226 



HA RD WICKE' S SCIENCE- G OS SI P. 



as an esculent. We have now records of its occur- 

 rence in Essex and Sussex, but how it got to either 

 of these localities, so far distant from each other, has 

 not as yet been accounted for. 



F. H. Arnold. 



A WINTER IN MASSAUA. 



DURING last winter the steamer I commanded 

 was taken up by the Italian Government for 

 condensing purposes, and in spare time I amused 

 myself by making a few notes on the Natural History 

 of the place I was sent to, Massaua, and its im- 

 mediate neighbourhood, the results of which notes I 

 here generalise, hoping they may prove of some 

 interest. Many men situated as I am visit places 

 from whence no notes or collections have ever been 

 made, and it is the hope that something may be done 

 in that way, that encourages me to place these few 

 lines before you ; and I shall arrange them under 

 different heads. 



I. General Description. — Massaua is situated on a 

 small island on the western side of the Red Sea, 

 and has a population of about Sooo inhabitants, 

 comprising a most heterogeneous collection of 

 Abyssinians, Gallas, Somalis, Arabs, Egyptians, 

 Soudanese and Hindoos. There are a few good 

 houses, built of coral rock, with thick walls, and, 

 as is customary in Eastern places, flat roofs, very 

 effectual in keeping out the heat ; but the majority of 

 natives live in ramshackle huts made of a few poles 

 and rough mats, which, during the heavy winter 

 rains afford little protection against the elements. 

 There is very little sickness ; rheumatic fever how- 

 ever amongst the natives is the most prevalent 

 ailment, and from it the Italian troops suffered a 

 good deal. There is far less sickness during the hot 

 dry summer than in the winter. At Massaua is 

 established a French Catholic Mission and at 

 Makullo (a village about 3 \ miles W.N.W. of 

 Massaua) a Swedish Protestant Mission, both doing 

 good work. At the latter I met with great hospitality 

 and kindness, and was able to get a good deal of 

 information. There are no wells in Massaua, all the 

 water is brought by pipes from Makullo, at which 

 place there is a good and constant supply, though 

 the water is slightly brackish. 



With Suakim (which is situated 242 miles to the 

 N.W. by N.) it has always formed one of the best 

 harbours on this coast, and through it all the outside 

 trade of Abyssinia has been conducted. Although 

 practically not forming a part of the Abyssinian 

 dominions, it has generally been looked upon as the 

 port of that country, not only by the outer world but 

 more especially by the. Abyssinians themselves. 

 Since 1557 it has been nominally under Turkish and 

 Egyptian rule, but in 1SS4, under a treaty between 

 King John (the Negus of Abyssinia), the English 



and Egyptians, the Italians obtained a footing and 

 have recently declared their intention of holding the 

 place altogether. From Massaua to Saati (a place 

 25 miles inland to W.S.W.) the Italians have laid 

 down a substantial railway well guarded by forts. 

 Owing to recent hostilities, the port has been closed 

 to commerce from the interior, and it will take some 

 time to restore the native confidence and trade. 



2. Physical Geography. — Massaua is situated in 

 latitude [15° 37' 2 N., longitude 39 27' E., on a 

 small island in a creek formed by Jerrar and 

 Massaua bays on the N. and W.N.W., and Har- 

 kiko Bay on the S., which bays have good 

 channels into them of five or six fathoms depth, 

 forming good though not extensive anchorages. 

 The island is connected by a long causeway to the 

 mainland which here — as nearly all down the west 

 coast of the Red Sea — stretches away as a flat plain 

 to the foot of the low range of hills about three miles- 

 distant. This plain is formed of alluvium spread 

 over the substratum of coral formations in many 

 places (under the alluvium) in a very perfect state of 

 preservation, while here and there the coral crops up 

 above the soil in jagged rain-worn rocks. So unlike 

 real coral are these rocks that it is only by a close 

 examination that its real character can be determined. 

 The hills are volcanic and are those known as the 

 Aden volcanic series (Blandford). Beyond these 

 hills stretches inland an almost uninterrupted succes- 

 sion of hills and valleys forming in some places a 

 most rugged country, and gradually rising in altitude 

 from 500 or 600 feet at the first hills to the grand 

 mountain ranges 10,000 feet high in Abyssinia. The 

 hills near Massaua show no signs of recent volcanic 

 activity, though a little farther inland, near Dogali, 

 there are well-defined lava beds. From the valleys 

 several wide and shallow river beds can be seen, one 

 very well defined, passing by Makullo and debouching 

 into Jerrar Bay, though I could hear of no water ever 

 having flowed in it, on the surface. But at almost 

 any time of the year, water can be obtained by 

 digging into the bed, in fact while I was there it 

 could easily be got in a few minutes by scooping out 

 the soil with the hands to the depth of a foot. That 

 there have been many rushes of water down this bed 

 is proved by the fact, (1) that the plain is thickly 

 covered in places (particularly N. of Otumlo Bay) 

 with fragments of rocks such as obsidian, mica-schists, 

 quartzite, porphyrite, and rhyolite, which could only 

 have been brought down from the interior by rushes 

 of water ; and (2) the plain is formed by alluvial soil 

 from the interior. The overspreading of the fringing 

 coral reefs is particularly to be noticed, as by this 

 means the Red Sea is slowly but surely being filled 

 up. In "Nature," of April 26th last, I particularly 

 allude to the coral formations here, and also to the 

 gradual upheaval of the coral, so that we have the 

 two forces of upheaval and deposition working 

 together. I consider there to have been upheaval 



