This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project
to make the world's books discoverable online.
It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject
to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books
are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.
Marks, notations and other maiginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the
publisher to a library and finally to you.
Usage guidelines
Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing tliis resource, we liave taken steps to prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying. We also ask that you:
+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for personal, non-commercial purposes.
+ Refrain fivm automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.
+ Maintain attributionTht GoogXt "watermark" you see on each file is essential for in forming people about this project and helping them find additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.
+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liabili^ can be quite severe.
About Google Book Search
Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web
at|http: //books .google .com/I
556.
3
OBSERYATIONS
02V THS
GEOLOGY AND ZOOLOGY OF ABYSSINIA.
;!
> I
■♦
ii
..^
Qg.
VATIONS
LOGY AND ZOOLOGY
OF
ABYSSINIA,
MADE DURING THE PBOGRESS OF THE BRITISH EXPEDITION TO THAT COUNTRY IN 1867-68.
BY
W. T. BLANFORD,
AstociaU of the Roffol School of Jtfm»; FeJlow of Hyt GvAoqicaX Society of London :
C^yrrtsponding Member of the Zoological Society of London, awl of the Isie, Dresden :
Deputy Superintendent of tJhe Geological Survey of India ;
LATC OJEOLOOIBT TO THE ABYaSINIAM EXPEDITION.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND GEOLOGICAL MAP.
• »
• • < « a
• •
» •
• • . •
* - * V »
MACMILLAN AND CO.
1870.
/7^ if/^j*/ <f/' Translation and Rfjyrnduction is re9frvtA,\
/
,. 0
f ^
^cjb
OBSEBVATIONS
G^LOGI AND ZOOLOGY
k
OF
ABYSSINIA,
MADE DUBING THE PB0GBE8S OF THE BRITISH EXPEDITION TO THAT COUNTBY IN 1867-68.
BY
W. T. BLANFORD,
AuoeiaU ofthsRoffol Schcol cf mS^; Fellow ofthi GtoVoffical SoeUty of London/
CoTre$ponding Membtr of the Zoological Society of London, and of the Iti$, Dntden ;
Deputy SuperinUndejU of (A« Geological Survey of IndAa ;
LATS OBOLOOIBT TO THE ABTSSIMIAM EZPKDITION.
4W
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND GEOLOGICAL MAP.
< • « » » ■• •
* t, â– '
bonbon : MACMILLAN AND CO.
1 870.
[The Right of Traiulafion and XejrriKhieHon is rrterved.]
3()9^H)3
U>ND«>N :
R. CLAY, soys, AND TAVI/)R, I'RrNTKKS,
DRKAD STRKET HIT.L.
• • •
• _ _
PEEPACE
The present work contains an account of the Geolo- gical and Zoological Observations made by the author in Abyssinia, when accompanying the British army on its march to Magdala and back in 1868, and during a short journey in Northern Abyssinia, after the departure of the troops.
The book is divided into three parts. The first of these contains a brief description of the journey, and of some of the principal Geological and Zoological features of the countries visited. The second part is devoted to Geology ; it comprises a brief notice of the observations made by previous explorers, a general account of the formations examined, and a few remarks on the geolo- gical configuration of the country. The third part con- tains the Zoological observations, and consists of an enumeration of the various animals collected, with remarks on their habits, distribution, &c., preceded by a
tl PREFACE,
short account of the principal works on Abyssinian Zoology hitherto published, and some brief obsen^ations on the relations and distribution of the Abyssinian fauna. A few species of Vertebrata which appear to have escaped the researches of previous explorers are described and figured.
In the map compiled by Messrs. Stanford and Co. which accompanies the Geological part, an attempt has been made to represent the physical features of the Abyssinian highlands in a more definite manner than has previously been done, and to distinguish between the great eastern scarp of the plateau and the minor irregularities of its surface.^
Although the time spent in Africa by the author was only eight months, the advantages which he enjoyed in consequence of being especially deputed by the Indian Government enabled him to make a con- siderable series of observations in both the branches of science to which his attention was directed, and to obtain a valuable collection, comprising more than 1,600 specin^ns of Vertebrata alone, representing about 360 species, besides Mollusca, and a few Articulata.
The time which has elapsed since his return from Abyssinia to India in September 1868, has been prin-
1 This has been done at the miggestion of Mr. Trelawny Saunders, and in a great measurer by his aid.
PREFACE. vii
cipally devoted to the examination and comparison of these collections. The Government of India has not only most liberally relieved him from his duties on the Greological Survey, in order to enable him to prepare the present work, but has also permitted him to com- plete the same in England, in order to afford him access to the museums and libraries of Europe.
The Government of Bombay, under whose orders the writer was acting whilst in Abyssinia, and for some time subsequently, has also afforded him every facility and aid.
CONTENTS.
PAET I.
PAQB
Pkrsonal Narratitk 1
PART II.
GEOLOGY, Introduction 143
ncnoif
I. — Physical Geography of Abyssinia, and its Relations to the
Geology, with Remarks on DenudatioM and on Lake
Ashangi 151
II. — List of Geological Fonnations 163
III. — Metamorphics 164
rV.—Adigrat Sandstones 170
V. — Antalo Limestones 176
VI. — Trappean Series 181
VIL — Aden Series of Volcanic Rocks 190
VIII. — Recent Formations 194
Appendix. — Descriptions of the New Species of Fossils from the
Antalo Limestone 199
h
CONTENTS.
PART III. ZOOLOGY.
PAOI
Introduction 207
Mammalia 222
AvES 286
Rbptilia 444
Pisces 460
mollusoa 462
Index 479
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
LITHOGRAPHS.
To fam paQ9
View of the Amba or Hill-Fort op Daoa, and of the neioh- BouRiNo Mountains, taken from the British Camping- Ground AT Belago Coloured, Frontispiea
Geological View of the Portion of Abyssinia traversed by the British Expedition in 1868, from Anneslet Bat to Magdala, and of the Country between Massowa and the Anseba Valley Coloured, 143
PLATK
I. — 1. Gazella DORCAS. 1». DiTTo ♦. 2. G. Bennetti.
3. G. ARABiCA. 4. G. subgutturosa. 5. G. Spekei.
5*. Ditto ? 261
II. — HiRUNDO iETHiopicA (W. Blanf.) Coloured, 347
III. — 1. Eremomela griseo-flava (TIeugl.) . . . . \
[Coloured, 365 2. Phylloscopus abyssinicus (W. Blanf.) . . . )
IV. — Ruticilla(?) fuscicaudata (W. Blanf.) . . . Coloured, 369
V. — Pratincola semitorquata (Heugl.) Coloured, 366
VI. — Alauda PR.ETERMISSA (W. Blan£) Coloured, 388
VII. — Crithagra flavivertex (W. Blanf.) .... Coloured. 414
VIII. — 1. HeMICIDARIS ABYSSINICA. 2. MODIOLA IMBRICARIA (Sow.
var.), 3. Mytilus (?Modiola) tigrensis. 4. Pholadomya granulifera, 5. Pholadomya sublirata. 6. Ceromya faucilirata 199
PART I.
PERSONAL NARRATIVE
I .'
I
CONTENTS.
PART III. ZOOLOGY.
PAOI
iNTRODUcrriOK 207
Mammalia 222
AvES 285
Rbptilia 444
Pisces 460
mollusoa 462
Index 479
^
PART I.
PERSONAL NARRATIVE
B
xu
LIST OF WOOD ENQRAFINOS,
WOOD ENGRAVINGS.
FULL-PAGE. To /act
PLAn pay
I. — View or the British Camp at Senate, from tue North 35
II. — View of the Hamas Valley, west of Senafe .... 41
III. — View of the Plateaux and Valleys west of Fokada . 57
IV. — View of Lake Ashanqi, from the North 77
VIGNETTES.
TAOR
Secdon of Trach^'te, Sandstone, and Metamorphic Beds 42
Section of the Halai and Asawat Plateaux 50
Section of Belations between Trap, Limestone, Sandstone, and Meta-
morphics, near Dongolo 172
The Head and Horns of a young Female Rhinoceros 244
The Horns, with a portion of the Skull, of an adult Female Rhinoceros,
with the back view of the hinder Horn 245
Sections of the Agama aunectans 447
Sections of the La^/?rfa MZTii^arica 451
Sections of the Laccrta Sturti 463
Sections of the Acanthodactylus mucronatus 454
PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
I LEFT Bombay harbour for Abyssinia on the 4th of December, 1867, in the good ship Bucentaur, C-aptain Babot, one of the large floet of transports engaged by the Government for the expedition. At the first notice of the expedition being ordered, in the middle of August, I had applied to the Government of India to be allowed to accompany it as geologist, an application which was immediately granted ; but, owing to the large staff of officers urgently required at the seat of war, and the comparatively small number of vessels which were started in October and November, I was not able to obtain a passage earlier. The vessel in which I sailed carried commissariat " followers," — clerkp, bakers, butchers, dhooly-bearers, &c., from all parts of India, Parsees from Bombay, Mahrattas from the Dekkan, Teloogoos from the Northern Circars, Tamuls from Madras, and Hindustanis from the North-west Provinces, under the command of Major Bardin, the chief of the excellent
b2
rOFAGE TO ANNESLSr BAY^JDEN. 5
off Cape Fartak, I shot a peregrine falcon. The next day another falcon, probably also a peregrine, alighted on the rigging, but I failed to secure it, and it flew away to seaward.
Our vessel lay at Aden for a day and a half, taking in a supply of water. I had one ramble amongst the barren volcanic hills, and, rather to my surprise, found two land, shells, the widely-spread Pupa insularis^ Ehr. (P. pulla or Bulimv3 puUtiSy Gray), which ranges from the Red Sea to India, and which is even found in the Irawady valley, near Ava ; and a variety of Bulimics lahiosiis, MiilL The shells found were dead, and it is not easy to conceive upon what the living molluscs subsist, since the spot at which I found them, far up the sides of the mountain, is utterly destitute of vegetation.
All the rocks around Aden harbour are of volcanic origin, as are indeed, so far as is kno^vn, all the hills along both shores of the southern part of the Red Sea. These hills are frequently isolated by plains of sand ; to the north of Aden such a plain extends for from thirty to forty miles, far beyond Lahej. That the Aden hills consist of the remnant of one or more volcanic cones is amply evident, and the hollow in which the cantonment is built is usually spoken of as " the crater ;" but whether it be really in the position of the ancient vent is by no means certain, the rocks having been so greatly removed by denudation that it is very difficult to form any opinion as to the original form of the cone.
Aden is so well known to every Anglo-Indian that any remarks upon its geology or fauna may be
PERSONAL NAURATirE.
m • • _ •
.'.'• commissariat officers cletaclicd by the Madras Govern- ment to the aid of the hai-dly-pressed Bombay Commis- sariat, and an old friend of my own, our acquaintance having begun many years before in the remote regions of Upper Pegu.
We had a very pleasant and most uneventful sail of ten days to Aden. The pace was in general too good for a towing-net to be used ; but, after some diffi- culty, and the loss of several nets, I succeeded to some extent, and obtained three species of lanthina (/. fragilisy var. roseola^ Rv., L glohosay and /. bifida), two of Ilyalcea {11. luicinata and //. loiigi- rostris), Styliola cormfo)*mis, and some of the peculiar embryonic forms Sinmigera or Cheletropu and Mac- gillivraya. Two species of Litiopa and an Atlanta were also captiu'cd.
Numerous peculiar forms of Crustacea were taken, besides endless Velellw and PorpitcB. It was curious to note how the two latter and the floating lanthincB were distributed, as it were in patches, over the surftice of the ocean, especially towards the entrance of the Gulf of Aden : frequently after passing for hours almost without seeing any, the vessel would traverse for some miles a tract abounding with floating life.
The Indian Ocean is singularly poor in birds. Tropic, or, as the sailors call them, boatswain birds {Phaeton ruhricauda), were the only kind commonly seen. A nightjar came on board about half-way between Bombay and Aden, of a species which I could not identify ; and when about forty or fifty miles from land,
VOYAGE TO ANNESLEY BAY-^AJUSE, 7
I landed the next day on Ajus6 with some difficulty, the boat being nearly capsized in the breakers. The island is quite flat, not more than twenty or thirty feet above high-water mark, and composed of a calcareous rock formed by the consolidation of blocks of coral and shells. The edges are quite vertical and cliff'-like, although of course only twenty or thirty feet high ; a shoal, over which there are only two or three feet of water at low tide, runs out for a varying distance, from a few yards to a quarter of a mile, and terminates abruptly. Outside the reef the water is generally about ten to twelve fathoms in depth. Other islands in the neighbourhood have precisely the same formation. On the flat stony surface of the island stunted bushes are thinly scattered, and afibrd sustenance to some of the most miserable-looking goats it was ever my fate to set eyes upon, dwarfed in sfciture, wretchedly thin, and, apparently without exception, affected with chronic catarrh.
On the evening of December 21st, two steamers came in from Bombay and Aden, each with a ship in tow, and next morning one of the steamers took our vessel also, and all started for our destination, which we reached in the evening. The course lay round the Buri peninsula, through comparatively narrow channels be- tween coral islands similar to Ajus6, until turning sharply to the south, we entered the great lake-like expanse of Ghubbet Daknoo, or Annesley Bay, as it was named by Lord Valentia, through the narrow eastern channel between the little gneiss island of Dissee and
H PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
thought superfluous. Yet, like many places frequently visited, it is very rarely, if ever, carefully examined, and its fauna especially might be much more completely ascertained with advantage. Except Neophrons, kites, and a few crows {?Corvi(s umhrinus), the only other common birds about the hill in December were Sdxicola {Cercoviela) melanura and another Saxicola, doubtless S. isahellina. I also saw a crag martin {Cotyle rupestris). We left Aden on the evening of the 16th December, and early the next morning ran with a fair wind through the "Gate of Weeping" into the Red Sea. In the evening of the 18th we were off Amphila, but light winds setting in, we only reached the flat coral islands of Ajus^, forty miles further, on the 20th. Here we found two or three other vessels waiting to be towed to the anchorage at Annesley Bay, while H.M.S. Star was lying in apparently most unpleasant proximity to the breakers, though really in deep water; the officers and crew being busily engaged in completing a temporary lighthouse. Another had already been finished nearer to the entrance into Annesley Bay. A singular circum- stance had taken place a day or two before we arrived. A small boat fix>m the ship had attempted to anchor close to the island, when the anchor was seized and the boat dragged violently along by an enormous fish ; evi- dently, from the men's description, a huge ray. Whetlicr the anchor had caught in the fish, or whether the latter had swallowed the anchor, could not be told. To save the boat the men on board were obliged to cut the rope attached.
ANNKSLEr BJr. 9
mass, of wLicli the greater portion bas been removed by denudation.
An account of one or two short excursions made from the camp may serve to give a slight idea of the country around the bay, and its fauna. On the 28th December J joined a small shooting-party, consisting of Captain Daniels of the Transport Train, Captain Chrystie of the Engineers, and Lieutenant Protheroe of the Madras Sappers. We left at nightfall in a small Arab boat for the head of the bay, about eight or ten miles distant. It was a calm night when we started, but a strong wind sprang up, and we w^ere obliged to anchor ojBf the oppo- site shore, with an uncomfortably rough sea. Our boat's cables, however, were none of the best : two parted, one after the other ; the waves meantime, to make matters pleasant, breaking on some rocks just astern of us ; and after drifting nearly into the breakers, our Arab crew, with that amount of noise which only Orientals can make when they consider themselves in danger, suc- ceeded in getting up sail and beating oflf. We tacked about until daylight. In the morning we had to wade, more than waist-deep, to the shore ; however, we suc- ceeded in landing our guns, and found ourselves on a very rocky coast quite at the bottom of the bay. There were no cliffs of any height, but black basaltic masses rose forty or fifty feet from the sea in most places, here and there receding into little sandy bays, with patches of mangrove bu&hes. In one of these we landed, and as soon as we could started inland in search of game.
8 PKHSOSAL NJHRATirt:.
the volcanic mass of the Buri peninsula. The bay is well known as one of the most lovely spots in the Red Sea. Hills rise around it on all sides, and, to the westward, range towei-s over range in the gi-eat scaip of the Abyssinian highlands. The coast is fringed by rich green bushes, giving a deceptive appcaiance of fertility.
It is unnecessary to dwell upon our landing, or to describe the camp of Malkatto or ZuUa, with its dust and flies, its polyglot inhabitants, its vast energy, and its busy, excited population. All its peculiarities have been related by abler pens, and I would rather refer to the excellent letters of Dr. Austin in the TimeSy and of Mr. Shepherd in the Times of India , and to the descrip- tions in Mr. C. Markham's " Histor}'- of the Abyssinian Expedition," and other published accounts, than attempt to repeat what would ceitainly not, at this time, have the merit of novelty. I remained in ZuUa and its neighbourhood until the 1 0th of January, making a few excursions ; and on this and subsequent occasions I had a fair opportunity of studying the rocks and fiiuna of the surrounding country. The camp itself stood upon an extensive sandy plain of alluvial origin, which ex- tends for several miles along the coast, and inland as far as the base of the gi-eat ranges, interru])ted, however, here and there, by small craggy hills. Two of these ai-e about two miles south of the spot occupied by the camp, and consist of a succession of lava flows and scoriaceous ash beds, much disturl)cd and very irregular in dip, being evidently merely the remains of a large volcanic
ANNESLEr BArSUOOTIXG EXCURSION. \ 1
ouly one was kiUed. We also saw numerous traces of wild elephants, but tliey were said only to visit this part of the country after the spring rains.
Passing over a little rocky range of basaltic hills and traversing some stony ground, we entered another small plain, on which the bushes were less thick, and saw a numerous herd of a kind of large gazelle {Gazella Soemmeringil) y of which two bucks soon fell to our rifles. They were fine animals, equal in size to the common antelope of India, but with longer legs. Both males and females had rather short lyre-shaped horns.
It was now getting hot, and we had shot over some miles of ground, so we began to return towards our boat. On our way, however, which lay over undulating, rocky ground, we met with new kinds of game. Several Beni Israel {Neotragus saltianus), one of the very smallest antelopes known, a most elegant animal, of an ash-grey colour on the back, passing into rufous on the flanks and legs, and white beneath, and short straight horns in the male only, ran out from the bushes like hares, but at fai- greater speed. I saw a few red- wattled lapwings (Sarcioj)Jiorus tectus), and a large flock of painted sand grouse (Pterocles Liclitensteini). While scrambling over the rocks close to the shore I suddenly startled a number of little animals about the size of small rabbits, which scuttled over a pile of stones and hid in the crevices. I rolled one over, and on picking him up recognised a small hyrax, one of the most sin- gular mammals known, with the body of a rabbit, the head of a marmot, no tail, and the dentition of a rhino-
10 PERSOXJL NJRRATirE
We had not left the sliore before one of the men with us descried a pig, and stalking up 1 caught sight of a beast certainly more curious than beautiful. A pair of immense tusks issued from a huge misshapen head, with great knobs protruding at the side, and a dispropor- tionately broad muzzle. The body was not unlike that of other wild pigs, except that the tail was longer, with a larger tuft of hair at the end. A bullet rolled him into the bottom of a ravine for the moment, but he ultimately escaped, his courage being evidently by no means equal to his highly ferocious appearance. It was an -Mian's wart-hog {Phacochcerus ^liani), a form of pig peculiar to the African continent, and bearing a most comical resemblance to a hippopotamus in its enormously broad head.
Shortly after a small herd of five or six smaller wart- hogs passed near us. They kept in single file, with their tails straight in the air. We then turned up a nearly level plain, covered with bushes and thorny acacia trees, and soon came upon an abundance of smaller game. A large partridge, with the skin of the throat naked, and of a bright red or orange colour {Pternestes ruhricollis)^ rose in coveys. Two or three hares, with veiy Large ears and long legs, but small bodies {Lepus cegyptlus)^ were turned up imd shot. The next game which appeared was a large flock of guinea-fowl with blue wattles {Numida 2>tilorhync]ii), about two hundred in number, which however ran ahead of us, keeping out of shot, until we succeeded in surrounding them amongst some bushes. Several bustards {Otis Arabs) were seen, but
ANNESLEY BAY— FAUNA, 13
alha and Budytes melanocephala), wliite-breasted crows {Corvus scapulatxis), kites {Milvvs migrans), the small red-headed vulture {Neophron pileatus), and the scavenger vulture (iV. percnoptents). A little gi-een bee-eater {Merops viridissimus), very closely resembling the bird so abundant in India, was common in the mangroves on the shore ; and at the hot spring of Atzfut I obtained the handsome red M. nuhicus. The shore abounded with gulls (Lcirus fuscuSy L. Hemprichii, L. leucophthahnusy &c.), pelicans (P. phillipensis), terns of several species, ring plovers, curlews, egrets, stints, and sandpipers, and flocks of Dromas ardeola were not uncommon. It will not a little surprise an ornithologist to observe that several of the birds mentioned are comparatively rare species, much less known than those of the less accessible Abyssinian highlands.
Farther inland, amongst the thorny acacia trees, the fauna was more varied. A most lovely little Nectarinia {N. hcdjessimca, H. and E.) was fre- quently seen, but at this season was the only species met with. The red-breasted bush shrike {Laniarius cruentatus), the long-tailed robin (Cercotrichas erythrop- teru8)y the black-tailed chat {Cercomela melanura), a weaver bird {Hyplmntornis galbtda), and two species of avadavats {Pytelia citerior and Estrelda rliodopyga)^ were some of the kinds most frequently seen.
