210 NOETH-EAST AFRICA. 



town of Assab, having to obtain pure water by distillation, and possessing no 

 arable lands or agricultural industries, cannot expect a great commercial future ; 

 its only product is salt, and even this cannot be worked in safety. But the few 

 Italians in Assab, round whom are grouped some five hundred Arabs, Afars, and 

 Somalis, are making great efforts to establish permanent relations between their 

 station and the towns of Shoa. Although at a great distance from the rich 

 countries of the interior, being at least twenty-two and usually twenty-five days' 

 march from Ankober, Assab has begun to import some merchandise, such as coffee, 

 hides, and other products, thanks to the efforts of Antonelli, Bianchi, and other 

 travellers. But this slight traffic can only be carried on under the guidance and 

 protection of the natives. The explorer Giuletti and several companions, hoping 

 to pass through under the safe conduct of the neighbouring tribes, were assassinated 

 at seven or eight days' march into the interior. Nearly all the trade carried on 

 with Aden and Hode'idah, is conducted by means of samhucs ranging from seven to 

 ten tons burden, and the annual movement which takes place in the port numbers 

 some four hundred vessels. The town of Raheita, situated farther south, is the 

 residence of a sultan, who is also a wealthy dealer in mother-o'-pearl, ostrich- 

 feathers, incense, myrrh, and other products of this coast region. The littoral 

 town of Bdihiil, to the north, is the residence of another sultan under the protection 

 of the Italian Government. 



Debra-Libanos, Rogeh, Dildilla. 



In the western region of Shoa, the most important place is the commercial town 

 of Ficheh, built at the angle of a plateau, between deep kwallas. Near here stands 

 the famous monastery of Debra-Libanos, or Mount Liban, built on a trachytic 

 terrace from which runs a little rivulet, looked upon as holy by Christians, Pagans, 

 and Mussulmans alike. Pilgrims come from all parts to bathe in these miraculous 

 and healing waters, which were created by the voice of Tekla-Haïmanot, the 

 legendary saint of the Abyssinians. At the time of the voyage of Combes and 

 Tamisier, the monastery was occupied by three thousand monks, two-thirds of whom 

 were old soldiers mutilated during their expeditions into the Galla country. No 

 other place of refuge is more respected than Debra-Libanos. Before crossing the 

 escarpments of the sacred mountain the pilgrims must cleanse themselves from their 

 sins in the waters of the Ziga Wodiem — that is, " flesh and blood " — which flows 

 through a deep gorge. On a neighbouring height, whence a view over the valley 

 of the Abaï can be had of the Go jam and Damot mountains, stands an ancient 

 fortress which served as a place of refuge for one of the ancestors of Menelik, at 

 the time of the conqiiest of the country by the "Left-handed." Zena-Markos, 

 another monastery situated north-west of Ficheh, on a plateau surrounded by 

 ravines, is almost as opulent and as much frequented as that of Debra-Libanos. To 

 the north the plateaux, as far as Magdala and the sources of the Takkazeh, are 

 occupied by the Wollos and other Galla peoples. The Wollos, who are divided into 

 seven tribes, are immigrants come from the south in the sixteenth century, at the 



