

a rerr early period, retaining, however, all the 



id re- 

 re not abrogated by th, (iospeL 

 .n, who are p-nu; 



race, form the arist- ! country, furni-h- 



!ie dignitaries of chun h and state and the 

 , ty. Then- an- al-ut 400.000 

 ..f these descendant* of Hebrew ilmg 



li.000.00>' gua can raiw an arm\ --f 



900.000 men, of whom more than half arc equ . ; 

 with modern rifles. 



Diplomatic- MI*ftlonft.-~The Mow of the battle 

 ..waon M "'. when the Italian army 



wa* U-atrn in pitched I tbfl Abyssinian* 



and 13.000 Italians werv left dead on the fiel. 

 i,,th >. -i-.n of the protectorate over A 



lie Italians in accordance with 



f the trv.i- ali. though the 



original Amharic text, a* interpreted by the Ab\s- 



ftiman*. contain, d no such meaning. The final 



tnent was facilitated by the intervention <>f 



. the F.m- 



peror Menelek to intercede f..r the release of the 

 Italian prisoners, and who also bespoke the good 

 offices of France and Russia to bring th*- t 

 negotiations to a satisfactory conclusion. 

 t reatr of peace was finally cimdud- Ma- 



ra/./ini. the Italian plenipotentiary, and the 

 Negus Menelek at Adis Abel 

 As In regard to the former treaty, a difference of 

 trose between the Italian and Abys- 

 sinian governments in regard to one of the clauses 

 new one. According to the oilicial Italian 

 :-aly undertiMik not to cede any portion of 

 >v*sinian territory toany power except Abys- 

 ia until the frontier between Menelek's domin- 

 and the Italian colony is definitely fixed. \. 



to the Abyssinian version. lialy - 

 fnetfr to cede any part of her Abyssinian 

 territory to rf^ypower save Abyssinia. 



withdrawal of Italy's claim to conduct 



: Abyssinia, a right that was 



(man powers except 



e and Russia before the new treaty sup- 

 jilair f Tccitili. the Begus Menelek 



has obtained the unquestioned right to treat directly 

 with foreign Dowers. The Europem governments 

 were not slow in seeking to cstablislJdipIomatic re- 

 > and establish their influence it King Mene- 

 lek's court. The French, whose colony (f Obok 

 MS Abyssinia, concluded a com/nci-cial treaty 

 with the Negus in January, 1897. and four or five 

 French expeditions were punned for the purpose 

 ning Abyssinia and the easteiti Soudan to 

 French influence and commerce. M. Jionvalot was 

 oflpially commissioned to investig .r Mem 



g the Soudan. Prince HeWi d Orleans 

 rtook a similar mission without official 

 dentials. Max Bavelo?r was sei. he French 



Chamber of Commerce to prepare the wky for an- 

 other party under the Vi-omte de ConstMtin. 



'ts sought by the !>.[)( h is Jrmission 

 t<> construct a raflroad from DjiU.uti t\ Harrar. 

 The line is expected to be eompleted to the Aby- 

 sinian town of Antotto iH-f,,r,- the , n<l <.f 1H((. M. 

 I^agarde. the Governor of Obok, was intruded with 

 a new diplomatic mission to the Negus. An im- 



11: diplomatic mission was conducted by 

 nell Kodd, secretary to the British legation in 

 t, who was dispatched as special envoy, with 

 a nir: iff, to reopen diplomatic relations 



with th- Kthiopian monarch and to acquaint him 

 with the nature and extent of the British claims in 

 t and the regions of the upper Nile, and se- 

 cure his recognition of British and F.L'yptiun rights 

 over Kordofan and Sennaar and throughout tin- 

 regions of the White Nile. One of the/ Objects of 



the mission was to indi, !.-nelek t 



fr<-m tcrritolic* that he had coin|u< r. -d \\hieh for- 

 merly livloligiii nveii- 



tion fonncxl |>a at ions, also a pi 



r co-operation against the : : the 



;;il ..r 



:-nsibly i-i-liu'i- 



had lieen numerous in Al>ymia during: 

 the nominal Italian IT. fnun the time 



when the CitsMii-k Ajbinofl led the \\ay in 

 The 1, Mirch ha- to the 



count- >uj. times. LJeut. Mash koff went on 



a polit'ieal errand in I^'.M. In Lf v ..f 



Abyssinian prelates ami ; 



aider the personal c..n.iuct <>f M. l.n.nt ielT. 



I Melielr! 



the earlv j ;ition 



under IL 1'oliakofT set out from Kumpe in ti 

 ginning of April. l v 



The Knglish expedition, setting out from Xeihi, 

 reached Adis Ab.-ba ..n April *js. An agreement 

 between Great Britain and Aby^inia was signeil 

 ..n May 14. and on the following day the B11VOJ and 

 hi- suite to<,k their departure. 



The Kmpen.r Menelek in treating with the ! 

 lish envoy was even less inclined t<> acknowledge as 

 lying within the British phere territories formerly 

 hioj.ia by Brit Mi diplomacy and 

 others actually occupied by Aby--inian forces than 

 he was to sanction the retention by Italy of the 

 boundaries within t lie Abyssinian hiL'li plati.m to 

 whi-h he had provisionally consented in the treaty 

 of Alis Abeba. Kassala iteclf was formally r<"- 

 8tore<l to Kthiopia by the treaty of June 3,1884, 



idcd between t'he N. -II- Johannes atld the 



ian (Jovernment under the auspices of Q 

 Britain. Afterward (in-at Britain, .-n March 'J 1. 

 l s !'l. reeo-ni/.-d as Italian the whole Kthiopian 

 Kmpirc. from the river. luba to the Bine Nile, and 

 bv a second treaty of April b"i. 1MM. completed this 

 gift of Abyssinia to Italy, including in the gift the 

 town of Kassala, with the stipulation that it should 

 be retroceded to Kgypt. In like manner Kngland. 

 after agreeing with France by the convention of 

 Feb. 8, 1888, to neutrali, . which at that 



moment was in the actual possession of Abvinian 

 troops, by a new treaty on May 5, 1894, ezpl 

 abandoned II a rrar to Italy, (ierniany a No. in the 

 Anglo-German agreement of July 1* 181)0, sanc- 

 tioned the abandonment of Kthiopia and the (ialla 

 countries to Italy. Believing that the treaty of 

 Adis Abeba canceled all these former treat; 

 which Kuropean powers disposed of his territory 

 without his knowledge or consent. Menelek was 

 anxious that in coming to a definite boundary 

 agreement with Italy, and in fixini: the boundaries 

 between Abyssinia and the K-yptian Soudan, the 

 [K>wers should ratify the .. :,t. While 



the Negus was willi: -i-inal 



boundary formed by the river- Mareb, I',. l-a. and 

 Mima a- the pi-rmaiient frontier, the various Has 

 wanted him t in-i-t on u frontier considerably to 

 tin- north. 



Italian I'oliry. Major Nerax/ini was commi- 

 sioned to delimit the frontier of the Italian posses- 

 sions on the line laid down in the treaty of p 

 King Menelek emleavon-d to per-uadi- t'he Italians 

 to abandon the Mareb boundary and accept a new- 

 frontier at the foot of the high "plateau. Til" ' 

 eminent of the Marquis of Kudini decided '" re- 

 tain the jK.sition- on the plateau, which, according 

 to expert opinion, could be defended by 5.000 men 

 against an army. After a week's discussion, on 

 May 2'2 the Italian Chamber passed a vote of con- 

 fidence in the undefined plans of the Government, 

 ;iiL r by a majority of HO a radical proposal in 

 favor of entire abandonment, and by a much larger 



