The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-04-01

had held Makalle since last tall, but
they were finally starved out. The
Italians, with the rapid-6re guns,
would have annihilated the Abyssin-
ians had they made an assault on the
fortress of Makalle.
While the Abyssinians have proved
themselves fighters of considerable
skill, they are most interesting as q
people, for many. of their customs are
the same which prevailed in the times
of the ancients. Debt is their par
ticular adherence. To be unable to
repay lone is disgrace greater than
ignominious death, for it places O
whole family outside the brestworks
of respectable society for generations.
Three thousand years ago the Egyptian
who contracted debt always had to
give es security the mummy of his
father. If he failed to release the
corpse of his parent from the hands of
the money lender by repaying the
loan, he was forever disgraced, and
was denied religious services upon his
death.
The same spirit animates the Abys.
sinian. He is taught from his baby.
hood to avoid debt, both for his moral
and physical we'll. being. The Abys-
sinian law is more energetic in pun
;shing the unfortunate debtor than
was the ancient Egyptian. The
debtor ia cast into prison and an iron
band fastened around his right wrist
Every day the creditor and an officer
of the law visit him, and when he says
he is unable to pay. turn is given to
the screws in the wristband, which
causes it to sink into the flesh. fthe
unfortunate has no friends who can
scrape up the required sum, the wrist
band shrinks and shrinks until the
hand is completely severed. Then
the debtor is released with the mark
of his disgrace forever attached to
him. It is almost needless to say
that but few debts are contracted in
Abyssinia.
In one way they are tremendously
religious, and two out of every three
days, the year through, are fast days.
The Virgin Mary they pray to and
call upon for pro lection. Motherhood
in the eyes of the Abyssinians is most
sacred, and they venerate their own
mother beyond all else. The will OF
their mothers is law and a part OF
their religion. They argue that If
they obtain the good will of the Vlr-
gin she will intercede for them with
Christ, and thar He will follow her
wishes. They believe that women are
more tender-hearted than men, and
quicker to forgive transgressions.
1t is probably the greatest country
for feuds the world over. These feuds
seem destined to last forever, and the
older they grow the stronger they be-
come. A whole family may be exter
minated, but the next Of kin is bound
to step in and carry on hostllities. In
this way the fight is kept up genera
ton after generation until the orig
inaF cause of the row has oeen COM
p,etely lost sight OF.
A man who feels that he has been
insulted makes formal call upon his
enemy, and is received by servant
to whom he imparts the reason OF his
visit. This is simply formal notifica-
ton of war. The caller is treated
with show of hospitality, being In
vited to eat and drink, but members
of the family do not show themselves.
After he has passed out OF the house
the war begins.
When q man kills another without
Just cause, he is handed over to the
relatives of the victim, who are en-
titled to kill him in the same way
that he did tina murder. Or, If one
man wounds another, the latter's rela'