Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/258

 Mohammedans of the great plateau between Ankober and Magdala, and the heathen Borenas of the Abaï kwalla. The dreaded Assebos, the Rayas, Ejus, and Dawris on the passes and eastern slopes of the Abyssinian range, have for the most part preserved their primitive customs. The same is true of the independent or tributary Ilm-Omias 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 territory south and south-east of Shoa, towards Harrar, is inhabited by the Ittus and Arussis. Lastly, the Sidamas, peopling Innarya (Enarea), and Kalfa, 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-Orraas, 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. 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 Aksum, 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 JJebra-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 Angohla, another abandoned capital, founded in 1830 by King Sehla Sellasieh. Lastly, there exists a fifth capital,