NATRON AND SALT LAKES. 257 



to the burning rays of the sun, and the blackened bones 

 only left ; the nails of the fingers, and some of the sinews 

 of the hand, also remained ; and part of the tongue of on» 

 of them still appeared through the teeth. They had now 

 passed six days of desert without the slightest appearance 

 of vegetation. On the following (24th) day, they had al- 

 ternate plains of loose sand and gravel, and a distant view 

 of some hills to the west. " While," says Denham, " I 

 was dozing on my horse about noon, overcome by the heat 

 of the sun, which at that time of the day always shone with 

 great power, I was suddenly awakened by a crashing under 

 his feet, which startled me excessively. I found that my 

 steed had stepped upon the perfect skeletons of two human 

 beings, cracking their brittle bones under his feet, and, by 

 one trip of his foot, separating a scull from the trunk, which 

 rolled on lUvc a ball before him. This incident gave me a 

 sensation which it took some time to remove." 



On the following day, 24th, the plain was observed co- 

 vered with slight irregularities, and strewed with pieces of 

 variously-coloured calcareous spar and sclenite, and thick beds 

 of gypsum were noticed. Halted in the evening at wells 

 situated under a ridge of Imo white hills of sandstone, called 

 Mafrasben-Kasaretta, where there are also beds and hills of 

 limestone. The whole of the journey this day, 25th, was 

 through hills of a rather bold and picturesque character, of 

 durk-coloured sandstone. One day's journey was also through 

 a tract partly plain, partly of sandstone hills, to a wadey 

 named Izhya. Here the travellers had a gale of wind for 

 three days ; their tents were nearly buried with sand, and 

 were obliged to roll themselves up in blankets nearly the 

 whole tune. They started again on the 30th, and on the 

 evening of the 31st halted under some low brown sand- 

 stone hills. The journey from 1st January to the 6th 

 was partly along and across a ridge of saiidstone hills, in no 

 place more than 400 feet high. On the 6th they halted at 

 Tiggema, which is one of the highest points of the sand- 

 stmie range, about 400 feet high, and hangs over the mud 

 houses of the town. Its sides are nearly perpendicular, 

 and it is detached from the other hills by a chasm. On the 

 8th, the route still under the range of sandstone hills, they 

 passed a salt lake, and farther east, at Dirkee, two natron 

 lakes. In the centre of each of these lakes is a solid body 

 Y2 



