Musical and dancing festivities form a great part of the people’s time. With some of the tribes, instrumental music has been carried to a high point of culture. Bruce gives an account of a concert, the music of which he heard at the distance of a mile or more, on a still night in October. He says: “It was the most enchanting strain I ever listened to.”
It is not my purpose to attempt a detailed account of the ceremonies of the various tribes that inhabit the continent of Africa; indeed, such a thing would be impossible, even if I were inclined to do so.
FOOTNOTES:
[28] Prof. Blyden, in “Methodist Quarterly Review,” June, 1871.
[29] Dr. Livingstone.
[30] Thau.
CHAPTER VII. THE ABYSSINIANS.
According to Bruce, who travelled extensively in Africa, the Abyssinians have among them a tradition, handed down from time immemorial, that Cush was their father. Theodore, late king of Abyssinia, maintained that he descended in a direct line from Moses. As this monarch has given wider fame to his country than any of his predecessors, it will not be amiss to give a short sketch of him and his government.