Mammals were not numerous. Hyaenas were con- stantly heard at night ; they frequently came into the camp, and occasionally attacked the mules. I never saw one close to the coast in daylight, but I believe that the
12 PERSONAL NARRATIVE,
ceros, to which utterly dissimilar animal, strange to say, this little " dweller amongst the rocks " has been found to be closely allied. To what particular species the specimen (the only one shot by me in the immediate vicinity of Annesley Bay) belongs, it is rather difficult to say ; but I shall enter into the subject in the part especially devoted to Zoology.
We re-entered our boat, and beat slowly back to the camp against a light sea-breeze. Soon after our visit it became generally known that game abounded at the head of the bay, and, in consequence, so many shooting- parties visited the spot that the animals became too wild to allow any one to approach within a reasonable distance.
For several days I remained at the Malkatto camp, and occupied myself in collecting specimens of birds, &c. The most common land birds were larks, chats, and shrikes. Of larks, no less than four species were com- mon, Galerita cristata, Caleiidrella hrachyductyla^ Cer- ihilauda desertorum, and, perhaps most abundant of all, a pretty little finch-like Pyrrhulavda (P. melanauchen^ Cab.). Two SaxicolcB abounded, S. deserti and S. isabel- Una. Two shrikes also were common ; and, singularly enough, both appear to belong to species hitherto almost overlooked : the one a variety or local race of the Indian Laniiis lahtora, for which Dr. Finsch proposes the name of L. fallax, aud the other, the rare L. isdbeU Unas of Hemprich and Ehreuberg. A small DrymcBca {D. gracilis, Elipp.) hid itself amongst the bushes. The oidy other common laud birds were wagtails {Motacilla
MAIWII TO UADODJ. 15
not uucommon, but, as is the wont of tlie group to which it belongs, it was much more solitary in its habits than its congener. It is almost identical with the common "chinkara" or "ravine deer" of -India {Gazella Bennetti).
The only common reptiles were a small lizard (a species of Acanthodactylus), and a very venomous little viperine snake {Echis arenicoki), several of which were killed in the camp, and which were at one time so pre- valent that it is surprising no accidents occurred from their bite. All seen by me were, however, too small to have rendered it probable that they could have caused death to a man. Their presence in the camp, though decidedly objectionable, was not much noticed amongst the rather numerous annoyances which life at Zulla entailed.
On the 1st January, 1868, I rode over to Hadoda, sixteen miles distant to the westward, at the entrance of the Haddas ravine, up which one of the best- known passes leads to Halai, Dixa, and Takonda or Degonta, on the Abyssinian highlands. Water occurs here, and the post, together with another, four miles further north, at Ooah or Wia, had been occupied by strong detachments of the 3d Bombay Cavalry, the majority of whom, however, in consequence of great mortality amongst their horses, had already been re- moved to the highlands, leaving only a small guard of dismounted sowars in charge of the commissariat stores, tents, &c. Major Bardin having been sent to arrange about the removal of surplus stores, I accompanied him.
14 PERSONAL NARIijrirK.
spotted species (//. crocnta) Wiis that most prevalent. //. stinata is also said to occur. Jackals were common enough, but by some singular fiitality I could never succeed in securing a specimen. When on horsel>ack without a gun, 1 have often passed within a few yai-ds ; but when looking for specimens, I rarely saw more than a tail retreating at full speed amongst the bushes fifty yards away. All I can state of the kind is tliat it is quite different from the jackal of India, and also from that of the Abyssinian highlands, being a nmch more slightly-built animal, witli longer legs and a mucli greyer colour. The cry, too, is very distinct It is probably Canis riparius of Hemprich and Ehrenberg; but species of jackals, like cats, IL/races, and many other animals, have been confused by naturalists, many of whom only know them in the form of dried skins, to an extent which renders identification difficult. I once obtained a fine wild cat {F. maniculata), which took refuge in the camp amongst a pile of pack- saddles, and was caught, singularly enough, on one of the hooks intended for holding the loads. Hares were common until they met their fate at the hands of the British soldier and his dog, and the only mammals except the hyaenas and jackals which profited by tlie British occupation were some small bright iTifous jerboa mice, with very long hind legs, which found unwonted supplies of food in the commissariat stores, and increased and multiplied until the ground around the huts and tents was riddled with their holes. Besides the large Soemmer- ing's gazelle previously mentioned, the Dorcas gazelle was
HALODA^BABOONS. 1 7
wonder that the men were not sanguine. They had lost their horses by the epidemic which at that time raged amongst the arrimals, and they were left isolated, whilst their fellow-soldiers had proceeded to the front No human being has fewer resources in himself than the native of India. Many of them were suffering from fever, mainly caused, I expect, by disgust They were removed and sent to the front shortly after.
On rising the next morning I saw a singular spectacle. A large troop of baboons, at least 200 in number, were hunting for any corn dropped upon the ground in the place where the horses had been picketed. They were the first I had seen, though the sight of these uncouth monkeys soon became familiar enough. The species (Cynocephalics hamadryas) is the well-known dog-faced baboon of North-eastern Africa and Arabia, the same which is frequently represented on Egyptian monuments. The male is a most formidable-looking animal, something between a lion and a French poodle in appearance, with long hair over his shoulders and foreparts. The day before they had come into the commissariat enclosure, and commenced pilfering the grain.
The road from Hadoda to Wia was uninteresting. It traversed an undulating plain of metamorphic rocks, with thin jungle of thorny acacia trees. On the next day I returned to ZuUa, but before doing so I climbed a high hill close to Hadoda, in order to make out, so far as possible, the general strike of the rocks, which, as is commonly the case in metamorphic countries, especially where the dip is low, appeared irregular. On my way
16 PERS(h\JL NARRJTirE.
The road was pretty well marked across the plain, through a narrow gorge between basalt rocks, where the Haddas has cut its way through the little spur of volcanic beds stretching south from the Gadam range, and thence along the dry sandy watercourse, to the base of the hills. Along the banks of this watercourse are some -fine tamarisk trees, aflFording shelter to numerous
•
bulbuls {Pycnoiiotus arsinoe), hombills {Tockus ery- throrliynchus), barbets {Trachyphonus margaritatus)^ and other birds, whilst under their shade the red-throated francolins {Pternestes rtihincollis), Beni Israel antelopes, and hares abounded, and on the surrounding plain we saw a few of both kinds of gazelle. I shot a doe Soem- mering*s gazelle, and could have killed another, but; having no means of carrying the animal in, I let it go. At the base of the main mass of hills the road entered upon metamorphic rocks, and traversed a small gorge cut through them, in which, for the first time since land- ing on the African coast, our eyes were gladdened with the sight of running water, and immc^diately after we reached the camp at Hadoda.
It was far from a lively sight. A few very dusty tents were surrounded by a thoni fence, and some very miserable-looking Indian native troopers lounged about, backed by a huge herd of camels, the most helpless, stupid, and melancholy-looking of all the beasts of the universe. A dismounted dragoon is proverbial, and certainly a dismounted sowar, if those who garrisoned the posts at Hadoda and Wia be taken as fair specimens, is not an improvement on the European prototype. No
HALODA^BABOONS. 1 7
wonder that the men were not sanguine. They had lost their horses by the epidemic which at that time raged amongst the airimals, and they were left isolated, whilst their fellow-soldiers had proceeded to the front No human being has fewer resources in himself than the native of India. Many of them were suffering from fever, mainly caused, I expect, by disgust. They were removed and sent to the front shortly after.
On rismg the next morning I saw a singular spectacle. A large troop of baboons, at least 200 in number, were hunting for any corn dropped upon the ground in the place where the horses had been picketed. They were the first I had seen, though the sight of these imcouth monkeys soon became familiar enough. The species {Cynocephalus hctmadryas) is the well-known dog-faced baboon of North-eastern Africa and Arabia, the same which is frequently represented on Egyptian monuments. The male is a most formidable-looking animal, something between a lion and a French poodle in appearance, with long hair over his shoulders and foreparts. The day before they had come into the commissariat enclosure, and commenced pilfering the grain.
The road from Hadoda to Wia was uninteresting. It traversed an undulating plain of metamorphic rocks, with thin jungle of thorny acacia trees. On the next day I returned to Zulla, but before doing so I climbed a high hill close to Hadoda, in order to make out, so far as possible, the general strike of the rocks, which, as is commonly the case in metamorphic countries, especially where the dip is low, appeared irregular. On my way
c
1 8 PERSONAL NARRATIVE,
up the hill a small animal, apparently a squirrel which had lost part of its tail by accident, ran into a hole amonsrst some rocks before I could shoot it. As I was sitting down on the top of the hill taking some bearings, I saw another, and presently a third, all with equally short tails, on some very precipitous rocks, and creeping down cautiously I succeeded in shooting both ; but after having, with no small difficulty, climbed down a rather ugly piece of cliff to the spot, I could only find one. It was evidently no squirrel : its rather differently shaped head, singularly soft close fur, and short tail, which was evidently natural and not accidental, showed it to be some other animal ; and on comparing it afterwards with Mr. Blyth's description, I was delighted to find that I had rediscovered the rare rodent Pectinator Spekeiy first found by the late gallant and distinguished African traveller, after whom it is named, in his explora- tion of the Somali country in 1854.
The remainder of my stay in Zulla or Malkatto camp was principally occupied in collecting animals and ex- ploring the geology. Although there was no risk whatever in riding about the country, there was a great drawback in the difficulty of procuring water, and the necessity for horses to be in camp morning and evening, as otherwise they ran the risk of going without. The commissariat arrangements also, which necessitated the drawing up of a long document, as elaborate and formal as a mercantile invoice, before any rations could be obtained, involved a considerable loss of time at first.
QEOLOOICAL FEATURES OF ANNESLET BAY, \ 9
Before proceeding to describe any part of my subse- quent journey, a brief sketch of some of the geological features observed in the neighbourhood of the landing- place may be given.
The eastern shore of Annesley Bay appears to consist mainly^ if not entirely, of volcanic rocks. The island of Dissi, however, at the entrance of the bay, is entirely composed of metamorphics, the strike of which is nearly north and south.
The high range of Gadam, the peaks of which are about 3,000 feet above the sea, rises sharply from the west shore of the bay near its entrance, and is entirely composed of metamorphic rocks, with the same general strike as Dissi The hill is comparatively isolated, the usual road from Zulla to Arkiko passing behind it At the base of the main range of the Abyssinian highlands a few miles farther west, the rocks near Hadoda, at the entrance to the Haddas pass, consist of mica-schist and homblend schist. At Wia granitoid gneiss occurs. These rocks have a low dip to west-south-west, variable in amount, but not exceeding 30° or 40^
Between Hadoda and the southern portion of the Gadam range there is an alluvial plain covered with sand and gravel, evidently deposited by the torrents from the hills. Between this and the coast plain around Zulla a low spur extends for some miles from the south end of the Gadam range, composed of volcanic rocks, similar to those forming the low hills already mentioned near Zulla. Through these the Haddas torrent cuts a small gorge, with precipitous basaltic cliflfs of no
c3
20 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
great height on each side. The road from Malkatto to Hadoda passed, as already mentioned, through this gorge ; the beds intersected appear to be horizontal ; farther south, at the extreme end of the spur, they dip east at about 20^ but the dip is not constant, and there has been much disturbance. One stratum, a little north of the road from Zulla to Komayli, consists of soft lapilloB ; it is stratified, and presents the appearance of having been deposited from water, as it contains flakes of mica and fragments, rounded apparently, of volcanic ash. None of these hills present the appearance of having been parts of a distinct cone.
The plain formed by the alluvial deposits of the Had das, the Komayli stream, and another torrent further south, extends along the coast for about eight miles south of Zulla, as far as the hot spring of Atfd or Atzfut, which rises at the edge of a dense cluster of man- grove trees, close to the seashore. The water is brackish, but not sufficiently so to prevent its being drunk by animals. The rocks which here approach the shore are volcanic, and similar .beds skirt the hills for some dis- tance to the west Farther inland, gneissic rocks crop out, and the range along the edge of the bay to the southward, as far -as the Turkish outpost at Arafild, is composed of metamorphics. On one hill, south of Atzfut, trap rests upon the gneiss at some height above the base of the hill. At Arafild trap comes in again, a small alluvial plain intervening near the sea, on which, at the time of my visit, there was an immense herd, 400 or 600 in number, of the fine antelope Gazella Scemmer'
KOMAYLI— WATER-SUPPLY. 21
ingiiy which at first abounded around Zulla also, but was gradually extirpated or driven away. Just south of the Turkish military camp at Arafild is a very perfect volcanic cone, evidently of much later date than the two other volcanic hills. It is about 300 feet high, and com- posed mainly of fine volcanic ash.
On the 7th of January, at the desire of Colonel Wil- kins, I rode to Komayli, the first march on the road laid out to the highlands, to examine the water-supply. The road was similar to that to Hadoda, but much more dusty, in consequence of the traffic. Long strings of mules and camels, laden with stores of all kinds, were constantly to be seen going and returning. The railway was as yet in embryo, the first steam-engine being landed about this time. Komayli lies at the entrance of a better- defined gorge than that which debouches at Hadoda; and when the pioneer force first examined the locality, there was running water here also. This had disap- peared ; but wells of no great depth had been dug in the torrent bed, and the little American Norton's pumps, afterwards so largely used, had been employed for the first time. A brief examination of the wells convinced me that there was very little fear of the water failing ; and I was enabled to report most favourably on the prospects of what was, at the moment, one of the most important necessaries for the progress of the army. My report only confirmed that of the engineer officers, who had already examined the spot, and was fully borne out by the results. The wells at Komayli not only supplied amply the immense camp of both men and animals
22 PERSONAL NARRATIVE,
which was concentrated there, but had the campaign lasted longer, it was intended to have taken the water in pipes to Zulla.
The temperature of the water was remarkably high, so much so that I suspected part of the supply was derived from a hot spring. But all wells in this neigh- bourhood are singularly warm. In one which was sub- sequently dug by the Pimjab Pioneers, about six miles fix)m Zulla, the water was far hotter than at Komayli, and certainly much above the average temperature of the air. Coupling these facts with the presence of a hot spring on the shore at Atzfut abeady mentioned, and with that at Ailat to be subsequently noticed, it appears probable that nearly all the subterranean waters in the neighbourhood of Zulla and Massowa have an unusually high temperature; a fact perhaps connected with such evidence of geologically recent volcanic action as is afforded by the cone at Arafil^.
I rode back to Zulla the same evening. The Com- mander-in-chief, Sir Kobert (now Lord) Napier, had landed in the morning, and, on hearing my report, directed me to proceed to Mayen or Undul Wells, two marches beyond Komayli, and ascertain all I could con- cerning the water-supply there. The pass which had been selected for the road to the Abyssinian highlands consisted of a ravine running nearly north and south, or parallel to the general direction of the great scarp bordering the high country, from Komayli to Senaf^, a distance along the bed of the torrent of about fifty milea In two places, at Sum, twelve miles beyond Komayli,
KOMATLL 23
and at Rahaguddy, or, as it was more commonly called, Rereguddy, ten miles below Senafd, nmning water was found ; but between these two a march of twenty-nine miles intervened. In order to break this, a well had been dug by the engineers at a place called by the natives Mayen, but subsequently known in the army as Undul Wells (the Undul being a torrent which enters the main ravine a little above). My particular duty was to ascertain, as far as possible, the prospects of the water- supply at Mayen, and to inquire if it could be supple- mented in case of failure.
After some difficulty in obtaining mules, I started on the 10th, and rode across to Komayli. The next morn- ing I started up the pass, with Captain C. B. Smith, of the Commissariat, and Lieut. St. John of the Engineers, who had charge of the telegraph in course of construction. The latter is an excellent ornithologist, and both on this occasion and often subsequently gave me information and specimens.
Komayli, as already mentioned, lies at the spot where the long ravine ends, on the verge of tlie coast plain. The road, on leaving the camp, enters a valley, about half a mile broad at first, but much narrower afterwards, its bottom composed of a deposit of boulders, pebbles, and sand brought down by the torrent, upon which a tolerably dense vegetation has sprung up. The hills rise abruptly from the side ; they are entirely composed of metamorphic rocks. Close to Komayli, gneiss and mica- ceous schist, with garnets, are seen, the lamination dipping east on the south side of the ravine, and north-
24 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
east on the north, at a low angle. About three miles up the ravine its course, which has so far been nearly due west, turns suddenly to the south, and assumes the direction which, with many local changes, continues to Senaf^ ; and here the foliation of the gneiss rolls over, and dips first north-north-west and then west
The road at this time was only very imperfectly made. The process of road-making, by the various regiments employed, consisted in marking out a trace twenty feet broad, felling any trees which might be in the way, cutting down steep banks, and removing the boulders. The road thus formed was, of course, rather heavy, being often over gravel, but still a great improvement on the mere torrent bed. But in January a commencement only had been made, the whole efforts of the Sappers being devoted at first to rendering practicable such diflB- cult parts as the Sum defile. It was not always very easy to tell the road, as lateral valleys of considerable size sometimes entered the main one. The path, how- ever, was pretty well marked in general, and could usually be recognised by the carcases and skeletons of mules and camels scattered along it We passed several of the Shoho inhabitants of the country — uncouth-looking beings, mostly with bushy masses of hair transfixed by wooden or horn skewers, little or no beard, and a small quantity of very dirty cotton clothing. The women had invariably a leathern petticoat, frequently ornamented with cowrie shells. They were, if an}i;hing, more ill- favoured than their lords and masters. At a subse- quent period of the expedition, these people became
SHOnOS— FAUNA OF THE PASS. 25
80 far civilized as to dress themselves in an outer garment made of old gmmy bags, the coarse Indian fabric in which grain is packed. In January, such proofs of advanced civilization had not extended beyond ZuUa.
These people are genuine Arabs, their hands against every man's, arrant thieves and cut-throats, but still with some principle of honour. Owing to the influence Mr. Mimzinger had with them, he succeeded in inducing them — for payment, of course — ^not only to cease from plundering to a great extent, but to become carriers to the army ; and enormous quantities of commissariat stores were conveyed by them. Some petty pilfering, of course, took place, but, I am convinced, far less than was generally supposed.
There is no cultivation in or about the pass, so far as I saw. The people live mainly on the milk of their herds, and on " durra " or millet {jawari) brought from the highlands. The cattle are small, but well formed and in good condition, all being humped, and having horns of moderate size spreading from the side of the head, not rising in a curve as in Indian humped cattle. The goats are rather fine, the males being magnificent patriarchal fellows, with grand twisted horns two feet and upwards in length.
The faima in the lower portion of the pass was not remarkable. Vultures, of course, abounded, and I once or twice saw a lammergeyer {Gypaetos meridionalis), conspicuous by bis pointed wings and tail and great size. The most interesting novelty to me was a kind of
26 PERSON AL NARRATIFR
ground squirrel {Xeriis rutilics, Riipp.), of which we saw several together running over the rocks. It has rather long, coarse, harsh, almost bristly hair, and a fine bushy tail.
About six or seven miles from Komayli we met a native of India with a camel and a mule, who com- plained of having been robbed by two Shohos. The thieves had run into a small ravine close by, and we immediately afterwards saw them climbing up the rocks. I slipped a couple of bullet-cartridges into my breech- loader, but my companions begged me not to shoot the thieves, and I felt no particular inclination to draw the first blood in the campaign, so I contented myself with frightening the Shohos by sending five or six bullets as near to their heads as I could without risk of hitting them. I was rather glad I had let them oflF when I found that the whole plunder consisted of a small bag of rice, which, of course, they had to abandon in their flight.
About ten miles from Komayli the ravine suddenly contracted, owing to the greater hardness of the rocks, and we entered the magnificent gorge known as the Sum pass. Here the formation consists of a very hard, massive rock, chiefly composed of felspar and quartz; almost all trace of foliation is lost in general, but where it can be made out, it is generally nearly vertical The water, which in other parts of the ravine runs beneath the gravel, is brought to the surface, and forms a little stream containing small fish. The bed of the torrent consists of immense blocks of rock, some of which were
KOMAYLI PASS^SUR U. 27
being removed by blasting, whikt over others a ramp was made to carry the road. A large number of Bombay Sappers and Beloochees were occupied in this work, and the narrow gorge resounded with the hum of voices and the ring of hammers and crowbars, as it had certainly never done before since the torrent first cut it out of the solid rock.
On each side of the ravine rose steep beetling clifis to a great height. They are in most places quite inaccessible, and on one occasion, in May, towards the close of the expedition, a flood came down from the highlands, and some mules and men were swept away.
We reached the top of this gorge, and foimd the camp at Suru, with the Beloochees under Major Bevill. It was in a narrow cramped space, and uncomfortably hot in the middle of the day. The lovely little Nectarinia habessinica abounded in some small trees, and numerous Hyraces inhabited the rocks around. I here also again came upon Pectinator Spekei^ the peculiar rodent first seen at Hadoda.
