244 PLAIN OF AHMAHGULOFF. 



Mahomed Allee having halted here two evenings 

 before, had caused a great scarcity of vegetation ; 

 their camels, in fact, had eaten up everything in 

 the shape of leaves and grass. 



The road lay along the base of the bounding ridge 

 to the south of the plain. As during the morning's 

 march we took care to choose our path outside of 

 the fallen fragments of rock, and upon ground where 

 scarcely a stone the size of a bean could be found, 

 except such as had been thrown by the hand of 

 some idler passing by. It seemed, indeed, to be the 

 dried bottom of a muddy lake, the waters of which 

 had been recently evaporated, for not a green leaf 

 could I see upon it during the two hours we marched 

 across the parched surface, until we arrived at our 

 halting-ground, where there certainly were a 

 few patches of coarse grass ; and the sloping sides 

 of the ridge on our left, were more overgrown with 

 myrrh and other bushes, the small twigs and 

 young foliage of which, the camels are very fond of. 

 The name of AhmahgulofF was still retained, and 

 I was given to understand, that all the country 

 until we turned out of the plain was now so called. 

 The hill of Obinoe was in our front, not more than 

 five or six miles distant, and I could now plainly 

 perceive the extremities of several other plains ter- 

 minating at that height, as at a centre. 



