“One of my servants, who, by the great anxiety he showed in watching and tending the patients, was evidently convinced of the truth of their sufferings, had himself been attacked many years before, and assured me that after his recovery he had not the slightest recollection of anything that had taken place while the fit was on him, but that his friends had told him all about it. How was it possible that this man, supposing his own illness to have been feigned, could be cheated by the same means?
“Lastly, the most puzzling thing of all is when a person acts sickness to such perfection that Azrael himself is deceived, and, mistaking the feigned malady for a real one, finishes it by seriously taking away the life of the shammer.
“The following case will illustrate what I mean. I had a servant named Bairou, a youth of about nineteen, who, from having been several years in the service of Europeans, had acquired a few of their notions; and, among others, had learnt to ridicule the superstitions of his countrymen. He had a sister who had been ill for several months, and no one knew what her complaint was. At his request I went to visit her more than once, but was unable to do anything for her. The fact is, my doctoring is on a very limited scale; and, as even the most eminent physicians agree that the greatest difficulty is to ascertain what is really the matter with the patient, I stood very little chance with Bairou’s sister, who complained of nothing, and showed no marked signs of ailing except in entire prostration of strength, and a rapid falling off of flesh. She gradually got worse, till one day her brother came to me and requested me to lend him my ornaments, and also to beg some more from my friends at the camp. I asked whether he was going to be ‘arkee’ to some friend about to marry; but he answered with a melancholy smile that he wanted them for his sister; as, having tried everything else, their friends had proposed to see if she were possessed, and he, though not believing in such nonsense, was willing to allow them to try the experiment, lest, if anything happened to her, they should upbraid him afterwards for having caused her death by his obstinacy and incredulity.
“I, of course, quite approved of his determination, and easily succeeded in obtaining the articles required of me. She was dressed up in the borrowed finery as she lay on the couch; and at a signal the musicians outside commenced playing. At the first notes her eyes began to brighten, and, raising herself up for the first time during many days, she swayed her body to and fro for a few moments, after the manner of one possessed; but, becoming quickly exhausted, she sank back, saying, with a faint smile, ‘It is too late now!’ She repeated these words twice; they were the last I ever heard her utter. Three hours after she was a corpse. Was this, too, a sham? Or what may it be called? Possibly some freak of her disordered imagination.”[252]
Stern had the tendency to moralize which prevailed at the time when he wrote, but there can be little doubt that he offered a sound opinion in the following passage:—“In bringing this demoniacal subject to a close, I am forcibly reminded of the words, ‘Be sure your sin will find you out.’ That there is something in these diseases and in their mode of cure which transcends ordinary disorders no one who has stood beside a frantic and agonized patient and wondered at the sudden and more than dramatic transition from raving frenzy to childlike docility can well deny; but without deciding whether it is epilepsy, catalepsy, or hysteria, I am quite sure that fiends and spirits have less to do with the matter than the irregular life and dissolute course which so many pursue.”[253]
It would, indeed, be a matter for astonishment if marked nervous affections did not occur in a country where, among the people of both sexes, unwholesome diet and parasitical irritation so often combine their results with those of sensual habits of body and mind acquired early in life.
