DIVISION IV AFRICA ABYSSINIA Galla Tribes Religion INDEPENDENT AFRICAN STATES THE following African states, besides Morocco, which is treated as one of the Barbary states, are independent or quasi-independent Abyssinia, Bornu, Waday, Congo Free State, Transvaal, Orange Free State, and Liberia. ABYSSINIA. ABYSSINIA is a part of eastern Africa, having Nubia on the northwest, the Red Sea on the northeast, the river Hawash on the southeast, and the Blue Nile on the southwest. The mountainous part of this tract forms the kingdom of Abyssinia; the chief divisions being Tigré in the north, Amhara in the center, and Shoa in the south. Between the highlands and the Red Sea lies a low arid tract, which is inhabited by tribes distinct from the Abyssinians, and long claimed as a part of Egypt. The native annals of Abyssinia, tracing their kings from Menelek, the son of Solomon by the queen of Sheba, down to recent times, are manifestly fabulous. The real history begins with the kingdom of Axum. Christianity* was introduced in the fourth century. Under the Axumite rulers, Abyssinia attained its greatest extent and prosperity in the sixth century, when it embraced Yemen in Arabia. But by the conquests of the Mohammedans in the following century, the frontiers were driven back to the limits of the tableland, and the Abyssinians were cut off from intercourse with the rest of the world. During these struggles the capital was removed from Axum to Gondar, where the monarchs dignified themselves with the title (assumed about the end of the thirteenth century) of Negusa Nagast za-Itjopja (king of kings of Ethiopia.) With the sixteenth century began the irruptions of the warlike Galla tribes from the interior of the continent, who committed *The religion of the Abyssinians proper is a debased Christianity; but the Gallas and other alien tribes are mostly Mohammedan, and partly also pagan. Abyssinian Christianity consists entirely in external observances; the people are abjectly superstitious and excessively lax in their morals. They observe many of the rights of Judaism, such as circumcision and the distinction of animals into clean and unclean. The marriage tie is very loose, and polygamy is not uncommon. Few except the priests are taught to read. Christianity was introduced in the fourth century by Frumentius, who was consecrated bishop of Abyssinia by the Patriarch of Alexandria. The Bible was early translated into the Geez. They have no other literature except some legends of saints. The general ignorance does not exclude religious controversy, and fierce dissensions prevail. AFRICA fearful devastations. The search for the kingdom of Prester John DIVISION IV brought the Portuguese in contact with Abyssinia in the end of the fifteenth century. The monarchs lost all control over the great chiefs, who set up as independent rulers in their several provinces. At length Michel Sohul, the ruler of Tigré, put the reigning monarch Joas to death (1769); and setting up a member of the royal family as nominal sovereign, exercised at Gondar the powers of sovereignty under the name of Ras, or prime minister. Ras Michel was soon driven from power by a Galla chief, who acquired the dominion of Amhara and the control of the titular sovereign, and transmitted his power to his son and grandson. The latter, Ras Ali, held sway in Amhara as vicegerent of the empire, when, about 1850, the adventurer Kasa or Kassai, afterward known as Theodore, began to excite attention. Kassai was a native (born 1816) of Kuara, a province in the west of Amhara, of which his uncle was governor. After the uncle's death, Kassai, defeating the armies of the Ras, compelled his recognition as governor, and became Ali's son-in-law. In 1853 he crushed the Ras, and two years later, after completely defeating the prince of Tigré, he had himself crowned by the Albuna as Negus of Abyssinia, with the name of Theodore. He then subdued the Wollo Gallas; and having next conquered Shoa, he was now master of the whole of Abyssinia, and with greater power than was ever wielded by a Negus. This was the acme of his fortunes, which henceforth began to decline. One province after another rose in rebellion, unable to bear the exactions; and these insurrections were suppressed with unheard-of rigor. Theodore had made several attempts to procure the active alliance of England and France against the Mussulman powers; and as all his efforts had failed, he now began to entertain hatred toward Europeans. The British government in 1864, however, sent envoys to Theodore with a royal letter and presents, but the envoys were put in irons, and shut up in the fortress of Magdala. A British military expedition was now resolved upon. The place of landing was Annesley Bay, and on April 9, 1867, they reached Magdala. They had met with no obstruction from the inhabitants, who rather welcomed them as deliverers from the common enemy. The results of the expedition were disastrous to the Abys ABYSSINIA Kassai Appears British Cam paign AFRICA ABYSSINIA DIVISION IV sinians and Theodore sued for peace, and released the prisoners; but as he declined to surrender, the fort was stormed and taken on the 13th. Theodore was found dead- he had shot himself. The fort being demolished, the British forces were withdrawn. The departure of the British was the signal for a renewed struggle among the Abyssinian chieftains for the supremacy. Prince Kassai of Tigré, who had been of great service to the British, vanquished his most powerful rival, and had himself crowned emperor of Abyssinia in 1872, assuming the name of John; but failed to establish his rule over the whole country. He made repeated but vain attempts