TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 139 
has already been discharged, and the northern part of the country, which is 
drained by the Mared, is consequently much drier than the more southerly pro- 
vinces. The first part traversed by the British troops comprised the southern 
portion of the province of Akula-guzay and that of Againé. It consists of plateaux 
at an elevation of 8000 feet above the sea; of mountain masses and ridges rising 
to a height of from 9000 to 11,000 feet ; of wide valleys surrounded by the plateaux, 
at a height of 7000 feet, and of deep ravines and river-beds elevated from 4500 to 
6000 feet above the sea, The plateaux are composed of sandstone overlying a forma- 
tion of schistose rock, 4000 feet thick, which rests on gneiss. Grand peaks rise 
from the ites frequently with flat tops and scarped sides. The valleys, sur- 
rounded by the steep, scarped sides of the plateaux, are tolerably well watered 
and yield good crops of grass and corn. One of these valleys is seen from the 
road leading from Senafé to Adigerat, and well illustrates some of the most strik- 
ing features of Abyssinian scenery. Just as peaks rise from the surface of the 
lateau, so hills rise up out of the valley itself, from sides exactly like those 
escending from the plateau, and with flat-topped summits corresponding exactly 
with the plateau level. One of these valley hills is the Amba of Debra Damo, 
famous in Abyssinian history. The general effect of such scenery is most striking. 
Tt gives the idea of a dead level plain, which had been cut into by floods, forming 
rayines and valleys, but leaving portions of the plateau in their midst as islands, 
just as navvies leave ecarth-pillars to measure the depth of their excavations. The 
third great physical feature is the deep ravines and river-beds, which carry off the 
drainage, on the one hand to the Mareb, and on the other to the coast. The 
deepest of these gorges are towards the Red Sea, and form the magnificent scenery 
of the passes. On leaving Adigerat the expedition entered upon the second phy- 
sical region, drained by the affluents of the Atbara, and extending to the valley of 
the Taccazé. The northern half, as far as Antalo, consists of sandstone and lime- 
stone, the southern half wholly of volcanic rocks. The important mountain knot 
of Haral ends abruptly towards the south at a point about eight miles south of 
Adigerat, and divides the drainage of Mareb from that of the Atbara. Looking at 
these mountains from the great plain of Haramat to the south, they appear like a 
mighty wall rising suddenly from the plain, bold sandstone cliffs with flat tops, 
surmounted here and there by truncated cones, with higher peaks in the interior 
of the mountain knot rising above them. At the southern end of the plain of Hara- 
mat the character of the country changes; there is a descent of upwards of 1500 
feet, and the scenery passes from a temperate to a dry subtropical type. A broken 
hilly country continues thence to the great stony plain of Antalo. The country 
between Antalo and Magdala is a mountainous region entirely composed of vol- 
canic rock, butit is divided into two very distinct parts by the river Taccazé. That 
to the north is an elevated ridge, crossed by several lofty ranges of mountains ; 
that to the south is a plateau of still greater height, cut by ravines of enormous 
depth. The latter is drained by the principal aftluents of the Blue Nile. South 
of Antalo the scenery becomes grander, the vegetation more varied and more 
abundant, and the supply of water more plentiful. The peculiar feature 
of the whole region is that, while the backbone of the mountain system runs 
north and south, it is crossed by ranges of great elevation running across it in 
the direction of the drainage and dividing it into sections. The mountainous 
country between Makhan and the basin of Lake Ashangi is about fourteen miles 
across. It is well wooded, the hill-sides being covered with junipers as tall as 
Scotch firs, flowering St. John’s-worts growing as trees, and a heath with a white 
flower. The view from the southern edge of this highland is magnificent. Far 
below lies the bright blue lake of Ashangi, bordered by a richly-cultivated plain 
and surrounded by mountains on every side. The lake is without an outlet, 
although lying on the edge of a vast extent of country at a much lower elevation. 
It is some 4 miles long by 3 broad, and lies 8200 feet above the sea-level. As the 
water is fresh, the outlet is probably obtained by percolation at some point on the 
eastern side. The part of the Lasta province south of the lake is broken up into a 
succession of mountain spurs and deep ravines, fertile and well watered. South of 
the Taccazé the nature of the country again entirely changes. A mighty wall 
rises up, 2600 feet high, and ends in a level summit, forming the edge of the 
