A B Y 



can pervade them, there the water of the abyla afcends, fills 

 tip all the ckftj and fifFurcs into wliich it can get adiiiit- 

 taiice ; and ijturates all the interlliccs and pores of the 

 earth, ftone, or other matter, all rouuu the globe, quite up 

 to the level of the ocean. 



The exifteiice of au abyfs, or receptacle of fubtcrrancous 

 waters, is controverted by Camenirius, (DiflT. Taur. Act. 

 Erud. Sup. torn. vi. p. 24.) and defended by ]Dr. Wood- 

 ward, chiefly by two arguments ; the firft, drawn from the 

 vail quantity of water, v.hioh covered the earth in the time 

 of the deluge ; the fecond, from the confideration of earth- 

 quakes, which he endeavours to (hew are occafioned by the 

 violence of the waters in tliis abyfs. A great part of the 

 tcrreftrial globe has been frequently fliaken at the fame 

 moment ; which argues, that the waters, which were the 

 occifion thereof, were co-extenJed with that part of the 

 globe. There are even inllances of univerfal earthquakes ; 

 which (hew that the wluile abyis mull have been agitated : 

 for fo general an efiecl muft have been produced by as ge- 

 neral a caufe ; and that caufe can be nothing but the fub- 

 tcrrancous abyfs. 



This abyls is no ufelefs thing ; when once ellabhlhed, it 

 ferves to folve feveral difficult phenomena ; as the origin 

 of Iprings and rivers ; the level maintained in tlie furface of 

 diiferent feas, and their not overflowing their banks. To 

 the eflluvia emitted from this abyfs fome even attribute all 

 thi diveriities of weather, and changes in our atmofphere ; 

 and, what is more, the origin of every thing in the earth, 

 or in its furface. Dr. Woodward has an epifl;le on the 

 ccconomy of the great a'jyls hid in the bowels of the earth, 

 and the perpetual communication between it and the atmof- 

 phere. Ray, ( Phylico-Theological Difcourfes, p. 76. ed. 

 4.) and other authors, ancient as well as modern, fuppofe 

 a communication between the Cafpian fea and the ocean, 

 by means ot a fubteiTanean abyfs : and to this they attribute 

 it, that the Cafpian does not overflow, notwithilanding the 

 great number of large rivers it receives ; of vv-hich Kempfer 

 reckons above fifty, in the compafs of lixty miles. But the 

 daily evaporation may be iufficient for this purpofc. See 

 Evaporation, Sea, and Spring. — The difllrent argu- 

 ments concerning this fubjedl, are collected by Cock- 

 burn in his Inquiry into the truth and certainty of the 

 Mofaic deluge, p. 271. See Deluge, Earth, and Vol- 

 cano. 



Abyss is alfo ufed to denote the cavernous belly of a hol- 

 low MOUNTAIN. 



In which fenfe Mr. Tournefort deferibes the abyfs of 

 mount Ararat. This, and fiimlar gulphs, or precipices in 

 mountains, M. Buffon, and others, fuppofe to be the cra- 

 ters of extinguilhcd volcanoes. 



Abyss is alfo ufed to denote hell. In which fenfe the 

 word is fynonymous with what is othenvife called Bara- 

 thrum, Erebus, and Tartarus : in the Euglilh Bible^ the 

 bottnmh'fs pit. 



Abyss is more particularly ufed, in AnUquily, to denote 

 the temple of Prnierpine. 



It was thus called, on account of the immenfe fund of 

 gold and riches depofitcd there ; iome fay hid under 

 giound. 



Abyss is alfo ufed in Heraldry, to denote the centre of an 

 EJi-ulcheon. 



lu which fenfe, a thing is fald to be borne in abyfs, en 

 al'/fine, when placed in the middle of the (hicld, clear from 

 any other bearing : he bears azure, fleur de lys, in abyfs. 

 Colombiere. 



Abyss is alfo ufed metaphorically, for a thing not to be 



4 



A B Y 



known or comprehended, on account of its immenfe extent, 



or profundity. 



In which lenfe it coincideswilh fecrct.iiifcnitablcincomprc- 

 lienllble,&c. — Thejudgmentsof God arc called 3 great abyfi. 

