CHAPTER XXIII. ETHIOPIA AND ABYSSINIA "Wo to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, 'Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers had spoiled.'"*-ISAIAH, Xviii We had now traversed Egypt in all its length (which includes its breadth), and had left only sufficient objects of interest unexplored to occupy the pauses in our homeward way. Standing on the borders of old Cush and Ethiopia, we now looked forward to penetrating the wilds of Africa, and prepared to plunge into the interior with as fresh a hope as when we entered Egypt: we then looked forward to reaching Dongola, or Sennaar, and, if possible, to penetrating into Abyssinia. Apart from that difficulty which, in all cases, from woman to new worlds, stimulates a sanguine spirit, there is something peculiarly inviting to adventure and interest in the character of Central Africa. The magnificence of tropical scenery, enhanced by its deep loneliness-the fierce character of its few inhabitants contrasted with the simplicity of their lives, their primitive virtues, and their furious passions; their vehement faith in religion, whether it be the distorted form of Christianity that we find some following, or the dark superstitions by which others are enslaved; the magic, the spells, the incantations, and the fetish. It was not our fate to accomplish this design of reaching Abyssinia, as our voyage found its limit at the Second Cataract; so I shall merely glance at those regions in imagination, and endeavor to convey some idea of the little that is known concerning them; then return to our Nubian voyage, and resign my The winged globe is found on all the edifices in Egypt and Æthiopia, and the vessels of bulrushes are still used in the interior of the latter. claim on the reader's patience, until we reach the more stirring and interesting land of Syria. The name of Africa is borrowed from a Punic word, which signifies "corn," and was applied by the Romans to those northern districts, now Tripoli and Tunis, which constituted their granary. Lybia seems borrowed from leb, in the Hebrew language "heat," and designated the region lying between the great Syrtis and Egypt. Ethiopia appears to have been a vague term, applied to all the countries north of Assouan, within which, with the trifling exceptions of some brief military incursions, the Greek and Roman sway was limited. This wide region received its name from the color of its inhabitants, and means "the land of the sunburnt countenances." The capital of this vast country was Meroë or Napata, where Candace* reigned: this last was the chief city of Lower Ethiopia, and was supposed identical with the modern Gibel el Birkel; but Mr. Hoskins places it one hundred miles lower down at old Dongolah. This question is of comparatively little interest to the general reader; but the secluded and mysterious island of Meroë, with its magnificent Necropolis of pyramids, must interest every thought that allows itself to wander into these regions or these subjects. The island of Meroë is formed by the junction of the river Astaboras with the Nile, about five hundred and sixty miles beyond Assouan, between the fifth and sixth cataracts. The capital of the same name is now only discoverable by its cemetery, whose pyramids far exceed those of Egypt in number and architecture, though inferior in size. Mr. Hoskins describes a vast plain crowded with these wonderful edifices, of which he counted eight different groups; one of them containing twenty-five, one twenty-three, and one, thirteen pyramids! Each pyramid has a portico, invariably facing towards the east; and the general finish and elaborate detail of execution bears testimony to their architects having possessed a high degree of art. Isis, Osiris, Horus, and Thoth figure on the sculptures in bas relief in the porticoes, and are represented as accurately, though with inferior skill, as those of Thebes. Here then most proba Æthiopia, p. 67 * Acts. bly is the cradle of the arts, which, advancing through Egypt, at length stood triumphant on the Acropolis of Athens. The ancient capital to which this necropolis was attached lies in the shape of stone fragments and burnt bricks, strewn about the plain, prostrate as at Memphis. Mention of this empire, remote as it is, recurs from time to time in the earliest records of the Scriptures; and its monuments bear their own annals, which date back to the most remote antiquity. For the latter, the reader must consult Mr. Hoskins's valuable work on Ethiopia; and, with respect to the former, I shall only allude to Shishak's expedition, assisted by the Æthiopians, against Jerusalem in 971, B.C. ;* that of Zerah in 955, B.C.; that of Thirhaka‡ in 750, B.C.; and to the mention in Acts, vi. 33, of Candace's eunuch. This last event is of considerable importance in a historical point of view, as it involves the practice of pilgrimage to Jerusa lem in those days, the knowledge of the Scriptures in that remote country, and the study of the Greek language, which had been introduced long before into Ethiopia by an enlightened king named Ergamenes.