58 LIFE WITH THE HAMRAN ARABS. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE Kassala Mountain, as it is called, looks particularly 

 grand when approached from the town. It comprises, 

 really, several of varied height. The centre one is the 

 highest, consisting of granite, and has the form of a 

 huge smooth dome. At first our direction was eastward 

 to the foot of this range, and in passing through this 

 portion of the country we not only were able to notice 

 the results, in cultivation, of the industry of the natives, 

 but also of the hyaenas and vultures, for as scavengers 

 they leave nothing to be desired of them in saving the 

 people from illness. 



When animals die here from disease, the Arabs 

 merely take them to an open space and leave them un- 

 buried, and the countless skeletons now there tell of the 

 great havoc that a recent epidemic has produced 

 amongst them. We arrived after sunset at a village 

 named Hel-el-Shereef, where we must stay till morning, 

 as this is our only chance of getting water until our 

 arrival at the Hamran village. So far the country south 

 of Kassala appears to be freely wooded, where not 