The next morning Dr. Boustead, of the Beloochees, who had been out to look after elephants, returned, having killed two in a valley about ten miles away to the east- ward. I was busy skinning two or three squirrels and other animals which I had shot the day before, and did not start tiU mid-day. Owing to the reports of Shoho thieving, I did not like to leave my mules alone, and accompanied them. Soon their wretched condition began to telL One fell, and I transferred the greater part of the load to my horse ; then another dropped ; and finally.
28 PERSONAL NARRATIVE,
after endless delay, I only reached the camp at Mayen or Undul Wells aft;er nightfall.
A great change took place in the fauna on this part of the road. Sum is 2,000 feet alvove the sea, Undul Wells about 3,400, and the sub-tropical fauna is entered, con- taining some of the animals peculiar to the Abyssinian highlands. Instead of the white-breasted crow of Zulla, a black, short-tailed bird {Co'nms affinis) occurred. It is very raven-like ; indeed, it is classed as a raven by some naturalists. A king crow (Dicrurus divaricattts)^ a very noisy yellow-billed hombiU {Tockus jlavirostris)^ a crate- ropus (C leiLCopygius), a large partridge (Francolinus JErkelii), and a very handsome bee-eater (Merops Lcifre&nayi) were conspicuous.
The next morning was devoted to the wells. Two had been dug in the gravel of the torrent bed, and Lieut. Le Mesurier, an old acquaintance, who was in charge, was busily engaged enlarging and deepening them, and adapting one for a kind of chain-pump. The rocks at Mayen, though not quite so hard ad at Suru, are very massive and quartzose, striking north-north-west and dipping at a high angle to the westward. They consist of various kinds of gneiss and homblend schist, with quartz veins and a few greenstone dykes.
Our examination of the well was interrupted by the return of a corporal of Sappers, who had started for Senaf^, but after going about two miles, had been knocked oflF his mule by some Shohos, and both his mule and his rifle had been carried off". A chase was soon organized,
GUINEA-FOWL PLAIN. 29
but was fruitless ; neither mule nor rifle was ever seen again.
About a mile and a half up the ravine above Mayen, at a spot where several smaller valleys enter it, is a little plain, about a quarter of a mile across, and rather more than half a mile long, tenanted by many guinea-fowl when the pioneers of the army passed by, and hence always known as Guinea-fowl Plain. It is a flat, fonned of boulders and granite deposited from the streams, and covered partly with thick thorny bush-jungle, partly with a very prickly aloe-like plant. It was much haunted by wart-hogs, hyaenas, and Beni Israel, until, like the guinea- fowls, all, except the hyaenas, found their way into the camp cooking-pots, and served to eke out the tough beef of commissariat rations. Small as it is, this plain is the broadest piece of level ground met with in the paas, and from it a view is obtaiaed up some of the side valleys ; one of these, the Undul torrent already mentioned, ex- poses at its head some noble cliffs of saadstone, part of the scarp of a plateau near Takonda between the Haddas and Komayli valleys. Tliis small plain is also note- worthy as being the first place on the road to the high- lands, where that fine and remarkable euphorbiaceous plant, the kolqual, was met with. To Anglo-Indians this plant was perhaps less striking than to Europeans, as a closely allied species abounds in parts of the Bombay Presi- dency ; but the Indian plant is inferior in size and beauty.
It struck me that the base of these sandstone cliffs might be a very likely spot for a copious supply of water, and that it was at least worth the trouble to
30 PERSONAL NARRATIFE,
examine them. Inquiry from the Shohos was not satis- factory, especially when conducted, as in the present instance, through the medium of an Arab interpreter, who spoke very little Hindustani, and an old Shoho woman, who understood still less Arabic. However, having procured a guide, Le Mesurier and I started to explore the Undul valley, taking with us a small tent and a day's provisions on mules.
We had a most delightful and profitable ride, although the quantity of water found was small. For about six or eight miles we found a well-marked cattle-track leading up the torrent bed, at the sides of which were small flats, covered with fine acacia trees. Gradually the valley contracted, and the hiUs at the sides became higher, and in many places covered with huge tufts of coarse grass. At first these were all at a considerable elevation above our path, but we soon ascended to their level. The quantity was large, and the discovery — ^for it was a discovery — most important, since all forage had hitherto been brought from the seaboard, employing many mules, and, in fact, taking up a very large pro- portion of the carriage required for transporting pro- visions and stores to the highlands.^ The grass was coarse, but the mules, and even the horses, ate it ; and soon afterwards arrangements were made by Sir Robert
^ Although the mules were, at this time, very poorly fed, it was calculated that in going from the camp at ZuUa to Senaf^ and back they consumed more than half their load. I pointed out the grass in the Undul valley to Lieut Sturt, of the Transport Train, who brought it to the notice of the Commander- in-chief^ and was placed in charge of the arrangements for collecting it by means of Shohos.
UNDUL RAVINE. 31
Napier, by which all the camps in the pass were supplied from the locality discovered by us, and others in the neighbourhood, thus eflFecting an enormous gain in the carrying power of the transport animals.
A large number of birds which I had not previously seen made their appearance a little above 5,000 feet. Amongst these the most conspicuous was the Abyssinian plantain-eater {Turacus leucotis)y which flew from tree to tree, high above our heads for the most part, dis- playing its gorgeous crimson quill-feathers in its flight. I was somewhat surprised at seeing a green pigeon {Tver on abyssinica) in small flocks. The handsome francolin {K Erkelii ) was very abundant ; at almost every turn of the valley one or more" were seen, which on our approach ran into the bushes, or up the sides of the hills, rarely taking to flight. This francolin is a noble game bird, the male being at least equal to a pheasant in size. A few Beni Israel showed them- selves, and several Hyraces scampered away amongst the rocks; but four-footed animals were not numerous. A considerable change took place in the vegetation, two or three kinds of Ficus appearing, two of which were scarcely distinguishable from the peepul and banyan of India. The temperature also, towards evening, was decidedly cool.
Our Shoho guide had for some time persisted that there was no possible road, and that we should find no water; but, as there was an excellent cattle-track, we preferred seeing for ourselves, and at last he admitted that there was a very little water in one place. About
32 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
evening we emerged from the narrow valley we had been traversing, at the very base of the sandstone cliffs which had attracted om* attention in the distance, and found a small spring of excellent water. Of course this was of no practical value to the aimy ascending the pass: it was amply sufficient for our wants, however, and that of our animals, as well as supplying a Shoho village close by, the people from which brought us milk, and were very civil for Shohos. They called their village Undul — a name which has been applied to the camping-ground in the main pass, ten miles away.
The next day we attempted to climb the sandstone plateau. It was a most fatiguing ascent, through bushes and creepers, most of them thorny, and over very bad ground. We reached the sandstone, however ; but, finding that another long descent and ascent intervened, did not go on to the plateau. I afterwards found that this spot was near Azawat, nearly north of Takonda. The view was very extensive. Over the ranges which hem in the Senaf^ pjiss a portion of Armesley Bay and its eastern shore could be seen. The extreme horizon was misty; but, looking to the southward, it was just possible to distinguish a vast sandy expanse, with a peculiar whitish colour, the northern portion of the great salt plain near Amphila.
The metamorphic rocks extend for a long distance up the hiU, and are capped by about 500 feet of coarsfe white sandstone. They are much contorted, but preserve a general north and south strike. Close to the spring in the valley are some highly bituminous schists.
VALLEYS AROUND MAYEK 33
In tliis ramble I obtained a few land-shells, the first I had met with. There were not many kinds. Helix Dai^naudiy Vitrina liuppelliana, a single specimen of Bulimus Olivieriy and two small PupcB, were all I could find. They appeared more abundant on the upper parts of the hill-side.
We returned to our camping-groimd, and found it was too late to go back to Undul Wells that day, so deferred doing so till next morning. On reaching it, I found one of my horses ill with the diflease which had proved so fatal to the cavalry and baggage animals. For two or three days he was most dangerously ill, but at length recovered, and I subsequently used him throughout the campaign. Kum-and-water and quinine were the re- medies used. At first the horse objected to them ; but after a day or two he took a strong liking to grog, and swallowed his dose with the greatest satisfaction.
I spent three or four days in searching the side valleys around May en, and ascertaining the presence or absence of springs. Small quantities of water occur in several instances, usually at a place where a band of very hard compact rock crosses the valley, and causes a very small stream, w^hich elsewhere runs beneath the gravel at the bottom of the ravine, to appear at the surface. There is almost invariably a sudden drop in the valley at this spot, so that after rain there must be a waterfall, and in the dry season the water trickles slowly over the rocks. All the springs appear to contain carbonate of lime, which is deposited in immense masses of calcareous tufa.
34 PERSONAL NJRRATIFB,
One spot struck me as very remarkable. I followed a ravine which enters the main pass at Guinea-fowl Plain for about three miles. Some Shohos tried to turn me back, but, although I was alone, I was well armed, and found it convenient to misunderstand them. At length I reached a spot where the valley appeared absolutely to terminate. On one side was a precipice of granitoid gneiss about a hundred feet high, on the other a still liigher wall of tufa overhanging at the top. Down the granitic rock trickled the smallest of streams, sufficient, however, to attract numerous hamadryas monkeys, who sat on the rocks around. The tufa cliffs were the roost- ing-place of a large colony of Amydrtis Blythi, a rare bird, something like a starling with a long tail, black, with chestnut wings. In the evening these birds were flying around in considerable numbers, keeping up a constant chattering cry. I subsequently revisited the spot, and shot several specimens, to the consternation of the monkeys, who howled at me from the rocks above.
In Lieutenant Sturt, who arrived some days before at Undul Wells in charge of the transport train at that camp, I found a capital ornithologist, and we had many rambles together in search of birds. At a subsequent period the same officer took charge of one of my native collectors. The fauna of Undul Wells and its neigh- bourhood is very interesting, comprising several birds "which are found neither on the highlands nor on the sea- coast, such as two woodpeckers {Picus Hemprichii and P. nubicns)y a little barbet {Barhatula pusilla), and a
i
I
i
I '
PJSS BETWEEN UXDUL WELLS AND SENAFE, 35
wren {Oligocercvs micrurus)^ almost all of which I sub- sequently found in the Anseba valley.
On the 21st of January I rode up the pass to Senaf6. Except that the ravine gradually contracts, there is no great change in its appearance for some miles above Undul Wella The hill-sides become greener, and similar changes take place in the fauna and flora to those already noticed in the Undul ravine, plantain- eaterSy green pigeons, and other birds making their appearance. About Rahaguddy, at an elevation of 6,000 feeti the alteration is much greater. The mcta- morphic rocks have become much more slaty, a cha- racter which they maintain till beyond Senaf^. The road close to the camping-ground at Rahaguddy traverses a very narrow gorge with a small stream of water trick- ling through it, which stream, however, is not, like that at Suru, constant throughout the year.
Ascending beyond Eahagiiddy, the path traverses more open ground, the immediate sides of the ravine being lower and less steep, so that the hills beyond are visible. To the south tower the sandstone precipices of Mount Sowera; on all other sides are fine hills, of varying form, composed of metamorphic rocks, sandstone or trap, covered with forest, still thin, but much finer than that in the lower portion of the pass. Leaving at length the torrent bed, the road ascends through what was, in January, a wood of high juniper trees. Here I found a large party of the Punjab Pioneers engaged in making the cart road, which was finished soon after. It was afternoon, and the air was delightfully rool, even cold,
D '2
36 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
producing the exhilarating effect peculiar to a mountain atmosphere, and which is nowhere felt so thoroughly as within the tropics.
At the commencement of the ascent from the ravine, trachytic rock, approaching claystone in mineral cha- racter, appears, and continues nearly to the top of the scarp, where basalt replaces it. The trachyte is so much decomposed that it resembles argillaceous sandstone, and it was not till afterwards that I distinguished its real character. The opposite side of the ravine consists of metamorphic rocks, with, in one spot, an isolated block of sandstone.
I soon reached the top of the scarp, and found myself fairly on the highlands of Abyssinia. A broad flat open valley with some fine isolated hills on each side led to Senaf^, and I cantered pleasantly along a good even road. The ground around had been recently in cultivation. No villages were to be seen at first, but soon under the precipitous sides of the hills a number of flat terrace-like projections became visible, and these on a nearer approach proved to be flat-topped huts, the walls built of stones, and so closely resembling the hill-sides in colour that they might easily be taken for a portion of them. About two miles from the top of the pass the valley expanded into a plain dotted over with the white tents of the British camp. To the right hand, w^est of the camp, were a number of barren craggy hills of most singular form, apparently of sandstone, but really of claystone and trachyte. These hills will be described in a subse- quent page.
RETURN TO ZULU. 37
I only remained a night in Senaf6. It was bitterly cold, and in the morning the ground was white with hoar-frost. The next day I redescended the pass, examin- ing on my way several places, where small quantities of water were found. The supply was in no case sufficient to prove of much ser\'ice in supplementing the resources
of Undul Wells.
<
At Mayen I found much improvement. The well had been deepened, and an improved kind of chain pump (Brasyer's) substituted for the little American pumps (Norton's) which had hitherto been used. A careful test of the supply by Lieut. Protheroe and myself showed that the well could yield about 700 gallons an hour.
After a day or two spent at Undul Wells, I returned once more to the sea-coast. I had not been able to take any of my appliances for collecting skins, &c. with me, and had consequently left my native taxidermist with my tents at Zulla. On my way down I met Sir Robert Napier, who was on his road to the highlands, and I reported on the prospects of water-supply in the passes.
I found the camp at Zulla enormously increased in size. There were now about 10,000 troops encamped, and at least as many camp-followers of all kinds. A splendid fleet of upwards of 100 large ships and steamers lay at anchor in the roadstead. A large bazaar had been established, and shops filled with supplies of all kinds abounded. I found also that Dr. Cook, the meteorologist, had arrived from Bombay, bringing with
38 PERSONAL NJRRATIVK
him a second native taxidermist sent to me by Dr. Anderson, of the Indian Museum. The two men had collected a considerable number of birds, many of them of great interest.
With Dr. Cook I made another excursion of three days to the head of the bay, and obtained several moUusca and a few birds. The game had become very wild. For several days I occupied myself geologizing and collecting around Zulla. A change took place in the weather : a little rain fell, and the hills were covered with dense masses of clouds. We heard that heavy rain was falling almost daily about the lower portion of the pass. Meantime troops and stores were being rapidly pushed on to the front, and the camp was once more diminishing in size.
It was not till the 12th February that I could obtain carriage with which to start again for the highlands, and even then it was with great difficulty that I could manage to take with me sufficient stores for collecting. I remained two days at Komayli, where a considerable change had taken place, grass having sprung up and the trees put forth fresh leaves. The only conspicuous change in the fauna, however, was the presence in large numbers of the black Abyssinian crow {Corvus affinis), which, a month before, I had not met with below Undul Wells. Subsequently, several kinds of birds immigrated, many of which were still to be found in May.
Rain fell so heavily on the road from Komayli to Suru that my camels could not get on, and remained out all night. This necessitated another day's halt. At Undul
RE- ASCEND TO THE HIGHLANDS. 39
I again stopped for a couple of days collecting, and I finally reached Senafe once more on the 21st February. The rains did not extend into the hills quite so far as Undul Wells, and above the weather was fine, but less cool than in January.
By this time the advanced guard had reached Antalo. The Commander-in-chief was about two marches beyond Adigrat. I took up my abode in the commissariat lines near Major Thacker's tent, one of the best parts of the camp, and whilst awaiting permission to go on to the front I set to work to examine the geology of Senafe and the neighbourhood, which was very interesting, and to collect as usual.
I have already briefly mentioned the position of ScDaf^ in a plain with hills at both sides. Beyond the craggy rocks, just west of the camp, lies the head of a deep valley. To the north-east is the great mass of Sowera, entirely formed of sandstone ; but south of it, separated by a small valley, is a trachyte hill. The majority of the other rises are volcanic in origin, consisting of basalt or trachyte, the latter greatly predominating. The greatest extent of these rocks is north-west of Senafe, in which direction they stretch more than half-way to Takonda. The culminating point, Akiib Teriki (or Arabi Teliki), is a most conspicuous object from all the country around. It lies nearly due north of Senafe, and west of the road at the head of the Komayli pass. From the spot where trap first appears, at the base of the last ascent in the paas, to the top of this hiU, is a height of 2,000 feet, and the whole consists of trachyte or ba.salt. It is by no
40 PERSONAL NARRATIVE,
means clear whether this mass is intrusive, or whether it fills a hollow in the metamorphics.
The hill (Akiib Teriki) is flat at the top, the uppermost portion consisting apparently of a trachyte lava flow, rather coarse and gritty, resembling sandstone. It is of a greyish colour on a freshly fractured surface, but weathers brown. It contains grains of magnetic iron, which affect the compass. The lower portion of the hill consists partly of basalt and partly of trachyte.
A band of hiUs to the north-west is composed of hard, greenish-black basalt, compax^t and fine-grained, contain- ing a Uttle quartz and agate in irregular nodulea Beyond these again to the west, and also to the south, there is a considerable hilly tract of trachyte. There is nothing like bedding nor any regular superposition of one rock upon the other, such as is seen near Adigrat and south of Antalo ; the basalt is seen in one place about five miles north-west of Senaf^ abutting against the trachyte as if faulted, in another spot it appears to emerge from beneath it. Some volcanic ash is seen, which adds to the probability of a volcanic vent having existed in the im- mediate neighbourhood, but the rocks are far too confused for their history to be made out satisfactorily.
The trachyte forms cliffs of great height on the side of the deep valley west of Senafe and south-west of Ak&h Teriki, the bottom of which consists of metamorphic rocks. (See Plate II.) The same rock forms a low ridge bounding the little cultivated plain at Senafe on the west It is very compact and hard, greatly resembling a hardened sandstone.
J
I
6E0L0QY OF COUNTRY AROUND SENAFE, 41
This ridge joins the Senafe rocks, the remarkable crags already referred to (see Plate L), which are immediately west of the position occupied by the British camp during tlie campaign. The rock composing these hills is softer and more earthy than that of the other rises, and the resemblance to an argillaceous sandstone is most remark- able. The form of these hills, and of those near Adowa, which are visible in the distance, and may probably be of the same rock, is so similar to the immense hummocks which generally occur in granite and granitoid gneiss, that they might easily be mistaken at a distance for the latter formation, as they were at the first sight by Colonel Pha3rre and the pioneers of the army. On a nearer approach, their resemblance to sandstone is greatly in- creased by their brown colour. Another point in which they simulate sedimentary rocks is in being traversed by dark ferruginous streaks and bands.
The hill immediately east of Senafe is of a rather different trachyte, greyer and more crystalline. It rests upon a thin bed of sandstone, and the latter upon metamorphics, so that the volcanic rock is in this case evidently a flow. As will be seen presently, the same is the case further south. This hill affords an excellent example of the complete imconformity between the trachyte, even when distinctly occurring as a flow, and the sandstone ; for although the latter rock upon the sides of this hill nowhere exceeds fifty feet in thickness, the next hill to the north, one of the spurs of Sowera, only separated by a valley not half a mile broad, is entirely composed of sandstone, and is higher than the trachyte
PERSOSAL yjSRJTIFK
hills, being 300 or 400 fuet at least above the plain, some- what as represented in the accompanying sketch section.
1, Trachyte; 2, Sanditone ; 3, Metamorphica. Another hill similarly composedj trachyte resting on a thin bed of sandstone, with metamorphics below, lies â– about three miles south of Senaf^, just west of the road to Guna Guna. To the west of this, and south of the deep ravine already mentioned aa commencing just west of Senaf^, is another extensive plateau, mainly composed of sandstone, from which, about eight miles west by south from Seuaf^, there rises a fine trachyte hill, called Kishyat The northern face of this hill is precipitous, and consists of magnificent vertical columns, which extend the whole height of the clifl^, upwards of 300 feet, without a single curve or break. The rock is pale greyish, or purplish, more crystalline than the trachytes near Senaf^. Another small hiU of the same composition is met with on the road from Senafd to Kishyat A third, a little inferior only to Kishyat in size, lies across the deep ravine to the south of that hiU, at a distance of about five miles. Others are scat- tered over the surface of the sandstone to the southward near Fokada, and will be mentioned presently. It is by no means improbable that these are all remains of the same great lava flow.
SOWERA— FAUNA OF SENAFE, 43
The sandstone below the trachyte on the hill east of Senaf(^, and that on the other hill to the south, may possibly be distinct from the massive Adigrat sandstone, but there is no diflference in mineral character of any importance. Beneath Senafd rocks no sandstone can be traced, just as beneath Akiib Teriki. Kishyat appears to rest on sandstone.
The great mass of Sowera requires no special descrip- tion. It consists of rather coarse sandstone, white in colour, with brown ferruginous bands here and there. Other similar great plateaux to the westward correspond with it — that of Tsaro, between the Komayli ravine and that of the Haddas, and the southern portion of the Halai plateau west of the Haddas. All of these consist of massive horizontal beds of sandstone, and are bounded by huge precipices. They are, in fact, great flat-topped spurs, projecting from the mass of the table-land, and separating the different valleys.
