ABYSSINIA. 



AFGHANISTAN. 



of Foreign Affairs or the Minister of War, who 

 had no confidence in the " Hetinan of the Free 

 Cossacks." The Minister of War, Gen. Vannoff- 

 sky, arranged with a more trustworthy agent, 

 Lieut. Mashkoff, a native of the Caucasus who 

 had served in the army there. With a compan- 

 ion, a Montenegrin named Zlatytshanin, Mash- 

 koff went to Abyssinia, taking presents for the 

 Negus and some of the chiefs, was received as a 

 military representative of the Czar, visited An- 

 toto, Ankober, and other cities, gathered much 

 information about the country, and returned to 

 Russia in the beginning of 1890. The Negus 

 complained to' the Russian officer of the Italians, 

 accusing them of bad faith, and appealed for 

 the assistance of the Czar to enable him to main- 

 tain his independence. This was the beginning 

 of a secret intercourse betweeii the Russians and 

 Menelek, which Atchinoff, who preceded Mash- 

 koff, was unable to establish because his creden- 

 tials were unsatisfactory, and he was therefore 

 warned to leave the country. 



The ground for the special interest of Russia 

 in Abyssinia is the affinity between the orthodox 

 and the Coptic forms of Christianity, both being 

 offshoots from the Alexandrian Church. About 

 the time when the Italians established themselves 

 on the Red Sea coast and revealed the intention of 

 bringing Abyssinia into their sphere of influence, 

 the Russian Government began to assume the 

 role of religious protector of the Copts, similar 

 to that of the French Government in relation to 

 the Syrian Christians. For four years past a 

 mass has been celebrated in the Coptic cathedral 

 at Cairo by the patriarch, decked in Muscovite 

 orders, on each birthday of the Czar. The French 

 at Oboek and in Egypt, while their officials have 

 observed toward the Italians a correct though 

 not sympathetic attitude, have privately assisted 

 the efforts of the Russians to establish intimate 

 relations with Abyssinia. After conferring with 

 the Russian ministers and with the Czar, Lieut. 

 Mashkoff set out in the summer of 1891 on an- 

 other expedition to Abyssinia, not ostensibly po- 

 litical, but scientific, under the auspices of the 

 Geographical Society of St. Petersburg. He was 

 accompanied by Zlatytshanin, a Russian monk 

 named Tikhon, a sacristan, and a son of Gov. 

 Vsevoloshsky, of Tamboff. His intention was to 

 arrive in Abyssinia in the rainy season, push on 

 to Ankober, and thence to Antoto, where the 

 king holds his court, and from there make ex- 

 cursions to various districts of the kingdom, to 

 the Galla country, and perhaps to the region of 

 the Blue Nile and the Soudan. The monk Tik- 

 hon is said to have a letter from the patriarch at 

 Cairo authorizing him to officiate in the Abys- 

 sinian churches. The leader of the expedition 

 expects to make a commercial treaty and acquire 

 territorial and mining concessions that will lead 

 to the industrial employment of Russian capital 

 and to an active exchange of Russian cotton 

 goods, rifles, spirits, and salted meats for gold, 

 which is abnormally abundant in Abyssinia and 

 the Galla districts, ivory, of which great quanti- 

 ties are stored, and the gums and other commer- 

 cial products of the region. 



Before the departure of the expedition Baron 

 Marochetti, the Italian ambassador at St. Pe- 

 tersburg, questioned M. de Cfiers as to its pur- 

 pose. The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs 



replied that the Russian Government recognized 

 Abyssinia as an independent kingdom, and as- 

 sumed that the Negus had a right to receive 

 whomever he will, and could not therefore ac- 

 knowledge the right of any foreign government 

 to demand explanations regarding Mashkoff's 

 mission so long as it did not constitute a clear 

 violation of existing treaties, but that, in a friend- 

 ly way, he could assure Baron Marochetti that 

 the primary object of the expedition was scien- 

 tific. 



Anglo-Italian Delimitation Treaty. Pro- 

 tocols signed at Rome on March 24 and April 15, 

 1891, demarkate the respective spheres of influ- 

 ence of England and Italy in eastern Africa. 

 The line of demarkation, starting at the mouth 

 of the Juba, follows the channel of the river up 

 to 6 of north latitude, leaving Kismayu and its 

 territory in the English sphere. It follows the 

 sixth parallel as far as 35 east of Greenwich, and 

 then runs along that meridian up to the Blue Nile. 

 The sphere of influence reserved to Italy is bound- 

 ed on the north and on the west by a line drawn 

 from Ras Kasar on the Red Sea to the point of 

 intersection of the seventeenth parallel, north, 

 with the thirty-seventh meridian, east. The line, 

 having followed that meridian to 16 30' of north 

 latitude, is drawn from that point in a straight 

 line to Sabderat, and thence southward to a point 

 on the Gash 20 English miles above Kassala, 

 and rejoins the Atbara at 14 52' of north lati- 

 tude. The line ascends the Atbara to the con- 

 fluence of the Kor Kakamot. whence it follows 

 a westerly direction till it meets the Kor Lem- 

 sen, which it descends to its confluence with the 

 Rahad. Having followed the Rahad as far as 

 the intersection of 35 of east longitude, the line 

 identifies itself in a southerly direction with that 

 meridian, until it meets the Blue Nile, saving 

 ulterior amendment of details, according to the 

 hydrographic and orographic conditions of the 

 country. The Italian Government shall be at 

 liberty, in case of being obliged to do so by the 

 necessities of the military situation, to occupy 

 Kassala and the adjoining country as far as the 

 Atbara. Such occupation shall not abrogate the 

 rights of the Egyptian Government over the ter- 

 ritory, which shall only remain in suspense until 

 the Egyptian Government shall be in a position 

 to reoccupy the district. 



AFGHANISTAN, a monarchy in central 

 Asia, dividing the British Empire in India from 

 the Russian possessions in Turkistan. The 

 reigning sovereign is the Ameer Abdurrahman 

 Khan, who was placed on the throne by the Brit- 

 ish, who invaded the country in 1879 and de- 

 posed Yakub Khan in consequence of the massa- 

 cre of their envoy and his followers. They had 

 in the previous year captured Cabul, the capital, 

 and put to flight Yakub's father and predeces- 

 sor, Shere Ali, and afterward withdrawn thHr 

 forces. In 1880 the British troops were again 

 withdrawn beyond the Khaibar Pass, and from 

 Candahar to Quetta, a treaty of alliance having 

 been made with Abdurrahman by which he was 

 allowed a subsidy of $50.000 a month from the 

 Indian treasury and engaged in his relations 

 with foreign poVefs to follow the advice of the 

 Governor-General of India. The Indian Govern- 

 ment supplies him with the munitions of war, 

 and he has lately organized an army, independ- 



