wet dock, or floating harbour, the area of which comprises 34 acres, with locks capable of admitting the largest steam-ships. The quay walls and quays are all of granite; the work being executed in the best and most substantial manner. Still, however, the harbour is not accessible at all times, of the tide to vessels drawing above 10 feet water; for there are not at present (1850) more than this depth on the bar at low-water springs. But, as the tide rises from 13 to 15 feet, vessels drawing 17 feet water may enter the harbour at high-water neaps, and those drawing 20 feet, at high-water springs. There are at an average 18 fect water in the floating harbour. The bay affords safe anchorage with off-shore winds, but not with those from the E. or N. E. A lighthouse has been erected on Girdle Ness, the S. point of the bay, having two fixed lights in one tower, the highest being 185, and the lowest 115 feet above high-water; there is, also, a tidal light on the N pier head, and two leading lights further up the harbour on its S. side. The affairs relative to the harbour are managed by a board of commissioners. In 1848-49, the total harbour revenue, including 18,167. of shore-dues, amounted to 23,386, the total expenditure for the same year being 39,852.., of which 20,6271. was on account of the works now in progress. There has in all been expended on the harbour, since 1810, the large sum of 480,000l.

In consequence of this heavy expenditure, and of the large outlay in opening new streets, constructing bridges, &c., the affairs of the borough became so much involved as to lead to its disfranchisement, in 1817. But, in the end, the corporation, having been restored, was enabled to meet all the demands upon it; and for several years its affairs have been in good order, and it has enjoyed a full share of credit. Burgh revenue, 1848-49, 16,718/.

Previously to the passing of the Reform Act in 1832, Aberdeen was associated with Arbroath, Brechin, Bervie, and Montrose in returning a member to the H. of C.; but that act conferred this important privilege on Aberdeen singly. Old Aberdeen and a considerable tract of the surrounding country is included within the parl. bor. Parl. constituency in 1848-49, 4.167. The town is governed by a provost, 4 baillies, and 14 councillors. Municipal constituency in

1848-49, 2,820.

Aberdeen is connected by a canal, 18 m. in length, with Inverury, and by railway with Montrose, Perth, Edinburgh, &c The canal is chi fly used for the conveyance of heavy art cles, such as granite, to the town, and of coal, manure, &c., to the country.

Aberdeen has three large banking companies, the oldest of which, the Aberdeen Bank, established in 1767, had recently 16 branches, and about 450 partners; but in 1849 it was incorporated with the Union Bank of Scotland. The other companies, viz. the Aberdeen Town and County Bank, and the North of Scotland Banking Company, have respectively 13 and 32 branches. The latter has about 1500 partners. The Bank of Scotland and some of the other Scotch banks have also branches in Aberdeen. The deposits in the different public banks are supposed to amount at present (1850) to the large sum of about 2,750,000.; to which may be added the deposits in the savings-bank, amounting to 95,400.

A regular post was established between Aberdeen and Edinburgh, in 1667. The first printing-press in the town was set up in 1621; and the first almanacks published in Scotland appeared here in 1677. It supports 4 weekly newspapers, the oldest of which, the Aberdeen Journal, commenced in 1748. Among recent events may be specified the arrival by sea of Her Majesty and Prince Albert in September, 1849.

ABERDEEN (OLD), an ancient and inconsiderable city, about 4ths m. N. Aberdeen. In former times it was the seat of a bishoprick, the see of Mortlach having been removed to it, in 1154. It has no trade, and very

The

The cathedral of

little property, its importance depending entirely upon
its college. Pop, in 1841, about 2000, inc. in the pop.
of Aberdeen. The chief edifices are King's College,
the cathedral, and the bridges across the Don.
buildings of King's College have an antique appear.
ance, and are of different periods. They are in good
repair, about 6,000. having been expended upon them
within these few years. The library and chapel are
attached to a lofty square tower, surmounted by an
imperial crown of open stone work.
St. Machar, or Macarius, after whom the parish is named,
is an ancient Gothic edifice, chiefly of granite, com-
menced in the 14th century: the choir, transept, and
great central tower were demolished or fell down up-
wards of a century ago; the nave remains, and is used
as the parish church; at the west end are two finely pro-
portioned stone spires; the roof of the interior is also a
curious relic. Near its mouth the Don forms a haven,
which, however, admits only vessels of a few tons' bur-
den. An ancient bridge, consisting of a Gothic arch, 70
feet in span, crosses a rocky and woody ravine in which
the river flows. Lower down is a new bridge of 5 arches,
opened in 1830.