The fauna of the neighbourhood of Senaf^ is quite different from that in the pass below, and is fairly tj^ical of that inhabiting the temperate regions of Abyssinia. Some of the mammals, however, as the hamadryas monkey, the spotted hyaena, and the wart-hog,^ are identical with those found on the sea-coast ; others, as the hyrax {H. Brucei), the ichneumon {Herpestes mut- gigella), the klipspringer, and koodoo, extend into the sub-tropical region, whilst a few appear peculiar to the highlands proper. Amongst these, the principal are the
* As I did not shoot this myself, nor see it close enough to be quite sure of its identity, I am not certain of the animal being the same.
44 PERSONAL NARRATIVE,
jackal (Ccuiis variegatus, Riipp.), the hare, apparently an undeseribed species,^ and the striped ground-squirrel {Xerus leuco-umhriniis). The latter 1 subsequently met with in the Anseba valley, but it does not appear in the passes below Senaf^ at a lower level than about 6,000 feet.
I obtained a good series of the birds. Of the Raptores, falcons were scarce, with the exception of the kestrel ; of eagles, Aquila rapax^ closely allied, both in appear- ance and habits, to the " wokab " of India, was abundant, and the noble ** Bateleur " {Hehtarsus ecaudatus) was occasionally seen soaring at a great height, its long pointed wings, pure white beneath, contrasting with its black body. The beautiful white-breasted buzzard {Buteo augur) was far from rare. Around the Ciunp kites {Milvus migrans and M. cegyptius) and vultures {Gyps Rdppelli) abounded, and the Abyssinian lammergeyer {GypaHtos meridionalis) was perpetually hovering or sweeping with his powerful flight around the rocks. Although much inferior in size to the lammergeyer of the Alps ((t. harhaUis), being two feet less in the extent of the wings, he is a noble fellow, the rich orange under- parts and white heads of the older birds rendering them no less conspicuous than their size. Around the camps, not only at Senafe, but in many other places, they were very numerous, and by no means timid. Several were shot on the ground. Indeed, the difference from a country like Western Europe, where all wild animals are relentlessly persecuted, to one of those favoured regions
^ L. tigrefuisy sp. nov. See the description hereafter.
FAUNA OF SENAFE^BIRDS. 45
where they are allowed, with but few exceptions, to live unmolested, is nowhere more conspicuous than in the numbers and comparative tameness of the raptorial birds. Bruce relates an instance of the boldness and rapacity of a lammergeyer in seizing meat actually being cooked, which exceeds anything I heard of.
I noticed no owls, parrots, or woodpeckers at Senaf^, and the only barbet t^as Pogonorhynchus undatus. I never met with any cuckoo, nightjar, roller, or kingfisher. The Abyssinian representative of the Alpine swift {Cyp- selus CBquatoinalis) abounded at the back of Senaf^ rocks. Irissor erythrorhynchics was common in small flocks on Akiib Teriki. Near Senaf^ I first met with the great Abba Gamba {Bucorvus ahyssinicus), that most astounding of birds, belonging to a gioup exceptionally fi:amed for a life in trees, and in general purely frugivorous, but itself dwelling on the ground and feeding on insects. Tockus Hemprichii {T. limbatus of Euppell) also oc- curred, replacing T. Jlavirostris of the passes, which at this season did not ascend so high. Three sun-birds were met with, Nectarinia ajffinis, the superb N. Tacazze, and N. cruentata, the last rare.
Lanius huTneralis was the common shrike, Laniarius erythropterus being far from rare in the bushes. I occa- sionally saw that curious dull-coloured flycatcher Brady- omis chocolatinay besides the little Platysteira pririt. The Abyssinian thiiish {Turdus simeims) abounded, and T. olivacinus, a bulbul {Pycnonotus arsinoe), Crateropus leucopygiuSy and several Di^mcecce were met with. Amongst the chats, Saxicola hgens and S. isahellina
46 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
were exceedingly numerous ; S. cenanthe was less com- mon ; & lugubris kept much to rocky places ; ITiamr nobia melcBna was not rare amongst bushes on hill-sides. Of pipits, AnthiLS sordidus was met with on barren slopes, A. ceruinus in ploughed fields, and A. campestris in meadows ; wliilst only two larks occurred, both apparently undescribed species, a Cahndrella and an Alauda. The only crow was Corviis affinis. The starling group was represented by two species of Amydrus {A. Ruppelli and A. alhirostns\ and by Buphaga erythrorhyncha, there being at this season no Lamprotornis on this part of the highlands, although later L. chalyhcem abounded. Hyphantornis Guerini in winter dress, Estrelda minimxi^ E. phcBnicotLH, Crithagra striolata, and the common Abyssinian house-sparrow {Passer Swainsoni) were the principal finches, though a few rare species were also obtained.
Pigeons and doves were numerous ; Coluinba guinea^ C, alhitorques, and Turtur lugens all being common. The guinea-fowl, Numida ptilorhyncha, was just as abundant as near the coast Two francolins, F. Erkelii and F. gutturalis^ were common, and F. Ruppelli was shot, but at a somewhat lower level only. A large bus- tard, doubtless Otis Rhaad^ was once killed, but I did not myself meet with any of the family. Of waders, Chettusia melanoptera (the common Abyssinian plover) and Ibis Harpiprion caruncxdata were the only species frequently seen; and the Egyptian goose, Ch^nalopex CBgyptiaca, was the sole common representative of the duck tribe, — but there was but little wat<jr in the neighbourhood.
SENAFE^EXCURSION TO HAUL 47
Life at Senaf^ was on the whole very enjoyable. A perfect climate, fine scenery, a novel fauna, agreeable companions, and a good commissariat, combined to make the time pass pleasantly. The whole country around appeared perfectly safe, and the people thoroughly friendly, so far as I could see, and they were certainly an improvement on Shohos both in manners and personal appearance. Still they are a poor race, often half starved, and very inferior to the dwellers in the rich valleys of Central Abyssinia.
After I had been a few days in Senafe, Sir Robert Napier's well-known order was issued, that all servants except grass-cutters for the horses should be dismissed, and only seventy-five pounds of private baggage be carried forward by each officer. Personally, of course, I could travel as lightly as anybody else, and if I renounced all attempts at collecting any specimens, either geological or zoological, I might have still gone on and examined the geology. But I thought that after I had succeeded, with great difficulty, in bringing collectors and all the neces- sary apparatus to the highlands, it would be a pity to take them no further than SenafS, and I accordingly wrote to head-quarters, then near Antalo, and applied for additional carriage. Meantime Captain Carter, the energetic head of the Trigonometrical Survey, had reached SenafS, and intended going to Takonda and HalaL He asked me to accompany him, and I was very glad of the opportunity of seeing so classical a region as the head of the Taranta pass, traversed by aU the earlier explorers of Abyssinia.
48 PERSONAL NARRATIFR
We were to have started on the 26th February, but a disturbance arose between some of the Tigr^an troops in the neighbouring villages and the followers of a rebel chief, who liad endeavoured, more Abyssinico, to annex territory, and it was considered by Major Roome, the political ofl&cer, not advisable that a small party should leave the camp until matters were quieter. However, next day everything was again peaceable, and we started. The road led over the shoulder of Akiib Teriki by a path composed of huge blocks of stone, then along a terrace- like flat, and across a saddle dividing two great valleys, one running to the Komayli pass, the other into the Hamas valley, a feeder of the Mareb. The latter afforded a superb view, being bordered wdth huge precipices of sandstone and trachyte, the heights fringed with juniper forest. The juniper generally grows freely on the sand- stone, and its deep sombre cypress colour contrasts finely with the white of the rocks.
I foimd Carter, who had started before me, upon a rise beyond the saddle, hard at work with a plane-table mapping the hills around. My mules detained us, as, although only very lightly laden, their loads, owing to the badness of the saddles and the want of skill amongst the drivers, slipped off* as usual at every little ascent or descent, so that we did not reach our camping-ground till dark. It was a bitterly cold night, and in the morn- ing the little meadow on which our camp stood was white with hoar-frost.
The next day was spent on the great sandstone plateau between the Komayli and Haddas valleys. This is, like
UALAI. 49
Soweta, uninhabited except in the rains, when Shohos drive their cattle here for pasture. Pieces of Greek ruins lie scattered about here and there. We could, however, only find fragments of inscriptions, containing two or three letters at the most. There was no such view now over the deep valleys as when I ascended the sides of the same plateau fi'om UnduL All below our feet was a dense sea - of mist, from above which the higher hills rose like islands and promontories. The spring rains which fertilize the coast of the Red Sea still prevailed in the lowlands ; they however do not extend to the Abyssinian plateau, and the rains of summer are similarly confined to the highlands.
In the evening we saw several hyaenas, but I could not succeed in shooting any. The next day we went to Halai, over a series of low ridges and valleys, with a few bad descents. It was a rather long march, and we did not ourselves arrive before nightfall, having delayed much by the way. At one village on the road we found a Catholic church, with a number of the highly-coloured pictures of saints and of Biblical incidents so common in smaller churches in France and Italy, but also with some of the mural paintings generally found in Abyssinian churches, St. George and the Dragon being conspicuous as usual. ^
Halai is a considerable village, buUt of flat-roofed houses, like all others in this part of Tigr^, and inhabited by Christians. There is a good-sized square churcli,
^ It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader that St George is as muc the patron saint of Abyssinia as he is of Engknd.
E
50 PERSONAL NARRATIVE,
The head-man was very civil, and sent us some supplit»s. We spent a couple of days here, Carter mapping, I working at the geology and collecting. The village is near the head of the Taranta^ which, if the information obtained by Carter's interpreter was correct, is not the name of a mountain, but of the well-known steep pass leading from the Haddas valley to Dixa.
The whole plateau around Halai is composed of meta- morphic rocks, as is the northern part of the great Tsaro spur to the east of the Haddas gorge ; sandstone comes in south of Halai, near the village of Dhera, and south of
AtMWAT piurresu, E.
VI.MALAI PLATEAU,
T^fW
^^mM
this, as far as Takonda, caps all the higher portions of the plateau, the intervening valleys being cut into the subjacent metamorphic rocks. The southern portion of the Tsaro or Asawat plateau, east of the Haddas, is an unbroken mass of sandstone like Sowera. The greater portion of the sandstone is white and massive, bands of conglomerate occasionally occurring, sometimes with a brick-red matrix, ferruginous bands being common.
In the Haddas gorge a ridge capped with about 300 feet of sandstone occurs in a peculiar manner. It is at a much lower elevation than the same rock on the plateaux on each side, its top being about 1,500 feet below their
SANDSTONE NEAR HALAI AND TAKONDA, 5 1
level. It divides two streams : one the main source of the Haddas^ running from close to Takonda ; the other a side valley, up which is the pass to Takonda from the Haddas. This sandstone cap, the top of which is far below the base of the sandstone on the hills at both side^, extends to the north bcj^ond the termination of the sandstone on the plateaux. It is thus clear that the somewhat abrupt northern termination of the sandstone on the plateaux is not due to faulting, but the intervening ridge has much the appearance of being let down by two great faults, one along each of the valleys at it« sides. It may however owe its existence to the sandstone being deposited on a very uneven surface, and filling a pre-existing hollow in the metamorphic rocks at this point
There is, however, another instance south of Takonda, in which the sandstones appear to be thrown by a fault. On the hill, just south of the village, there is a thin cap of sandstone resting on metamorphic rocks. Immediately south of this is a deep valley, on the opposite side of which the sandstones appear in a narrow terrace, about 500 feet lower than their position on the north side, although they are horizontal in both places. The isolated block, already mentioned as occurring to the west of the road from SenafS to Rahaguddy, is a third case. All of these may be due to deposition on the irregular surface of the crystalline rocks, but in the two former instances, at least, faulting appears more probable. As a general rule, however, the absence of all signs of geological dis- turbance in the sandstones is remarkable, since they
E 2
52 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
must be of older date than oolitic, as will be shown in a subsequent page.
We marched back towards Takonda on the 2d March, as we found that to go on to Dixa involved a very diffi- cult descent, and we could see the town from near Halai. On our return, we took a more western road, and came to the edge of the plateau, from which there is a steep descent to the west, into the valleys around Dixa.
Near Anakonda, west of Takonda, the surface of the sandstone consists of a hard white argillaceous rock From the edge of the plateau in this direction there is a fine view, chiefly over a metamorphic country, but sand- stones are seen to the north-west, and to the south-west are the extraordinary hills near Adowa, said to be of trachyte. In the centre of the undulating plain, which stretches away to the Adowa range, is a remarkable isolated pillar-like hill, called Tawhili, which lies about west by south from Takonda, at a distance of neai'ly twenty miles, and, judging from its form, is probably also of trachyte. This is the more interesting as it serves to some extent to indicate a connexion between the hills of Adowa and the remarkable rocky crags at Senaf^.
We had foimd the march from Takonda to Halai so long and tedious that our mules had not arrived till nearly nightfall, owing, of course, in great measure to the frequent halts necessary for the purpose of readjust- ing loads. On our return journey we halted half-way, in a lovely vaUey, with fine sandstone clifis at the sides, a running stream of beautifully clear cold water, a broad expanse of turf in places, and, in others, along the edge
HYJBNAS— RETURN TO SENAFK 53
of the stream, some of the finest jxmiper trees I saw in Abyssinia. Both here and close to Halai these trees grew with a luxuriance unusual elsewhere. Some of them, near our camp, served as the roosting-place for a great flock of guinea-fowls. As soon as it was quite dark, a couple of hyaenas came to drink at the stream close by our tent. The night before, at Halai, one of these brutes had seized a goat which was tied up, and broken his jaw, and after being driven off had returned, and severely wounded a pony, tearing open his thigh. The boldness of the Abyssinian hyaenas is remarkable ; they appear to think nothing of tearing or attempting to tear pieces of flesh from the sides of living animals as large as a mule or pony. On this occasion, however, it being bright moonlight, I went after one fellow, and by good luck put a bullet through his neck, dropping him on the spot. It is always more by accident than anything else that one succeeds in killing an animal by moonlight. No plan I ever tried — and I have tried many — really enables a sportsman to see along the barrels of his gun, except in the unusual circumstance of the moon being in such a position as to be reflected from the rib between the barrels. This once happened to me in India : I went after a bear, who came close to my tent at night, and catching by chance the moonlight on my barrels, I shot him through the heart with as much certainty as in daylight.
The next day we marched to Takonda again, and thence into SenafS. We had run out of commissariat supplies, Ijut' guinea-fowls, hares, and partridges were
54 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
abundant^ and we shot sufficient not only for ourselves, but to a great extent for our camp.
At Senaf^ I received an answer from Colonel Dillon, the military secretary to Sir R. Napier, telling me to purchase any carriage I wanted for specimens, as none could be supplied by the Transport Train. For some days I could obtain no mules, as none were brought for sale. At last I succeeded in obtaining three. Drivers were equally unprocurable, imless I took Shohos, who were sure to be missing after two or three stages, perhaps taking the mules with them ; however, my Indian horsekeepers tried their hands at mule-driving, and, the little Abyssinian mules being really very manageable, they succeeded pretty well.
It was thus the 1 7th of March before I could start for the front. By this time the head-quarters were close to Ashangi, and, as we then supposed, within two or three marches of Magdala. But the information, so far in the rear as Senaf^ then was, of the progress of head-quarters was most scanty, and all sorts of rumours prevailed. Had the march forwards from Antalo been as leisurely as that from Senaf6 and Adigrat, there would still have been abundant time for me to reach the front before the army could amve at its goal ; but lately the progress had been much more rapid.
It was, of course, of the gi-eatest importance to me that I should see as much of the countiy as possible, in order to be able to form a clear idea of its geolog}'. I certainly had no idea, even at this period of the cam- paign, that its end was so near, and I believe that my
MARCH FROM SENAFE TOWARDS MAODALA. 55
expectations that a portion at least of the army would remain in Abyssinia throughout the monsoon were shared by a large majority, if not by the whole, of the expedi- tionary force. As will be seen, I left just in time to catch the force before Magdala.
Leaving Senaf^ the road traverses a plain of meta- morphic rocks, excessively slaty for the most part, and showing very little crystalline structure. To the west is a range of hills capped by sandstone ; to the east the slaty and schistose formations form rounded masses, between which flow the small streams which form the heads of the valleys running towards the Salt Plain near Amphila. There is but little of interest on the road until it approaches Guna Guna, twelve miles from SenafS. Here the sandstone scarp to the west approaches nearer to the road, and in a small cleft in it is the shrine of St. Komanos, where lie his bones and those of his com- panions. The spot is a very lovely one : a little stream runs through a ravine with precipitous sides, the bottom filled with magnificent trees. A little farther, the road enters the valley of Guna Guna, with its flat bed of rich turf surrounded by magnificent sandstone precipices, half-way up one of which is a church cut in the rock.
I stayed here a day examining the sandstones, which are precisely similar to those of Sowera, aud in which I could find no traces of fossils. I shot a sparrow-hawk, which I subsequently found to be a fine old specimen of the rare Accipiter imduliventer of RUppell, and I also, for the first time, saw that remarkable African
56 PERSONAL NARRAIWR
bird, the coly. The species was Colitis leucotis, peculiar to the Abyssinian highlands. They were in small flocks in thick busL On the sandstone cliflfs a large finely- coloured lizard (SteUio cyanogaster) alx)unded. In order to obtain specimens I was compelled to shoot them, as otherwise they were soon beyond my reach.
I had to return to SenafS for a day to make some arrangements, and I did not finally leave Guna Guna till the 21st. The 3d Dragoons were also marching to the front, and their baggage and commissariat rather encumbered the narrow road. Ccaptain Roddy of the Punjab Transport Train was also passing through in charge of a detachment of mules loaded with spare ammunition. I rode on with Captain Newport of the Commissariat, who was on his way to take charge of the station at Adigrat
From the valley of Guna Guna the road, inclining slightly to the west, rises by a steep ascent to the sand- stone plateau, here very narrow, and forming the divid- ing ridge between the streams running to the NUe valley and those flowing into the Salt Plain. Right and left of the road deep ravines arc cut through the sand- stones into the metamorphic rocks. The scenery is very grand, and increases in beauty near Fokada. Here several hills of basalt and trachyte rest upon the sand- stone, the former being bedded. Some small hills west of the road are distinctly terraced, and although of but small size they appear to consist of two or three beds. Close to Fokada there is a fine hill of columnar trachyte cast of the road ; the rock of which it is
FOKJDA. 5 7
composed closely resembles that of Kishyat, being finely crystalline^ and grey or pale lilac in colour. It is very probably a portion of the same great flow as Kishyat; but the trachyte at Fokada unmistakeably rests upon basalt, which again overlies sandstone. The basalt is minutely crystalline, and dark greyish-green in colour. This hill of Fokada tends very strongly to connect the traps of Senafe with those to tho south near Adigrat.
Where the road winds round the western side of the great trachyte hill, the view over the valleys to the west- ward is one of unusual interest and beauty (see Plate III.). The valleys, as usual, are deeply cut into the metamor- phics ; the flat hill-tops are of sandstone. To the south- ward, above the sandstone-bed, rise the terraced trap hills of the Harat range. In the far distance are the strangely-shaped hummbcks of the AJowa mountains.
While traversing this part of the road 1 was suddenly surprised by hearing the most hoarse and guttural of croaks that ever issued from a bird's throat, and looking upwards saw two or three of the remarkable thiek-l)illed caiTion crow {Cormdtur crassirostris) sitting with vultures on a tree, over the carcase of a camel. This curious bird was comparatively rare and local in this part of Tigrd, but I subsequently saw it abundant on the high plateaux of Lasta. It has a singular and by no means prepossessing appearance, with its disproportionate bill and the curious white patch at the back of the head.
Close to Fokada I also first met with that lovely re- presentative of the starling group, LamprocoUus chahj- h(mi9y which, later in the year, abounded in this portion
58 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
of Tigr^. Every day, indeed, as we marched through these beautiful highlands, new kinds of birds and animals were noticed. But little could be collected, as there was no time to hunt for specimena
The camp at Fokada was beautifully situated at the south side of the great trachyte hill, and at the head of a deep ravine in the sandstone leading to the eastward, the resort of many lammergeyers, eagles, vultures, and kitea Coi^ultur was also common. On the next day I marched to Adigrat. The road lies along the eastern scarp of the Harat range, and is, for the greater part of the distance, upon basalt, the band of sandstone being at a lower level ; but there is a descent to the sandstone again before reaching Adigrat. To the east are the usual deep valleys between hills capped with sandst^one ; to the west rise the massive spurs of the great Harat range.
Time did not allow of my exploring the Harat hills, either when marching to Magdala or when returning, and I could only examine the lower portions. These con- sist of basalt alone, frequently amygdaloidal, in well- marked horizontal beds, the terracing so characteristic of trap rocks being most strongly marked, even more so than in the trap ranges of Western India. From my subsequent experience of the ranges in Lasta, I have but little doubt that the upper portions of the Harat hills are largely composed of trachyte flows, and many of these appear to be of gi*eat thickness. One, forming a cap with perpendicular sides on the top of the two highest peaks of the whole range, — the anibas, or hill forts, of
AhlGRAT. 59
Alekwa and Andale, — looks from a distance as if it could not be less than 200 feet thick ; probably it is more.
Adigrat itself stands on the sandstone terrace at the base of the traps. It is a considerable town, with a fine chmxjh, contaming some remarkable mural paintings, in which Scriptural scenes are portrayed, as they might have appeared, perhaps, had the scene been Abyssinia and the actors Abyssinians, just as the Italian painters of the Middle Ages introduced the costumes of Italy and the great buildings of Florence and Sienna in the repre- sentation of events which occurred in Palestine.
