TA JURAH— OBOK— ASS AB . 



205 



feet deep, and affords safe shelter to large craft. According to Rochet d'Hericourt, 

 it is not of sufficient size to accommodate more than eight or nine vessels of from 

 three to four hundred tons. In the vicinity of the town lies a large saline plain, 

 whence the Issa camel-drivers obtain the salt which they sell to the Harrari at a 

 high price. Zeila has no springs ; hence every morning a long string of camels is 

 dispatched to seek the necessary water in the wadi of Tacosha. Three-fourths of 

 the population consists of Issa Gallas, and every evening the village resounds with 



Fig. 67.— Zeila. 

 Scale 1 • 400,000. 



PI 

 to 16 

 Feet. 



Depths. 



16 to 32 



Feet. 



32 to 80 

 Feet. 



80 Feet and 

 upwards. 



Reefs. 



6 Miles. 



their warlike or other national songs. A small English garrison from Aden now 

 occupies the town, so that there is some hope that the slave-trade may at last be 

 suppressed, of which Zeila has hitherto been one of the principal centres. 



Tajurah, Obok, Assab. 



The route between Shoa and Tajurah Bay does not enjoy, like that of Zeila, the 

 advantage of a midway station such as the city of Harrar ; still the principal town 

 of the Aussa district, situated near the southern bank of a fresh-water lake, which 

 receives the waters of the Awash, may be regarded as a veritable town. It is a 