to get European help against the Egyptians, with whom Abyssinia had been at enmity since 1860. In 1875 the Khedive sent a small force; but they fell into an ambuscade, and were all massacred. In the same year, a second expedition of 1,600 men was sent against the Abyssinians, and a short sanguinary campaign followed, in which both parties lost so heavily that each was compelled to retire, and the frontier difficulties continued until the Sudan was evacuated by Egypt in 1882. Italians are Defeated In 1885 the Italians occupied Massowah, but they did not succeed in establishing friendly relations with the Abyssinians. On the 26th of January, 1887, three companies of Italian soldiers were attacked by the Abyssinians, and, notwithstanding their gallant resistance, all were slaughtered, with the exception of ninety wounded, who managed to make their way back to Massowah. Menelek II, king of Shoa, became the supreme ruler of Abyssinia in 1889. By the Treaty of Uchali, May 12, 1889, as interpreted by the Italians, Abyssinia became an Italian Protectorate. King Menelek denounced this treaty in 1893, and by the convention of Adis Abeba, October 26, 1896, the independence of Abyssinia was unreservedly recognized. Italy also gave up all the territory she had conquered in several costly expeditions, except Eritrea, a small strip of land on the Red Sea, and Somaliland, a narrow strip of land on the Indian Ocean, south of the Gulf of Aden. The boundary between Eritrea and Abyssinia was determined in 1900. CENTRAL SUDAN STATES THERE still remain certain independent and quasi-independent states in central Africa about which we shall give such information as is obtainable with respect to their political condition. These are, besides Abyssinia, the history of which is given in the foregoing pages, the Central Sudan states-Bornu and Waday (on which Kawem and Bagirmi are dependent); although as a matter of fact Bornu may be regarded as partly within the British and partly within the German spheres of influence. BORNU DIVISION IV AFRICA BORNU ants BORNU, "The Land of Noah," if not the largest is the most populous Mohammedan state in Central Sudan. It occupies the western and southern sides of Lake Tchad, being conterminous on the southeast with Bagirmi, from which it is separated by the Shari River, and stretches thence westward to the empire of InhabitSokoto. The inhabitants who call themselves Ka-Nuri, that is, "People of Light," are of mixed Negro and Dasa (southern Tibu) descent, and speak a Tibu dialect that has been reduced to written form by missionaries. There are also elements of Berbers in the north, Arabs in the southeast, Makari and Marghi Negroes in the south, and some pagan tribes in the east. In the center are the Magomi, who claim kinship with the royal dynasty, which for centuries ruled over the united Bornu and Kawem states. These, with the Kanuri, are regarded as the most cultured people in Central Africa, and their woven fabrics, pottery, and metal ware are highly prized throughout the Sudan. By the Anglo-French agreement af 1890 and the Anglo-German agreement of 1893, Bornu is excluded from the sphere of France and Germany. Kuka is the capital of Bornu, and lies on the west side of Lake Tchad. It has a population of about 60,000, and is one of the great centers of trade in the Sudan. There are several other towns of over 10,000 inhabitants. The coast lands are exposed to the incursions of the Kuri and Yedina pirates who inhabit the archipelagoes in Lake Tchad. DIVISION IV AFRICA WADAYKAWEM Language WADAY-KAWEM THE sultanate of Waday, at present the most powerful state in Central Sudan, occupies, with the tributary states, the whole region between Dar Foor and Lake Tchad, and extends from the southern verge of the Sahara southward nearly to the divide between the Tchad and Congo basins. The Arabs, here collectively called Aramka, have been settled within the confines of this country for over five hundred years. Their traders send caravans south to Bagirmi and west to Bornu. The political power belongs to the Mohammedan Mabas, a negro people, who occupy the northeast part of Waday proper, and whose language forms the chief medium of intercourse throughout the state. Like the Arabs, the Mabas are fanatical followers of the prophet. Abu-Said, who was proclaimed sultan in January, 1889, has absolute power, limited by custom and the precepts of the Koran, but who rules directly only over the northeast of Waday proper, which is divided into provinces named from the cardinal points and administered by the viceroys, who have the power of life and death. The sultan himself is assisted by a council, while the law, that is, the Koran, is interpreted by the College of Fakihs, or Ulemas. There is an army of about 7,000 men, which is chiefly employed by levying tributes upon the provinces and vassal states. The capital of the state is Abeshr. Of the vassal states the Kawem Waday and Lake Tchad. Develop- most important is Kawem, between This state occupies the eastern and northern shores of Lake Tchad and stretches north to the verge of the Sahara. The inhabitants are considered the fiercest marauders in the whole of North Africa. It is dependent upon Waday. CONGO FREE STATE THE CONGO FREE STATE has succeeded to the Congo International Association founded in 1883 by Leopold II, king of Belgium. This territory stretches by a narrow neck of land to the river's mouth, but expands inland so as to cover an immense area mainly lying south of the Congo River. The obvious advantages of the Congo as a water-way in the opening up of the continent of Africa, led to the formation at Brussels in 1878 of a "Society for the |