8. Northwards to the Red Sea and the confines of Abyssinia the country is inhabited by the Somali and Gallas, tribes closely related to each other, and totally distinct from the Negro and Zulu Kaffir tribes south of them. The majority of these tribes are barbarians pure and simple, robbers of any caravan passing through their country, and certain to seize and carry into captivity the crews of vessels so unfortunate as to be wrecked on their coast.

9. Madagascar is the largest of a group of islands lying off the east coast of Africa, but separated from it by a channel-the Mozambique--240 miles broad at its narrowest part. In its broad physical features this island much resembles the continent of Africa. The interior is a high plateau, on which are lofty domes and peaks of volcanic rock and granite, and numerous old volcanic cones and craters. The plains lie around the coast. On the side facing Africa they are dry and barren, except along the banks of the streams; elsewhere they are well-watered and fertile, and even swampy. A narrow belt of woodland forms an almost complete girdle round the coast. The vegetation along the coast is of an extremely luxuriant tropical character, except on the wide sandy plains of the south. The grass-covered plateaux of the interior serve as grazing grounds for large herds of cattle.

10. One of the most remarkable of the native plants of Madagascar is the "Travellers' Tree." It belongs to the same family as the plantain or banana, but sends out leaves only on two opposite sides, like a great expanded fan, the stalk of each leaf being six or eight feet long, and the oblong bright green blades four or six feet more. These leaf stalks always contain pure water, and even in the driest weather more than a quart may be obtained by piercing their base. Hence the name "Travellers' Tree." The animals of Madagascar are numerous and characteristic. Among the latter may be mentioned the lemur and aye-aye. The larger animals -the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and lion-of Africa are wanting. The inhabitants of this island are principally Malays, and their chief industries are cattle

herding and agriculture; but there is also a mining industry for silver, copper, iron, coal, and salt, and a beautifully dyed textile material is made from the fibre of the palm.

11. Between Madagascar and the mainland are the four volcanic Comoro Isles, of which one-Mayotta-belongs

to the French. Northwards again are the coral isles of Amirante and Seychelles, covered with date and palm trees. These islands are British, and are under the Government of the Mauritius. East of Madagascar are the Mascarene Isles, of which Bourbon belongs to France, and Mauritius and Rodriquez to England. These islands are very fertile, and yield quantities of coffee, sugar, and spices for export.

1. Abyssinia, the ancient Ethiopia, is that table-land which lies between the hot, low Afar, or Danakil country skirting the southern shores of the Red Sea, and the equally torrid Egyptian Soudan. In configuration it differs from the rest of Africa, and its inhabitants are, in many respects, a race by themselves.

2. The country, though fully three times as large as England, is now much smaller than it once was. Owing to the encroachments of the Egyptian Government, the Abyssinians have been driven almost entirely to the highland regions to which they are at present confined.

3. The Abyssinian table-land, being only a part of the great plateau which skirts the eastern side of the continent, has no very definite limits towards the south, while in the north it passes insensibly into the highlands which skirt the Red Sea. Towards the east the plateau rises almost abruptly to a height of 7,000 or 8,000 feet. Although there are many peaks attaining heights of from 10,000 to 15,000 feet scattered over the whole plateau this eastern ridge has the greatest general elevation, and all the streams run westward from it, ultimately to swell the waters of the Atbara and the Blue Nile, or the beautiful Lake Tzana, the reservoir of the latter river.

4. Three regions, or zones of climate, are distinguished by native names in the Abyssinian plateau. The highest belt is called the "Degas." Here the lofty peaks are capped with perpetual snow, and the climate in the valleys is cool and even frosty. There is good pasturage for oxen, sheep, and goats, but little other vegetation or forest growth.

5. The middle belt-the "Waina-Degas "-enjoys a climate like that of Italy or of Greece. Corn and the fruits of semi-tropical countries flourish abundantly in the fertile and well-watered soil, and in these valleys live the greater part of the Abyssinian people. The temperature

is rarely oppressive, being generally cooled by the light breezes which blow from the uplands. The cold season extends from October to February, the hot from March to the middle of June, and the wet from this date to the middle of September. During the latter period the monsoon blows, the country is refreshed, and the streams which contribute to the "swelling of the Nile," hundreds of miles away in Lower Egypt, gain strength and fulness.

6. The "Kollas," or lower region of the plateau, has a tropical climate, and is characterised by luxuriant vegetation. "Within this belt cotton, wild indigo, gum-yielding acacias, ebony, baobabs, tamarinds, sugarcanes, coffee-trees, bananas, and date-palms, flourish in perfection, while animals are abundantly represented by lions, elephants, panthers, zebras, giraffes, antelopes and gazelles, huge snakes, and deadly scorpions."

7. Nearly all the rivers of this well-watered land belong to the Nile region. The Blue Nile itself, which may be called the right hand of the "father of waters,' takes its rise in Abyssinia, its source streams being found in Lake Tzana. The three great streams of the plateau are the Marebs in the north, the Takazzé, "the terrible," in the centre, and the Abai, or Blue Nile, in the south. The waters of these rivers, swelled into foaming torrents in the rainy season, have cut deep valleys for themselves, and the thousands of tributary streams have furrowed out deep and narrow ravines, often a thousand feet deep.

8. The people of Abyssinia are essentially a mixed race, or an assemblage of races, but the Abyssinians proper may be regarded as the lineal descendants of the great Ethiopian race, by which the country was originally settled. These Abyssinians dwell in the uplands, nowhere at a lower level than 3,000 feet above the sea. They show such great diversity among themselves that it is difficult to group them under one general classification. Still, their physical features point to one common type, and to a blood relationship with the Arabs.

9. But little can be said in favour of the industry, cleanliness, or morality of the Abyssinians. They are