Universities. Aberdeen has two universities, each of
which has one college. The most ancient is that of Old
Aberdeen, founded by Bishop Elphinston in 1494, under
a bull of Pope Alexander VI., of which Hector Boethius
was first Principal. It early received the name of King's
College, instead of that of the Virgin Mary, to whom
it was originally dedicated. The other and later semi-
nary, established in 1593, is called Marischal College,
from its founder George Keith, Earl Marischal. King's
College has a chancellor, a rector, a principal, &c., with
9 professors, and 11 lecturers. A sum of about 1770.,
arising from charitable foundations, is annually distributed
in different proportions among 134 of its students, called
bursars. Marischal College has also a chancellor, rec-
tor, principal, &c., with 13 professors, and 10 lecturers;
about 12001. is annually distributed in various amounts
among 107 of its students. The attendance at each col-
lege is about equal; students of divinity hear prelections
in both. In 1848-49, the different classes of both colleges
were attended by 550 students. Although their bursaries
are numerous, their other revenues are but limited.
King's College was formerly entitled to copies of all
works entered at Stationers' Hall; but in 1836, it relin-
quished this privilege for an annual payment of 2421. 14s.
Marischal College has a museum, an observatory, and
an extensive apparatus for teaching natural philoso-
phy. The excellent education given in these semina-
ries has been highly useful in disseminating knowledge
over the N. of Scotland; particularly in improving the
character of the parochial schoolmasters, most part of
whom, having been at college, are superior to the gene-
rality of their brethren in the southern parts of the coun-
try. The number of bursaries, which are mostly disposed
of by comparative trial, is an inducement to attend. But
independent of this circumstance, the cost of education
is moderate in the extreme. The usual fee entitling to
attend one of the literary classes is only from 2. to 31;

and the total anuual fees paid by a student, not a bursar, going through the regular curriculum, or course of study prescribed by the faculty of arts, do not exceed 64. or 71. a year, during each of the 4 years to which it is limited. Respectable board may be had for from 257. to 354. during the session, which commences on the last Monday of October, and ends in the beginning of April. Many eminent men have been professors in these colleges; among whom may be mentioned Reid, the author of the Inquiry into the Human Mind; Fordyce, author of a Treatise on Moral Philosophy; Gerard, author of an Essay on Taste; Campbell, author of the Philosophy of Rhetoric Blackwell, author of the Life of Homer, &c.; Beattie, the bard of the Minstrel; and Hamilton, author of the celebrated Essay on the National Debt, in which the quackery of the plans for borrowing money to pay off debt, by means of a sinking fund, was first fully exposed. The new buildings of Marischal College, erected on a large and well contrived plan, cost about 25,000. of which government contributed 15,000Z., the rest having been raised by the subscriptions of the friends and alumni of the establishment. The consolidation of these universities would certainly be a great improvement; but though often proposed, it has not hitherto been effected.-(Official Documents and Private Information.)

ABERFOYLE, in Scotland, a parish, and a celebrated pass or narrow valley leading into the Highlands, in the district of Monteith, in the S.W. part of Perthshire. The village or clachan of Aberfoyle in this pass is the scene of some of the most interesting adventures in the novel of Rob Roy. Pop. of parish, 660.

ABERGAVENNY, a town of England, co. Monmouth, at the confluence of the Gavenny with the Usk, 14 m. S. W. Monmouth, 120 m. W. by N. London. Pop. of parish 4230. It is built in a straggling manner; has a fine bridge of 15 arches over the Usk, and some branches of the woollen manufacture. There are very extensive

cluding the provinces or countries of Denbea, Gojam,
Damot, &c. This region, the highest in Abyssinia, and
the nucleus and centre, as it were, of the old empire,
contains the sources of the Bahr-el-Azrek, or eastern arm
It has a mean elevation of about 8,000 feet, and is fenced
of the Nile, and the great lake of Tzana or Dembea.
and intersected by mountain ridges, of which those of
Gojam, from their containing the sources of the E. Nile,
are the most celebrated. Gondar, the capital of Amhara,
and formerly the residence of the Negus or emperor of
Abyssinia, lies a little to the N. of the lake. From this
barous and unknown regions already alluded to.
plateau the country shelves down on the W. to the bar-

