EMPEROR'S TOMB.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20762, 3 January 1931, Page 3 (Supplement)

EMPEROR'S TOMB.

STRANGE DECORATIONS. A GRANDFATHER CLOCK. The Duke of Gloucester, British delegate to the coronation of Haila Silassie as Emperor of Ethiopia, and the delegates representing the other Powers laid wreaths on November 3 on the tomb of the late Emperor Menelik 11., says the correspondent of the Daily Express' at Addis Ababa. The mausoleum is a building of small architectural interest, but its decorations are, to say the least of it, unusual. They include enlarged and coloured photographs as well as paintings of members of the Imperial family, artificial flowers, a number of inexpensive ornamental vases, and a grandfather clock in fumed oak ! The stone coffin of the emperor, which lies in a vault of white marble, wan covered with wreaths, most of them composed of flowers which had been grown in the Legation gardens. A feast for 20.000 Abyssinians, at which the chief delicacy was raw beef, was an outstanding ceremony of the festivities in connection with the coronation of the emperor. The guests were fed in relays of 5,000 each, and some disorderly scenes occurred outside the enclosure in which the banquet, given by the emperor, was served, when a scramble for places occurred. Guards, using small whips freely, restored order among the surging multitude, and the feast proceeded with decorum. , To Europenfi eyes the feast presented a bizarre sight. r J lie chief course was the raw beef, which is known as " broundo," and is highly prized by Abyssinians. In accordance with the best manners of the country, the guests held large pieces of this " broundo " in their left hands, and, taking a bit©, cut upwards to sever the mouthful with sharp knives. It needs a practised hand to do this without damage to the nose.