It has already been said that the Abyssinian soldier wears no uniform, and is not easily distinguished by his appearance from the civilian. But there is a distinct military class, with characteristics of its own. “There is no harder worker,” said Mr. Wylde, “than the Abyssinian peasant, and no more harmless and hospitable person when left alone and properly treated[254]; and no more truculent, worthless, conceited, lazy, and useless individual than the Abyssinian soldier, who formerly did nothing but prey upon the defenceless cultivator. Circumstances are now altering this, but before the country settles down to modern civilization and makes any great strides forward, a civil revolution must take place, which may not be far distant.”[255] The same writer has pointed out that the soldiery “were called into existence by Abyssinia being surrounded by Mohammedan enemies, and little by little they increased and multiplied till they got out of all proportion to the wants of a peaceful country.” The king’s exchequer cannot provide pay for these men, so, to keep them quiet, they are allowed to live by exaction. Mr. Wylde’s strictures apply to the “lazy, loafing lot of mercenaries who have never done anything in their lives except fighting and looting, men without homes and without territory, ready to fight for those who give the highest pay, and who do not value the lives of their fellow-Christians at the price of a sheep or a jar of hydromel;” and he adds, “I am writing only of the mercenary soldier whose father and grandfather, perhaps, were the same, and not of the bulk of the fighting force of the country, who are yeomen farmers and their servants, or the peasants and their families.”[256]
The state of feeling between the peasantry and the soldiery might have serious consequences if the Abyssinian monarch undertook an important campaign outside his territory. “The great danger to an unpopular king attempting such an expedition would be, in the absence of the army, a rising of an oppressed peasantry, backed up by some European Power, to put down the military party. The arming of the peasantry and farmer class with modern weapons has not altogether been a blessing to the present ruler, and may end not only in his downfall, but in that of the barons as well.”[257]
The fighting value of the Abyssinian army is by no means a quantité négligeable in the politics of Eastern Africa, and it would be very easy to underrate it. Mr. Wylde, in his narrative of the battle of Adoua, has given a very complete account of the numbers, armament and temper of the Negus’s forces, and he does not agree with the estimate formed by Mansfield Parkyns of their personal valour.[258] He has also described the tactics which they customarily adopt in attacking, and has made some interesting observations on the employment of artillery, mounted infantry, and cavalry in the country.”[259]
The limitations to the activity of the forces are chiefly determined by commissariat difficulties. “The Abyssinian hordes are the same as the locust, they live on what they can get from the surrounding country; and when they have devoured everything, they have to move on to another place where supplies are procurable. At the outside an Abyssinian who is not one of the regular soldiers can keep the field for a couple of months, and then he has to take one transport animal with him, with a boy or girl, generally the latter, to look after his riding animal and to cook his food. The regular troops are the same; they have to bring supplies with them, which they get from their leaders before they set out on the campaign; after these are finished, unless fresh supplies come forward, they have to live on the country.”[260]
Probably the most recently published paper dealing with the Abyssinian army is the despatch, dated June 2, 1904, of Colonel Rochfort, C.B., R.A., included in the official account of the operations in Somaliland.[261] Colonel Rochfort accompanied the forces which his Majesty Menelek II., on the invitation of the British Government, sent in 1903, “to intercept the Mullah’s retreat, should he attempt to escape to the south or west.” As might be imagined from the nature of the document, it contains no descriptive account of the Abyssinian Expedition, and very little critical comment upon it. But the following particulars may serve to convey some idea of Abyssinian operations in the field at the present time. The strength of the force first employed was about five thousand men, nearly all of whom were mounted on mules. It left Harrar for its destination (the Webi Shebeli, near Hilowen) on February 18, 1903, under the command of Fituari Gabri.
Surprise parties were sent out to visit all wells within reach to the north, and “the Abyssinians carried out these raids with considerable dash and some success, showing their mobility by the ease with which they covered long distances, sometimes a hundred miles in forty-eight hours; but as at this time they had no special arrangements for carrying water, their scope was necessarily restricted.
“During these operations the main body was attacked by a considerable number of Dervishes. The attack was delivered in thick bush on the arrival of the force in bivouac, and before the zareba was formed; it was pushed home with resolution, but repulsed with loss. The pursuit was carried out with vigour, and the Dervish casualties were estimated at three hundred. The Abyssinians returned their loss at thirty-one killed and wounded. The Abyssinians were now living on the country, and exigencies of supply rendered it necessary to move down stream to Mekunna. . . .
“On the morning of May 28 the Abyssinians left Hahi, and after a series of forced marches surprised the Habr Suliman section of the Bagheri tribe on the morning of May 31 at Jeyd, which is thirty miles south of Bur. The Dervishes suffered heavy losses, and all their camels and stock were captured. . . . This terminated the first phase of the operations, and the force returned to Harrar.”
Later, the Negus consented to send another expedition, and “expressed the wish for an increase in the number of medical officers to accompany his force, and also suggested the issue of water-bottles to his men. At the conclusion of the first phase of the operations I had represented to the War Office that the absence of any special arrangements for carrying water had seriously affected the mobility of the Abyssinians; this want was now remedied by the issue of one thousand twelve-gallon tanks; pumps and waterproof sheets for improvising drinking-troughs were also supplied by his Majesty’s Government.