On the road, a few miles north of Adigrat, numerous large rolled blocks of granite lie scattered about, appa- rently derived from the sandstone. This is the only instance I noticed of the occurrence of rounded granitic blocks on the table-land.
As far as Fokada, all the Abyssinian dwelling-places seen had been square, with flat roofs like those at Senafd, and usually built against the slope of a hill ; but about Adigrat we came upon the round huts with conicid thatched roofs, which appear to be the prevalent form throughout Central Abyssinia, for no great change took place between this and Magdala. The difierence may be paitly due to the heavier rains further south — mainly, however, I was told, to the paucity of grass for thatching in Agame. The round thatched huts are certainly far better adapted to keep out rain.
At Adigrat I left a collector and a peon, with instruc- tions to obtain for me skins of as many mammals and large birds as they possibly could, Captain Newport
60 PERSONAL NARRATIFE.
kindly taking charge of the men. 1 diminished my own kit as much as I could, and re-sterted the followmg morning, taking with me only one of my native collectors, a very good skinner, but lame, so that I had to carry him on my spare horse as long as I had one.
From Adigrat to the next camping-ground to the south, Mai Wahiz, the road runs upon the sandstone terrace, and for the first twelve miles it continues to skirt the great range already described. This range terminates to the south in some noble spurs, with very precipitous sides of horizontal trap, resting upon sandstone ; and the road then emerges into a more level country than any previously traversed. The sandstone belt is continuous all the way from Senafd, and nearly horizontal through- out, although never apparently much above 800 to 1,000 feet in thickness.
Between Adigrat and Mai Wahiz is the highest part of the route in Tigrd, the road being at one spot, about half-way between the two camps, upwards of 9,000 feet above the sea. I here first met with a little blac*k and white Pratincolay much resembling the common P. ca- prata of India, but with more white about the male, and a more rufous female. This bird, although far from scarce, appears to have escaped the notice of all previous naturalists in Abyssinia, until described by Von Heuglin in 1869 as P. semitorquata. I also here first saw and collected the beautiful little green parroquet Psittacttla TarantcB, found by Mr. Salt, and described in the Appendix to his "Journey."
Hitherto, from Senafe, the road, where it did not
MAI WAHIZ, 61
actually run along the crest of the dividing range, kept slightly to the east of it ; but from Mai Wahiz, nearly to Lake Ashangi, aU the small streams crossed on the route run to the westward into the Nile basin. All are small, the dividing ridge between the two watersheds being only a few miles distant during the whole route until after passing the Takkazzyd.
From the plain near Mai Wahiz, the Haramat ranges near Adowa, so frequently mentioned before in con- nexion with the Senaf^ rocks, are very conspicuous, at no great distance to the west.
Just south of the camping-ground at Mai Wahiz, a conspicuous basalt dyke crosses the road. It is curved, but has a general north-west strike. Trap dykes, as a rule, however, are rare throughout the country traversed. Some fragments of iron ore, evidently containing man- ganese and resembling psilomelane, were here met with, evidently derived from the sandstone, \>emg only a peculiar form of the ferruginous bands which occur 80 frequently in it.
About four or five miles south of Mai Wahiz there is a small sandstone scarp, down which the road descends to a lower plain, chiefly consisting of metamorphic rocks, of which a large expanse to the westward is composed, while to the eastward the sandstone range continues to the parallel route. The road traverses metamorphics till past Adabdgi, the next camping-ground, and nearly as far as Dongolo. The general strike of their foliation is north and south, as near Senafe, varying about 10** to the east or west South of Adabdgi the sandstone range
62 PERSONAL NARRATrrR
falls back to the eastward, leaving a wider plain of meta- morphic rocks in that direction.
At AdaMgi my progress was very nearly brought to a stop by all my mules knocking up. The Otago saddles which I had, though fairly adapted for horses or very large mules, were quite unsuited to the little Aljyssinian animals, and galled their shoulders and hips fearfully. Hundreds, if not thousands, of mules were utterly ruined by these saddles during the campaign. One animal of mine was so lame from a shoulder-gall that I was obliged to leave him behind, and the others were unable to carry their loads for a day or two. In this emergency I loaded my horses, and Captain Roddy, having some spare animals in his train, very kindly carried a load for me for a day or two until my mules recovered. I subse- quently procured Punjab packs, consisting of two cushions, united by a band over the back, and on which the loads, first packed in canvas bags, called saJetas in India, are lashed with a rope ; and with these the mules got on well enough. Unfortunately the loads had a great tendency to shift, and required constant adjusting on the road, but my men soon became fairly expert at mule-loading.^
^ I believe that eveiy one who had experience in miile-carriage utterly condemned all the variouB saddles used in the Abyssinian expedition. My own experience was the following : —
The ** Otago " saddle, though heavy and cumbersome, is suitable for roads without many steep ascents and descents, provided it be fitted to the animal carefully; those sent to Abyssinia were, as a rule, too large for mules. On steep roads, from being hard and stiff, it presses too much against; the shoulders and hips. The Bombay pad was simply ridiculous. The Punjab pad was by far the best form used, for small animals especiiilly, but it was difficult
LONGOLO, 63
Leaving Adabdgi, the road for some miles traverses the undulating metamorphic tract. To the west, a few- miles distant^ are some massive isolated crags, evidently of sandstone, no longer horizontal, but tilted up at a con- siderable angle. About eight miles from the camping- ground a steep scarp is met with, down which the road descends to the valley of the Genfel. The whole descent is over metamorphic rocks, but just beyond the base sandstone comes in, resting upon the metamorphics, and dipping at a sharp angle, about 25% to the south-west. This sandstone is evidently a continuation of the crags, composed of similarly-inclined beds, already seen to the westward from the top of the descent.
The valley now reached, in which stood the camping- ground of Dongolo, oflFered a great contrast to the somewhat barren table-land from which we had just descended. A small stream runs thi'ough the bottom, which is richly covered with trees and bushes ; and the massive bluffs of sandstone, of a rich red colour, not white, as farther north, almost recall some of the scenery in the old red sandstone of Western England. Despite
to strap the load firmly if the shape of the latter was at all inconvenient. That any saccess was achieved by the Transport Corps was due to the sheer hard work of the officers, and especially of those on the highlands. The muleteers, as a rule, were abominable. The Punjabees were manageable, but knew nothing of mules ; the Egyptians knew something of mules, but were difficult to manage ; and the Persians, by far the best muleteers in the army, were few in nimiber, and disgusted at finding no one who could understand them. Indeed, nearly the whole difference in respect to management between the unruly Turks, Egyptians, and Persians, and the easily-managed Punjabees, lay in the simple fact, that nearly all the officers of the Transport Train spoke Hindustani fluently, and could converse with the latter, whilst, not under- standing Arabic, they could not make themselves intelligible to the former.
64 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
the diflfcrencc in colour, I consider this sandstone iden- tical with that left behind at Adabdgi, but the question will be discussed in a subsequent page especially devoted to geology. In this valley the beautiful iridescent star- ling {Lamprocoliiis chalyhceus) abounded, and many birds reappeared which had been wanting on the bleak plateau we had tmversed from Adigrat. From this point the general elevation of the road as far as Antalo did not much exceed 7,000 feet above the sea.
From Dongolo we marched the same afternoon to Agula, the next camping-ground. The road passes through a beautiful little glen in the sandstone, at one side of which is a church cut in the rock. Immediately on leaving this, the sandstone distinctly dips under limestone, and the road enters a large open plain with hills to the eastward. It traverses the level ground for four or five miles, and then ascends a somewhat barren rise, still keeping on limestone, which indeed wjis tra- versed from this point for upwards of seventy miles, and until we had passed Antalo. In this limestone I at last found, fossils, but they were extremely obscure. A few oysters of the Exogyra type, and some spines of Echino- derms, were the only remains I could recognise. Casts of bivalves were common enough, but they, of course, were useless for determination.
Not only was the geology of much interest, but several birds which I had not previously seen attracted atten- tion. I shot a pair of a handsome sand-grouse, which I afterwards found to be a Cape species, Pterocles guttu- rails, and a specimen of the long-tailed dove, GKna
AGULA. 65
capensis. This little dove, which in May and later abounded on the sea-coast, appeared in winter and spring to be entirely wanting, not only on the shores of the Red Sea, but throughout the portion of Tigr^ which I tra- versed north of the Genfel river.
Between hunting for fossils and looking after birds time slipped away. I had already been detained in con- sequence of one of my men having been badly kicked by a mule, and I had put my lame collector on a horse which Captain Roddy had lent me to ride, and sent him on ; so when night came on, I was alone, and still at some distance from camp, and I had no Uttle difficulty in finding my way through the darkness. The road was far from good, and after blundering over rocks for half an hour, I was glad to see the camp-fires of Agula. An excellent plan had been adopted of pitching a large tent — large, that is, for Abyssinia ; in India we should have thought it very small — at each halting-place, for the use of officers marching through. I had scarcely reached this refuge when a downpour of rain accompanied by heavy thunder and lightning burst upon us, and lasted for at least an hour. Hitherto the weather had been lovely, but afterwards showers fell not unfrequently.
Near Agula are the ruins of a church,^ described by a correspondent of the Illustrated London News as a Greek temple. The scenery around is very character- istic of this part of the country, a comparatively open valley with very little vegetation on the slopes, but a
^ A description with a plan will be found in Markham's *' Abyssinian Expedition," p. 236»
F
66 PERSONAL NARRATIVE,
fringe of green bushes along the banks of the stream. The hills on each side of the valley ascend in a series of small limestone scarps.
Leaving Agnla next morning, March 26th, the road led over long ascents and descents through an undulating country almost entirely composed of limestone. The rock is in comparatively thin beds, much resembling lias, but lighter in colour. The high dip seen near Dongolo disappeai-s immediately beyond, and the rock is horizontal or undulating, without any steady dip in any direction. The country is covered with thin jungle of mimosa bush. I had no better success than the day before in fossil-hunting, but I had not much time to search ; there was a long march of sixteen miles from Agula to the next camping-ground, Dolo.
The limestone evidently extends for a long distance east and west of the road. Some hills about eight or ten miles east of Agula may perhaps be of sandstone, but the crags of the Geralta range run almost due west from Dongolo, and the ground seen to the westward from Agula must consist almost entirely of limestone, into which the various streams traversed by the route of the expedition at Dongolo, Agula, Dolo, &c., cut deep gorges before imiting to form the Geba river, a great affluent of the Takkazzyd. This stream doubtless exposes a most interesting section of the rocks in this country.
About eight miles from Agula the road dips into a small valley, where is a halting-place, called Mai Mak- dam. At this spot an important pass from the Salt Plain to the eastward joins the route we followed, and we
LOW. 67
here found several dealers with loads of the oblons: blocks of salt used by the Abyssinians instead of small change.
On reascending from the valley at Mai Makdam, basalt is seen in a hiU east of the road. A very much larger mass occurs close to Dolo, and the greater part of the rock over which the road descends into the valley at the camping-ground consists of it. The first knoll has the appearance of resting on the limestone, but the second is of such thickness that if regularly interstratified it would be seen on the hills around. It is probably an intrusive mass.
At Dolo I foimd Lieut. St. John busily engaged in putting up the telegraph. He gave me one or two birds which I had not myself found, amongst them the little Abyssinian bustard, or, as Indian sportsmen very naturally called it, floriken {Otis melanogaMer). It is a little larger than the common floriken of Southern India (0. aurita), but has very similar habits, living amongst bushes and high grass, usually crouching and seeking to hide when approached. As in the Indian bird, the male of this little bustard changes in plumage with the time of year, the whole of the under-parts becoming black in the breeding season. There are other smaU African bustards, forming the genus Lissotis of some naturalists, which exhibit the same peculiarity, and the close affinity be- tween these African and the Indian birds is very inter- esting, for this type of bustard does not belong to the desert fauna, and its existence in both countries is one instance amongst several showing that the very marked
F 2
68 PERSONAL NARRATIFE,
Ethiopian relations exhibited by a large portion of the fauna of British India do not arise solely from the exten- sion of the desert types to the sandy plains of North- Western Hindustan, the Punjab, and Sind.
In a ramble next morning I found a small boss of granite exposed in the bed of the stream just above Dolo. It is of small size, extending apparently only a few yards ; and as no sandstone occurs, it is evident that the limestone, here at least, reste immediately on metamorphic rocks. Above and below the stream has cut its way through lime- stone, forming deep glens with cliffs at each side. In the bushes beside the stream I shot a coucal or crow-pheasant {Centropxis monachtts), and St. John killed a rail {Rallus Rougeti). We made the march to the next camping-ground, Haikhallat, near Chelikot, together. It was over imdulating limestone country, similar to that already traversed. Harriers {Circus cineraceiis and C. Swainsoni) abounded, much as in the Deccan in India, but they were even more numerous. I was desirous to procure more specimens of Otis melanogaster, and we beat several patches of bush without success, but we started two reddish antelopes, one of which we succeeded in rolling over. It was a buck of the Scopo- phorus montanus of Riippell, with short straight horns. Another bush antelope, which we also saw this day and of which I afterwards killed specimens, was Cephalophiis Tnadoqim of the same naturalist, a mouse-coloured animal about the size of a gazelle, or rather smaller.
On the limestone there were a few land-shells. A snail closely allied to the common South European Helix
ANTALO. 69
pisana covered some of the bushes and the aloe plants, and I found two or three small species of Pupa, but, as usual, only very few kinds occurred.
We rode on the next day, the 28th March, to Buya, near Antalo, over very similar country. Several patches of trap occur, the mode of occurrence being in general rather obscure, although some of them are clearly inter- stratified in the limestone. No dykes were observed. The town of Antalo lies three or four miles west of the route followed by the army, on the side of a hill, a portion of which evidently consists of sandstone, and which is very probably capped by trap. The plain to the east of Antalo, in which stood the camp of Buya, is very extensive, and mostly covered by black soil, resem- bling the **regur" of India. The camp was one of the most important dep6ts of the army, and a considerable body of men were stationed here, with large commissariat and other stores. I never could understand by what remarkable Itccus d non lucendo principle of nomen- clature this camp, like the corresponding station at Adigrat, was always spoken of as entrenched, because it was surrounded by a wall of loose stones. I do not at all wish to ridicule this apparently very trifling defence ; it was behind no better that a whole army was kept at bay for weeks by a few determined men at Cawnpore, in 1857 ; and even the famous defences of the Lucknow Residency were not much more formidable ; but the name appeared to me singularly inappropriate. On the same principle a walled city should be one surrounded by a ditch — e.g. Calcutta.
70 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
At Buya I heard that the army was but little beyond Lat, about six marches ahead ; but it was still supposed to be but two or three marches from Magdala. I halted for a day, buying a couple of fresh mules to replace those which had broken down. One of the new ones objected to be saddled. I obtained the assistance of some Egyi> tian muleteers from the Transport Train, and they very soon put a Punjab pad on by main force, three or four powerful men absolutely holding the mule down while a couple of others strapped on the pad.
The next day, March 30th, I re-started, and made a double march to Meshek, thus catching up Captain Roddy's mule-train once more. The first part of the march to Musgi is over country composed of lime- stone, precisely similar to that traversed north of Antalo. Interstratifications of trap are very frequently seen, and one in especial occurs close to the camping-ground at Musgi. A small stream emerges from the little plain in front of the camp, through a narrow gorge in the limestone, which is here horizontal, or nearly so. The stream, almost immediately after leaving the plain, cuts into a bed of basalt underlying the limestone, and this basalt forms the channel of the stream for a considerable distance. It has a very low dip, about 2** or 3**, to the west. The whole of the beds are then cut ofi* by a fault striking 1 5** west of south, with an upthrow to the west ; and the same bed of trap, about 100 feet in thickness, is seen on the hill-side, with limestone both above and below it.
I had ridden to Musgi with my mules; but thence
MESHEK, 71
I sent them on, and remained some time examining the rocks. When I re-started, I missed the road, and soon found myself wandering amongst hiUs. I came to a vill^e, and succeeded somehow in explaining that I wanted a guide, and moreover in inducing a man, for a dollar, to show me the way ; and he took me back into the proper route before nightfall, at the spot where it entered a deep valley, with fine trees and a running stream. Up this I rode for some miles in the dark, till I reached the camp at Meshek, where I found a party of firiends wondering at my absence.
Meshek is a lovely spot. A small grass plain, with a few scattered willow-trees, looking as if made for a camping-ground, occupies a rather wide portion of the valley. Above, there is cultivation, irrigated by the little stream in the bottom of the glen ; below, dense forest. The hills at the side are composed of sandstone and lime- stone, capped by trap. The sedimentary beds are greatly disturbed ; near the camp they are, in places, even con- torted or vertical. In this part of the valley the beds appear to be higher in the series than the mass of the limestone about Antalo, and sandstone and conglomerate prevail to a much greater extent than elsewhere. These rocks are dark in colour, and far less pure than the sand- stones of Adigrat and SenafS ; and I have scarcely any doubt of their belonging to a different series altogether. The general dip is west or south-west. I found a few very ill-preserved fossils in one place.
We had now left the comparatively open plains of Tigrd, and entered the deep valleys between the rugged
72 'FERSONAL NARRATIVE.
spurs of the Lasta mountains. The road had been much less carefully made south of Antalo, and in many places it had suflfered from the traffic, and was but little better than any ordinary Abyssinian mule-track. Leaving Meshek, the route led for two or three miles through the bottom of the little valley, now brilliantly green with the young wheat, and then, after passing a large roimd church, with a conical thatched roof, one of the finest met with on our march, it commenced a steep ascent over trap rocks, which form all the upper portion of the valley. There is an appearance here of two dis- tinct series of traps, the lower slightly inclined and resting immediately on the sedimentary beds, the upper, which forms the crest of the pass, distinctly horizontal ; • but the presence of two series is not so manifest as in the next valley. Above the crest of the pass, itself 9,800 feet above the sea, towers the amba or hill fort of Alaji, the stronghold of Walda Yasous, nearly 1,000 feet above the road. The whole of this amba is formed of hori- zontal beds of trachyte and basalt
On this pass I had first occasion to notice the change which takes place in the vegetation of the Abyssinian mountains at altitudes above or about 9,000 feet. A gigan- tic thistle, ten or twelve feet high, and a very fine species of heath, often large enough to be called a tree, are two of the most conspicuous plants above this elevation. A corresponding alteration takes place in the fauna, but this was less conspicuous in the Alaji pass than subsequently on some ranges of greater height.
From this point to Magdala the whole route is over
ALAJI FASS—ATALA. 73
bedded volcanic rocks; the subjacent limestones, sand- stones, and metamorphic rocks never once emerging from beneath the great trappean formations.
From the crest of the Alaji saddle there is a fall of about 1,500 feet to the valley of Atala. The greater portion of this descent is over horizontal beds, mostly- basaltic, a few only being trachytic ; but at the bottom of the vaUey, just east of the ground occupied by the camp, is a small ridge of basaltic beds, dipping at an angle of 35** or 40** to 30** south of west These evi- dently belong to a lower series, upon which the horizontal beds rest imconformably, and to which the inclined beds seen in the Meshek valley also belong. Up the Atala valley to the eastward all the beds are horizontal, like those forming the crests of the hills.
At Atala a large body of Abyssinians, men and women, were assembled. The women, many of whom were not ill-looking, though their beauty might have been greatly heightened by the use of water, were all dressed in a long shift of coarse cotton, and had their hair closely plaited. The men wore the usual toga-like shama, and carried spears and shields. All were much excited. The women were crowded together in the centre, one or two of the eldest and slu'Ulest leading a sort of song, to which the others kept time with much howling and lamentation. The men, evidently much excited, stood around. On inquiry we learned that this was an Abyssinian indigna- tion meeting. The poor people had canied stores for the commissariat, and had been paid, but Walda Yasous or his followers had taken from them a considerable
74 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
proportion of the money. The women apparently were endeavoming to excite the men to resistance. Unfor- timately, in this, as in many other cases, want of know- ledge of the language and of a good interpreter made it impossible to obtain accurate information.
The narrowness of the path across the passes rendered progress very slow upon these marches, as the mules could, of course, only go singly, and one animal falling, or halted for the adjustment of its load, stopped the whole convoy. The dragoons, with their long train of commissariat supplies, had been in the rear since Adigrat, but by forced marches they also had come up, and so much delay was caused by the great length of the united convoys that our party, which had reached Atala from Meshek early in the day, went on over the next spur to Aiba in the afternoon. The Aiba valley is higher than that of Atala, but otherwise precisely similar, an open grassy flat at the bottom with a stream nmning through it, and hills bare of trees at each side.
The Atala and Aiba valleys recall most forcibly some of the scenery in the higher parts of the western ghAts near Poonah, in the Bombay Presidency; and the hill forts of Alaji and Daga, although grander and higher, yet resemble to a certain extent the old Maratta strong- holds of Singhur, Rajghur, Toma, &c. In each case the same geological peculiarity, the occurrence of beds of volcanic rock, which weather with a vertical scarp, has been employed for purposes of defence, both by Hindoos and Abyssinians.
