 placed under the command of Osman Pasha, 

 consisted of three batteries and nine battalions. 

 The batteries, armed with mountain-pieces, 

 and. seven battalions, left the intrenched camp, 

 and took up their .position, six kilometres 

 ahead, on the slope of two hills forming a val- 

 ley, which, prolonging itself beyond them, be- 

 comes a plain of some miles in extent. The 

 bed of a dried-up stream passes at the bottom 



