skins of leopards or other animals, some in calf or goat skins, with the hair on, sewed into the shape of the body; but their costumes vary according to caprice.

When a man overcomes his adversary and intends to spare his life, he orders him, after he has been disarmed, to take hold of his horse's tail and follow him, which is the sign of submission and of quarter being given and accepted. He is then bound to remain a prisoner until ransomed, though he is not a slave and no service is required of him. In the mean time his family, having received intelligence of his fate, collect his ransom, which is generally about 700 heifers, and if he has not that number himself, his friends contribute to make it up; but should no ransom be forthcoming, the captor has the right to make him his slave, in return for having spared his life.

They have black slaves, bought from the Jellábs (slave-dealers) of the interior of Africa, and white slaves also; but it does not appear from what country these come.

In order to accustom boys to the use of arms, they give them shields of palm branches stuffed with coarse grass, and sticks for swords; and the use of the shield and skill in throwing the spear are the chief requisites for a young warrior. In riding and managing horses they are also instructed when very young, and the number of horses is only surpassed by that of their cattle, of which some idea may be formed from the fact of 700 heifers being required for the ransom of one prisoner.

When a young man wishes to marry, he despatches one of his relations to the girl's father with presents, and if accepted, he sends her a necklace, a ring and bracelets, or bangles, by which she becomes engaged to him; and to entertain proposals from any other person would then be considered a breach of promise. Matters being thus far arranged, several other damsels, her friends, go every day and dance and sing at her house. The young friends of the suitor also hold festive meetings at his house. But the parents of the girl and the relations on both sides studiously avoid each other. When the time approaches to within about a month, the girls assemble in the house of the fiancée, and after some days her wokéel, or sponsor, who is appointed by her suitor, rides with a number of young men to her house, where they are welcomed with great festivity. While enjoying all the good things provided for them, the damsels sing a number of songs, in which the suitor and his friends are abused in unmeasured terms. They pray that "every calamity may befal him before he sees his bride; that he may be killed, and that death may be his medicine," &c. The young men on their side abuse her and her parents in a similar manner, and declare she is unworthy of her betrothed, with nume

rous reproachful remarks. This is repeated day after day; but all is done in good humour and only with pretended anger, and at length the sponsor takes her, mounted on a horse and covered with a silk dress, to the bridegroom's house, where she is ushered into the chamber he has there built expressly for her, as he then leaves his father's abode and sets up one of his own. Here again festivities are held every three or four days, and in the evening monkeys are seated on a shelf in the dining-room, each holding a torch of some resinous wood to light the party; in return for which they are fed after the company retire. Sometimes a restive monkey throws down his torch, to the great consternation of the guests; for which misdemeanor he receives many stripes and no supper. But they are generally very docile, and in the houses of the rich they are kept as dogs in other countries, trained to various employments, and making excellent guards, dogs not being very

common.

The burials of the Jimma are very simple. The body is deposited in a pit in the earth, and the women mourners only ululate in the house, not in the streets, as in Cairo. Their lamentations continue about fifteen days. The black pagans also bury their dead.

;

The chief ruler or governor of the country is called Noor Gilgilay, who dispenses justice and governs the people; but he does not go out to battle, though his sons are expected to do so. He is attended by an armed force; he has power of life and death all criminal cases are decided by him, and no one can be punished without his consent. His house is of wood, like all the rest, though larger; and in like manner there is no capital city, though some towns are larger than others. Of their laws the most severe are those against murder and theft. When they discover an offender he is not only seized and put to death, but all the members of his family and relations are supposed to be partakers in his guilt, and at night their houses are surrounded and all burnt together. Even their cattle, corn, and trees are all destroyed, and nothing is left of them or their property. They generally, however, escape this cruel and wholesale sacrifice of the innocent for the guilty, by making presents to the relations of the deceased.

In their professions and occupations the son follows that of his father, whether he be a peasant or a fighting man.

The ordinary costume of the men is a cotton garment, either single or in several folds one over the other, sometimes of three folds sewed together, and it is worn exactly as the Moorish blanket, or haîk. The women wear a girdle round the waist, and a similar one is adopted by the peasants and by the fighting men also, who, laying aside their long dress, wear a smaller one of similar form