The provinces of Efat and Schoa, which now form, with
Abyssinian states, lie to the S. E. and S. of Amhara.
their dependent territories, the most powerful of the
The first is very elevated, part of its waters flowing west-
ward to the Nile, and part eastward to the Hawash. Its
chief town is Ankober. The province of Schoa, lying
along the southern side of the Nile, is comparatively low,
It has several towns and some celebrated mo-
and is renowned for its magnificent pastures and fruitful
valleys.
nasteries. Salt is inclined to think that the Ethiopic
language and literature, and the ancient manners of the
vinces than in any of the others; but they are very imper
Abyssinians, are preserved in a purer state in these pro-
fectly known.

Exclusive of the above, there is a vast and but little
Efat and Lasta, and the Red Sea and the sea of Bab-el-
known country in the S. E. part of Abyssinia, between
some of them the most brutified of any to be found in
mandeb. It is almost entirely occupied by tribes of Gallas,
Abyssinia. The country of Nana, at the sources of the
Maleg, S. W. from the prov. of Damot, is one of the most
elevated of the African plateaus. Its inhabitants are said
On the S. E. of Tigré, between it and the low country
to be nearly as white as the Spaniards and Neapolitans.
or province of the Dankali, lying along the Red Sea, and
between the fourteenth and fifteenth degrees of latitude,
is an extensive salt plain, having, in most parts, the ap-
pearance of ice covered with partially thawed snow. The
It is cut into pieces with a
salt is perfectly pure and hard for about two feet deep;
but that lying beneath is coarser and softer till purified
by exposure to the air.
hatchet; and not only serves to season and preserve food,
but even circulates as money. The salt is carried off by
caravans, or companies, consisting of from 300 to 600
beasts of burden, and its digging is not unaccompanied by
Mountains.-Those of Abyssinia have not been accu-
danger from the attacks of the savage Galla.
Portuguese travellers and the Jesuits as being of such
rately measured. They were represented by the early
vast height that, compared with them, the Alps and
Pyrennees were mere hillocks! But these exaggerated
representations have been since reduced to their proper
value. Bruce states, that during his residence he saw no
It is doubtful, indeed,
snow in any part of the country, and he even affirms that
it is there totally unknown. This, however, was a rash
whether snow be not always to be found on the highest
and unwarrantable assertion.
summits and crevices of the mountains of Samen: at all
events, Mr. Pearce was overtaken by a snow storm when
snow on them from a great distance on the 8th of May.
passing them in the middle of October, and Mr. Salt saw
It is clear, therefore, that if the highest summits of the
Samen do not attain, they approach closely to the line of
perpetual congelation, so that their elevation may be
Generally the Abyssinian moun-
fairly estimated at from 12,000 to 13,000 feet. The moun-
tains of Gojam are of very inferior altitude, and are culti-
vated to the summits.
tains have a peculiarly abrupt and precipitous appearance.
consisting of steep, rocky, and all but inaccessible sides,
Sometimes they form what are called ambas or hill forts,
having on the summit a level surface covered with trees
and verdure. The most celebrated of these hill forts is
that of Ambu Geshm, formerly used as a place of confine-
ment for the princes of Abyssinia.

Rivers. Of these the Bahr-el-Azrek, Blue River, or eastern branch of the Nile, is by far the most famous. It rises from two mountains near Geesh in Gojam, being, according to Bruce, in lat. 10° 59' 25" N., long. 36° 55′ 30 E., and at an elevation of 10,000 feet above the level of the sea. Its course is thence N. to the lake Dembea, a large sheet of water, which receives many other streams; but the Nile is said to preserve its waters with but little intermixture with those of the lake, across which its current is always visible. Escaping from this lake it sweeps in a southerly direction round the E. frontier of the provinces of Gojam and Damot, till, between the ninth and tenth degree lat., it takes a N. W. direction, which it (preserves till, at Halfaia, near the sixteenth degree lat., it unites with its other and more important branch, the Bahr-el-Abiad, or White River, flowing from the S. W. (see NILE). The next most important stream is the Tacazze, whose source has been already noticed. It drains the mountains of Samen and Tigré; and pursuing a pretty direct N. N. W. course through Senaar,