§ Whether any tradition of the true God lingered until later days it would be hard to say; but certain it is that Nubia universally received the Christian faith in the fourth century, and adhered to it until the twelfth. Then the climate proved too strong, or their faith too weak, and their religion too corrupt, to withstand Mahometanism: they adopted Islamism to a man, and it is now their boast that not a Christian inhabitant exists in Nubia. Beyond this country, the slave-hunters have a theory that there dwells a race of pagans and cannibals; this, however, 2 Kings, xviij. been the practice of the When they were dissatischange, they announced to * 2 Chronicles, xii. 2, 3. † Chap xiv. 8-11. § Up to the time of this king's reign, it had priesthood to hold the king's life in their hands. fied with the reigning monarch, or wished for a him that "the Gods were tired of waiting for him:" whereupon he submissively took poison, and went to them. Ergamenes, having received this priestly hint, retreated to the citadel, informed the priests that it was they who were "waited for," slew them-and then became king indeed. may be merely a pretext to cover their atrocious pursuits; and certain it is that, though the Crescent now holds sway over the lower countries, the Cross resumes its power beyond, in Abyssinia. Here the faith which St. Mark preached in Alexandria was transplanted under the form of the Eutychian heresy, and, with the exception of a brief Roman Catholic interlude, it has maintained its ground ever since. In the sixteenth century, the Portuguese, having weathered the Cape of Good Hope, turned their eyes eagerly in search of an African settlement: in Abyssinia they found a people almost relapsed into a savage state, yet holding firm to the leading doctrines of the Christian faith. Their missionaries soon obtained a settlement among this simple people; and the Jesuits, well aware of what a bond self-interest constitutes in the holiest alliance, and knowing besides the sympathy with their pursuits that the discovery of wealth would create and maintain in Portugal, occupied themselves actively in cultivating a commerce between the two countries. Now, it is a fact, written on the forehead of History, that wherever, from the poles to the tropics, the Church of Rome has carried her spiritual arms, attempts to create a temporal power have accompanied them, and Abyssinia formed no exception to the rule. A Latin patriarch was soon discovered by the empe ror to be the leading authority in his kingdom; the Monophysite faith, which had languished hitherto, revived under the genial breath of persecution, and an Abuna, or indigenous patriarch, espoused the cause of his church and his country. This spiritual chief was slain in the civil war which followed, but was immediately replaced; and, after five rebellions, the apostate emperor gave liberty of conscience to his people, which was fatal to the Romish Church. At his death, his son Basilides restored the ancient faith and discipline, and the Monophysite churches resounded with a song of triumph, "that the sheep of Abyssinia were now delivered from the hyænas of the West." They seem to have profited little, however, in a spiritual point of view, by this deliverance. The light of Christianity glimmers very faintly at present through the gloom of superstitions which have the shadows of African idolatry added to their own. Michael is appealed to as an intercessor, and the Virgin Mary is St. deified, almost to the exclusion of the Son. Confession is insisted on as indispensable to eternal life, and those who die unshrived are refused burial: the fee for confession is considerable, which may throw some light on this portion of the doctrine. Kissing the hand of a priest purifies from sin, and a pilgrimage to Jerusalem insures paradise to the pilgrim. The king of Thou, Sehela Selassé, regards himself as the lineal descendant of Solomon by the Queen of Sheba; he calls himself "King of Israel," and bears upon his banners the inscription, "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah hath prevailed." The Abyssinians observe the Jewish sabbath, circumcision, and many other rites of that people, whose cause they deem themselves destined to espouse, and believe that they shall one day rise, en masse, to deliver Palestine from the Infidel. The Egyptians, proud of these converts of their faith, (whose patriarch, or rather metropolitan, they appoint), used to exagge rate the power and resources of Abyssinia and its emperor, asserting that he could bring 100,000 men into the field, that he could withhold and give forth the waters of the Nile, and that he possessed unbounded command of gold. Modern discoveries, however, and Major Harris's recent visit, reveal to us a people as savage, in almost every respect, as the nations that surround them. There appears to be a wild caprice among the institutions, if such they may be called, of all these tropical nations. In a neighboring state to that of Abyssinia, the king, when appointed to the regal dignity, retires into an island, and is never again visible to the eyes of men but once--when his ministers come to strangle him; for it may not be that the proud monarch of Behr should die a natural death. No men, with this fatal exception, are ever allowed even to set foot upon the island, which is guarded by a band of Amazons. In another border country, called Habeesh, the monarch is dignified with the title of Tiger. He was formerly Melek of Shendy, when it was invaded by Ismael Pasha, and was even then designated by this fierce cognomen. Ismael, Mehemet Ali's second son, advanced through Nubia, claiming tribute and submission from all the tribes. Nemmir (which significs Tiger), |