The New York herald., 1868-04-29

lodged independence Of the central mower at Gondar
Inc position Of Tigre enhances its po
tween Gondar and the sea at Massowah necessarily
lead through Tigree, It follows that that province
Of the provinces q Tgs 's aso caR ae4s from thas
OF Amara as IN the former the Gheez and in the
two provinces there have been almost constant
that Of Amhara by the Wollo Gaas Mahomedaa
tribe. Sh0a has been for long time Virtually indie,
Of princes to one Of whom the indian ecvernmens m
sent special embassy under Major Harris in 1s4i.
Religion and CHARACTER of the Abyssinians.
The greater part OF the Inhabitants OF Abyssina
are Christians of the Coptc sect; they hold many Of
the tenets of the Roman Catholic fath such a.
priestly absolution, fass, worship OF saints con.
ventualism, &C. They also follow many MahOmedan
practices, such as circumcision, ceremonial uucean.
ness, abstaining from meat prohibited by the law
Of Moses &C., and in their laws and customs Jowish
institutions are often traceabe. Many OF their names
betray also JEWISH or at all events Biblical,
origin, such as Debra Tabor Mount Tabor, pebra
LlbanOs Mount LeOanonh AntiOka, &c. Their
Christianity has degenerated into little more than
form, and they are described as Rriestrldden and
church Is a Bishop or ''Abuna," who Is consecrateo
by the Patriarch Of Alexandria, and BY whom the
emperors OF AbyssiDia are crowned Much We'ght
is attached to this ceremony, as may be gathered
from the fact that the as OF Tgre in 1S4o thought
Il worth while to go to great expense to SEND sh,n
appointed, In the hopes that he would con
secrate an Emperor who would be puppet in nis
present Abuna is out of favor with Theodorus for the
alleged cause that he impaired to the missionaries
his doubts Of the authenticity OF the descent Of Theo
dore's mother from the queen OF Sheba. That the
authority, however OF the Abuna is still recognized
seems probable lei from M the faGt that i is stated @ In
Gobazye were to take Magdaa and get himself
crowned by the Abuna he would be recognized as
EsvnNnnr nv fha Ahve
Of the religious character Of the people Mr. Dufton
says:-"Christian liberty is entirely unknown,
forms and ceremonies and the obseryancs
OF fasts which extcnd over twothirds OF the year.
Their calendar is crammed full OF saints, and the
days Of the year by no means suflce for them ALL 80
that they nhst have morning celebrations and even,
ing celebrations. One cannot wonder at this when
their lat.tudlnarism leads them to commemorate
Balaam and his ass, Pontus PLATE and his wife and
such like doubtful saints In addition to the heroes
local saints who have at various times astonshed
ffom o @ so; fadi5nai s15s ssasi;ss M ss
religion being received alike by them as by us; but,
being void OF that charity which edifeth, their know,
and me = intolerance with which they lodf
upon their Mahomedan and Jewish neghbors
selves towards CHRISTIANS what renders tier pride
the more offensive is that the Mahomedans and
Jews are in every way their superiors possessing,
with an equal amount of intelligence, far greater
mechanical genius and superior habits OF industry.
All the manufacturers OF cotton cloth are Mosiemsi
all the builders and artisans Jews. But pride Il
not their only fault; they are deceitful lying, fnsn.
cere their breasts are eldOm stirred by generosity
towards others in gratitude for benefits received,
and, added to all, they are inhospitable."
DR.. GObat, the present Bishop OF Jerusalem de-
ridden and bgoted but hOspitaDie TO travellers and
with no cruelty in their dispositions.
The religion Of the Abyssinians tends to increase
cupy the low lands by which Abyssinia is sur
rounded-the Shohos On the north, nc Base and
AsubO Gailas aud WollO Gallas on the east aud
south.
Currency Of Abyssinia.
The only European com that Is current Ia Abys-
sina is the Maria Theresa dollar Of A. D. $780, and IL
Is necessary that IL should have certain distinctive
marks-viz diadem of pearls, pearl brooch on tho
shoulder and the mint mark ST.. DR.. Beke says that
even the dollar is OF correct Kind should these
marks not be perfectly distinct he has known the ma.
tives to refuse 1t. Its value Is about Is. 3d. This
dollar Is no longer in circulation in AUSTRIA but Is
still coined at the government mint for expectation
For smaller monetary transactions the circulating
medium consists of blocks of salt eight inches long
| by one and half inches in breadth. These are
called in Shoa according to Dr. Beke. amoles. and
t as two anS ssp half pence, pence a. and % By tie latter ss
TWO sse sancs the
source of supply. These blocks of salt are OBJ
Ampha bay and Atebldera, which is thus quantity
described by Don Alonzo Mendez, Patriarch OF 0l
etwsen the mo kagoms OF n Doncali and Tysr
| Is plain four days journey In length and one in
| breadth, which they call the country of salt for
there Is found all that they use in Ethiopia, Instead OF
money: being bricks almost span long and four
| fingers thick and broad and wonderfully white fine
and hard, and there is never any miss OF IT, though
they carry away never much and this quantity Isl
great that we met caravan OF Ii, wherein We be-
lieved there could be less than GOO beasts of bur-
carry 600 of those bricks and the asses 140 or 150
| and these continually going and coming. They tell
many stories concerning THIS salt field, and amongst
the rest that In parts Of there are houses that
look like stone, in which they hear human voices and
| pass that way by their names, and YET nothing can
| be seeen. The Moorish commander told me that as
he went by there with lion Ras Celia CstOS sent 10
| Moca, three or four Of his servants vanished on q
sudden, and he could never hear OF them Afterwards.
ae II 10 IN S Se nv ns
becuase the heat Is violent I'm the day that tavels
lers and beasts sted and the very shoes parch
! up as II they were laid on burning Goals, We en-.
tered upon IL at three In the afternoon and pleased
God that the sun clouded, which the renegade Moor
| Mr.. DuAon says that Abbi Addy In Tembieu "is
the last place where the salt Of Amhara Is taken as
nes line @ os es ess 20 'c u e S @
mineral; and Tlgre cotton cloth takes Its place as q
| medium OF exchange"
| Military strength of Abyssinia. .
| II Ia very difficult TO estimate the military strength
OF country like AbyssInia, as from what has been
before stated OF the nature Of the government 1t viii
be seen that the forces which a sovereign OF Abys-
sinia bring into the field will depend very much
upon his own personal character and upon the mum.
| ber OF chiefs over whom he has any influence.
In memorandum communicated by the Foreign
Ohlce to the Royal Geographical Society OF England
in 1863, th9re "a the following paragraph bearing
| upon this subject
| "The immediate troops OF the Ras consist Of .
| number OF petty Chiefs governing one, two or
az
| tho independence of the greater barons, and who
take the field when called on with nyc hundred
/ men, according to their means. Besides these
| who are numerous, the Ras has his match.
| lock men, and four or five bands OF rude and
| 10 latv