falls into the Nile near cne eighteenth degree lat. The Mareb, which rises in the heights of Taranta, runs nearly parallel to the Tacazze. In the dry season it loses itself in the sand; but Bruce says that in the rainy season it continues its course till it unites with the Tacazze. The Hamazo and Hawash run E. in the direction of the Red Sea; but the latter is swallowed up in the sands before meeting it. Exclusive of the great lake of Dembea or Tzana, already referred to, the lake of Ashangee, on the E. side of the Samen, is also of very considerable size. Mineralogy. This is very imperfectly known. Granite and schistus or slate seem to have been extensively observed; and it is probable that these primitive rocks occupy a large portion of the principal chains. In Tigre, the strata are chiefly vertical; but in the mountains of Samen they incline more to a horizontal position. They seem remarkably destitute of metals; the gold which passes through Abyssinia is brought from the barbarous countries on the S. and W.

Climate. This necessarily differs with the elevation of the country, the direction of the mountains, &c. In the deep valleys and low grounds (kollas) the heats are frequently excessive; and this, combined with excess of moisture, renders them unhealthy. But the climate of the plateaus is extremely fine, particularly that of Amhara, which is said to enjoy a perpetual spring, ver æternum. The Portuguese found it quite as temperate as that of their own country. According to Ludolph, the natives often attain, in that happy climate, to the age of 100 years and upwards! The climate of Tigré is not quite so mild; but there, also, the great extent of pasturage and of verdant plains shows that the country is not visited by the extreme of heat. The plateau of the Baharnegash is the hottest. In March, Mr. Salt found its air hot and dry, and the beds of the rivers without water. The year is sometimes divided into four, but more properly into three, seasons. Winter (kramt) is the season of rain, which always falls in great quantities, and often with much violence, rendering rivers and even brooks quite impassable. Harvest (tzada) follows winter; the rest of the year consisting of summer (hagai,) or the season of heat and drought.

Races Population. The inhabitants of Abyssinia comprise a variety of tribes. They all, however, closely resemble each other in their physical character and manners; and, in respect of bodily conformation, are entirely distinct both from the Negroes and the Arabians. They belong to what has been called the Ethiopic variety of the human race; and their most prominent characteristics will be found described in the article AFRICA, to which the reader is referred. Of the different tribes, the principal are the Tigrani, or inhabitants of Tigré; the Amharans, or inhabitants of Amhara; the Agows, inhabiting the province of Damot; the Efats, occupying the southern banks of the Nile; the Gongas and Enareans, still further S.; and the Falashas, occupying the mountains of Samen, &c., who profess Judaism, and pretend, though it is believed on no very good grounds, to deduce their origin from Palestine. These tribes are casily distinguished by their language; but it is not clear whether their idioms be really distinct languages, or, which is most probable, only dialetic varieties of a much smaller number of mother-tongues. — (Prichard on Man, vol. ii. p. 136. 3d ed.)

adopted from it a great number of words, but a totally distinct language. It is probably an ancient African lan guage, and the original idiom of the inhabitants of the south-eastern provinces of Abyssinia. As regards literature and learning, the Abyssinians are at the lowest ebb. Their clergy are ignorant, and have no taste for learning. Mr. Gobat thinks that in the country where Amharic is spoken about 1-5th part of the male population can read a little, and in Tigre about 1-12th part.

