Abyssinia
England, Italy, Abyssinia. By Major.Gen. H. Rowan-Robinson. (William Clowes. 5s.) The Real Abyssinia. By Col. C. F. Rey. (Seeley Service. 10s: 6d.)
IesivitaNcE of its subject may be no obstacle to a determined writer, but is not often the actual inspiration of a book. General Rowan-Robinson, however, frankly pleads guilty of it. Ignorance set him to reading, and a habit of writing, combined with an orderly, and analytical mind, led him to
summarise the results of his studies. Hence England, Italy, Abyssinia. First he read the history of the Magdala campaign
of 1868 ; then the principal accounts of the early Italian wars in Abyssinia which culminated in the tragedy of Adowa ; and finally a vast number of publications, official and journalistic, dealing with the treaties and events bearing on the present crisis. Of the country and its people he has no first-hand knowledge, but he brings a trained and expert mind to bear on the military problems of the campaign which has just begun. His criticism is interesting, but it is largely based on conjecture and on information culled from newspaper articles, which are sometimes of doubtful accuracy. The historical part of the book is therefore the best, and since it deals with the country in which the Northern campaign is now being fought, it is also the most interesting.
Napier's force in 1867 landed near Zula, only a few miles south of Massawah. Its line of advance was through Adigrat and Antalo, so the description of the country through which it passed and the obstacles in its way will materially help the reader to visualise events which have been and will be recorded in the daily news. The illustrations give a good idea of the tremendous difficulties to be overcome. Napier's task was hard enough, and in his case little opposition by the Abyssinians was encountered. That of the Italians will be infinitely harder. The early Italian campaigns are even more enlightening. Few people remember that Adowa itself was first occupied for Italy by Orero as long ago as 1890, and that in 1894 advanced elements under Toselli were pushed forward as far as Belego, beyond the southern frontier of Tigrd, and nearly 50 miles south of Makalle. A good deal of the country between this point and Adowa is described in detail by General Rowan- Robinson, and since it will certainly be the scene of much fighting in the near future his account of it is well worth reading.
Baratieri's whole campaign bristled with object-lessons. Over-confidence, almost incredible rashness in advance, neglect of reconnaissance, mapping and communications, lack of support and sympathy from Italy and of co-operation between high authorities on the spot—all contributed to the disaster at Adowa. The lesson was a costly one, but the scale of . Italy's preparations for the present war and the method by which the initial advance has been conducted show that it has not been learnt in vain.
'General Rowan-Robinson comments on the cruelty of the Abyssinians to their prisoners. He and almost every other • writer omit one consideration. The native troops on the Italian side in 1896 were alinost all Tigreans, of Abyssinian .
stock. Menelik's soldiers looked .. on them, as renegades and dealt with them ruthlessly as such. On the whole the Italians who. escaped death in the hand-to-hand fighting were not ill-treated. They suffered humiliation and shared the hardships of their captors during the withdrawal of the Abyssinians to their homes ; but to depict the Abyssinian soldier as a brutal and murderous savage is quite unwarranted by history.
The book quotes largely from the various relevant treaties, and by so doing spares the reader the trouble of studying the diplomatic history leading up to the present war in the original. Most of us are perhaps so sickened by the cynical hair-splitting and misrepresentation that has been going on at Geneva and elsewhere and of the fatuous juridical argu- ..
mcnts which have been so powerless to arrest the march of events, that we are ready to cry " a plague on all your trea- ties I " But it would have been of interest had he given the exact text of the famous Treaty of Friendship of 1928, for although it might be thought that Italy would like this to be forgotten it is a fact that many Italians are genuinely per- suaded that Abyssinia has deliberately and grossly evaded its terms. For this reason an exact statement of those terms would help towards a fair appreciation of the attitude of the average Italian.
Colonel Rey's book views Abyssinia from a different angle. He too has read widely, and this precaution, so often neglected by travellers, adds value to his own observations. The pub; Esher's notice on the dust-cover gives the impression, quite inadvertently, that Colonel Rey has spent ten years hi Abyssinia, This is not a fact, but he has made several exten- sive and interesting journeys in the country, has been actively engaged in business there, and is an intimate personal friend of the Emperor. Moreover, he is a very skilled observer, well qualified by long and amazingly varied experience to comment on what he observes. The book seems to be largely a re-hash of previous ones that he has written on the subject, but it is none the less valuable. The chapters on slavery and serfdom deserve to be taken as standard authority on these very vexed questions, and that on commercial and industrial development is authoritative. Of all the recently published books on Abyssinia this undoubtedly gives the best and most accurate general account of the country. Armed with it and with General Rowan-Robinson's very lucid commentary the reader should be able to follow the events of the next few months or years with added interest and understanding.
LAWRENCE ATII ILL.
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