The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-09-01

These are a few of the rules by which
the King of Kings Of Abyssinia governs
his fifty or more wives. l have set them
down from memory. During my wonder
ings in Abyssinia / had the unusual
opportunity of winning the favor of
Menelik, who at that time was Emperor.
He invited me to come to his palace ut
Adds Ababa and spend a while with
him. / readily accepted the invitation,
and for nearly a month had a rare
chance to see the inside workings of the
imperial household. They were as anus
ing as they were sometimes tragic. Men
slik was a artful old dotard. and had an
almost superhuman GINNING. He would
set all sorts of traps to test the faith
fulHess of his officials and his wives. II
any of them should be so unfortunate as
to fall a victim TO his well laid plans he
would make an example of them by put
ting them through some noninjurious
but very painful torture and hold them
up as an example to the entire house
hold
The Abyssinians are Coptic Christians
The doctrine of their church does not
permit of more than one wife. But SO
strong is the infusion of the Arab idea Of
household affairs, that the loosest po-
lygamy is practiced by almost every man
who has means wherewith to support
more than one wife. It has been said
with much truth that a mans wealth can
be very accurately guessed by the num-
Der of wives he has. 1t occasionally
happens that some nobleman has a qualm
of conscience and turns his wives out,
retaining the one he married first. Theo-
dore, the predecessor of Menelik. did this
several times. For the ordinary Abys-
sinian the idea of a family tree is as
ridiculous as it is superfiuous.
Negro Arab Women
Most of the Emperor's wives are OF
Negro-Arab extraction. In the south
the negroid type is strong. 1t is from
this country that nearly all the Abys-
sinian slaves are drawn. Menelik was
always carrying on warfare against
some rebellious chief of that district.
When the chief was conquered the best
of his slaves daughters and wives were
appropriate by him.
I shall never forget the first one of
such campaigns l participated in. 1t
revealed a new world to me. Alec Wal
dab, a powerful chief in the south, had
rebelled against Menelik. Three thou
sand soldiers were hastily gotten to-
Eether and sent against the rebel with
all haste. Such soldiers l have never
seen before. They were armed with
rifles of modern make They gave these
weapons second place, however. and
depended mainly on their medieval
spears and shields.
We left Adds Ababa early one morn
ing. Shortly before noon we stopped
and encamped for luncheon. A drove
of fat heifers were driven to a place in
front of my tent. The sight witnessed
shall never fade from my memory Aft
er several men had thrown heifer TO
the ground, butcher advanced with a
long knife. With the words: In the
name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost" he cut the animals throat
Just enough to let the blood run Fully
twenty men rushed up to the animal
which was still kicking. and cut off
great hunks of bleeding, hot meat, and
ate them on the spot. In fifteen min
utes there was nothing left of the
heifer but its bones and unedible parts |
I afterward learned that this was a
common custom among the Abyssin- |
lans. They claim that meat so eaten |
is delicio usly tender and sweet. After |
witnessing the scene several times, |
became rather used to it, and was per-
suaded to eat some of il myself 1t |
was Tery palatable and nourishing.
Novel Fishing Methods.
Proceeding in our leisurely manner. !
narrow. and filled with fish The COM
mander of the army. Lie Alecan, de-
cided 10 replenish his stores by taking
Il supply OF fish. His efforts were emil
nently successful. He damned the river
at two places about 100 feet apart, thus
making a sort of lake. The inclosure
was full of fish. number Of soldiers
sprinkled large quantities of milky
substance on the water and in a short
time afterward the surface of the river
was filed with poisoned fish. This was
& very successful, if not q sportsman-
like. manner OF taking fish. The milkyl
liquid sprinkled on the water is called
"duolquol.' the sap of a tree native
to Abyssinia.
After five days marching we arrived
In the country of Alec Wakdab and on
the sixth day defeated him in a battle
1t was In this engagement that / won
the appreciation of the commander. Who'll
afterward commended me to the Emper-
or. After the battle there followed |
scenes that brought me back to scenes
In the Old Testament
Alec Waldab was brought before Lie
Alecan, who passed sentence of tor
ture and death upon him. Alec's legsI
were cut of at the knees, and both the
bleeding stumps were dipped into a Dot
OF boiling butter to stop the bleeding.
After undergoing numerous other tor
lures, the poor man was beheaded and
his body cast to the hyenas. selec-
ton Of his prettiest daughters, wives,
and other females were made for Meme
llk new governor was installed, and
we started our weary, hot journey back
TO Adds Ababa. I
Has Small Income.
Until a few years ago the use Of to-
bacco was not permitted among the
Those convicted of using
snuff had their nose slit off; those who =
chewed or smoked had their lips cut
of. / saw many Of the elder men with
their faces mutilated. The law against c
tobacco still prevails against the in q
mates OF the imperial harem Menelik q