The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1902-03-02
IN MENELIK'S KINGDOM.
Customs and Solicitations in Vogue
Among the Abyssinians,

| 'Indet adru," This is not a curse. but
Abyssinian for Good morning." The
words mean literally. How have you
MeneIik are very punctilious in their sal
utations. and have a carefully graded
scale of greetings according to the person
addressed and the time of day. Thus to an
inferior or to an intimate friend. instead
of 'Indet adru." they would say. 'Indet
adreh' pronounced adrech"-ch as in
Ioch. Good afternoon" would be 'Indet
watuI" or watch" meaning How have
you spent the morning." And Good ev-
ening!" 'Indet mashu." or '.mashek,'' /.
e., How have you spent the day?''
There is a similarly complete series of
good-bys for people separating at differ
ent times. Two friends parting in the
evening, say, one going home and the 9TH
er going to his club (only they haven't
clubs in Abyssinia-except wooden ones.
perhaps. would say to each other. 'Ba-
dehna adari" c"May you spend the night
weli'), which We might translate, Good
night; be good.
The Abyssinian calendar is fearful and
wonderful thing. Nearly every day is a
saints day. and is known by its proper
name and not by its date. For instance.
II you ask an Abyssinian whether q Ger
tain thing happened On the 18th of Hadar
(the equivalent of our November 23) he
Will not understand what you mean; but
If you say. Was II on Abuna Aragawe
(the name for that day. that you stole
that Sheep" comprehending smile will
overspread his handsome, intelligent fea-
lures.
The year is divided into twelve months
of thirty days each. and al the end of the
year. TO make up the 1865 days. are added
five days. called "Quagme" Each year in
succession is called Matthews Markos,
Lukos, Johannis. Matthews, Markos and
Johannis have each "Quagme" of FIVE
days, but Lukos, or leap year. has a
"Quagme" of six days The Abyssinian
year begins on September IL, and. although
dating we do from the birth of Christ,
they are nearly eight years behind us in
time-September H. 1900, was in their
calendar 15t Maskaram, 1893. Their meth
cd of reckoning the hours of the day is
also peculiar. to cur notions. They count
the day as beginning at sunrise. and not
at midnight, as we do. Thus our seven
a m. is their one o'clock day. and our
six p. IN. their twelve o'clock day; eight
p. m. with us would be two O'Clock night
with them, and our four a. m would be
their ten o'clock night
The whole population consists of two
hfths soldiers, two-fifths priests. and one
fifth merchants, at least as far as the
Abysslnlans-the dominant race-are con-
cerned. All the other necessary work
of the community is performed by subject
races. like the Gallas or Somalis. or do
nestle slaves-mostly prisoners of war
captured in the western negro provinces
All Abyssinians, except the very poorest
employ slaves for domestic purposes.
They are well cared for and are re-
garded after time as members of the
family.
There is no trade in slaves in Abys-
siria, as they can only be procured by the
Kings order, which has to be shown to
the governor OF the province, who there
upon gives his sanction The slaves, gen
orally boys or girls-the former for out
door and the latter for indoor work-are
purchased from their parents at an av-
erase price of SO a head, but the pur-
chaser may never resell them, though he
may, If he likes, give them away. The
soldiers lead an easy life and have no
work TO do, except when called out to
serve on an expedition. 1t is true their
pay is only So year-cash is scarce in
Abyssnia-but during peace time they are
billeted on the Gallas, a subject race. who
are bound to give them all they need In
addition to this munifeent rate of pay, a
paternal government provides the new re-
cruit at the outset OF his military career
With donkey free. But his rifle the SOL
dier must provide himself as he must
also maintain his donkey.-London En-