The Geography of Abyssinia 



275 



tention of doctors has not been drawn 

 to this insect before. I have invariably 

 found that where there is stagnant water 

 contaminated by drainage and decompos- 

 ing vegetable or animal matter the sting 

 of the mosquito that breeds in this water 

 is very venomous and causes feverish 

 symptoms. This fact is so well known 

 to the Abyssinians that they never build 

 their houses in the valleys where mos- 

 quitoes abound, but always place their 

 dwellings on the summits of the nearest 

 hills. When they work in the culti- 

 vated parts of these valleys they always 

 surround ^their fields with very strong 

 hedges, so that they need not remain at 

 night to watch their crops, and even in 

 the harvest time, at the dry est season of 

 the year, they do not leave their houses 

 in the morning until the mists in the 

 valley clear away, and they always re- 

 turn to them before sunset, when the 

 mosquito commences to come out. 



Very little fever was known at Suakin 

 before the Egyptian steamers com- 

 menced running there frequently ; there 

 were no mosquitoes in the place, and 

 curtains to the beds were never used, 

 although on the other side of the Red 

 Sea, at Jeddah, sleep was impossible 

 without them, and Jeddah is known 

 also as a very feverish place. The mos- 

 quito was, there can be no doubt, im- 

 ported from Suez in the fresh water 

 brought thence in the water tanks of 

 the Egyptian steamers for the use of the 

 Egyptian officials. Now at Suakin the 

 mosquito is quite common in the town, 

 and so is fever, while outside the town 

 fever and the insect are unknown. 



By looking a,t the map of Abyssinia 

 one will find the belts of tropical valley 

 to be very few, and greater altitude in 

 the center, along part of the Tacazze 

 and Blue Nile Rivers, with a few of 

 their tributaries. Sheltered and con- 

 fined valleys in all parts of Abyssinia 

 are, however, not nearly so healthy as 

 the opener ones of greater altitude. A 

 traveler need never spend more than a 



night or two in unhealthy parts. It is, 

 however, different with the sportsman ; 

 to enjoy the best of sport he must fol- 

 low the game that inhabits the damp 

 jungle, and during the rainy season he 

 is lucky to escape a bout of fever. 



With regard to the botany of Abys- 

 sinia, the greater part of the country has 

 been thoroughly worked out, especially 

 by the late Professor Schimper ; his son, 

 who traveled with me a good deal in the 

 country, informs me, however, that his 

 father did hardly any work in the east- 

 ern half of the country, and then only 

 in the dry season ; so there is still a great 

 deal to be learned about the plants that 

 are to be found in this part during the 

 wet season and immediately after it. 

 Geographical details of Abyssinia, such 

 as the amount of rainfall over a series 

 of years at different stations, are sadly 

 Wanted. The Italians can supply de- 

 tails of the north in the Hamasen, but 

 there can be no doubt that central and 

 southwestern Abyssinia have a much 

 greater rainfall than the northern part 

 of the country, and the extremes of 

 temperature are also greater in these 

 parts. 



There is very little known about the 

 geology of the country, and as it has 

 been so broken up and shows such grand 

 disturbances, its formation should be 

 very varied and should contain many 

 surprises, and minerals should no doubt 

 be plentiful in some parts. Gold has 

 been found in many places since the 

 earliest times, but the centuries of an- 

 archy and confusion which the country 

 has undergone has prevented any thor- 

 ough examination of the different dis- 

 tricts in modern times, and from the 

 time of the Axumite dynasty till 1895 

 Abyssinia never had a coinage of her 

 own, so that there was no necessity to 

 seek for the more precious metals. 



Coal has been reported in several 

 places, but I have seen nothing but 

 black shale. I cannot say whether it 

 exists in the west v^f the country round 



