82 PERSONAL NARRATIVE. 



to the crest of the Wandaj pass, 10,500 feet above the 

 sea. This pass crosses the Abuyameda range, the flat- 

 topped masses of which, right and left of the pass, 

 rise to 12,000 feet or more. All the upper portion 

 of this range consists of the higher group of traps, hori- 

 zontal as usual, and with the strongly-marked vertical 

 scarps characteristic of the trachyte beds, which, how- 

 ever, at the pass itself, are less numerous than else- 

 where. A peculiar feature near the crest of the pass is 

 the presence of very many large dykes of basalt, which 

 weather more slowly than the rocks around, and stand 

 out in relief like gigantic walls upon the hill-side. Their 

 direction varies considerably ; some of the most prominent 

 run nearly north-west and south-east. 



The vegetation at the crest of this pass is rendered 

 striking by the abundance of the remarkable Tupa 

 rhyncophetalum, a great spike of leaves, not unlike 

 those of tobacco, on the top of a high stalk. I here first 

 saw one or two birds, such as Pratincola sordida, and 

 the black and yellow weaver hixdi, Etiplectes xanthomelas, 

 peculiar to high altitudes. Nectarinia Tdkazze was 

 common, and the large francolin, or spur-fowl, as it was 

 called in the army, F. Erhelii, abounded. The ground 

 at the summit of the pass was burrowed in every direc- 

 tion by a peculiar kind of field rat, Mus abyssinicus 

 of Euppell. 



Before reaching the summit we were overtaken by 

 heavy mist and rain, and it poured nearly the whole 

 afternoon. It was dangerous to go on ; the path down 

 was too slippery for the animals to keep their feet ; they 



