170 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [July, 



miles, to this place, occasionally capped by trap, and in one or two 

 places granitoid gneiss emerges through it. Fossils abound, but 

 these are very ill-preserved in general, and I have not had much time 

 to hunt for them. Ostrea, Terebratula and several Lamellibranchiate 

 bivalves are the most frequent forms. Ferret and Gullmier I believe, 

 mark this tract as Oolitic, and doubtless they had better grounds for 

 their opinion that I have yet seen. I can only say that the Ostreas 

 look like secondary forms, and, as a guess, I should have suspected 

 the rocks to be Jurassic or Cretaceous, which is confirmatory of the 

 view taken by the French engineers. Doubtless, however, they obtain- 

 ed specimens which were compared by competent palaeontologists. 



Perhaps one of the most interesting things is that here, as in India, 

 cotton soil abounds ; but only on trap or in its immediate neighbour- 

 hood. It is exactly like Indian regur ; just as abominably sticky after 

 rain, and just as full of holes as the black soil of Guzerat and Malwa. 



The road throughout, I should have mentioned, is close to the 

 watershed, this route having been specially chosen for the purpose of 

 avoiding the deeper ravines leading to the great hill tributaries, the 

 Mareb and the Takazze. 



Zoology. — I can only give you very few notes on Natural 

 History. To my great surprise, the country is remarkable for 

 the paucity of large mammals. They are far fewer than in India. 

 From all accounts I had ever heard, I should have imagined the grassy 

 plains we have traversed would have abounded in the different 

 Antelopines. Nothing of the sort ; not a wild animal is to be seen 

 anywhere larger than a hare, until near this. Here two small kinds 

 of antelope are found, which I cannot identify at present, as I have 

 no books with me. One is of a reddish colour, about the size of the 

 Indian Gazelle, with short straight horns : the other is mouse-coloured 

 with a peculiar long muzzle. I am told it is the kleinbuck of the 

 Cape. There has evidently been a change in the fauna since we have 

 crossed into the Nile drainage, but it is not great. The ffyrax, some 

 distance this side of Attegerat is the same as at Senafe. The hare 

 appears to be the same, and I think the jackal too. The only Hyaena, 

 I am pretty certain, is H. crocuta, and he is to be heard just outside 

 one's tent every night. I shall not forget the row they make soon. 

 Lions, elephants, hippopotami, rhinosceroses, giraffes, zebras and all 