At the bottom of the Aiba valley, as at Atala, the
AIBA-FERRJ PASS. 75
lower series of traps crop out, inclined at a considerable angle, and they are traceable to some height south of the valley, the horizontal beds resting quite unconformably upon them. The two series are so similar in general character, that in the hurry of travelling to the front, although I noted the dips, I attributed them to local dis- turbance, and it was only when returning that I clearly distinguished between the two separate groups of beds. Nevertheless the evidence, when examined, was found to be very complete.
At Aiba I first saw and shot a dwarf goose peculiar to Abyssinia {Beimicla cyanoptera of Rlippell), which I subsequently found abundantly on the higher plateaux, and which appears only to be found at considerable elevations. On the passes around I saw a bunting {Emberiza ccBsia) and a serin {Serimis or Crith<igra nigriceps) w^hich I had not previously met with.
I left Aiba on the 1st April, and ascended the long slope leading to the Fen\a pass. From the top of the inclined traps, about 300 or 400 feet above the valley, to the crest of the pass, 10,500 feet above the sea, or 1,500 above the valley, and again from that to the im- mense amba of Daga, at least 1,500 feet more, the whole mass of the mountain consists of massive horizontal l)eds of dolerite and trachyte. The latter appears to prevail, especially in the higher part of the pass, and in the amba above, and it is conspicuous by the much more distinct vertical scarps which mark its outcrop. It is pale in colour, very often brecciated, some beds being apparently in great measure composed of volcanic scoria and ash,
76 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
but at the same time highly crystalline, and frequently aboimding in beautifully-formed crystals of glassy felspar with rounded angles. These crystals, from their brilliancy, are very conspicuous on the broken surface of the rock.
The general effect of the scenery is depicted in the firontispiece, a view of the Daga amba from the south, showing the horizontal beds of trachyte.
At the summit of the Ferra pass all the hills are covered with a peculiar wiry grass, which appeal's to l>e peculiar to the trachytic traps.
The path descends from the saddle to the camping- gi'oimd at Belago, situated at a very considerable eleva- tion. Here the inclined beds of trap reappear, and hence occupy all the coimtry till far beyond Lake Ashangi, with the exception of the top of some of the high ranges north-west of the lake. From Belago to Makhan the road for some distance proved uninteresting. After one steep descent it passed along a flat valley to Makhan, the next camping-groimd. Here we were once more on the eastern watershed, and continued east of the dividing ridge until after crossing the Wombarat pass near Lat.
The pass between Makhan and Ashangi is not so high as those further north, and does not appear to rise above the top of the inclined traps, or Ashangi group, as I pro- pose to call them. The road passes through a superb forest of junipers, in which the plantain-eater wtis abun- dant. Except around Meshek I had not noticed this beautiful biixi lately, doubtless in consequence of our road having traversed open country. Ferns abound, and the large heath attains magnificent proportions, the climate
I ^
i]
! 1
\
ASIIANOL
i i
on the eastern side of the dividing range at this elevation being probably damper than on the w(?st.
At the crest of the pass we came in sight of the lovely little Lake of Asliangi. From the same spot there is an extensive view to the eastward over the country of the A^ibo Gallas. The foi-egi-ound consists of finely- wooded hills, all apparently of inclined beds of trap. Beyond, at a distance of twelve or fifteen miles, there is a broad valley, probably 2,500 or 3,000 feet below the pass, or about 6,000 feet above the sea. Beyond this, again, are other rounded hills, which look as if more thinly wooded. They may perhaps be metamoq)hic. From the simmiit of the pass the road descends rapidly to the l)eaii- tifiil Ashangi valley, over beds of amygdaloidal basalt.
I only halted for a night at Ashangi, and as T i^assod some days here on my return from Alagdala, I abstain from description of it for the present.
At Ashangi I heard that the anny was close Xo Magdala^ and might return at any moment ; also that the fortress was much farther than we had hitherto believed. Although I had but little faitli in any imme- diate return, still, as I found I could only push on by leaving all imjyedimenta behind, I left at Ashangi my last collector and my tent, and went on with only my horses and one mule to cany provisions ; for the commissariat stations here were often three or four marches from each other, and no food, except for the animals, coidd be obtained at the intermediate stages. I then started, still with the mule convoy, and made a double march to Lat.
78 PERSONAL NARRATIFR
The rocod led round the Avestern shore of the lake to the southern end, and then traversed a broad, fertile plain of black soil, in which stood the camping-ground of Masagita, On the lake-shore Avere an unusual number of swallows and martins, amongst which the peculiar black Psalidoprogne pristoi)tera was conspicuous. Leaving the plain of Masagita, our road ascended a wild, narrow valley, at the entrance of which we passed a fortified village, surrounded by a strong wooden palisade. This border-land between Amliai^a and Galla, Christian and Mahommedan, is one of the most disturbed parts of Abyssinia, and more robberies and murders of camp- followers took place about Ashangi than in any other portion of the route. From the valley the road ascended to a stretch of flat ground at about 10,000 feet, the summit of the Wombarat pass. Here I was caught in a violent hailstorm, and had to find the best shelter I could behind a rock. The rain, after about an hour, abated, and I rode down to Lat, the path being so slip- pery that my horse came down with me more than once. At Lat I put up with a friend. Captain Smith of the Commissaiiat, but the rain recommenced, and in the middle of the night a violent gust of wind blew down our abode, a light single bell tent. This was pleasant ; we were of course sleeping on the ground, and were soon wet. Bell tents are very useful in some respects ; they keep out rain very fairly as long as they stand ; but in a high wind they are about the most useless invention conceivable. The little pegs used have no hold, and pegs of proper length are too lieaAy to be carried, as the tent
LAT. 79
i-equires so large a number. The Kttle tents used on the hills in India are lighter than bell tents, much easier to pitch, and afford far more security against bad weather.
At Lat we foimd Major Grant and Captain Moore, who had been sent back by the Commander-in-chief to expedite the arrangements for the carriage of commis- sariat stores to the front. The Transport Train had, from the very commencement of the campaign, proved quite inadequate by itself to perform this service, and native caniage had been very largely employed. As fai- as Atala all had worked smoothly, and the stores had Ijeen pretty regularly delivered ; but between Atala and Ashangi, and still more beyond Ashangi, trickery and oppression on the part of some of the petty chieftains had caused a complete breakdown in the system, and had not Gobazye s chieftains afforded a most unexpected tmiount of assistance to the officers of the Commissariat in procuring supplies, the army would have fared far worse than it did. As it was, there was always abun- dance of food, though it only consisted of tougli beef and inferior flour.
From these officers we at last learned something definite as to the route in front, and the great passes still to be surmounted. They had quitted the head-quarters camp at Santara, on the Wadela plateau, six marches of various lengths beyond Lat, and Magdala was still four or five marches farther. When the fortress would be reached was still uncertain, but we might still be in time to witness its fall. It was amusing, with reference to this subject, to hear the reports which circulated fi'om
80 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
post to post. The mail letters were carried by cavalry picquets, and the men were always eagerly questioned for news. For a long time the belief in aU the camps in Tigr^ was, that Magdala would be reached and assaulted on the 25th of March, and some of the Indian sowars actually told us that it had been captured on that day, long before the news could possibly have reached them. Afterwards, the 6th of April was the appointed date. As is well known, the place did not fall tUl the 1 3th.
From Lat the road ascended to the crest of the Dafat pass, which is not so high as that of Wombarat. Hence again there is a fine view both to the south, over the valleys of the Tellari river and its feeders, and to the eastward, over a portion of the same great valley in the Asulx) Galla country, Avhich was seen from the pass noith of Lake AshangL All the country around Lat, as far south as the Abuyameda range, between the Tellari and Takkazzy^ valleys, consists of the lower group of traps. These traps are more or less inclined, usually at low angles, but occasionally, as just west of Lat, Anth high dips. In this case the angle is 45^ The general dip is to the south.
From tlie Dafat pass the road descends into a Avell- wooded valley. I met here with a small herd of monkeys {Cercopithecus griseo-viindis), which are not often seen at quite so high an elevation. I also met with two doves, Peristera afra and Turtur semi-torqucUus, Euppell, usually met with at a lower horizon.
From Marawa, the camping-ground beyond Lat, to Dildi on the Tellari, here a very small brook, was a long
MARA WA^DILDL 8 1
march of sixteen miles over a series of steep ascents and descents, forming one of the most fatiguing marches of the whole route. Of the convoy of mules and ponies with which I marched from Senafd to Magdala, more animals fell from exhaustion and had to be abandoned upon this march than on any other. All the animals were half starved ; grain alone had been procurable at most of the halting-places we had recently passed, and the poor beasts were left night after night without gi-ass or hay. Even our horses, for which we could usually purchase grass from the Abyssinians, were getting thin.
The character of the valleys about Marawa and Dildi is different from that of any previously traversed. The country is a network of wooded glens, without any large range. All the sides of the valleys show signs of agri- culture, all have evidently been cleared in patches, and cultivated for a season or two, and then abandoned, a common system in wild countries, where the land is largely in excess of the wants of the population. Bushes and trees spring up again in the abandoned fields, but grow in plots, which still show the limits of the clearing. A peculiar appearance is thus given to the landscape ; from a distance it almost looks as if the sides of the valleys were covered by fields with hedges, as in Ungland.
At Dildi there was a comparatively large camp, much baggage having been left here. I started the next morn- ing with Captain Arbuthnot, an aide-de-camp of Sir R. Napier, intending to make a double march and reach the Takkazzy^. The road from Dildi ascended a steep incline
G
82 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
to the crest of tlie Wandaj pass, 10,500 feet above the sea. This pass crosses the Abuyameda range, the flat- topped masses of which, right and left of the pass, rise to 12,000 feet or more. All the upper portion of this range consists of the higher group of traps, hori- zontal as usual, and with the strongly-marked vertical scarps eharacteiistic of the trachyte beds, which, how- ever, at the pass itself, are less numerous than else- where. A peculiar feature near the crest of the pass is the presence of very many large dykes of basalt, which weather more slowly than the rocks around, and stand out in relief like gigantic walls ui>on the hill-side. Their direction varies considerably ; some of the most prominent run nearly north-west and south-east.
The vegetation at the crest of this pass is rendered striking by the abundance of the remarkable Tupa rhyiicophetalumy a great spike of leaves, not unlike those of tobacco, on the top of a high stalk. I here first saw one or two birds, such as Pratincolu sordida, and the black and yellow weaver bird, EupUcte^ xantJwmelaSy peculiar to high altitudes. Nectarinia Tcdcazze Avas common, and the large francolin, or spur-fowl, as it was called in the army, F. Erkelii^ abounded. The ground at the summit of the pass Avas burrowed in every direc- tion by a peculiar kind of field rat, Mus ahyssinicus of Eiippell.
Before reaching the summit we were overtaken by heavy mist and rain, and it poured nearly the whole afternoon. It was dangerous to go on ; the path down was too slippeiy for the animals to keep their feet ; they
WANDAJ PASS— HORSE STOLEN. 8 3
had already slipped down more than once, and a horse of
mine had nearly fallen over the steep hill-side on the
way up, while the descent to the south was represented
to us as much steeper, and with a precipice beside it.
The carcases of mules and horses showed how many had
fallen on this ascent. I had no tent ; Captain Smith
and I had arranged to march to the front together, and
to use his tent, which was the lightest, but he had been
detained at Lat However, I found shelter with a friend.
The heavy rain continued nearly all night, a high wind
blew, and it was bitterly cold, and I came out in the
morning expecting to find some, both of the poor Indian
camp-followers, who had been out in the rain all night, and
of the animals, dead with cold and wet. To my surprise,
Hone seemed to have suflTered. As no grass had been
procurable, the animals were all turned out to feed on
the fine wiry herbage of the mountain, and I sent my
liorses with them. I had but one man to look after two
horses and a mule, and whilst he was bringing back the
latter, which had strayed slightly, a chestnut Ai\ab, which
I had hitherto ridden, and a very docile useful animal,
<-lisappeared. After a short time I discovered its tracks,
and, only waiting to get a gun, followed them. The
tracks of a man leading the horse Avere plain : he had
.stolen the beast, and led him round the hill, keeping
just out of sight of camp, and had then gone to the
westward. After a mile or two I lost the tracks amongst
a number of others, and had to give up the chase. Of
f'ourse I never heard anything more of my horse. Such
thefts were common, and several oflBcers lost horses. To
g2
S4 PERSOXAL XJHRJTirK
complete my misfortune, whilst I was searching for the horse my saddle was also stolen from camp.
After delaying the search until I had only just time to get down to the Takkazzy^ by nightfall, I started, and walked down the steep incline, leading my remaining horse, who carried my bed, &c. It had begun to rain again, but half-way down the weather cleared up, the rain-storms evidently keeping much to the higher ranges. There was a camping-place half-way down at Muja, but I went on to the "bottom, 3,000 feet below Wandaj, crossed the Takkazzy^, here a small stream, and caught up the party with Roddy's mule-train once more at the camping-ground.
On the next day we ascended the steep road leading to Santara on the Wadela plateau, and thence went on to Gaso, another camp twelve miles further. There is no very distinct stratification in the Takkazzyd valley ; and as I did not clearly make out the distinction be- tween the two groups of traps till after passing it on my return from Magdala, I omitted to notice if the lower series occurs there. Almost without doubt it must do so, but the ix)ad reascends to the horizontal trachytic series on the great scarp south of the Takkazzyd.
The march from Santara to Gaso, and thence to Yasendyd and Bethor, led across the Wadela plateau,^ at first at an elevation of at least 10,500 feet ; subsequently, south of Gaso, at a somewhat lower level, Yasendye and Bethor being about 9,500 feet above the sea. In the
^ In fact, all the northern portion belongs to the district of Dalanta, and only the south-weatem portion, from Gaso to Bethor, to Wadela.
TAVNA OF JTADELA PLATEAU. 85
nortliem portion, from Santara till about six miles south of Gaso, all the rocks exposed consist of trachyte and trachytic ash, containing large blocks of black jet-like obsidian, which some of the soldiers took for coal They soon found out their mistake when they tried to burn it. The scenery is very peculiar. Hummocks of grey rocks covered with lichens stand up from amidst the fine wiry grass already mentioned as occurring on the high passes of Ferra and Wandaj, and alternate with small marshy flats, the soil in which is an imperfect peat The fauna is mostly different from that of lower elevations. The handsome white-breasted buzzard {Buteo augur), the dwarf goose {Bemicla cyanoptera), and the caruncled ibis {Harpiprion canwculata), are very abundant. A duck found also at lower levels {AncLS Jlavirostris) occurs in the streams and marshes. Two peculiar chats (Saxicola frenata, Heugl. and Pratiiicola sordida), the yellow- throated pipit {Macronyx JlavicolUs), a species of finch allied to the canary bird {CHthagra iiigriceps), a wat- tled lapwing (Lobivanellus melanocephalus), and, above all, the red-legged chough {Pyrrhocorax alpinus)^ are peculiar and characteristic forms. The Abyssinian lam- mergeyer and the thick-billed crow {Corvultur crassi- rostris) were also frequently seen. Mammals were scarce ; the only conspicuous one was the little Mas abyssinicuSy which was most abundant on the higher parts of the plateau.
Several of these birds disappear below 10,000 feet on the portion of the plateau near Yasendy^ and Bethor, where the rocks exposed are chiefly basaltic, and, as is
86 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
usual under such circumstances, a black soil prevails, evidently highly favourable to the growtli of cereals, and widely cultivated The wild grasses are quite different from those on the trachyte.
At Yasendyd I was surprised at seeing the white and black crow {Corviis scapulatus), which I had never before met with since leaving the flat coast region near Komayli. Here it associated with Corvultur and Comes affinis.
I had walked the long march from Gaso to Yasendy6, the greater portion through pouring rain. On my arrival, however, I was most hospitably received by my old friend Major Bardin. The next morning I determined to ride my remaining horse with an Otago saddle, taking only a rug with me by way of bed, but on mounting the animal I found he was lame. Major Bardin very kindly lent me a pony, but I did not make much progress.
The road from Yasendy^ to Bethor is precisely similar to that north of the former place, over an undulating plateau, with much cultivation and long grass. In one or two places before reaching Yasendy^, deep ravines, exposing cliffs of basalt, had been seen to the left of the road, and a couple of miles beyond Bethor we came suddenly on the brink of the mighty chasm in which the Jitta river runs, and to which all the minor valleys converge.
Of all the grand scenery met with in Abyssinia, none equalled this wonderful gorge. It is 3,500 feet deep, and looks scarcely a mile across. The sides are extremely
JITTA RAVINE. 87
steep, in places nearly perpendicular. The horizontal beds on both sides appear to correspond exactly ; half- way down there is a well-marked terrace, evidently formed by the same bed, on both sides of the river. The bedding is very distinct.
It is to be regretted that all those geologists who dis- believe in the power of running water, and appeal to such Dei ex machind as marine action and waves of translation, cannot see a few such marks of the handi- work of rain and rivers as are shown in these gorges. There is not the slightest possibility, so far as I can see, of explaining their origin by any other force than that of the streams flowing in them. Any faulting or dis- location of the rocks is out of the question, there is no evidence of glacier action at any past time, and even the most fervent apostle of marine denudation would scarcely credit it with the formation of a Titanic trench three- quarters of a mile deep aud very little more in breadth.
At the bottom of the ravine ran a beautifully clear stream in a pebbly bed. Some of our party pushed on to the Dalanta plateau ; I remained for the night with Captain Roddy in th^ valley. The temperature at the bottom, only 6,000 feet above the sea, was a most agreeable change from that of the bleak plateau. On the following morning, having the loan not only of a pony but of a saddle also, I considered myself fairly equipped once more, and started for Dalanta. The ascent, like the descent of the previous day, was by the road which King Theodore had constructed for the trans- port of his artillery to Magdala, a broad path, at least
88 PERSONAL NARRATIFE,
twenty feet wide in most places, and thoroughly cleared, but excessively steep in parts — a wonderful record of the man's perseverance and intelligence, though not of his engineering skill The section exposed by the road gave an excellent idea of the rocks. The majority are basaltic ; a little columnar trachyte occurs near the summit north of the ravine, and on the south side, just below the top of the scarp, the following beds occur in descending order : —
1. Compact basalt.
2. White argillaceous rock of sedimentary origin,
twenty to twenty-five feet thick.
3. Volcanic ash and basalt.
4. Coarse brown sandstone, fifty to sixty feet,
5. Trachyte with crystals of ghissy felspar.
6. Basalt.
The sedimentary beds can be traced by the eye for a short distance along the scarp, the sandstone being very conspicuous, but they have evidently no great extension, as they do not recur on the north side of the mvine. Below the above, about half-way down to the river, some black shales are interstratified in the traps. I could find no organic remains, but fossil wood is said to have been met with here.
The road from the Jitta to the Bashilo crosses a portion of the Dalanta plateau, which is even flatter than the Wadela, and consists, like the southern portion of the latter, of basaltic rock covered with black soil, and mostly cultivated. After traversing this for about six
ARRIFJl BEFORB UJODJLA. 89
miles, we reached the scarp of the Baahilo raviDc, even deeper than that of the Jitta, but less striking, because Dot so abrupt ; the opposite side, insteiid of being one immeDde unbroken cliif like that on both sides of the Jitta, being cut up by ravines and of unequal height. Opposite to us rose the fortress of Magdala,' the scarp Burrounding which looked small at this distance, and dwarfed by the higher fiat-topped hills beyond. On a ridge to the right, the two British camps were con- spicuous, that of the Ist Brigade on the Arog}'^ spur, and that of the 2d Brigade a little nearer and lower. These heights had been occupied the evening before, and the smart skirmish which ensued with Theodore's army had l>een distinctly seen from Dalanta ; but although the flashes and smoke of the small arms and steel guns had been clearly diatiuguisbable, the only sounds heard were those made by Theodore's large cannon, fired from Fala,
I descended the steep road to the river, over rocks similar to those seen in the Jitta sections, but without sedimentary iuterstratifications ; and, reascending the opposite hills, reached the camp at Arogyi5 before even- ing. This was on Saturday, the 10th of April, the evening on which the prisoners were released. I had marched from Senaf^, with only one day's halt, in twenty- three days, and, of course, anything like a careful exa- mination of the country was out of the question,
â– It uuwell to mention that the accent in this word is on the fintsjiltible. Magdila ia inconect This is mentioned bj MaTldiam also, but the false â– eaentnation baa been very genenUy adopted, i
90 PERSONAL NJRRATIFR
It is quite foreign to the piiri)ose of the present work to describe the capture of MagdaJa, which took place two days after my arrival. The remarkable good fortune which crowned the expedition was far less favourable to scientific inquiry than to military renown ; for the sub- sequent rapid retreat to the coast, however brilliant as a military manoeuvre, entirely prevented me from exa- mining the country in any detail.
All the hills around Magdala appear to be of horizontal traps, chiefly basalt, although trachyte also occurs, and the plateau of the fortress itself consists of the latter rock ; the steep surrounding scarp, which would have rendered the place so diflScult of capture had it been defended, being the ordinary form of outcrop, already alluded to as characteristic of the trachyte beds. Inter- stratifications of white shale, much hardened as if by lava-flows, were met with in two or three places around Arogy^, and were especially noticed close to the camp of the 2d Brigade ; but no organic remains could be de- tected in them.