Productions. The country is very fertile, and has a vast variety of products; among which are wheat, barley, millet, and other grain. On the high grounds wheat is raised in considerable quantities; but in the low grounds the heat is too strong for it. Barley (dhourra) is raised in large quantities; but the principal dependence of the country is on the teff (Poa Abyssinica), which grows on every soil, except the very lowest, and affords the bread in general use. The plant is herbaceous. From a number of weak leaves rises a stalk about 28 inches in length, and not much thicker that of a carnation. Out of the top spring a number of branches, which contain the seed or fruit inclosed in a species of capsula. The grains are not larger than the head of the smallest pin, yet so numerous as to constitute on the whole a bulky crop. But the lowest grounds (kolla) are unfit even for the production of teff; and on these is raised a species of corn called tocousso, which yields a black bread, the food of the lowest classes. There are at least two harvests in the year; and in the same place may at once be seen in progress the operations of ploughing and reaping, with corn in every different stage of advancement. Among the other vegetable products are cotton, of which clothes are usually made; senna, myrrh, &c. The stalk of the ensele, a species of palm, the banana of Abyssinia, is said, when stripped of its green covering, to be the very best of all vegetable food. It is found in great abundance Various species of figs, some of them of a very large size, as the Ficus sycamorus, are also very plentiful. Ci trons, oranges, and sugar-canes are met with in the low grounds, but not on the elevated plateaus. Dates and vines are met with, but neither are supposed to be indigenous. Both are believed to have been imported and cultivated by the Portuguese. At present the vine is grown only in the district of Emfras, on the E. side of lake Dembea, where it produces magnificent grapes. The Abyssinians do not use wine except for the communion table. Tellez says expressly, that in his time the vine was unknown in Abyssinia. The papyrus, so celebrated for its furnishing the principal species of paper used by the ancients, is abundant in the lakes and rivers; and Bruce contends that it was thence transplanted to Egypt.

The domestic animals of Abyssinia do not differ materially from those of Europe. The horses, which are the principal wealth of the inhabitants of the plateaus, are strong and active. They are used in war and the chase, mules and asses being used principally as beasts of draught and burden. Oxen are very abundant. The most remarkable species is a native of the low grounds, and has horns of an enormous magnitude, Mr. Salt having seen one 4 feet long, and 21 inches round at the base. It is called the Galla ox, from its having been brought to Tigré by the Galla. Of the wild animals, the most numerous and characteristic is the hyæna, called here the The Galla, or savage tribes by which large portions dubbah, exceedingly fierce and untameable. In most of Abyssinia have been overrun, are said to have made parts of the country they are found in vast numbers, their first appearance on the southern frontier in 1537. place travellers in contínual danger, and even enter No doubt they belonged originally to the central parts houses. They are not naturally gregarious, yet someof the African continent. They have a brown complexion, times assemble in vast troops, attracted by some common with long black hair; and their tribes are all independent object, particularly the scent of dead bodies, which, acof, and often at war with, each other. Most of them have cording to the barbarous custom of the country, are adopted the Mahommedan faith, and have partially conoften left unburied. Bruce contradicts the common reformed to the manners of the Abyssinians. They are port of their digging into sepulchres. They are prostill, however, distinguished by their greater ferocity.tected by the superstitious belief of the people, who In proof of this, it is sufficient to mention that the young regard them as a species of enchanted men! The elephant men are denied certain privileges, and are, in fact, con- and rhinoceros are numerous in the low grounds, and temned by the women, as well as their seniors of the in places full of moisture. They are hunted by the Shansame sex, till they have given proof of their manhood by galla, who use their teeth as an article of commerce, and killing an enemy. feed upon their flesh. It is a mistake to suppose that any of them have ever been tamed in this country, or, indeed, in any part of Africa. There is a species of rhinoceros with two horns, found only in a few districts. Its horns have no connection with the bone; its skin, which has no folds, is used for shields; the horns for handles for swords, and also as a lining to drinking vessels. The antelope species, which is very numerous, is seldom found in the cultivated districts, but chiefly appears on broken ground near the rivers. The buffalo, domesticated in Egypt and elsewhere, is here one of the most ferocious of animals; he lodges himself in deep and sultry valleys, under the shade of the tallest trees, and near the largest and clearest rivers. The hippopo tamus, called gemari by the natives, is abundant in the lake of Dembea; but Ludolf affirms that this lake contains no crocodiles. They are both, however, found in the deep pools of the Nile, Tacazze, and other rivers. The crocodiles in the latter are of an enormous size, of

No means exíst by which to form any probable estimate of the number of people in Abyssinia. Mr. Salt could obtain no accurate information on the subject. If the country were tranquil, it could hardly fail, owing to the fruitfulness of the soil and the general healthiness of the climate, to be exceedingly populous; but the anarchy and civil war in which it is constantly involved more than neutralise these advantages, and keep the population far below its natural level. Its total amount is estimated, in the Weimar Almanack, at 4,500,000; and this, perhaps, is as good a guess as can be made.

