56 PERSONAL NARRATIFE. 



bird, the coly. The species was Colius leucotis, peculiar 

 to the Abyssinian highlands. They were in small flocks 

 in thick bush. On the sandstone cliff's a large finely- 

 coloured lizard {Stellio cyanogaster) abounded. In order 

 to obtain specimens I was compelled to shoot them, as 

 otherwise they were soon beyond my reach. 



I had to return to Senafe for a day to make some 

 arrangements, and I did not finally leave Guna Guna 

 till the 21st. The 3d Dragoons were also marching to 

 the front, and their baggage and commissariat rather 

 encumbered the narrow road. Captain Roddy of the 

 Punjab Transport Train was also passing through in 

 charge of a detachment of mules loaded with spare 

 ammunition. I rode on with Captain Newport of the 

 Commissariat, who was on his way to take charge of the 

 station at Adigrat. 



From the valley of Guna Guna the road, inclining 

 slightly to the west, rises by a steep ascent to the sand- 

 stone plateau, here very narrow, and forming the divid- 

 ing ridge between the streams running to the Nile 

 valley and those flowing into the Salt Plain. Eight and 

 left of the road deep ravines are cut through the sand- 

 stones into the metamorphic rocks. The scenery is very- 

 grand, and increases in beauty near Fokada. Here 

 several hills of basalt and trachyte rest upon the sand- 

 stone, the former being bedded. Some small hills west 

 of the road are distinctly terraced, and although of 

 but small size they appear to consist of two or three 

 beds. Close to Fokada there is a fine hill of columnar 

 trachyte east of the road ; the rock of which it is 



