Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-02-12

/ ID the khorB or U)}es3 oseur Tvs.
| ne main harbor. Tho usual products 81
| he interior are brought to hassowah
n Iarre quantities. BY caravans
nom Abyssinia. Those caravans are
quite different IN their makeup
| lfom those which cross the desert. Tho
| psck-animals are mostly bulls Of . Pc
cuiiar breed, having large bump, IKE
1 camel's, over the fore shoulders, and
| such deeply-hollowed backs that their
| loads can neither slide to the 'front.' nor
rear. This emincntly fits them Tor
| transporting saddle-bag shaped pack
AGES over the mountain passes be-
tween Massowah and the towns
OF Abyssinia. Horses Of . small,
| tough breed and mules are also used
by the Abyssinian traders, and the
trader himself is most excellent pack
animal. He will walk with an elastic
tread and body as straight as lance,
rom forty 10 fifty miles q day, with q
huge bundle balanced on his head.
The ABBY ssinians are strict monome-
tsliists, and their one metal is silver,
and their chief coin Is the Austrian Ma
ria Theresa dollar, which they believe
to be stamped with the image Of the
Virgin Mary.
THE WEAK POINT OF DEFENCE.
To facilitate communication between
Msssowah and the mainland dixie was
made from the principal island to l..
Tau-el-Houd, and another from that
island to the main. The first dixie is
about 700 yards long, the second nearly
q mile. During the day they are both
constantly occupied by people and ami
mails passing to and fro. They are
guarded at night, and 10 pass
ing is allowed after 9 O'Clock.
Along the dixie which reaches
the main land a water-pipe is
laid, leading from large well about
two miles inland to . cistern. or reser-
yoir, on Tau-el-Houd island. The water
obtained is evidently that Of the ada
cent sea. A line oflevels run by the
water demonstrated this fact by estab-
fishing another-namely, that the water
in the well stood at the same level as
that Of the sea. This water is slightly
brackish. but one soon becomes accus-
toned to it, and finds it quite potable.
1t does not seem to be at all unwhole-
some. Previous to the construction
of the dikes and the water-works
all the water used in Massowah
was brought from the mainland in
boats, excepting the insufficient sup
ply caught in the cisterns in
the cemetery already mentioned. Water
was then a high-priced luxury in Mas
sowah. That the town has only this
single line of pipe as its source Of sup
ply is its weakest point. An enemy
could easily poison the well. destroy
the pump or pipe, and thus reduce the
town to submission in few days. But
for this Massowah is practically unas-
sailable from the mainland if garrison
ed by troops of any courage and vigil
ance. II is well fortified by good, sub
stantial field-works, located on promi-
nent stragetic points, and with good ar
tillery could make strong resistance
to an attack from the seward.
THE DREADFUL HEAT.
The climate Of Massowah is exceed
ingly trying. lsothermal charts indi-
cate that it is located in the belt Of
maximum heat. The writer arrived at
the town on the Doth Of January. and
found the average temperature of mid
day about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. 1t
was then the rain season Of the coast.
and the temperature was at its lowest
annual average. Rain fell nearly every
day, and the air was filled for several
weeks with heavy clouds, which
completely hid from view the mag
nificent mountain ranges of the
interior. As the season advanced,
however, the region Of rainfall
receded from the coast, and finally
left the atmosphere clear and cloudless,
Then the sun held undisputed sway over
the low-lying coast-belt and the adjacent
islands. The temperature rapidly rose,
and even before the spring months were
gone 10 degrees in the shade was not
uncommon. On the 9th of May the
sun passed the parallel Of Massowah on
its northward voyage to the Tropic Of
Cancer, and | risked sunstroke to see
the shadow of my head fall on my feet
at noon. At this season the midday
heat was intense, but in the
early morning and after shutdown
sea and land breezes prevailed, which
made life tolerable. The waters of the
sea were also cool, and sea-bathing was
refreshing and delightful, (barring the
risks Of an acquaintance with the sharp
teeth of the sharks). AS the summer
advanced, however, the heat steadily
increased, and by the latter part of
June land and sea had reached the same
temperature, and for weeks not breath
of air would stir. The atmosphere
became dense, moist, and murky, and
covered the earth's surface like wet
blanket. Day and night Europeans
sweltered and suffered without one
moments relief. Sea-bathing was
no longer possible. The whole body
was covered with the familiar heat
eruption Of the summer, which is here
an hundred-fold exaggerated. To plunge
into the tepid salt water in that condi-
ton was like covering ones self with
myriads of ants while frequent bath
ing in the sea at this season is sure to
cause bountiful crop of boils. To
cap the climax Of woes, one could do
no work by day, and found it almost
impossible to sleep either by night or
day. For four months in the summer
of 1876 the thermometer never once
registered lower than 95 degrees, and
frequently stood, in the afternoon, above
l25 degrees in the house.
During all this time there was but
one atmospheric phenomenon to break
the dead, dead calm. Several times
during the summer there was a fierce
sirocco from the southwark. This only
added new horrors to the situation.
These winds blow for thousand miles
over the arid deserts south of Masso-
wah, and come loaded with sand, and