The Portland daily press., 1892-01-19
THE RED SEAS SHORE.
David Ker Writes Of an African
Montenegro.

stone That Stretches for Scores of
Miles-The Famous Port Of NJ ssso v.h
Picturesqueiy Desc ribed.
special Correspondence.
LONDON, Jan. 4.--There are few drear
ier landscapes upon theface of the earth
than that mighty wall of bare, burning
sandstone that stretches unbroken, for
scores of miles together, along the west
ern side of the Red sea, like an embodi-
ment of that destroying heat and hope
less desolation which the very name OF
Africa never fails to suggest. Greatly
would any raw traveller be surprised to
learn that behind this grim rampant lies
one of the most beautiful and fertile
regions in the world, and one of the
most romantic likewise-Christian fol-
ages past. yet utterly savage. pictrr-
esouely blending ancient civilization and
modern barbarism-a perfect African
Montenegro, first Introduce: to the no.
tice of Europe century ago by the dar-
ing explorers of Abyssinia.
The gateway Of this strange region is
quite as curious as itself. Sweeping
northward along the African. shore you
descry far in the distance, on the edge Of
strip of level beach, which forms as it
were the doorstep of the Abyssinian
highlands, row of fiat, white objects,
suggestive of game of dominoes left
unfinished by two mountain giants. As
you approach, these nondescript objects
gradually shape themselves into bril-
liantly white houses, built entirely of
coral, beyond which flutter jauntily over
the smooth, sunlit waters of small land
locked bay the smart scarlet of the Brit
ish union jack and the green, white and
red of the Italian merchant ensign. An
English cargo boat from Liverpool and
an Italian steamer from Naples have
just come in, and the latter has brought
not few passengers who have come to
stay, for this is the famous port of Mas
sowah, coveted for ages by the fierce
mountaineers who look down upon it
from those shadowy heights above us,
ceded by Turkey to the late khedive Of
Egypt in 1886, and now occupied by Italy
without any cession os formality; at all.
This future avenue of African trade
and European enterprise, and perhaps of
European conquest as well, is quiet
little town of 4,GO0 or 5000 inhabitants,
perched on low islet mile long by
400 yards broad. lying at the northern
end of Arkiko, bay and connected with
the mainland. like Venice, by a cause
way nearly mile in length through the
fsnooth, shallow water Of the roadstead,
which is sheltered from storms by the
hong, struggling Isle of Dhalak across
&he mouth of the bay.
Zhe streets, or rather lanes, of the
miniature fort have curiously diyersi-
Ged appearance, tall houses OF coral or
aAA3le alternating with little nests of
sd rs and palm leaves or of cane and
dried grass, such as one sees along the
sunny hill sides Of Algeria or along the
burning plains of Tripoli. Nor is the
population less motley than the town
: self. Handsome, black haired, olive
checked Italians; big, heavy, wooden
faced Turks; supple, keen eyed. brigand-
like Greeks; sturdy, red whiskered Brit
ish sailors, looking down with grand,
indulgent contempt upon those i'll fated
beings whom the inscrutable DEGREES of
Providence have doomed to be foreign
ers" instead Of Englishmen; black, bulky
Nubians, with thick lips and rolling
eyes; tall, gaunt, high checked, savage
looking Somaulis, from the wild African
ssNo Mans Land" between Cape Guar
dafui and the straits of ab-El-Mandeb;
dark, sinewy, bare limbed Arabs, with
shaven crowns and flowing black boards,
and stately, white cloaked Abyssinians
from the overhanging mountains, whose
bold, warrior bearing, erect head and
staggering stride carry me back in a
moment to the wild mountain glens of
Albania and Montenegro.
The merchandise, too, is as varied as
those who handle it. Knives, hatchets
and striped cloths from England, rifles
and daggers from Italy, Turkish sabers,
Persian carpets, bags of Arabian coffee,
and embroidered sashes and turbans
from Bengal, lie side by side with the
ivory, beeswax, gum. hides, butter and
grass mats which have just come down
from the Abyssinian hills and are about
, be shipped off to Europe via the Suez
nal.
o reach Massowah itself is now an
matter, thanks to the monthly line
Italian steamers from Naples; but
enetrate thence into Tigre (the ad-
mt province of Abyssinia) is not
to so simple as formerly, the Italian
aston and the severe fighting that fol-
we'd it having embittered the native
lountain clans against all foreigners
4like. However, the thing may be done
with proper management, though the
journey itself is by no means holiday
trip. Over the dusty, scorching plain of
the lowlands nothing can carry you
safely but camel, and the camel's Or
dinary motion (as any man who has ever
ridden one will readily admit) is very
much like being perched on the top OF
particularly high omnibus which keeps
upsetting every two minutes.
When the mountains are reached at
last, and you exchange your two bumped
engine of torture for one of the hardy
and untiring native horses. matters i'm