174 NOETH-EAST AFEICA. 



It is a monolithic obelisk some 83 feet high, but of a style entirely different from 

 that of the Egyptian obelisks. Its ornamentation consists of a nine- storied tower 

 pierced with windows and surmounted with a small pyramid with fluted base, curved 

 and spherical sides. About fifty other obelisks are scattered over the neighbouring 

 space, some fallen down, others leaning against the trunks of the trees, with ancient 

 altars still standing amidst these ruins. Not far off unfinished carvings are still to 

 be seen in the trachytic quarry whence the workmen obtained the materials for 

 these obelisks. Amongst its other buildings Aksum also possesses, in the enclosure 

 of its gedem or sanctuary, a Portuguese church flanked by an embattled tower. An 

 aqueduct is cut in the rock, and close to the town the side of a mountain is under- 

 mined by catacombs which are said to be the tombs of the kings, and the place 

 where " the great serpent, the ancient King of Abyssinia, is concealed." 



Antalo — Senafeh. 



Antalo, the former capital of Tigré, is situated at a height of some 8,000 feet, 

 on an amba surrounded by deep gorges, where rise the aflluents of the Takkazeh. 

 A higher plateau, crowned by the natural fortress of the Aradom amba, rises to the 

 west, whilst to the south and east stretches the vast fertile plain on which the 

 English established their head-quarters during the expedition of 1868. Antalo has 

 since been abandoned, and its quarters, separated from each other by deep ravines, 

 are nearly all in ruins ; its inhabitants have migrated to Chalikut, about 6 miles to 

 the north-east, one of the most charming towns in Abyssinia, its houses and 

 churches surrounded by gardens and thick masses of trees. 



Situated on the border-chain of eastern Abyssinia, at the very fringe of the 

 terrace-lands sloping to the plain of the Danakils, Antalo and Chalikut are of some 

 importance as depots for the salt merchants passing from the country of the Taltals 

 to Sokota. Between this latter town and Chalikat the chief marts are Samreh, 

 situated near the former lacustrine plain of Samra ; then the lowland towns of 

 Atshi, or Ahsehidera, and Fisho. The new town of Makaleh has been built by the 

 present negus on the very crest of the Abyssinian chain, and like Debra-Tabor, 

 Adua, and Magdala, occasionally serves as a temporary capital of the kingdom. 

 Here an Italian engineer has erected a palace in the " European " style of architec- 

 ture. From this commanding site King Johannes overlooks a large portion of the 

 still unreduced Danakil territory. He has even made some conquests in these low- 

 lands, and on one of the four terraces, which fall in a series of gigantic steppes 

 down to the plain, he has founded the market of Seket, much frequented by dealers 

 in salt. 



North of Antalo and Chalikut, and parallel to the border chain of Abyssinia, 

 several other commercial towns follow at long intervals on the main road which 

 connects the uplands with the forts of Zulla and Massawah. Some of these miser- 

 able collections of huts have acquired a certain importance in the history of Abys- 

 sinian exploration as the camping- grounds and places of observation of European 

 travellers. One of the most populous of these villages is Haussen, situated on a 



