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questions de Geographie Abyssine.

questions de géograph.

change the native r into l ) ?

75 α

The iron money of Arargue, yedjace, Damot [etc ? ]. merits some attention. It is the model of the iron money of Kordofan (NB Iron money for the coast of Africa coined after the best patterns, is manufactured largely in Birmingham.

Have you any vocabularies of the Warata or Kaffa negroes & if you have, can you communicate to me a dozen words.

Agow β

The Agows are the most interesting portion of the Abyssinian population. what is the structure of their language ? The Falasha are probably Agows. Is not sha a characteristic termination in the Agow language ? The customs & arts of the Agows are worth observing minutely for the sake of comparing them with those of the pastoral nations of Eastern Africa. Is the name Behet mehet learned by Cailliaud & applied apparently to Damot & Gojam, known in Abyssinia ? Is A maitsha ? Is the name Betharin (i.e. the mountains of the moon, according to Marmol & other old writers near the the Sources of the Nile) extant in any Abyssinian language ?

The Portuguese were long settled at Nanina in Gojam about 12 miles from the Sources of the Nile. Are their descendants recognizable in that country at the present day ?

What are the physical particularities of the country which make the road to Enarea go nearly westward through Damot & the country of the Gonjas to Miné on the Nile, instead of passing through Oleka & South of that river. In the country between Miné & Enarea are the Zeytes & Xates (shats). The Shoas, Zeytes & Xates, according to Almeyda all speak different languages.

The King of the Conchas (Gongas or Gonjas) is called Axgagce ( ?) (Bermudez) __ The Takazza rises in a place called Axguagua (Almeyda) __ Is this word a general epithet ? The church of Lalibela are excavated in a place called oror. Is not this also a frequent recurring designation ?

Arab etymologists suppose that the kingdom of Arar (or Hurrur as it appears in our maps) is so called from the shrub Arar a kind of Juniper.

It appears very extraordinary that the nile should have a fall of 4000 or 5000 feet between its sources in Gojam & Fazoglo. It must run like a torrent the greater part of the way. It winds very much in Damot ( Bermudez). Any information throwing light on this part of its course must be very interesting. There is a strange obscurity over the character of the western frontier of Abyssinia. Is it an impenetrable forest ? The Arab merchants of Sarsar on the Nile below miné probably have some knowledge of the interior westward.

Is it worth while to explain the origin of the word Gibberty (or Jabarty). Are not the Gibberties the same people who were called by the missionaries Ghibetes & Gafats ? Can these names be derived or corrupted from Ifat or Oifat or vice versa. (The missionaries wrote both oirague & gurague, the dubious articulation being probably the Arabic [signe arabe ?])

May not the province Ogga, Oggy or wedge be identical with edjow or yedjan ? if not, They have certainly been often confounded together.

ought not the Sengara of the maps, in Cambate, be read yangara ? if so, it is the yer angroo of Pearce. Almeyda mentions the great rivers Euna & Zorat in Baly. The fate of the waters flowing eastward from Abyssinia deserves to be enquired after. They are probably spent in irrigation.

The ancient wells in Axum deserve examination. They are of good masonry. Pearce procured some silver coins, probably Greek, found in them & sent them to Salt, but they were lost. He heard of inscriptions & sculptures in Tegulet. Is the town of Manadely (the muntille of Salt's map) visited by Alvarez, still flourishing ? He found there merchants from Barbary : The chief ambas in Amhara mentioned by Almeyda are Legot, ambacel, madrekel, Goza, Thebet mariam, amba gexen. The inhabitants of Thebet mariam were considered by him to be the most civilised of the Abyssinians & to have the greatest number & variety of books.

μ

Half way between Enarea & the mouth of the Jube is understood to be the town of Gonara, a place of much resort. near the Jube are the nubañ a Galla tribe. on the coast the Baguna (or Bajuna). The blacks a long way S. b. E. of Kaffa are the [barra ?] & [bocoms ?] & on the furthest limits of the Gallas southwards, the chaka. The name Renga, Ruenga, Remga (?) ruemia or roeña, Arwaña which gives rise to the designation muca-remga (i.e. native of Renga) may perhaps be known to some of the merchants of [Sarsar ?] or Enarea