“There is no organized system of supply in the Abyssinian army, and hitherto arrangements made individually to carry one month’s supply on a mule or donkey had been found sufficient to enable expeditions to reach a district from which supplies could be drawn; such a course did not meet the conditions under which the present force was about to act, owing to the distance to be covered, the necessity for carrying water, and the total absence of any grain, either on the road or in the probable zone of operations. After some unavoidable delay, arrangements were improvised for carrying two months’ supply,[262] and his Highness Ras Makunnan,[263] who personally interested himself in the despatch of the force, subsequently supplemented this supply by sending three small convoys as transport became available. The force commenced concentration in the neighbourhood of Harrar on November 27, 1903. . . . The advanced party reached Wardair on January 12, 1904. . . . The resources of the country in the neighbourhood of the River Fafan and the arrival of two more small convoys enabled the force to keep the field until March 28, 1904, when the Abyssinian commander (Fituari Gabri) was advised that the retreat of the Mullah through the Sorl, pursued by the British columns, rendered the presence of the Abyssinian expedition no longer necessary, and the force marched for Harrar.”[264]
Those who wish to acquaint themselves with the home life of the Abyssinian people should read the works of Mansfield Parkyns and Mr. Augustus Wylde. The latter has given especially full details of the surroundings and habits of the middle and lower classes of the nation.
Mr. Wylde has chapters on “Shooting in Abyssinia” and “Outfit and Rifles.” His book also contains an appendix on “Animals met with in Abyssinia and on the Borders,” ranging in its scope from lions to sand-martins. There are several passages dealing with sport and natural history in Parkyns’s volume, and Mr. Vivian’s work contains observations on the same subjects.
Stecker’s scientific notes have been frequently mentioned. His brief but pithy treatise amply repays study. Harris’s “Highlands of Ethiopia” has valuable appendices on the climate, geology, botany, and zoology of the southern provinces (Vol. II).
Probably no country at the present time offers a better field for research, sport, and exploration than Abyssinia.
FOOTNOTES:
[123]“The Highlands of Æthiopia,” by Major W. Cornwallis Harris, of the H.E.I.C.’s Engineers, 1844, vol. iii. pp. 3, 4.
[124]“Wanderings among the Falashes,” p. 185.
[125]“Modern Abyssinia,” pp. 352, 353.
[126]Ib. p. 16.
[127]“The Highlands of Æthiopia,” vol. iii. pp. 84-86.
[128]“Modern Abyssinia,” p. 157.
[129]Mansfield Parkyns wrote: “The ordination of priests and deacons is, I believe, tolerably simple; for instance, I have been told that, on the arrival of the present Abouna from Egypt, the candidates, who are only required to be able to read a little, were collected in a mass near the place where he was. The bishop then went through some ceremony, and ended by pronouncing a blessing, and blowing in the direction of the assembled crowd, who were thus all ordained. Among these was a woman with her child in her arms, who had come thither from motives of curiosity. She, too, was of course ordained; but I don’t remember hearing that she ever officiated. 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.” (“Life in Abyssinia,” p. 294.)
[131]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” pp. 307, 308.
[132]“Life in Abyssinia,” p. 321.
[133]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 214 seq.
[134]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” pp. 201, 202. Major Harris inspected the Cathedral of St. Michael at Ankóber, and in his description of it wrote, “In the holy of holies is deposited the sacred tabot, consecrated at Gondar by the delegate of the Coptic patriarch; and around the veil that fell before this mysterious emblem there hung in triumph four sporting pictures from the pencil of Alken, which had been presented to the king. They represented the great Leicestershire steeple-chase, and Dick Christian, with his head in a ditch, occupied by far the most prominent niche in the Cathedral of St. Michael!”
[135]Dufton, “A Journey through Abyssinia,” p. 90.
[136]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 233 seq.
[137]“Life in Abyssinia,” p. 297 seq.
[138]“Life in Abyssinia,” pp. 160, 161.
