THE HAWATU AND DARO MOUNTAINS. IOT 
start in the afternoon. Before leaving, however, an inci- 
dent occurred that made us laugh heartily. Wal-da- 
Gubbra’s daughter sent us a present of some chuko, 
which she knew we liked much, and she requested us to 
send in return a pair of long stockings and a pair of boots, 
Only too glad to please her after the many presents she 
and her father had made us, I sent her the coveted stock- 
ings, and Dodson sacrificed a pair of white tennis shoes, 
amused at the thought of how short her skirts would be the 
next time she went into the presence of Emperor Menelek. 
We started the caravan off on Fred’s old road leading 
to Soorar Darde, where he had been elephant shooting ; 
but the carnel-men who were ahead did not know their 
way, and struck off on a trail that passed more to the west. 
Fred and I had been paying our last visit to Wal-da-Gub- 
bra, and when we caught up to the caravan it had already 
gone some distance on the wrong road. Some natives, 
however, told us that we could make our way by continu- 
ing on this path. The road was the roughest imaginable, 
leading up and down the steepest and stoniest donkey 
trails, and through dense jungles. We worked hard the 
next day for six hours, but accomplished only five miles. 
We were at an elevation of 6,800 feet, but now every 
march took us lower and lower towards the hot, low-lying 
country about the Shebeli River. Soon we approached 
the Hawatu and Daro Mountains, a most peculiar-look- 
ing range, composed principally of red sandstone. The 
mountains rise boldly out of an undulating plain to the 
height of nearly six thousand feet, the tops appearing as 
though they once marked the level of * ~ surrounding 
country, which had been washed away, leaving only these 
giant columns of rock. The dark red color of the clayey 
soil also corresponded with the color of these great barren, 
rocky masses. 