tied at their neck and fastened by a girdle. At other times they wear the skins before mentioned, which are also adopted by the poor classes. Their head is uncovered and anointed with fresh butter; on which account they do not sleep on cushions, but rest the neck on head stools (like those found in the ancient Egyptian tombs), the hair falling over on the other side. These headstools are of wood, and often highly ornamented, especially when they belong to newly married brides. They have a long pin of wood for arranging the hair, similar to that used by the Ababdeh Arabs. Their traffic is among themselves and the Gallas. Even cheese, butter, cattle, and grain are sold; but milk and bread are not sent to market. The productions of other countries are brought by the Jellábs, as of Arabia, and of Amara (i e. “Christian") or Abyssinia; thus looking-glasses and even telescopes are known, as well as fire-arms. They also trade with the port of Berbera, which is famed for its cattle fairs. In their houses they have small wickertrays, similar to those in Nubia and Upper Ethiopia, on which the plates and dishes are placed at meals, these being of glazed or vitrified ware; but the Gallas eat out of a large bowl, like the Arabs. They have no tables: their chairs are of wood, the back of which takes out. Their saucepans and boilers are of glazed earthenware; but they have no copper utensils, and their knives are of iron with wooden handles. They seldom use kohl* for the eyes, but henneh † for the hands very frequently. They do not tattoo any parts of the face or body, as in Egypt, where a little kohl, with the green leaves of the sesabán,‡ are applied to different parts of the chin, hands, arms, and legs, after having been punctured with needles. They have an umbrella in the form of a shield, with a curved summit, made of the rind and leaves of two large reeds, and supported by strips of the rind tied together, and held by a handle like that of an ordinary shield. It is of great use in the rainy season; and for the sun they have a parasol of a long shape, also made of reeds.

As in many other parts of Africa, the rainmaker is a personage of great importance, whose powers of calling down rain whenever it is wanted are universally believed by the people, and his services are always eagerly sought when a fire happens in their very combustible houses.

The Jimma have a great hatred of the Gallas, with whom they are constantly at war; and no greater affront can be offered them than to comprehend them under the name of Gallas, which is considered almost as great a mistake as to call these last and themselves Abyssinians, or Hábeshee.

* Antimony.

+ Lawsonia spinosa et inermis (Linn.). Sesbania Egyptiaca (Persoon).

Having mislaid the list of words in the Jimma and other dialects, I can only give the following imperfect vocabulary :—

XV. - Memorandum on Abyssinia.

Communicated by the FOREIGN Office.

Read, March 12, 1855.

IN speaking at all of Abyssinian institutions, it must be remembered, as a general key to their peculiarities, that the form of government and its military spirit are feudal, whilst in the laws and customs the Jewish institutions are everywhere traceable.

The title of Ras signified, in the times of prosperous and hereditary succession, the prime minister and commander-in-chief of the emperor, and the highest rank in the empire.

The Ras now claims the right, as then possessed by him, of appointing all other chiefs of provinces and officers of every kind at his will and pleasure; and, having a sufficiently commanding force at his disposal, is, in fact, master and king of the country; the form even of consulting the emperor having been disregarded for many years.

Amidst the conflicts, however, of great families, whose members claim the hereditary chieftainship of different provinces, and whose name will at any moment conjure into existence a numerous army for rebellion or rapine, the Ras is obliged to employ a subtle and tortuous policy, rather than violence, to retain his control over those fierce warriors, his equals by birth, impatient of a superior, and, in some instances, sufficiently powerful to be nearly independent. The resemblance is apparent to the times of Louis XI. of France and his rebellious vassals.

Each chief holding the rank of Dejajmatch (quasi Duke), appointed by the Ras-or as often only obtaining his consent after a successful contest with his own immediate rivals-is entire master of all sources of revenue within his territory, with full power really of life and death, theoretically vested in the Ras alone. His feudal subjection consists in the obligation to send, from time to time, some presents to his superior, and to bear his shield--that is, to follow him to war with as large a force as he can muster; against private enemies he is generally expected to defend himself. He takes toll from all merchants passing through his district.

The immediate troops of the Ras consist of a number of petty chiefs, governing one, two, or more villages, who imitate, as far as they dare, the independence of the greater barons, and who take the field, when called on, with 5 or 500 men, according to their means.

Besides these (who are numerous) the Ras has his matchlock men, and four or five bands of rude and disorderly soldiery, his guards.

From the lax system of government, and the manner of paying these men by quartering them on the country-people, with instructions to levy so much grain or other property, it may be supposed that these undisciplined troops, when at a small distance from the camp, are almost equally independent of the Ras, and frequently are simply organised bands of robbers, the rather that, after the commission of any profitable crime, they have but to reach the camp of some great feudal chief, at a distance from the Ras, and, by entering his service, obtain perfect immunity; or, would they enjoy in ease their spoil, take shelter in the nearest well-reputed church, which is inviolable as the city of refuge of the Mosaic law.

Regarding the collection of duties, each chief claims them as part of his revenues, excepting those levied at Gondar, Adowah, and a few other towns, collected by an officer called the Negadeh Ras, who pays a fixed sum yearly to the Ras or Obeay, and extorts as much as he can from the merchants for his own profits.