[139]Ib. p. 277.
[140]“Life of Bruce,” by Major Head, p. 266.
[141]“Abyssinia,” p. 276 seq.
[142]“The Highlands of Ethiopia,” vol. iii. p. 139.
[143]Ib. p. 138.
[144]Major Head, “Life of Bruce,” p. 265.
[145]Ib. p. 268.
[146]“Modern Abyssinia,” pp. 361, 362.
[147]The Alaka is the superior of a monastery or other head of an ecclesiastical establishment.
[148]Major Harris, “The Highlands of Ethiopia,” vol. iii. pp. 134, 135.
[149]“Abyssinia,” p. 283.
[150]“British Mission to Abyssinia,” pp. 225, 226.
[152]“The Highlands of Ethiopia,” vol. iii. pp. 133, 134.
[153]“The British Mission to Abyssinia,” vol. i. p. 217.
[154]“The British Mission to Abyssinia,” vol. i. p. 217. Stern did not observe this separation of the sexes.
[155]“Abyssinia,” p. 277.
[156]“Abyssinia,” p. 288.
[158]“The Highlands of Ethiopia,” vol. iii. p. 132.
[159]This appendix of Major Harris’s book was evidently prepared with care, and it is therefore surprising to find the saints, whose deeds are commemorated on October 4, described as “Papa and Mamma”! Presumably the explanation is that there was humour among the compositors of the year 1844, and that the compiler neglected his proof-reading.
[160]“Abyssinia,” pp. 280, 285.
[161]“Life in Abyssinia,” pp. 277, 278.
[162]A province of Abyssinia.
[163]“Abyssinia Described,” by J. C. Hotten, p. 160.
[164]“The Highlands of Ethiopia,” vol. iii. p. 139.
[165]Parkyns, “Life in Abyssinia,” p. 294.
[166]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 218.
[167]Harris, “The Highlands of Ethiopia,” vol. iii. p. 141.
[168]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 181.
[169]“A Journey through Abyssinia,” p. 91.
[170]“Life in Abyssinia,” p. 163.
[171]“Abyssinia Described,” p. 164.
[172]“Modern Abyssinia,” p. 164.
[173]“Abyssinia Described,” p. 159.
[174]“Life in Abyssinia,” p. 91.
[175]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 131.
[176]Ib.
[177]“Life in Abyssinia,” p. 289.
[178]“The Highlands of Ethiopia,” vol. iii. p. 148.
[179]Ib.
[180]This was the “Sultan Segued” who caused the still existing bridge over the Blue Nile to be built. See p. 147.
[181]“The Highlands of Ethiopia,” vol. iii. p. 186.
[182]“Life in Abyssinia,” p. 295.
[183]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 306.
[184]P. 136.
[185]“Narrative of the Portuguese Embassy to Abyssinia,” 1520-27, translated and edited by Lord Stanley of Alderley, Hakluyt Society, 1881.
[186]“History of Ethiopia,” made English by J. P. Gent, 1684.
[187]The reader need hardly be reminded that the same interdiction is in force elsewhere. It is the refusal of the connubium that renders the British population in the East of London and elsewhere unable to assimilate the large colonies of Jews who have lately immigrated into this country, and in great part causes the difficulties of the “Alien Question.” The subject has been treated in Major Evans Gordon’s very interesting book, “The Alien Immigrant” (1903).
[188]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 187.
[189]“The Highlands of Ethiopia,” vol. iii. p. 145.
[190]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” pp. 185, 186.
[191]“Abyssinia,” p. 329.
[192]Major Head’s “Biography,” p. 162.
[193]Major Head’s “Biography of Bruce,” pp. 162, 163.
[194]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 186.
[195]See “Wanderings among the Falashas,” chap. xiv. et seq.
[196]Hotten, p. 166.
[197]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 188.
[198]Greenberg and Co., 80, Chancery Lane, London.
[199]Hotten, pp. 167, 168.
[200]Dufton, “A Journey through Abyssinia,” p. 143.
