The projected barrage at Lake Tana, by throwing Abyssinia into
the limelight, invites such books as Africa's Last Empire, by Herman Norden (Witherby, 15s.). It is natural that the public should want to know more about a country which is bound to be caught up by the wheel of economic develop- ment during the next few decades. True, Mr. Norden had no specific object in writing the book, so far as we can judge ; otherwise he would have made more than he has done of such regions as Tana where developments are certain. But he writes of a country which the tourist hardly knows, and gives a fair picture of present conditions. The book is easy reading, and his historical summary of Abyssinia, though superficial, should prove of interest to the general reader. He very properly emphasizes the independence of the Abyssinians and their natural suspicion of all foreign approach, but in his review of the inhabitants of Ethiopia the author appears to be unaware of the many pagan tribes which inhabit the south, On points of detail, too, he lays himself open to criticism. It is very unlikely, for instance, that the Galin came from the Lake Victoria region, and the valley of the Awash is not the heart of Galla country. The \Vat or nomad peoples are nearly all pagan, and it is incorrect to say that they arc all Mohammedans in the Sudan and Galla districts. Ilk con- jectures as to their origin are equally wide of the mark. These, however, are minor blemishes in a book which, though not the author's best, gives a sufficiently accurate and readable account of Northern Abyssinia as it now is.
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