HUNTING AND VISITING IO5 



On the roof of that little house it was easy to sweep over 

 and reconstruct in one's mind the millions of years past and 

 to come. It was enough to look at any of the stones. Abso- 

 lutely nothing had ever moved them from their primaeval 

 position, neither wind nor rain nor hoof of beast nor man. 

 How then did these stones come to lie just where they 

 were ? . . . Thoughts strayed behind the grey blanket of the 

 sky and accompanied the buzzards in their dizzy flight. The 

 desert was like a courtyard, like a yellow line up to the 

 threshold ; the breath of the desert came through the open 

 door of the house. It was ever-present, insistent and dominat- 

 ing. It was no use turning one's back and trying to lose it by 

 going down to the sea. The desert continued to vibrate and 

 melt in the atmosphere. This was the sole illusory movement 

 that took place upon that petrified crust. 



We had already had experience of the steppe to the south 

 of Mersa Nasi, an unfortunate experience as I have related, 

 for we had got lost there, but we were now curious about the 

 territory to the east and the north, as yet unpenetrated, but 

 certainly more interesting. There are several fissures in the 

 region, due almost certainly to earth movements of con- 

 siderable force. Dahlak in fact is still subject to violent seismic 

 shocks and in 1921 Massawa was almost completely 

 destroyed by an earthquake. 



In these fissures, which are really furrows and channels in 

 the flat, sandy land, there are thickets and sometimes even 

 woods of thorny, dwarf acacia. These thickets are almost 

 invariably bare of grass or bush, but animals find shelter in 

 them. Dromedaries and goats find shade and food there, 

 while gazelles make their dens in the thickest parts and pairs 

 of doves or more often six pairs together nest on the branches 

 of the little trees. 



For gastronomical reasons, we concentrated on these 