[201]The ancient city of Axum is remarkable for the ruins and other traces of an early and extinct civilization which it contains. These have been the occasion of much speculation among archæologists. An account of the obelisks and other remains was given by Bruce; Mr. Wylde has made some interesting comments on the subject in his chapter on Axum; many writers on Abyssinia have referred to it at some length; and the late Mr. Theodore Bent dealt with the antiquities of the place in “The Sacred City of the Ethiopians” (Longmans, Green and Co., 1893).
[202]Augustus Wylde, “Modern Abyssinia,” pp. 18, 407.
[204]Hotten, p. 167.
[205]Plowden, quoted by Hotten, p. 166. Plowden’s description applies to the fifties of the nineteenth century.
[206]“The British Mission to Abyssinia,” vol. i. p. 209.
[207]“According to Abyssinian tradition, the King of Tigre, soon after his conversion to Christianity, crossed the Taccazze, and invaded Simien and Amhara. Here he met a people who were neither Pagans nor Christians, a marvel which aroused the monarch’s curiosity, and he inquired what they believed; to which, in a laconic style, they replied in their own dialect, Kam Ant, i.e. ‘as thou,’ from whence they obtained their present appellation.”
[208]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 42 seq.
[209]“Modern Abyssinia,” p. 144.
[210]“Highlands of Ethiopia,” vol. iii. p. 393.
[211]Hotten, p. 120.
[212]Ib. p. 186.
[213]“Life in Abyssinia,” p. 366.
[214]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” chap. ix; Hotten, p. 121.
[215]See, e.g. “Life in Abyssinia,” p. 368.
[216]“Modern Abyssinia,” p. 310.
[217]Hotten, p. 183 seq.
[218]“The Highlands of Ethiopia,” vol. iii. p. 184.
[219]Hotten, p. 158.
[221]“Abyssinia,” p. 204.
[222]“Life in Abyssinia,” p. 254.
[223]“Life in Abyssinia,” pp. 255, 256.
[224]Parkyns, pp. 266, 267.
[225]“Modern Abyssinia,” p. 181 seq. “Life in Abyssinia,” p. 256 seq.
[226]“The British Mission to Abyssinia,” vol. ii. p. 219.
[227]In matters of detail this account applies, of course, to Abyssinia in the first half of the nineteenth century.
[228]“The Highlands of Ethiopia,” vol. iii. pp. 166-168.
[229]Hotten, p. 137.
[230]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 119.
[231]“Life in Abyssinia,” p. 268.
[232]Johnson’s translation.
[233]“Abyssinia,” p. 232.
[234]“The British Mission to Abyssinia,” vol. ii. pp. 215, 216.
[235]“Abyssinia,” p. 231.
[236]Hotten, p. 137.
[237]“Life in Abyssinia,” p. 268.
[239]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 118.
[240]“The British Mission to Abyssinia,” vol. ii. pp. 219, 220.
[241]Ib. vol. ii. p. 216.
[242]Johnson’s translation.
[243]“Modern Abyssinia,” p. 245 seq.
[244]“Abyssinia,” p. 231.
[245]“The Highlands of Ethiopia,” vol. ii. p. 156 seq.
[246]Hotten, p. 166.
[247]“Modern Abyssinia,” 1901, p. 143.
[248]“A Journey through Abyssinia,” p. 167 seq.
[249]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 154 seq.
[250]“Life in Abyssinia,” p. 300 seq.
[251]“Modern Abyssinia,” p. 385.
[252]“Life in Abyssinia,” p. 318 seq.
[253]“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 161.
[255]“Modern Abyssinia,” p. 3.
[256]Ib., p. 165.
[257]“Modern Abyssinia,” p. 224.
[258]Compare, e.g., his remark on p. 223, “They have any amount of pluck,” with Parkyns’s comments quoted on p. 24 of this book.
[259]E.g. p. 222.
[260]Ib., p. 216.
[261]Eyre and Spottiswoode.
[262]Cf. p. 308.
[263]Mr. Wylde describes the Ras as “by far the cleverest and most enlightened man that the country possesses.” He is a possible successor to the Abyssinian throne.
[264]Colonel Rochfort’s Report.