Language. The Gheez, or Ethiopic, a language akin to the Arabic and Hebrew, was the language of Axum, and of the subjects of the Axumite sovereign, at the æra of their conversion to Christianity in the 4th century. It is now extant only as a dead language, consecrated to literature and religious uses. The Amharic, or modern Abyssinian, is not a dialect of the Gheez, though it has

RC

di

STATISTICE

its usual proportion to the other species. The vast pro-
fusion of insects, grains, and plants, even the waste and
destruction attending continual wars, afford them an
abundant supply of food. The nisser, or golden eagle,
perbaps the largest bird of the old continent, and a beau-
tiful species called the black eagle, are particularly
noticed by Bruce. To these Salt adds a new species
called goodie-goodie, the size of the common falcon.
Storks, partridges, snipes, pigeons, and swallows, occur
Bruce never saw a wood-
in great number and variety.
cock, sparrow, magpie, or bat; and ostriches are not
found in Abyssinia Proper.

Among insects the most numerous and useful are bees.
Honey constitutes every where an important article of
food. Several provinces used to pay a large proportion
of their tribute in this article. The honey assumes dif-
ferent appearances, sometimes black, sometimes blood-
red, according to the plant on which the insect feeds.
Of a very different character is the locust, which com-
mits here ravages quite as terrible as in the other coun-
It sometimes depopulates
tries of Northern Africa.
whole provinces. In the sublime language of the pro-
phet, "A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a
flame consumeth: the land is before them as the Garden
of Eden, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea,
and nothing escapeth them."

Government-Political Divisions. The former go-
vernment of Abyssinia, or that which existed in it when
it became known to the Portuguese and the Jesuits, was
an absolute and despotic monarchy, in which the em-
perors, restrained by no written laws, popular assemblies,
or privileged classes, had full power to dispose at plea-
sure of the lives and property of their subjects. But
this ancient government may now be said to be totally
The force of the central government was gra-
extinct.
dually weakened, partly by the rebellion of the governors
of the different provinces, and partly by the irruption of
the Gallas and other savage hordes, who have subjugated
some of its finest countries. Salt has ingeniously com-
pared the state of Abyssinia in a political point of view
to that of England during the heptarchy; and since he
visited it anarchy seems to have made a still more rapid
progress. The whole country is now split into an end-
less variety of states, the limits of which are perpetually
changing, and between which the most deadly animosities
and interminable contests constantly prevail. The king-
doms of Amhara, Tigré, including the country between
the Red Sea and the Tacazze, with the provinces of En-
derta, Wojjerat, &c., and Schoa, including Efat, are sup-
posed to be at this moment (1837) the most powerful of
these states. But we have no exact information as to
their boundaries, organization, or condition. They have
this in common, that they are all despotisms, and anarchy
and bloodshed prevail in them all to a greater or less
extent. Schoa, which is now entirely separated from
the rest of the country, is said by Mr. Gobat to be less
devastated by civil war than either of the others, and to
be, in consequence, the least depopulated and most flou-
rishing part of Abyssinia.

Manners and Customs. This perpetual state of civil
war and confusion, and not any peculiar cruelty of dis-
position, seems to be the main cause of that barbarism
and brutality by which the manners of the Abyssinians
All the feelings by which man is
are characterised.
restrained from shedding the blood of his fellows seem
entirely blunted. Human life is scarcely more respected
than that of brutes. Bruce seldom went out at Gondar
without seeing dead bodies lying in the streets, left to be
devoured by dogs and hyænas, without being even allowed
the rites of sepulture. To show the indifference usually
felt on such occasions, he mentions that one day, passing
along the streets, he saw an officer of rank about to
execute three men who had offended the sovereign.
This person, calling to Bruce, begged him to stop till he
had despatched this business, as he wished to have a
But the circumstance
short conversation with him.
which seems to place the Abyssinians below even the
most savage tribes, is the extreme coarseness of their
festive indulgences. Their brinde (raw beef) feast has
excited the astonishment of all travellers. Alvarez, who
visited the country as ambassador from Portugal in 1520,
and remained there for 6 years, describes it as a thing
"of which he dare not in a manner speak."
invited to a feast, he was much surprised, instead of the
usual dishes, to see brought in "pieces of raw flesh, with
warm blood." The landlord, on seeing his guests show
no favour to this savoury dish, ordered other food better
suited to their tastes; but immediately began eagerly to