The camp before Magdala was certainly the most un- pleasant abode in which I found myself in Abyssinia. The whole force was crowded into the smallest possible space, in small thin tents, not nearly large enough even to hold the men; the only food was inferior flour and tough beef, and it was difticult to obtain suflScient water to drink ; washing was a luxury only to be occasionally attained. It was decidedly worse than at Malkatto. Water there was scarce, but a swim in the sea was always a resource available ; and there was no crowding ;
ATTEMPTS AT FURTHER EXPLORATION. 9 1
while as regards the Commissariat, I can only say that I wish it had a dep6t in many of the wilder parts of India, and that I were entitled to draw rations as in Abyssinia. I have often fared far worse in India, with all the re- sources of the country at my command. It is not sur- prising that all the troops at Magdala, who had for two months been working hard, and for at least a month been faring hard also, were delighted at the prospect of leaving the country.
I, on the other hand, was disgusted at being unable to advance farther into Abyssinia. Above all, I had hoped to have thoroughly explored the great lake of Dembea or Tsana, which has never been accurately mapped. I believe that there are few geological prob- lems more interesting than those connected with the origin of lake basins, and those of Africa, tlic only great lakes in the tropics, are of peculiar importance. But Sir Robert Napier would not listen to any proposals of ex- ploration. He even refused permission to Mr, Munzinger to go into the country of the Asubo Gallas, although one of the principal chiefs had guaranteed his safety, and although Mr. Muuzinger's loDg experience and great knowledge of the Abyssinian people would have alone been almost suflScient to secure him from injury. A few days after leaving Magdala, in order to leave do means untried, I applied to be allowed, with a small party, to go to Lake Tsana, and thence march to the south-west towards Gondokoro, endeavouring to explore the Sobat river, but without any success. Sir Eobert was determined to have every European over whom he
92 PERSONAL NARRATIVE,
could in any way exercise authority out of the country in as short a time as possible.^
I left the camp before Magdala on the 1 6th of April, three days after the fall of the fortress, and marched back as rapidly as I could to the Wadela plateau. Here I halted for a day or two to obtain a few specimens of the birds, of which, however, I could not collect many, as I had to prepai'c the skins myself At Yasendye, JVIr. Markham, the Honoraiy Secretary of the Geogra- phical Society, who had been with the expedition fix)m the beginning, but whom I had never met tiU I reached Magdala, came up from the front with Major Grant. He had no hope of penetrating any further into the country, and was on his road back to England. He left with me an aneroid and a boiling-point thermometer, in case I should be more successful.
From Yasendyd I came on to Gaso and Santara. I had some days previously written to Ashangi for my tent and collecting apparatus to be sent on, as I wished to procure specimens of the birds and mammals peculiar to this elevated region. I found, however, that my tent, &c. had not arrived, and that the whole camp had been removed from Santara to the Takkazzy^ except the tent of the guai'd. There was no place in which to remain, for the guard-tent was of course crowded, and very reluctantly I was compelled to leave this most promising
> I do not for an instant doubt that Lord Napier was not only perfectly justified in refusing permission to any one to leave the line of march, but I fear so little interest is taken in England in any exploration for other than purely commercial motives, that he would have been blamed had he permitted any.
RETURN TO LAKE aSHANGI. 93
ground with only about seven species of animals not obtained elsewhere. These comprised a peculiar hyrax, the little Mus ahyssinicus, Saxlcol(tfrenata, Pratincola sordiduy the rare Lobivanellus melanocephaluSy Macronyx jlavicollisy and Euplectes xanthonielas. Had I been al)le to devote more time to the exploration of these hills, I might doubtless have increased the number consider- ably, and have obtained a larger proportion still of the peculiar forms described by Rtippell and Von Heuglin from the mountains of Samyen.
This being out of the question, however, I pushed on to Lake Ashangi. On my road I obtained two or three more 8j>ecimens of birds on the top of Wandaj, including Falco tanypterus, which I had frequently seen l^efore but never secured. I also saw Hypotinorchis concolor, the slate-coloured merlin, of which I did not secure a speci- men. Close to Dildi I shot one of the mouse-coloured antelopes, Cephalophus madoqua.
The released prisoners from Magdala were on their march towards the coast, and I met several of them, amongst them Dr. Schimper, the veteran naturalist, who has passed forty years in exploring the botany, zoology, and geology of the country. He was a fellow-student with Agassiz, and having remained so long away from European changes of thought, has retained the geological ideas of a past generation, differing from those of the present less perhaps in reality than in nomenclature, so that I found some difficulty in understanding his views. Although, so far as I am aware, he has published nothmg himself, he has supplied many successive travellers with
94 PERSON J L NARRATIVE.
infonnation, and has indirectly contributed more perhaps than any other living European in making the fauna and flora of the Ethiopian highlands known to the scien- tific world of Europe.
I reached Lake Ashangi^ once more on April 29th, and remained there for seven days, collecting. Lieut. St. John had lent me an india-rubber boat, which was most useful, as no native craft of any kind existed on the water. The amount of astonishment which the lx)at produced amongst the Abyssinians was naturally great The lake swarmed with water-birds, but many kinds of ducks had left. I saw the shoveller, always one of the latest to migrate to the north, and shot the created pochard {Fuliguh cristata), but there appeared to be decidedly fewer than when I passed on my way to Magdala a month earlier. The Eg}"ptian goose {Chenalopex (eyyptiaca) occurred in large num- bers. The most abundant bird on the lake was the crested grebe {Podiceps (^ristata) ; I also shot the eared grebe (P. aurita)^ which was scarce, and the common dabchick (P. minor), A small cormorant {Graculus africanus) was occasionally met with, and I once saw a white pelican, which, however, I failed to secure. The crested coot {FuUca cristata) was tolerably abundant The umbre {Scopus xnnhretta) occurred on the margin of the lake, with a large black and white ibis, of which I failed to obtain a specimen. In the mai-shes on the banks Rallus Rougeti and Gallinula chloropii^ occurred,
^ A brief description of this lake will be found in a subsequent page in the part devoted to the Geology, Section I.
FAUNA OF ASHANGL 95
and snipe abounded. Flocks of Ibis carunculata con- sorted with the Egyptian geese on the meadows around the lake, but both had become very wild, owing to their being so frequently fired at. The spur-winged plover {Hoplopterus spinosus) was met with occasionally in the same places or along the shore.
Amongst the high grass which grew in places near the lake I found, rather to my surprise, large flocks of the black and yellow weaver-bird {Euplectes xantho- melas), which elsewhere I had only seen at much greater elevations. On the stunted trees, the beautiful long-tailed roller {Coractas abysstnica) was far from rare, and the iridescent starling {LamprocoUns chalyhceus) was fre- quently met with. Amongst the other birds here col- lected were Pratincola semitwquatcty Heug., Turdus oUvacinics, Bp., Bradyornis clwcolatina, Cotyle cincta, and C. minor. I also obtained a single specimen of the secretary bird.
The meadow in which the camp stood was dotted over by heaps of earth, exactly like mole-hills, thrown up by Bathyergus splendenSy a burrowing short-tailed rodent, the size of a large Norway rat, but resembling in appear- ance the bamboo rats (Rhizomys) of the Himalayas and BuiTOese countries. I kept one alive for two or three days, feeding it on roots of grass, but it finally escaped. There were unusually few jackals and hyaenas. A few koodoo were said to occur in the neighbouring hills, and I found the tracks of pigs and otters along the shore of the lake. There were a few land-shells to be found, Bulimus Olivleriy a species of Vitrina, and an JEnnea, the two
1)6 PEHHONAL NARRATIVE,
latter undescribed, being the most common. Despite the large number of fish-eating birds on the lake, all the Abys- sinians persisted in denying the existence of fish in the waters. I only saw one small kind, but the occurrence of otters alone serves to indicate the existence of some larger forms. I could catch none, however.
The head-quarters, now the rear-guard of the army, reached Ashangi on the 5th and left on the 6th May, abandoning such stores as could not be carried with them, and making a bonfire of huts, empty packages, all the hay not wanted, &c. ; 400 or 500 mules and ponies which were either lame or seriously galled, so that there was no probability of their being made of service during the return journey as pack animals, were ' also abandoned, and a great scramble took place amongst the Abyssinians for their possession. The scene was most amusing. Crowds of the poorer Abyssinians hung about the camp, picking up anything they could, and by no means disdaining to pilfer if a chance afforded. Now and then a few would be driven off, and the whole would take to flight for the moment ; soon returning, however. As each corps in succession moved off its ground with its baggage, these people crowded into the abandoned space to search for anything which might have been left behind, and they might be seen carrying off the most singular articles, — empty packages, broken Otago saddles, or fragments of canvas, blocks of firewood, and bundles of grass. A similar scene took place at every camp, varied occasionally by some valuable commissariat stores, such as flour or grain, being left behind for want of
RETURN MARCH TO ANTALO, 9 7
carriage, and by a free fight taking place for their possession.
The march back demands but brief notice. Finding it most tedious to march on the narrow steep roads with the head-quarters camp, owing to the lengthy train of baggage — which started generally at daybreak, and the last of which rarely accomplished a march of eight or ten miles before dark — Dr. Cook and I made a double march from Makhan to Atala, and afterwards kept with a small force which marched one day ahead of the Com- mander-in-chiefs camp. We reached Antalo once more on the 11th, and I halted there a day. St. John, who had brought the telegraph thus far, had explored the neighbourhood, and carefully marked down a couple of owls {Bubo ci7ierascens), which inhabited some rocks by the Buya stream, about two miles from camp. Besides killing one of these, I obtained several other rare birds on the same day, amongst them a pair of Ibis coniata.
As I heard that the head-quarters and rear-guard would only halt for two days at Buya, I left on the 13th May, in order to have, in any case, a couple of days for the examination of the junction of the limestone and sandstone, and to search for fossils at Agula and Dongolo. I could not even spare a day to visit Antalo town and Chelikot. Nothing worthy of record occurred on the road to Agula. The weather had become fine again, and the road being comparatively good and hard there w^as but little delay in marching. Moreover, all commissariat supplies, and especially grass and grain for the animals,
H
98 PERSONAL NARRATIVE,
being now abundant, all the mules and horses were rapidly getting into good condition, and much fewer fell or knocked up on the road. Still I frequently pre- ferred allowing the whole camp to go ahead, and march- ing quietly by myself in the afternoon, so that I could examine the rocks along the road, or shoot any rare birds or animals I might see. This was, I believe, against orders, as there was supposed to be risk of being attacked, but the risk was very small ; all that was necessary was to keep the mules in sight, as otherwise they might have been plundered by some of the petty thieves who hung about the route of the army. Much more was related about thieves than was true. Petty pilfering took place everywhere, as amongst all civilized and semi-civilized peoples ; but, except in the disturbed country around Ashangi, most of the stories of attacks and thefts were invented by muleteers and camp fol- lowers to conceal their own vUlanies.^ I can only say, in justice to the Abyssinians, that both in marching to Magdala and in retm-ning I rode or walked the gi'eater portion of the distance either entirely alone or Avith one or two companions, who, like myself, preferred keeping
^ An admirable instance occurred at Undul Wells, when I was staying there. Some muleteers arrived with three or four Shoho prisoners bound, and asserted that these men had attacked them, and had attempted to rob their mules on the road. The Shohos, on the other hand, declared that they had been con- veying stores from Zulla to Senuft^ for the Commissariat, and were returning with the money when attacked by the muleteers. On inquiry this turned out to be the case, the money taken from the Shohos was found upon the muleteers. Another trick of the muleteers was to sell stores entrusted to them to Shohos or Abyssinians, and to account for the deficiency by stories of robbeiy. Undoubtedly a few cases of robbery did take place, but the greater number of asserted instances were, I believe, imaginary.
OOLITIC FOSSILS NEAR AG ULA. 9 9
out of a crowd, and that I never met with anything but friendly greetings from the people who passed. They were especially amicable in Tigrd. The usual conversa- tion was something of the following kind : —
Ahijssinian (producing a small piece of cord, originally blue, now of various colours, from around his neck) : " Christi ?" which being inteipreted was supposed to be an inquiry as to the Englishman's Christianity.
Englishrtian : " Yes," with a nod.
Abyssinian : ** Taib " (Arabic for *' good," probably the whole of the speaker's attainment in the language).
The blue cord is in Abyssinia the mark of a Christian, and I think there was often some doubt of our really belonging to that religion, since we did not wear it. I met one enthusiastic chaplain, who made a public profession of his faith by conspicuously wearing a blue necktie.
Near Agula I at last found some faii-ly preserved fossils in the limestone. All were bivalves, but they comprised Ceivmya, Pholadomya, and Trigonia of typi- cally oolitic forms, which fully confirmed the opinion expressed by the energetic French travellers, MM. Ferret and Galinier, who first explored these formations. At Dongolo, after much search, I obtained several well- preserv^ed specimens of a small Ilemicidarisy also Avith characteristically oolitic afl&nities.
Instead of following the road from Agula to Dongolo, I went for some miles down the valley of the Agula river, which runs in a deep dell between cliffs of lime- stone ; and then, crossing the hills to the Dongolo stream,
h2
100 PERSONAL NARRATlFZ
which flows in a similar deep ravine, I returned by it to the road, Sir C. Staveley having allowed me to take a small guard. I was unable, however, to reach sufficiently far to examine the base of the limestone in this direction.^
At Dongolo I halted for a day, and was overtaken by the Commander-in-chiefs camp and the rear-guard. It had been the intention of Sir Robert Napier that a small party with a guard should be allowed to cross from the Haramat plain near Adabagi to Adowa and Axum, and thence march to rejoin the main body at Senafe ; and to this party Dr. Cook, Mr. Holmes the archaeologist, the officers of the Trigonometrical Survey, and a few others, including myself, were to have been attached. I was especially desirous of examining the remarkable Adowa hills, reported by some travellers to be of sandstone, but which Dr. Schimper considers of volcanic origin, and which are, as previously remarked, probably identical in composition with the trachytic rocks about Senafe, which they resemble so greatly in form. However, it was found that the length of the march was too great to enable the party, if detached, to rejoin the main body before the latter left Senafe, so the project was abandoned.
I returned with the head-quarters camp to Adigrat and Senafe. At the former place I found that the collector I had left behind had not a large number of bird-skins, though there were many amongst them of interest. He had, however, about twenty specimens of the species
1 Amongst a collection of rock specimens which Dr. Beke has veiy politely sent to me for examination, I find fragments of both limestone and sandstone from the country farther to the westward in this direction.
SENAFK •'"ID I
' * • "
of hyrax found in the neighbourhood, which serv^'- admirably to illustrate the astonishing variation in the..- colour and even the texture of the fur which is exhibited , by these animals, and which is scarcely equalled, so far as I know, by any other wild mammal.
We reached Senafe on the 25th May, Very little rain had fallen in this part of the country, and it was conse- quently less green than in February, and contrasted strongly with the southern portions of Tigre between Antalo and Adigrat Kassa, the Tigre chief, was en- camped in the neighbourhood, and durbars and military exercises by both Abyssinians and British troops were the order of the day.
At Senafe I first met Mr. Jesse,, the gentleman sent out 1^ the Zoological Society of London; He had hitherto been most unfortunate, for he bad only landed in March, and had been detained in the rear both by want of carriage and by illness. His collections at this period were consequently comparatively small The collector whom I had left behind at Undul Wells had proved thoroughly worthless, and had found it more profitable to skin birds for some of the officers than to do his own work. Lieut Sturt, however, had a considerable number of birds, of which he allowed me to take such as I had not myself collected. Altogether, before I left the high- lands I had about 900 specimens- of birds, mammals, and reptiles, representing above 250 species.
A considerable change had taken place in the avi- fauna, caused chiefly by the immigration of birds from lower elevations and the departure of the Saxicolce, and
• -».
• •
1 dg • "• PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
• •
i^me other migratory kinds. Of the immigrants, perhaps
'*. Jhe most conspicuous was Lamprocolius chalybmis, now
abundant. Tochis Jlavirostris and Lamarius cethio-
' picus, which in February and March did not ascend
above 6,000 feet, were now common at 8,000.
Senafd, after having been occupied nearly six months, was finally abandoned on the 29th May. We exchanged the pleasant climate of the Abyssinian highlands for heat and dust, a short supply of water, and universal barren- ness. As we descended the pass, every day brought with it additional heat and discomfort, mitigated slightly by such European luxuries as preserved provisions, wine, and beer, which had been imported in abundance by enterprising speculators.
In the pass I found that most lovely bird, Pholidauges Uiicogaster^ abundant from about 2,000 to 5,000 feet of elevation. It had certainly been entii-ely wanting in January and February ; so conspicuous a bird could not possibly have escaped every one's notice. At Komayli, at the base of the hills, I found some other birds, especially (Eiia capensistmdi Nectannia metallica, which were certainly not to be found there in February. Both were now breeding. A bee-eater, Merops alhicoUis, had also been added to the fauna ; whilst Cercomela mela- nura, Aedon galactodes, and Turtur dlbiventris appeared much more abundant than formerly. On the other hand, all the shrikes, SaxicolcB, and wagtails, with Corpus affinisj had left.
I remained a few days in Komayli. The heat was excessive ; the temperature at mid-day, in a large tent
ZULLA. 103
with a double roof, affording almost as perfect protection as a thatched house, bemg 11 4° to 115** Fahr. In the afternoon a strong breeze set in from the sea, which slightly abated the temperature. I returned to ZuUa on the 6th June, and took up my old quarters in the Com- missariat enclosure, one of the best parts of the camp, for, being close to the sea, it was much less dusty than further inland.
Sir Eobert Napier left on the 9th for England, and only a small portion of the army remained in charge of the stores which were being shipped. I determined to see the last of the expedition. Six months' campaigning had left me in the best possible health, and I only regretted being obliged to return to a more civilized country. I had arranged to go back to India by one of the steamers which was to remain at Annesley Bay till the last, when an opportunity offered itself of seeing something more of Abyssinia.
Lieut. Mockler had been one of the first oflScers of the army who landed in Abyssinia as an assistant in the Political Department. During the advance of the army on Magdala, he had remained on the coast in charge of the very important political relations with the Shoho and other chieftains which had been so ably originated by Colonel Merewether and Mr. Munzinger. On the departure of the force he had applied for leave of absence in order to visit the Anseba and Bogos country, a friendly territory lying about one hundred miles north-west of Massowa. Mr. Munzinger, who has passed many years in Bogos, also intended to spend
104 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
part of the summer there ; and when Lieut Mockler asked me to join the party, the temptation was too great to be resisted. Mr. Jesse the zoologist, who, like myself, was eager to see something more of the country and it3 fauna before leaving it, joined us ; and harvirig purchased from the Commissariat, which was v6ry glad to dispose of them, flour, rice, and grain for ourselves and the men whom we intended to take with us, sufficient for a couple of months, we left ZuUa on the 18th June, when it was finally abandoned by the army, and went to Massowa in a steamboat which was despatched to carry Mr. Munzinger thither.
Massowa has been described by almost every writer who has visited Abyssinia. It is a small Arab town on an island about a quarter of a mile from the shore, and without any water. It is probably one of the hottest places in the Vrorld, and the change from Annesley Bay was far from agreeable, although we had a house, the British Consulate, to live in, a luxury to which we had all been strangers for many months. I believe we all longed to be in tents again ; I did certainly, but three or four days' delay was necessary in order to make arrangements for carriage. A large number of camels had been left behind by the Transport Train ; we obtained the loan of some, but as they had no saddles or ropes for loading, we w^ere obliged to procure these also.
All being ready, we left Massowa on the afternoon ol the 22d of June, and, crossing the arm of the sea whic^! forms the harbour, rode for about four miles inland tA MakuUu, a large village whence a gre«qt portion of the
Mjssojrj, 105
water used at Massowa is brought, and where most of the Indian and Arab merchants have houses and live during the hot months, going to Massowa in the day only.
The spur of land opposite Massowa, and the island itself, consist of the coral rock of which so many of the islands in this part of the Red Sea are composed. It is formed by the agglutination of broken corals, shells, and coral sand. After leaving the shore a flat alluvial plain is traversed as far as Makuilu. Here hills formed of volcanic rocks appear, similar to those near Zulla.
At Makuilu we took leave for the time of Mr. Mun- zinger, who was obliged to remain in Massowa for some days, in order to make arrangements for the care of the transport animals left in his charge. We started early the next morning, and marched about twelve miles due west to Saati, through low hills of volcanic and sedi- mentary rocks intermixed, all apparently belonging to the same group, and having a general dip to the east. Basaltic lava predominates. The ground is mostly rather barren, stunted mimosa bushes of the most thorny description being almost the only vegetation.
At Saati there is a spring of water, and we halted here for the night. I was rather unwell, having been knocked up by the heat of Massowa, and lame from some unknown cause, so I could not go out. In the evening towards dusk thousands of sand-grouse assem- bled at the water to drink, coming from all quarters. All appeared to be of one kind, Pterocles lAchteiisteiniy which is common throughout this part of the country.
106 PERSONAL NARRATLVR
In other places we subsequently often saw large num- bers of this bird flying to water in the evening and early morning, but nowhere so many as at Saati. All sand-grouse have particular hours of the day for drinking, and PL Lichteiisteiniy like the closely-allied Pt. fcisci- atus of Hindustan, drinks at twilight in the morning and evening.
