Above the table-lands rise numerous chains of mountains. These are mostly of volcanic origin. Some of the highest of these summits rise to a height of fifteen thousand feet above sea level. Many of the plains lie at an elevation of from seven to ten thousand feet.
Abyssinia gives rise to numerous rivers. The largest of these are the Blue Nile and the Takazzie, an affluent of the Nile. In the southern part of the country is the Hawash. It flows eastward through a section bearing the same name, and finally enters the salt lake, Assal.
The largest lake of Abyssinia is the Dembea. It is through this lake that the Blue Nile flows.
In the elevated sections of Abyssinia the climate is temperate and salubrious. Along the low coast sections, and in the sections at the north and northwest, the heat is not only excessive but the climate is most noxious.
Taken as a whole, Abyssinia is a very fertile country. It shows, however, as great diversities of products as of climate. This is due to the different degrees of elevation in the various sections.
Wheat and barley are cultivated to some extent, together with various leguminous, or pod-bearing, plants, cotton, coffee, sugar cane, and tobacco. The coffee plant grows wild to a great extent.
Nubia is the modern name of a country once subject to the Khedive of Egypt. It was probably known to the ancients under the name Ethiopia. The boundaries of Nubia are the Red Sea on the east, Egypt on the north, Abyssinia on the south, and the Sahara on the west.
The country is traversed by the Blue Nile and the White Nile.
Nubia has an arid soil. In many places cultivation is possible only along the banks of the Nile. Some portions of the soil consist only of granite and sandstone.
The products of the cultivated sections are numerous. They comprise maize, dates, tamarinds, gums, aloes, and senna. Among the various exports may be noted musk, wax, myrrh, frankincense, black wool, elephant and rhinoceros hides, and ivory. Ostrich feathers, ebony, gold dust, saltpetre, salt, tobacco, coffee, and cotton are also exported to Egypt.