The lady of the house did not appear at dinner; but, in drinking, she bravely seconded" the rest of the company. Bruce and Salt have furnished still more particular descriptions. The table, which is low, is first covered with successive piles of teff cakes, which to wipe their fingers. The company being then serving to the guests at once as food and as towels with Bruce says that these are extracted are standing at the door, and the cutting warm steaks while the animal is yet alive, and bellowing under the from their flesh. pain of the wound. But this disgusting circumstance is not mentioned by any of the earlier writers, and Mr.Salt affirms that the head is separated from the body before the operation of slicing commences. Salt, however, as well as Bruce, admits that the luxury of an Abyssinian feast consists in having the pieces brought in while the blood is yet warm and the fibres palpitating. The female cake, and thrusts into his mouth as large a quantity as it who sits next to eachi chef then wraps up the slice in a teff is capable of containing, which is greedily devoured. All parties drink copiously of hydromel, and bouza, the beer of the country. Having satisfied themselves, they rise, and give place to another company of inferior rank, and these to a third, till all is consumed. The gross indecencies which Bruce represents as perpetrated on these occasions, and which he has described with such revolting minuteness, have been denied by Mr. Salt, and it is hardly possible to suppose that they can be other than rare ocMr. Gobat, the missionary, admits that a currences. feast such as that described by Bruce may have taken place among the most shameless libertines; but he adds, to their cruelty or indecency." The practice reported that "excesses of that kind are not customary either as by Bruce, and which subjected him to no little ridicule, of cutting steaks from a living animal on a journey, and first quite unfounded to Mr. Salt; but in his second then closing up the wound and driving it on, appeared at journey he witnessed it, and found that it was called by a peculiar name - cutting the Shulada; which certainly goes a good way to prove its frequency, though that also is disputed by Mr. Gobat, who denies its occurrence, Justice in Abyssinia is altogether barbarous, venal, unless, perhaps, in cases of extreme hunger. When a person accused of a criminal and corrupt. has made satisfaction to the accuser; or, if he have comoffence is found guilty, he is detained in prison till he mitted murder, till he be disposed of by the relations of the deceased, who may either put him to death or accept Mr. Gobat says that the Tacazze is never a ransom. The latter is generally fixed at 250 dollars for a man, but the relations are under no obligation to accept it. passed on either side in pursuit of murderers; so that they must very frequently escape without even the pretence of a trial. When a murdered person has no relations, the priests take upon themselves the office of avengers of blood.

Marriage in Abyssinia is a very slight connection, formed and dissolved at pleasure. The most formal mode of concluding it is, when the lover, having made certain engagements to the parents, and obtained their consent (for that of the bride is seldom asked), seizes her and carries her home on his shoulders. A magnificent feast is then given of brinde and bouza; and at a fixed period of twenty or thirty days afterwards, they go to rare instances only that even this slight ceremony is used. church and take the sacrament together. It is in a few In most cases, mutual consent, and a plentiful administraThe will of either party, or of both, is at any time suftion of raw meat and bouza, form the only preliminaries. ficient to dissolve the connection. If they have several children, they divide them; if they have but one, and he is under 7 years of age, he belongs to the mother; if above 7, to the father. Gobat says that after a third divorce they cannot contract another regular marriage, nor partake of the communion unless they become monks; Bruce, however, mentions being in a company at Gondar, where there was a lady present, with six persons, each none of them stood in this relation to her at the time: of whom had been successively her husband, although Slaves are common nor do either party consider themselves bound to observe with rigid fidelity this slight engagement, even while it a state of almost total dissolution. They consist of Shangallas, lasts. Manners may be considered, in this respect, as in They are very a race of savage Negroes inhabiting the low countries in all parts of Abyssinia. on the N. N. W. and N. E. frontiers. numerous in Gondar and other places of Amhara, and also in Tigré; are well treated, and escape many of the The only display of architectural magnificence in They are built on privations to which they are subject in their wild state. Abyssinia is in the churches. eminences; are of a circular form, with conical summits and thatched roofs; and are surrounded with pillars of cedar, within which is an arcade, which produces an agreeable coolness. The houses of the sovereigns and