 Abyss, in Hydrography, is fynonymous with gulph. 

 ABYSSINIA, or, as it is fometimcs called AsASSlA, 

 Haiiessinia, and Upper, ^Ethiopia,' in Geography and 

 Hijlory, an empire of Africa, fiiuatcd in the Torrid 

 Zone, and moilly comprehended between 8^ and 16'' N. 

 hit. and 34-' and 40'- E. long. As to the etymology of 

 this name, fome have fought for it in the fruitful fpots 

 amougll rugged deferts .vith which the country abounds, and 

 which the Egyptians call abajfcs ; and others have traced it 

 to Ahaxa, the capital of the kingdom of Adel, whof: mo- 

 uarchs were once mailers of Abyflinia ; but Ludolfus, and 

 many who have adopted his opinion, aCpribc the origin of 

 tlie appellation to the Arabic Hab,Jh, which has the fame 

 meaning with the Latin Convene, and lignifies a number ot 

 diftincl people meeting together accidentally in one place. 

 This etymology, it is alleged, correfponds to the maimer in 

 which this country was originally inhabited. For the ap- 

 pellation of I'reller or Prelhyter John's empire, which the 

 Portuguefe gave to this countiy, there is no fulhcient toun- 

 datlon, as tliere was no perfon of this denomination that was 

 ever known in Abyffinia. See Prester John. — The ima* 

 ginary hmits of this countr)' have been erroneoufly extended 

 by ancient geographers iar beyond the equinoctial hnc, and 

 its real boundaries have been in later times veiy much re- 

 duced by the invafion of a barbarous people, denominated 

 Gallas, of whom we (hall give an account under that ar- 

 ticle. It is at prcicnt bouiirled on the N. by the kingciom 

 ot Sennaar, on the E. and N. E. by the Red Sea, on the 

 S. by the Gallas, and a vail chain of mountains extending 

 with little interruption from 34^' to 44 '^ E. long, and be- 

 tween 8" and 9° N. lat. ; and on the S. E. by the kingdom 

 of Adel, and on the W. by the Nile, and tome adjacent pro- 

 vinces. But its boundaries have futlered fo many irrup- 

 tions and encroachmente, that they are not ealily afcertained. 

 At the time of Lobo's milfion, in 1624, it extended from 

 the Red Sea to the kingdom of Congo, and from Egypt to 

 the Indian Sea, containing forty provinces. At Maluah, 

 j. e. on the coail of tlie Red Sea, fays Mr. Bruce, begins 

 an imaginary divlilon of Ahylfinia, into two parts; the firlt 

 is called Tigrc, between the Red Sea and the river Tacarze; 

 the fecond is Amhara, between that river and the Nile, 

 weitward, where it bounds the Galla. But this divifion rc- 

 fpecls language, rather than territory ; and it it, in 

 neither view of it, fulliciently precife and determinate. The 

 • provinces now comprehended under the em|)irc of AbylTinia 

 are the following ; viz. Masuah ; Tigre'; Sire' ; Samen ; 

 Wai.dubba; IjEGiiMnER, bordering upon Angot, which is 

 almoll wholly conquered by the Gallas ; Amhara ; and be- 

 tween the rivers ( jelhen and Samba, a lov.', uuhealthy, but fer- 

 tile province, called Walaka; and to the S. of this the Upper 

 Shoa ; GojAM ; Damot; Maitsha; the province ot the 

 Agows; Dembea on the fouthof Gondar, and Woggora a 

 fmall province on the call, whicli are altogether fown with 

 wheat, and are the granaries o( Abyirinla ; and to the fouth ot 

 Dembea, Kuara. There are many other fmall provinces 

 which are occafionally annexed, and fometimcs feparated, 

 fuch as Guefgue to the eail of Kuara ; Waldubba, between 

 the rivers Guangue and Angrab ; Tzegade and W'alkayt on 

 the weft of Waldubba ; Abergale and Selawa, near Be- 

 gemder ; Temben, Dobas, Giannamora, Bur, and Engana, 

 in the neighbourhood of ligre, Sec. Such was the llate 

 of tlie country at the time when Mr. Bruce vifitedit. Thefe 



Li 2 proviocel 



