392 REMARKS UPON THE 



Murroo. These were the last sprinklings of the 

 wet season, if the country of Adal may be said to 

 have such distinctions in the unfixed character of its 

 climate. The squally thunder-storms of February, 

 and the great heats of August, constitute the 

 extremes of annual difference, but the persistance 

 in the character of even these months cannot be 

 assured, and from what I observed myself, the 

 reverse of these conditions are just as likely to happen. 

 The same vicissitudes, I was told, characterize 

 every month, and in different parts of Adal these 

 states of the atmosphere exist at the same time. In 

 such an irregular and uncertain climate, the presence 

 of the cloud of fire by night, and the pillar of sand 

 by day are invaluable, as guides to the Bedouin in 

 search of water for his flocks, and natural history 

 does not contain a more striking illustration of the 

 benevolent purposes of God towards man, even in his 

 most evil condition, than these phenomena present. 

 The singular position of the country of Adal is 

 probably the cause of this irregularity in the seasons. 

 Islands that are surrounded by seas are acknowledged 

 to have their climates modified by the circumstances 

 of their situation ; and differing in kind, but exactly 

 analogous, is the effect which is produced by the 

 low position of Adal, surrounded on all sides, 

 except towards the east, by elevated table lands. 

 A reference to the map appended to this volume 

 illustrates my idea better, perhaps, than I can 

 describe it. It will be there seen, that to the north 



