THE AWASH BASIN. 187 



from Makaleh. South-west of the Bay of Assab, the irregular volcanic Mussali 

 Mountain is stated to attain a height of more than 6,600 feet ; lastly a border 

 range, skirting the north side of Tajurah Bay, is dominated by cones from which 

 lavas have been erupted. Mount Juda, one of these extinct volcanoes, attains a 

 height of some 3,000 feet above sea-level; it throws ofp a southern spur, whose 

 reefs have almost separated into two parts the bed of the gulf, which thus forms 

 an inner lake rather than a part of the Indian Ocean. To the west other lava 

 streams have entirely covered what was formerly the marine bed, and have thus 

 cut off a portion of the bay, which has become Lake Assal, or as the Arabs ironi- 

 cally call it, in spite of the saltness of its waters, " The Lake of Honey." It is also 

 probable, that the upheaval of the land has contributed somewhat to the isolation 

 of this sheet of water, for the seaboard in the vicinity of Tajurah is largely com- 

 posed of calcareous clays containing, to a height of from 130 to 160 feet, fossil 

 shells similar to those now living in the African seas. 



Lake Assal, at present separated from Tajurah Bay by a ledge some 12 miles 

 long, has undergone various changes analogous to those of Ijake Alalbed. It has 

 also become a saline reservoir, and the crust of salt surrounding the shallows is so 

 thick that laden camels can traverse it for nearly a mile from the bank. Like that 

 of Lake Alalbed, the salt of this lake is a source of wealth to the neighbouring 

 tribes. All the Afar and Somali peoples of the country here procure the supplies 

 for their own consumption and for south Abyssinia, which gives them in exchange 

 coffee, ivory, musk, and slaves. Like Alalbed, this lake is gradually subsiding, 

 the waters brought down by the wadies being insufficient to replace the loss by 

 evaporation. A whitish mark some 50 feet above the present surface of the lake 

 indicates a former water level. At the time of Rochet's first journey to Shoa in 

 1834 it stood 600 feet below that of Tajurah Bay ; since then its level has 

 been variously calculated at from 576 to 770 feet, with a probable depth of about 

 130 feet. According to Bianchi numerous other depressions are found in the 

 country of the Afars, some 660 feet below the level of the sea. 



The Awash Basin. 



South-west of Lake Assal, in a region similarly studded with volcanoes and lava 

 beds, are other lakes, but of fluvial origin, belonging to the basin of the Awash or 

 Awasi. Unlike the other rivers of the country, the Awash does not disappear in 

 deep narrow gorges. Whilst those watercourses sweep away the fertile soil along 

 their banks, the Awash, which flows towards the Indian Ocean, waters its valley 

 like the Egyptian Nile, without, however, reaching the coast. Like the Raguleh 

 and other streams of the Afar country, it runs dry, notwithstanding the large 

 volume of its middle course. The Awash rises south-west of the Shoa Alps, in the 

 Finfini district, which is separated from the Nilotic basin by a mountain range. Its 

 sources form several pools communicating with each other by several channels 

 winding through a grassy district. Already broad and deep, the river sweeps round 

 the mountains of Shoa, and after receiving a part of their drainage, it trends north- 



