Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/79

Rh ABYSSINIA 63 the fertility, and keeping up the water supply of tlie country, but, as Sir S. Baker has shown, it plays a most important part in the annual overflow of the Nile. On the summits and slopes of the highest mountains the vegetation is of a thoroughly temperate and even English character ; the plateaux have a flora of the same character ; while on the lower slopes of the hills and in the ravines occur many trees and shrubs of warmer climes. &quot; The general appearance of the plateaux and plains is that of a comparatively bare country, with trees and bushes thinly scattered over it, and clumps and groves only occur ring round villages and churches. But the glens and ravines in the plateau sides, each with its little bright spring, are often thickly wooded, and offer a delicious contrast to the open country.&quot; Marldiam. This refers more particularly to the northern portion of the country, that drained by the Mareb ; the central and southern parts are much more fertile and productive. Here the fertility is so great that in some parts three crops are raised annually. Agriculture receives considerable attention, and large qxiantitics of maize, wheat, barley, peas, beans, &c., are grown. Veiy extensively cultivated is teff (Poo, abyssinica), a herbaceous plant with grains not larger than the head of a pin, of which is made the bread in general use throughout the country. The low grounds produce also a kind of corn called tocnssa, of which a black bread is made, which constitutes the food of the lower classes. Coffee grows wild on the western mountains, and the vine and sugar-cane are cultivated in favourable localities. Cotton is also grown to a consider able extent. Among the fruit-trees are the date, orange, lemon, pomegranate, and banana. Myrrh, balsam, and various kinds of valuable medicinal plants are common. Most of the domestic animals of Europe are found here. The cattle are in general small, arid the oxen belong to the humped race. The famous Galla oxen have horns some times four feet long. The sheep belong to the short and fat-tailed race, and are covered with wool. Goats are very common, and have sometimes horns two feet in length. The horses are strong and active. Of wild animals the spotted hya3na is among the most numerous, as well as the fiercest and most destructive, not only roaming in immense numbers over the country, but frequently entering the towns, and even the houses of the inhabitants. The elephant and rhinoceros are numerous in the low grounds. The Abyssinian rhinoceros has two horns ; its skin, which has no folds, is used for shields, and for lining drinking vessels, being regarded as an antidote to poison. Crocodiles and hippopotami are plentiful in the rivers ; lions, panthers, and leopards are seen occasionally, and buffaloes frequently. Among other animals may be mentioned as common various species of antelopes, wild swine, monkeys, hares, squirrels, several species of hyrax, jackals, &c. The birds of Abyssinia are very numerous, and many of them remarkable for the beauty of their plvmage. Great numbers of eagles, vultures, hawks, and other birds of prey are met with; and partridges, snipes, pigeons, parrots, thrushes, and swallows are very plentiful. Among insects the most numerous and useful is the bee, honey everywhere constituting an important part of the food of the inhabi tants, and several of the provinces paying a large proportion of their tribute in this article. Of an opposite class is the locust, the ravages of which here, as in other parts of Northern Africa, are terrible. Serpents are not numerous, but several species are poisonous. The inhabitants of Abyssinia form a number of different tribes, and evidently belong to several distinct races. The majority are of the Caucasian race, and are in general well- formed and handsome, with straight and regular features, lively eyes, hair long and straight or somewhat curled, and colour dark olive, approaching to black. Riippell regards them as identical in features with the Bedouin Arabs. The tribes inhabiting Tigre, Amhara, Agow, &c., belong to this race. The Galla race, who came originally from the south, have now overrun the greater part of the country, consti tuting a large portion of the soldiery, and, indeed, there are few of the chiefs who have not an intermixture of Galla blood in their veins. They are fierce and turbulent in character, and addicted to cruelty. Many of them are still idolaters, but most of them have now adopted the Moham medan faith, and not a few of them the Christianity of the Abyssinians. They are generally large and well-built, of a brown complexion, with regular features, small deeply-sunk but veiy bright eyes, and long black hair. A race of Jews, known by the name of Falashas, inhabit the district of Samen. They affirm that their forefathers came into the country in the days of Eehoboam, but it seems more probable that they arrived about the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. From the 10th century they enjoyed theii own constitutional rights, and were subject to their own kings, who, they pretend, were descended from King David, until the year 1800, when the royal race became extinct, and they then became subject to Tigre. The prevailing religion of Abyssinia is a very corrupted form of Christianity. This is professed by the majority of the people, as well as by the reigning princes of the different states. There are also scattered over the country many Mohammedans, and some Falashas or Jews. Christianity was introduced into this country about the year 330, but since that time it has been so corrupted by errors of various kinds as to have become little more than a dead formality mixed up with much superstition and Judaism. Feasts and fast-days are very frequent, and baptism and the Lord s supper are dispensed after the manner of the Greek Church. The children are circumcised, and the Mosaic command ments with respect to food and purification are observed. The eating of animals which do not chew the cud and which have not cloven hoofs is prohibited. The ecclesiastical body is very numerous, consisting of priests of various kinds, with monks and nuns, and is looked upon with great awe and reverence. If a priest be married previous to his ordination, he is allowed to remain so ; but no one can marry after having entered the priesthood. The primate or chief bishop is called Abuna (i.e., our father), and is nominated by the patriarch of Cairo, whom they acknow ledge as their spiritual father. The churches are rude edifices, chiefly of a circular form, with thatched roofs, th( interior being divided into three compartments, an outei one for the laity, one within for the priests, and in the centre the Holy of Holies, exactly after the manner of a Jewish temple. The worship consists merely in reading passages of Scripture and dispensing the Lord s supper, without any preaching. Like the Greek Church, they have no images of any kind in their places of worship, but paint ings of the saints are very common their faces always in full, whatever may be the position of their bodies. They have innumerable saints, but above all is the Virgin, whom they regard as queen of heaven and earth, and the great intercessor for the sins of mankind. Their reverence for a saint is often greater than for the Almighty, and a man who would not hesitate to invoke the name of his Maker in witness to a falsehood may decline so to use the name of St Michael or St George. Legends of saints and works of religious controversy form almost their entire literature. &quot; At present,&quot; says Bishop Gobat, &quot; the Christians of Abyssinia are divided into three parties, so inimical to each other that they curse one another, and will no longer par take of the sacrament together. It is one single point of theology that disunites them the unceasing dispute con cerning the unction of Jesus Christ.&quot; In manners the Abyssinians are rude and barbarous.