Evening star., 1902-02-22
IN MENELEK'S REALM.
ABYSSINIANS PUNCTILIOUS IN
FORM OF sALUTATIoNs.
Every Day on the Calendar Consecratsd
to Saint-Divisions of Time
Strange Customs.
From the London Express.

From the London Express.
"Indet adru," This is not a curse. but
Abyssinian for Good morning. The
words means literally. How have you
spent the night?' The people OF King
Menelek are very punctilfous In their sain-
| tations, and have carefully graded scale
of greetings according to the person ad-
dressed and the time of day. Thus to an In.
ferior to an innate friend instead of Inc
| det adru, they would say. "Indet adreh"
pronounced 'adrech'-ch as in loch).
Good afternoon would be "Indet watu!'
or watch" meaning. How have you
spent the morning." And Good EVENING"
'Indet mashu," or ''masheh.' /. e., How
have you spent the day."
There is similarly complete series OF
! good-byes for people separating at different
times. Two friends parting in the evening,
say, one going home and the other going to
his club tonly they haven't clubs in Abys-
sinia-eNeept wooden ones. perhapsl. would
ths night we Which as
might translate, Good night; be good.
The Calendar
The Abyssinian calendar is fearful and
wonderful thing. Nearly every day is q
| saints day, and is known by its proper
name and not by its date. For Instance.
| II you ask an Abyssinian whether a certain
thing happened on the 14th of Hadar uhe
| equivalent of our November 2;0. he will
not understand what you mean: but if you
| say, Was it on Ahuna Aragawe dhe name
| for that day. that you stole that Sheep" a
comprehending smile will overspread his
| handsome and intelligent features.
The year Is divided into twelve months
| of thirty days each, and at the end of the
| year. to make up the :165 days. are added
| five days, called "Quagme." Each year in
| succession is called Matthews. Markos,
Lukos, Johannis. Matthews. Markos and
| Johannls have each a ''Quagme of five
aaSs s nss Of ankas is say or leap year has
year begins on our September IL, and. al
| though dating as we do from the birth OF
Christ they are nearly eight years behind
| us in ttme-September II. 1900 was in their
| calendar 1st Maskaram, 1893. Their method
/ of reckoning the hours of the day is also
| peculiar, to our notions They count the
| day as beginning at SUNRISE and not at
| midnight. as We do. Thus am. is
| their ! o'clock day. and our pm their II
o'clock day; pm. with us would be 2
| o'clock night with them. and our 4 am.
| would be their 10 O'Clock night.
! ALI Priests and Soldiers.
The whole population consists OF twoS
Tffths soldiers, two-fifths priests and ones
| fifth merchants. at least as far as the Abyss
| sinians-the dominant race-are concerned.
| All the other necessary work of the com.
munity is performed by subject races, like
| the Gallas or Somalis. or domestic slaves
| mostly prisoners of war captured i'm tho
/
except the very poorest. employ slaves for
domestic purposes. These are well cared
for and are regarded after a time as mem-
bers of the family.
! There is no trade in slaves in Ahyssinia
as they can only be procured by the kings
| order. which has to be shown to the gov
| ernor of the province. who thereupon gives
| his sanction. The slaves, generally bows or
! gIrls-the former for outdoor and the lat
! ter for indoor work-are purchased from
| their parents at an average price of slo n
| mead, but the purchaser may never resell
| them though he may, If he likes give them
| away. The soldiers lead an easy life and
| nave no work to do, except when called out
| TO serve on an expedition. 1t is true their
| pay is only % year-cash is scarce in
| Abyssina-but during peace time rhev ara
| bllieted on the Gallas. n subject race who
| are bound to give them all they need In
| addition to this munificent rate OF nav a
| paternal government provides the new re-
| crult at the outset of his military career
| with donkey free. But his rifle the SOL
| dler must provide himself, as he must also
| maintain his donkey