200 NOETH-EAST AFEICA. 



Mohammedans of the great plateau between Ankober and Magdala, and the 

 heathen Borenas of the Abai kwalla. The dreaded Assebos, the Rayas, Ejus, and 

 Dawris on the passes and eastern slopes of the Abj^ssinian range, have for the 

 most part preserved their primitive customs. The same is true of the independent 

 or tributary Ilm-Ormas living to the west of Shoa, towards the sources of the 

 Awash, and on the waterparting between the Abai and the Gugsa, as well as the 

 Jillis, Soddos, Hadas, Finfinis, Mettas, Nonnos, Gudrus, Horros, Jummas, and 

 other tribes occupying the region formerly known as " Great Damot." A large 

 tract of territoiy south and south-east of Shoa, towards Harrar, is inhabited by the 

 Ittus and Arussis. Lastly, the Sidamas, peopling Innari/a (Enarea), and KafPa, in 

 the south-western region of Abyssinia, are regarded as a branch of the Galla family. 

 Amongst them Christianity had formerly the largest number of adherents and 

 Abyssinian culture had made the greatest progress. Their colour is generally 

 lighter than that of the other Ilm-Ormas, and the Arabs compare the complexion 

 of the young Sidama girls to cinnamon. To the north some of the Sidama speak 

 Gonga, a tongue related to the Agau, and current amongst the Damot Abyssinians 

 north of the Blue Nile. 



Topography. 



The political centre of Shoa occupies the watershed on the two slopes of the 

 Abyssinian range, eastwards towards the basin of the Awash, and westwards 

 towards that of the Blue Nile. In this country, where the climate is temperate, 

 and where the soil, better cultivated than in any other Abyssinian region, produces 

 corn and fruits in abundance, are grouped the civilised populations of Abyssinian 

 origin, and here stood the cities successively chosen as capitals of the kingdom of 

 Shoa. The palaces being merely large huts, it is easy to shift the site of the 

 capitals, and the residence of the sovereign has changed several times during this 

 century, according to the strategic advantages or the royal caprice. 



Licheh, the present capital, founded by King Menelik, and hence the greatest 

 market in the country, stands on a terrace at the western base of the mountains 

 culminating in Mount Métatiteh, between two ravines forming the beds of two 

 headstreams of the Jemma, an affluent of the Blue Nile. To the east on an isolated 

 rock still nearer to the range, and in the vicinity of Wat, or the " Abyss," are the 

 ruins of Tegulet, the " Town of Wolves," which became, after Aksima, the capital of 

 Abyssinia, whilst its name was used for some time to designate the whole of Shoa. 

 The fortress of Tegulet, which overawed the land, was taken by assault and destroyed 

 in 1528 by Mohammed Granheh, the conqueror of Abyssinia. A few miles to the 

 south, on another terrace, over which auriferous streams fall in imposing cascades, 

 lies Behra-Berham, or " Mountain of Light," which was the royal residence till the 

 beginning of the eighteenth century. To the south-west, in the same river basin of 

 the Jemma, two small wooded heights, surrounded by formidable gorges, bear at an 

 elevation of some 9,300 feet the houses of Angolala, another abandoned capital, 

 founded in 1830 by King Sehla Sellasieh. Lastly, there exists a fifth capital, 