APPENDIX
Abyssinia is a deeply interesting country from the point of view of geographical distribution, and it is much to be regretted that Dr. A. J. Hayes did not have the opportunity of collecting insects on a large scale. The animals of the southern half of Arabia are Ethiopian in character; but in the Abyssinian mountains we may expect to find, and we do find, a certain amount of Oriental affinity.
The valuable little collection of insects made by Dr. Hayes has been presented by him to the Hope Department of the Oxford University Museum, where the specimens can be seen and studied by every naturalist interested in the great problems of distribution. The attention of the donor was directed to the Oxford Museum by Mr. W. L. S. Loat, who has himself contributed a large amount of valuable material. Dr. Hayes’ collection was made, in February 1903, in the vicinity of Lake Tsana, at a height of about 6500 feet. A complete list is furnished below. Dr. Dixey has kindly determined and made remarks upon the Pierinae.
| LEPIDOPTERA. | ||
| NYMPHALIDAE. | ||
| Danainae: | 1 | Limnas chrysippus (Linn.) ♀. The ground colour of the pale tint characteristic of Oriental specimens and usually replaced by a much darker shade in African. |
| Danainae: | 2 | L. chrysippus (Linn.) var. alcippus (Cram.) ♂♂. Typical. |
| Nymphalinae: | 1 | Neptis agatha (Cram.). |
| 1 | Precis cebrene (Trim.). | |
| PAPILIONIDAE. | ||
| Pierinae: | 1 | Catopsilia florella (Fabr.) ♂. |
| 2 | Colias electra (Linn.) ♂ ♀. | |
| 3 | Terias brigitta (Cram.) ♂ ♂ ♀. Dry season forms; not extreme. |
|
| 3 | Eronia leda (Boisd.) ♂ ♀ ♀. | |
| One of these females has an orange apical patch on the forewing, almost as distinct as that of the male. | ||
| 1 | Pinacopteryx sp. ? | |
| A female, rather worn; simulating Mylothris agathina ♀. | ||
| Probably a new species, but being in poor condition and a single specimen it would not be advisable to describe it. | ||
| 1 | Belenois severina (Cram.) ♀. Dry season form. | |
| 1 | Phrissura sp. ♂. | |
| A male, of the P. sylvia group. This form of Phrissura has not previously been recorded from any part of East Africa. | ||
| Papilioninae: | 8 | Papilio demodocus (Esp.). |
| HYMENOPTERA. | ||
| 1 | Dorylus fimbriatus (Shuck.) ♂. | |
| COLEOPTERA. | ||
| LAMELLICORNIA. | ||
| Scarabaeidae: | 1 | Oniticellus inaequalis (Reiche). Only known from Abyssinia. |
| Cetoniidae: | 1 | Pachnoda abyssinica (Blanch.). |
| 1 | Pachnoda stehelini (Schaum). Both Abyssinian species. |
|
| PHYTOPHAGA. | ||
| Cassididae: | 1 | Aspidomorpha punctata (Fab.). |
| HETEROMERA. | ||
| Cantharidae: | 2 | Mylabris, probably a new species. |
| NEUROPTERA. | ||
| 1 | Nemoptera, probably a new species. | |
| ORTHOPTERA. | ||
| Acridiidae: | 1 | Cyrtacanthacris sp. |
| 1 | Phymateus brunneri? (Bolivar). | |
| 1 | Phymateus leprosus (Fab.). | |
| 1 | Petasia anchoreta (Bolivar). | |
| Mantidae: | 1 | Sphodromantis bioculata (Burm.). |
| 1 | Chiropus aestuans? (Sauss.). | |
In addition to the above, Dr. Hayes presented three insects captured by him at Gedaref in the Soudan, including a pair of a magnificent new species of Buprestid beetle of the genus Sternocera, taken in coitu. This species has recently been described, from Dr. Hayes’ specimen and two others in the British Museum, by Mr. C. O. Waterhouse, who has given it the name Sternocera druryi (“Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.” Oct., 1904, p. 247). The third insect is an example of a Cantharid beetle, which does great damage to the crops at Gadarif. Its determination as Mylabris hybrida (Bohem.) is therefore a matter of some importance.
THE END
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.