The Portland daily press., 1896-04-11

cripple constantly before him, the
Abyssinian begins at an early age to
inure himself to pain. He scorns suffer
b is moral makeup.
To test their 1nsensibility to pain, a
group of Abyssinian warriors will seat
themselves in ascirole, bare their arms,
and invite their girl friends to place
lighted finder on the exposed skin. Then
while the flesh sizzles, they will smile
and keep up an animated conversation,
oblivious to the pain.
Cruelty, in fact, seems inherent in
the warrior of Abyssinia. He loves to eat
raw meat, and SO anxious is he at times
to obtain morsel of his favorite food
that he does not soruple to practice vivi.
section on his live stock; and the cattle
frequently go for days suffering from hor-
rible wounds inflicted by their ferocious
owners, who do not soruple to cut
launches of steak and then turn the poor
creatures out to live or die.
y The strangest feature Of this strange
people, however, is their religion. They
lay claim to Christianity, dating their
conversion back to primitive times. That
they do observe the forms and rituals Of
that faith there is no doubt. Religious
feasts and fasts are incredibly numerous,
and are observed with punctilious re-
gard. 1t is raid that the fast days in
single year number over 261.
They do not practice the generally ac-
oepted doctrine of cleanliness being next
to goodness, however, and the feast Of
ST. John is regarded as the universal day
when Abyssinia cleans up for the year.
The true Abyssinian regards it pagan at
all other times to wash his clothing or
his body, with the exception of the hands
or feet when starting on journey.
The Abyssinian is an enthusiast In tho
way he builds churches There are some
very fine specimens of architectural SPLEEN
dor in the kingdom, but their number, as
general thing, exceeds their claim Of
beauty.
They are usually built in concentric
circles, with an outer space for the laity,
one for the priests, and finally, one
which is termed the "Holy of Holes. "
containing the Ark, protected by silken
canopies. This is taken whenever the
warriors go forth to battle-a conclusive
evidence of the ancient influence of jew
ish customs on ths country.
Despite his bluff and pretensions, how
ever, the foreign military experts who
have been sizing up the Abyssinian's
claim to martial supremacy, say that he
is really an Indifferent warrior;
that his strength lies in the courage that
comes to great masses com paotly formed
This is partly an error, for the Abyssin-
ian really prefers guerilla warfare. AL
though he is looked upon as type of
racial degeneration, with a glory that
belongs wholly to the past, the informa-
ton that the cables will bring from
Africa within the next few months will
rohably show that the Italians are hav-
ing difficult job to hold their new
province.
The mountains of Abyssinia are not of
gold, hut they possess the priceless adj
vantage of being natural strongholds
which cannot be taken. The rivers do not
run over precious stones, but they are
quite likely to run red with carnage and
carry great deal of precious blood to the
sea before the waning of many months.
The barbara splendor of The Queen of
Sheba's court is gone. but the traditions
still remain, and Abyssinia will fight to
the bitter end before the line of klngly
succession is abandoned for the soser-
eighty of Italy.-Cincinnati Enquirer.