Modern Abyssinia” by Augustus Wylde was published in 1901. Wylde was a correspondent for the Manchester-Guardian newspaper, and entered Ethiopia from the north in 1896, shortly after the battle of Adowa, in order to gain information about the battle and its aftermath. Wylde already knew Ethiopia and many of its leaders well and had previously been in Ethiopia. On this trip, Wylde met many of the important leaders along the way from Tigre to Shoa. He also described what he saw in good detail. His account of the plants, scenery, fellow travelers, agriculture, the geology, the wild animals, local politics, etc. is a useful record of this part of Ethiopia 100 years ago. These excerpts are useful because the book is out of print and few would find it otherwise.

Part 1 of 16: Adowa after the Rain
“I had hardly been in Adowa a couple of hours before I heard the beat of a drum and a man crying out...”

Part 2 of 16: Through the Tembein Region
“The feast of the Holy Cross was commencing, and on the first night of the festival, the Choum and his people came to visit me, each carrying a lighted torch and singing a weird song as they approached...”

Part 3 of 16: Macalle - At the Court of Ras Mengesha
“It was a grand sight seeing the Ras and all the officials of Tigre, minor rases down to choums and chicas going to church, all dressed in their best, with clean national shammas...”

Part 4 of 16: Macalle - A Letter from Menelek
“I was told by the old priest that it was not the correct thing to do to eat near the holy well. Some few days after, I caught the same priest and some of his men drinking tedj at the same place, and the laugh was the other way... ”

Part 5 of 16: Samre and Kulusheman
“We now struck the fertile district of Kulusheman. Here they had seen a good many Italian officers and soldiers, prisoners of the different chiefs that had taken this road on the return from Adowa... ”

Part 6 of 16: Socota - At the Court of Wagshum Gwangul
“The Choum told me that in his archives in the church he could trace his family’s descent for over three hundred years, and that the square three-storied house in which he lived was built about two hundred and fifty years ago by an ancestor...“

Part 7 of 16: Wag Province
“At last the soldier got cornered, and declared these Wag people were the biggest liars in Abyssinia, and if I liked to believe them instead of him, well he did not think much of me... “

Part 8 of 16: Wag Province - Rebels and Gypsies
“On entering the bush we heard shouting and people calling to each other from the tops of hills, which were supposed to be Avete’s men. Hailou was in great form, making the caravan keep together and throwing out flanking scouts... ”

Part 9 of 16: Lasta Province
“The Choum of the district, who had been absent, overtook us and told the guide to take us to Artemata, which was only about twelve miles off, and the march I shall remember as long as I live... ”

Part 10 of 16: Yejju Province
“The canyon then opened out into a wide valley, and the scenery before me quite beggared description. Seven waterfalls were to be seen at one point... ”

Part 11 of 16: Yejju - At the Court of Ras Woly
“Ras Woly told me that Yejju was entirely self-supporting, and required nothing from any other country but firearms and cartridges. They grew their own cotton, dyed it, and manufactured it, they tanned the hides and skins that they required; they smelted their own iron for making spears, swords, knives, and agricultural instruments, they made their own pottery, and they had every grain and oil seed that was required... ”

Part 12 of 16: South Wello - The Massive Dejazmatch
“I saw five Italian prisoners, who were all walking arm and arm, and singing, and seemed thoroughly happy... “

Part 13 of 16: South Wello - Woro Eilu
“What struck me most were the large piles of black wool rugs and tent materials besides the black wool overcoats and capes that are manufactured in the neighborhood... “

Part 14 of 16: Shoa - The Whistling Cave
“Schimper and Hadgi Ali are both highly superstitious, and the one took to his Bible and the other to the Koran, and they sat up long after I went to sleep, reading their respective books by the light of the candles... ”

Part 15 of 16: Shoa - The Old Man and the Gelada
“The rear of the troop was brought up by a very large male, lame on one hind leg, and the choum said he could remember it for many years, ever since it was a small one, and it was lame then. He thereupon commenced calling ‘Baba, Baba,’ and the old male stopped and gave the word of command to the others, and they all halted... “

Part 16 of 16: Adese Ababa to Harar and Djibouti
“Perhaps the most charming parts of the whole journey are through the Counni and Koloubie forests in Harar province... ”