MASSAGETAE  , an

ancient warlike people described by Herodotus (i . 203-216; iv . 22, 172) as dwelling beyond the Araxes (i.e. the Oxus) in what is now Balkh and Bokhara . of Egypt . The Turks were reinstated about 1850, but in 1865 they handed the island back to Egypt for an annual tribute of 22 million piastres . In February 1885 Massawa was occupied by an Italian force, the Egyptian garrison stationed there being withdrawn in the November following (see EGYPT; ITALY; ABYSSINIA) . The port was the capital of the Italian colony until 1900 when the seat of administration was removed to Asmara (see ERITREA) . For a description of the town in 1769 see the Travels of James Bruce . At that time the governor, though appointed by the Turks, paid one half of the customs receipts to the negus of Abyssinia in return for the protection of that monarch .