Page:A voyage to Abyssinia (Salt).djvu/386

 of the Emperor, yet it has not unfrequently assumed the right of nominating that sovereign to his crown.

The territories coloured yellow in the map are either subject to the command, or acknowledge the influence of Ras Welled Selassé, forming the division commonly passing under the appellation of Tigré, which may considered as the more powerful state of the three; a circumstance arising from the natural strength of the country, the warlike disposition of its inhabitants, and its vicinity to the sea-coast; an advantage that has secured to it the monopoly of all the musquets imported into the country, and what is of still more consequence, of all the salt required for the consumption of the interior. The kingdom of Tigré is bounded by the Bekla, Boja, Takué, and several wild tribes of Shangalla on the north; by the mountains of Samen on the west; and by the Danákil, Doba, and Galla, on the east and south; comprehending an extent of about four degrees in latitude, and about the same in a longitudinal direction, and forming in shape the irregular figure of a trapezium. The separate divisions and sub-divisions, in this portion of Abyssinia, are extreme!y numerous, of which I shall endeavour to convey a concise idea, by arranging them under a few general heads, which may be termed provinces, premising, at the same time, that the minor districts are often spoken by the Abyssinians in terms of equal importance with the larger, thereby introducing into their accounts a confusion that is very difficult to unravel. I shall begin according to the mode generally practised by the Abyssinians themselves, with the central province of Tigré proper, which has given its name to the whole; and shall then proceed south-eastward, and take a kind of general survey of the remainder.

The high range of mountains, in the neighbourhood of Adowa, runs down the centre of Tigré proper. This province is bounded on the north by the river Mareb; the east, by Agame; on the west, by Shiré; and on the south, by the river Warré, which takes its rise eastward of Haramat, and runs by Gullibudda and Temben to the Tacazze. It contains within its limits the minor districts of Adét, Adowa, Gundufta, Kelle,