86 PERSONAL NARRATIVE. 



usual under such circumstances, a black soil prevails, 

 evidently highly favourable to the growth of cereals, and 

 widely cultivated. The wild grasses are quite different 

 from those on the trachyte. 



At Yasendy^ I was surprised at seeing the white and 

 black crow (Corvus scapulatus), which I had never 

 before met with since leaving the flat coast region near 

 Komayli. Here it associated with Corvultur and Corvus 

 ajffinis. 



I had walked the long march from Gaso to Yasendy^, 

 the greater portion through pouring rain. On my arrival, 

 however, I was most hospitably received by my old 

 friend Major Bardin. The next morning I determined 

 to ride my remaining horse with an Otago saddle, 

 taking only a rug with me by way of bed, but on 

 mounting the animal I found he was lame. Major 

 Bardin very kindly lent me a pony, but I did not make 

 much progress. 



The road from Yasendy^ to Bethor is precisely similar 

 to that north of the former place, over an undulating 

 plateau, with much cultivation and long grass. In one 

 or two places before reaching Yasendy^, deep ravines, 

 exposing clifis of basalt, had been seen to the left of the 

 road, and a couple of miles beyond Bethor we came 

 suddenly on the brink of the mighty chasm in which 

 the Jitta river runs, and to which all the minor valleys 

 converge. 



Of all the grand scenery met with in Abyssinia, none 

 equalled this wonderful gorge. It is 3,500 feet deep, 

 and looks scarcely a mile across. The sides are extremely 