In the morning I found large numbers of bunting {Eniberiza septemstriata) at the water. We started at daybreak, and marched west for about fifteen miles to Ailat A small outcrop of granitic rocks appears at Saati from beneath the volcanic formations, and the spring is probably brought to the surface in consequence of their existence, the water in the porous scoriaceous rock being dammed back and forced to the surface by the impervious granitoid gneiss. The latter formation, doubtless, underlies the volcanic beds throughout, and probably at no great depth. After passing Saati, volcanic rocks, precisely similar to those further east, are met with for about three or four miles, when metamorphics succeed them; the road traverses low metamorphic hills for a few miles further, and then emerges upon a plain four or five miles broad, in which is the vil- lage of Ailat, consisting of thatched huts surrounded by high thorn fences to keep out wild beasts, here numerous.
The plain around Ailat was tolerably green, even" at this period of the year; large tamarisk trees grew in places along a broad sandy watercourse which traversed it ; and they, with a few other plants, gave the country
JILAT- LIONS. 107
an appeaxance of fertility which contrasted agreeably with the barren rocks between which we had l)een travelling. We crossed the plain, and went on al)out three miles beyond Ailat to encamp near the famous hot spring. The village, as is usual tliroughout Northern Abyssinia, is at a distance of two or three miles from water ; the cause assigned by the people for this singular practice is, that plundering bands often encamp near the water. Probably the danger from wild beasts, whicli come down to drink in considerable numbers, is another reason for not living close to the springs. Of this risk wo had a most melancholy practical illustration a few days later.
The hot spring at Ailat issues from some rocks in the bed of a torrent, which is dry except after heavy rain in the hills. The water is extremely hot, 140° Fahr., but perfectly tasteless.
I did not go out next day until the evening, when some people saw a lioness close to our camp. Mockler and I went to look for her, and after peering about some time, Mockler saw her in a bush, and fired, but missed. I could not see the animal distinctly. She got amongst some dense green bushes, and, as it was already dark, we were obliged to leave her.
The next morning wt. took up her tracks ; she had been joined by a lion in the night, and had gone to the north. We did not succeed in finding her, however. I killed a large pig {Phacochceims), of which I preserved the skull, and shot several birds, amongst which were Lamprocolius chrysaffoster, Halcyon semiccevulea, and
108 PERSONAL NARRATIVE,
GentropiLs superciliosuSy none of which I had previously seen. In the evening the lioness again crossed the stream near out camp, and we follot\red her, but she went away at once. In going after her we siaw a leopard, which also escaped.
Ailat is notorious for lions and leopards, many of which are man-eaters, and many people are killed by these animals. It is a most curious circumstance that whereas on the route followed by the army, not forty miles farther south, lions were only seen on two or three occasions, and not a single animal was shot, although there were dozens of sportsmen eager for the chance, at Ailat, and througliout our subsequent journey, we frequently met them ; and scarcely a day passed without our seeing their fresh tracks.
The temperature was certainly very hot, rising to about 108° in the day, and falling to 75° in the early morning before sunrise ; but this was an agreeable change from Massowa, where night and day the thermometer never fell below about 87° or 88° Fahr. I very soon recovered, but Jesse unfortunately had a rather smart attack of fever, apparently produced by exposure to the sun.
I procured many birds during the six days we re- mained at Ailat ; amongst them were Nisus niloticxcs, Nilaus brubru, Ibckics erythrorhynchuSy Quelea cethi- opica, Peristera afra, and JEgiatilis tricollwns. I also found some species which elsewhere I had only met at a much greater elevation (Ailat is less than 1,000 feet above the sea), such as Tchitrea melanogastra.
A MAN KILLED BY A LEOPARD, 109
Dicrurus divaricatus, Lamprocolius chalybcBus, Buphaga erythrorhyncftAXy and especially Irrisor erythrorhynchus, Passer Swamsoni, and Hophpterus spinosus. Bus- tards {Otis arahs), guinea-fowl, and francolins (Pter- nestes ruhricollis) abounded.
On the early morning of the 29th June one of my servants, rising before daybreak, was scratched in the face by some wild animal which had come into the camp. The track resembled that of a large cat. We thought nothing of this at the time, but on the following night we were all aroused by an outcry and shouting, and an alarm was given that a lion had seized one of our men. Mockler fired off his rifle to frighten away the beast, which rushed roaring past our tent. . On inquiry we were horrified to find that an Abyssinian servant of Jesse's had been killed while asleep, and no alarm had been created until the animal attempted to drag away the body. The unfortunate man had two large tooth-holes in his throat, and must either have been so seized that he was unable to cry out, or else, as is probable, his neck was broken. The assailant was doubtless a leopard, very probably the same small animal which had scratched my servant the night before. A lion would have carried away the body to some distance, certainly, and tlie tooth-marks were too small to have been made by a lion's fangs. We had a low thorn fence round three sides of our camp, and the camels occupied the open side — tlie usual plan in this part of Africa — but w-e had no fires, a most necessary precaution, and one we never neglected after this sad lesson.
110 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
During all my experience in India — and in the course of twelve years I have encamped in many places infested by tigei*s and leopards — I have never taken such pre- <3autions as we had adopted even before this accident. Throughout the progress of the expedition in Abyssinia, no one ever dreamed of the necessity for especial pro- tection against wild animals.
In the morning, all attempts to track the leopard failed ; we could not find a single distinct footprint. The poor fellow who had been killed was buried, and a pile of stones heaped over his grave. To have re- mained at Ailat would simply have been to risk a repetition of the disaster ; consequently, after expending the morning in a vain attempt to discover the beast and avenge the death of our poor follower, we packed up imd started for Asus, a village about eight miles to the north, of very similar appeai'ance to Ailat, and lying in the same plain, which extends here for many miles along the base of the lowest hills.
The ranges in this neighbourhood rise far more gently from the low country than they do near Annesley Bay. The high plateau of Hamazen, equal in elevation to the country around Senaf6 and Halai, is visible to the west ; but the intermediate ground, instead of consisting of deep, rugged ravines, is composed of rounded hills, drained by valleys of no great depth.
We halted a day at Asus, and then went into the hills again to Kusaret, on the road to Mensa, intend- ing to go to a place called Tunfia, said to be much o.ooler than Ailat, and situated at an elevation of about
MARCH TO NORTHWARD, \\\
2,000 feet. But at this time wc heard from Mr. Mun- zinger that he expected still to be detained for several days in Massowa, and that we had better proceed to Bogos, by Ain and the Lebka valley, without waiting for him. One of the Naibs of Arkiko was with us, and his presence would be ample guarantee ; in fact, the people being friendly, no special protection was necessary.
We were all tired of the heat, and Jesse was for a day or two veiy ill. We therefore determined to proceed at once to Ain, and thence to a cooler climate. We accord- ingly retraced our steps somewhat, and then marched to Kanzal, still in the plain i-unning northward from Ailat ; but at Kanzal the hills to the east become scattered, and hence, to the northward, one great barren plain extends from the base of the mountains to the sea. This tract is a perfect desert in the summer, though after the winter rains it becomes green, and affords pasture to the cattle of the Habab tribes. The heat and glare in the day- time at the season of our journey were said to be almost unbearable, and it was therefore necessary to make the march across the desert of Shob (or Sha ab), as this tract is called, at night. We started in the evening of the 4th of July, with a full moon.
Before dark we passed a large encampment of the Warea, one of the nomade Bedouin tribes. It was sur- rounded by a low circular thorn fence, immediately inside which was a ring of hemispherical huts, the frame- work of bent sticks, covered by mats. These huts can be taken to pieces, and packed on a camel or a bullock, and set up afresh in a very short time. We found them
112 PERSOyjL XARR.ITIFE,
generally used, not only throughout the nomade Mahom- medan tribes of the Habab, but also amongst the agri- cultural Christian population of the Anseba valley and Bogos. Even when thatched huts are used, as at Keren, the hemispherical mat dome is placed inside.
In the centre of the circle were two or three isolated huts, said to be used, one for marriages, and another for the sick I doubt if these be really their use. The inhabitants were much like Shohos, but a finer race. The men had enormous masses of frizzled hair, in which were stuck the usual two or three long skewers of wood or horn. Like all the people in Northern Abyssinia, they wore large straight swords, of German manufacture, instead of the little sickle-like weapons of the Shohos, or the longer curved scimitars of the Tigr^ans and other Abyssinians.
Uncouth as they appeared, these people were \Qvy civil, and their chief went on with us for some distance to point out the road. As w^e came out upon the open desert we saw many large gazelles {G. Sceinmeriiigii) in the moonlight ; but they would not allow us to approach sufficiently close to shoot
We reached Ain in the morning. A small stream, fed by a spring, runs between thick green bushes and reeds in the bed of the Lebka torrent. Here we halted for a day. The slope of the coast plain must be considerable, since at Ain, about fifteen miles from the sea, the eleva- tion by aneroid is about 1,200 feet. All the bills around are schistose and gneissic rocks, as are indeed all between Ailat and Ain. The general strike is still north and
LEBKA r ALLEY, 113
south. The dip at Ain is low, 20"* or 30' to the west
There were not many birds here which we had not obtained at Ailat, Tockus nasutus and Crateropus leu- cocephalus being the only important additions : but we were told that a herd of oryx (0. Beisa) inhabited the plain to the eastwards. Of all the antelopes of Africa none is, perhaps, so remarkable as the oryx, and I longed to see one. But, although we found fresh tracks, we could not meet with the animals themselves.
On the 7th we marched up the Lebka valley to Mohabar, a distance of about twenty miles. The ascent is very gradual, and the valley does not contract as in the Komayli pass. As a rule the road is very easy along the broad sandy bed of the Lebka, which early in July was quite dry, the rains in the higher part of the valley having scarcely commenced. In one or two places the ravine becomes narrower, with steep sides ; one of these places is known as Aualid Oret ("the Daughters of Hades"), but its appearance is less formidable than its name. The bed of the stream is rocky, but our loaded camels got over without much difficulty.
We encamped in the bed of the stream. The next morning we found that a large lion had walked past our camp and down the stream during the night. We took up his tracks, but unsuccessfully. The day before a lion, probably the same, had killed a cow and then a man close to Mohabar.
The sandy ravine bed was fringed here with fine tamarisk trees, which abounded in hawks and falcons.
114, PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
The little Ntsus sphenurus was especially abundant, feeding on cicadcB. It is a smaller bird than the closely allied shikra of India {Nisits hadius)^ and more insec- tivorous.
At night it was cloudy, a little rain fell, and we moved our tents and baggage hurriedly, for there was lightning and thunder to the westward at no great dis- tance, and our people feared that the stream might come down suddenly. We saw some of the sudden floods so prevalent in these torrent beds afterwards, and certainly they are to be feared However, on this occasion the water did not reach us.
Another long march up the valley produced a great change. As far as Kelamet, twelve miles from Mohabar, we were still amongst parched and barren hills, but at an elevation of about 3,500 feet we came almost sud- denly into a tract of hiUy country covered with the richest verdure. Green bushes and kolqual trees covered the hill-sides, magnificent baobab trees were dotted over the valleys, every little glade was covered with green grass. We had passed from the coast region, in which no rain falls during the summer months, into the high- lands, in which the monsoon rains last from June till October, as in South-eastern Asia.
The temperature was delicious. Life seemed to return with new zest A day or two sufficed to banish all the effects of the heat at Massowa and Ailat. The animals seemed refreshed like the plants, and birds were singing in all directions. Many of these were quite new to me ; a parrot, Pionus Meyen\ was common, and no less than
KOKAI^WILD ELEPHANTS. 115
three kinds of rollers, Coracias ahyssinica, C. pilosa, and Eurystomus afer. The first I had found in places on the highlands, the second I had once or twice seen only, the third I had never previously met with. Here all three were common.
At Kokai, where we pitched our tents, there was a small encampment of the Habab, and a very large herd of camels. Many cattle had been brought into the neighbourhood for pasture. The wild animals migrate from the lowlands at this season like the men, and we heard of wild elephants as soon as we arrived.
The next day, July 1 0th, some men brought us news of a herd in the neighbourhood, and on going out we saw an elephant, to our utter astonishment, standing amongst high bushes, with camels scattered around in all directions. Some other elephants, it was uncertain how many, were in higher jimgle close by. The camels had been grazing in the neighbourhood all the morning, and the drivers had been shouting to each other and to their animals. Certainly the elephants cared wonder- fully little for the presence of domestic animals, or even of men.
We lay still for some time and watched the huge beast, which stood about 200 yards away, lazily munch- ing leaves, or flapping its large ears. There was no chance of approaching close, but by making a circuit we reached within about sixty yards without being seen, and Mockler fired a shell, which evidently hit, and the elephant dashed into the jungle in front, issuing again in front of us immediately after, followed by two other fuU-
I 2
116 PERSONA!. NARRATIFK
grown elephants and two young ones. As they crossed in front of us at about forty yards Jesse and Mockler both fired at the leading elephant, which fell over. The others stood by it, and were soon dropped also ; but we had to fire several bullets before they were dead. Not a single attempt at a charge was made by any one of them. The smallest elephant was shot by accident.
A more unexciting attack it would be impossible to conceive, and I believe we all felt ra|;her ashamed of our- selves for shooting such inofiensive animals as these elephants appeared. Abyssinian elephants are not always 80 harmless. An officer of the 2d Belooch regiment was severely injured, and very nearly killed by one which he had wounded near Suru. Lieut. Mockler was most viciously pursued by a herd which he attacked on the Anseba ; and Mr. Jesse was charged by a large female without any provocation, on our return journey, close to this very place, Kokai. For my own part, this happened to be the first and last occasion on which I came across any elephants in Abyssinia. The only satisfaction was that we provided all the people in the neighbourhood with meat for some time. We made one or two essays ourselves. Trunk proved rather good, though tough ; but elephant foot met with general disapproval
On the 12th, Mockler went on. Jesse and I remained a day longer to collect at Kokai, and proceeded on the 13th. The road led through fine jungle for about five miles, gradually ascending. All the rocks, as throughout the Lebka valley, are metamorphic, but from Mohabar
ARRIFAL Ili THE ANSEBA FALLEF. 117
there is a considerable change in the foliation, which is here north-east and south-west.
After about two hours' gradual ascent, we came to a steeper path leading over a small range of hills between the upper portion of the Lebka valley and the basin of the Anseba. From the top of the little pass, which is called Mashalit, there is a jBne view over the broad undulating valley in which the Anseba runs. We de- scended a finely-wooded valley, and found ourselves in an open couiitry, with more signs of inhabitants than the Lebka valley, and cultivated in places. The popu- lation; however, owing to Abyssinian raids and inter- necine disputes and blood-feuds, is said to have much diminished of late years, and the area actually under cultivation is small compared with that which has evidently been cleared.
The most remarkable feature of the valley is the existence, on almost every conspicuous rise, of large circular piles of white stones. Nothing of the kind had been seen by us in the Abyssinian highlands. These piles of stones cover the graves of chiefs. In some cases the piles are not covered with the white fragments of quartz which are usually placed on the surface, and to which these sepulchral moimds owe their conspicuous appearance. Such graves, we were told, are those of men who have been murdered, and whose deaths have not been avenged.
The law of blood for blood, universal amongst Semitic peoples, prevails generally throughout Abyssinia. It is of this nature in the Anseba country. If a man is
118 PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
murdered or slain accidentally, it matters not how, his family may agree to receive blood-money from the slayer, the price being fixed usually at a certain number of cows, difiering according to his status as chief or serf ; but should the relations refuse to accept compensation, or, as is commonly the case, should the murderer and his family be unwilling or unable to pay, a blood-feud arises, and the relations of the dead man, up to the seventh degree, are bound to kill either the murderer or one of his near male relations, also to the seventh degree. As may be easily supposed, the feud either between families or tribes is seldom at an end with the loss of one or two lives : usually it continues until one or the other, by re- peated losses, has become so weakened that it sues for peace, when an agreement is made, and sealed by inter- marriage; a girl from each family or tribe being given in marriage to a man of the other.^
In many respects the people of the Anseba are a most interesting race, or grotip of races. Unlike the Habab and Samhar tribes inhabiting the country to the east and north-east, they are still for the most part nominally Christians. Forty years ago, all the Bedouins of Habab and Samhar were the same; but the Mahommedan religion in these lands has progressed, and is still pro- gressing rapidly, and Mr. Munzinger pointed out to us
1 It was far from generally known in the army that poor Dofbon's murder was in satisfaction of a blood-fend, and in revenge for the accidental death of a Shoho near SenafS. It is yeiy much to be regretted that the mnrderers have hitherto been allowed to remain unpunished, if only because such impunity induces savages like the Shohos to believe that Englishmen care nothing for their own countrymen.
INHABITANTS OF THE AN SEE A VALLEY. 119
several chiefs who had become converts to Islam. Both Christianity and Mahommedanism are of a most debased kind : there is neither church nor mosque, priest nor mulla ; but the faith of the Mussulman is kept alive by wander- ing devotees, while the Christians have only the Frank missionary, who preaches to them a religion far more distinct from their own, in practice if not in creed, than that of the followers of the Prophet
With the progress of Mahommedanism the rule of the Egyptians extends, and that of the Abyssinians diminishes. The former do but little for the country, except receive taxes ; the latter do still less, always with the same important exception. Protection for life or property there is but little in Habab or Samhar, and none in Tigrd.
At Kelamet we had passed the last Turkish outpost The upper part of the Lebka valley and all the Anseba in this part of its course belongs to Tigrd, and pays tribute to the chief of Hamazen. The tribe owning the part of the valley reached by us is that of Bejuk, and we rode to their principal village, Wasentel, — generally known, however, by the name of the tribe. We here found Mockler just returned from exploring the banks of the river, where he had found traces of rhinoceroses in abundance. This was good news. The Abyssinian rhinoceros had never been accurately determined, and there was some doubt as to whether it was not a distinct species from any occurring in Southern Africa. On oup road we had met with three or four birds of which I had not specimens before, viz. Nisus niger,: Lamprotornis
120 PERSONAL NARRATIFE.
purpuropteray Chrysococcyx cupreus^ and a ruticilline bird, which I subsequently found to be undescribed, mjr jR. fuscicaudata, and in the evening I added to these PalcBomis torqucUa, also an addition to my collection.
Having provided my men with as many birds as they could possibly skin, we all started together the next afternoon to look for rhinoceroses. We rode across the imdulating plain, cultivated in patches, and intersected with ravines filled with thick bush, to the river, along the banks of which there is a narrow belt of high forest, with dense underwood of bushes. I had seen nothing so luxuriant in Africa. So dense is the imderwood that it is only possible to creep through the tangled labyrinth of roots and branches by the paths made by the rhinoceroses which haunt these thickets. These animals retire into the thickest parts during the heat of the day. In particular spots, generally amongst high reeds, they select a small space of ground, which they clear of bushes, and these spots are well known to the natives as " rhinoceros houses.*'
In such a house, in the centre of a broader strip of thicket than usual, the men who were with us reported tliat two rhinoceroses, an old one and her cub, were lying. The approved method of endeavouring to shoot these animals is by walking silently into their retreats, firing at them, and then taking refuge up a tree. This, however, requires a degree of agility in tree- climbing upon which we could not rely, and it is not only dangerous, but, according to all the accounts we
RHINOCEROS HUNT. 121
rfeceived, peculiarly unsuccessful, since we could never heax that a rhinoceros had been bagged by it. We accordingly posted ourselves at one end of the jungle, and told our men to shout and make noises at the other, but the rhinoceroses escaped across the river.
Immediately after this piece of ill-success, we dis- covered a herd of doe koodoo on the opposite bank. Riding across the stream, which was about knee-deep with a rather treacherous bottom, we proceeded to stalk the antelopes, again without success, a man halving crossed the ground meantime and disturbed them. We, however, caught sight of them again, and Mockler shot a young doe. As we came up to the body two rhinoceroses, one a huge beast, the other about three parts grown, ran across the open about 150 yards from us, and disappeared in a broad ravine. After peering about for some time, a sharp-eyed Somali caught sight of the larger one standing in the jungle, and by making a circuit we came within 100 yards. Nearer approach was very diJEcult, and the bushes were so high that if we entQred the broken ground, near the other side of which the animal stood, we should probably lose sight of her completely. Jesse and I took steady aim, and fired. With the most astonishing sound, a series of snorts like puffs from an enraged steam-engine, the brute, with its young one following, dashed into the bushes in front and came on towards us. The moment it left the spot where we had seen it, it vanished in the jungle, and only the snorting and crashing of the branches told of its rapid progress towards us, until it emerged just where we had been
122 " PERSONAL NARRATIVE.
standing. Meantime we had modestly retired behind a neighbouring bush, the rhinoceros continued its route, and we followed, one of the Bejuk chiefs who was with us running ahead. Presently he rushed back, a perfect picture of excitement and delight, dancing like a mad- man, beating his shield with his spear, and springing nearly his own height into the air ; telling us, partly by words, mainly by pantomime, that the rhinoceros was running round and round in a circle and falling over. We soon came up with it : the monster lay dying on the ground, the yoimg one stood by prodding the mother with its horns, and evidently trying to induce her to move on. Though very badly hit, the old one took several more bullets before it was dead; the smaller animal, after receiving one or two shots, rushed off at the most astonishing pace, and we saw it no more. An examination of the body next day showed that Jesse's bullet^ a conical,