1868.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 277 



until the return of the army to Zoulla to June. Subsequently to the 

 departure of the troops, I made another journey in Northern Abys- 

 sinia, of which I will now offer a few notes. 



When accompanying the army I had had a fair opportunity of 

 collecting the fauna of the highlands of Abyssinia (7,000 — 8,000 feet) 

 and also of the low country near the Red Sea. But I had observed 

 that a very interesting intermediate fauna occurs at about 3,000 to 

 6,000 feet of elevation, and many forms, rare on the highlands, are 

 here abundantly represented. I therefore was glad to avail myself 

 of an opportunity for examining a tract of country of this intermediate 

 height. On my return to Zoulla in June, I learned that Mr. Mun- 

 zinger, the Consul at Massowa, intended to visit the Anseba valley 

 and the Bogos country, and an officer of the army whom I knew had 

 arranged to accompany him. Mr. Jesse, the Zoologist, and I joined 

 the party, which thus amounted to four. 



The great mass of the Abyssinian highlands, of an average eleva- 

 tion of 7,000 to 8,000 feet, terminates a little north of the parallel 

 of Zoulla, and opposite to Massowa, in the plateau of Hamazen. 

 From the northern side of this plateau two considerable streams arise, 

 the Anseba and the Barka, which, after a course of some length, 

 unite and fall into the Bed Sea south of Suakin. Both are dry 

 except in the rains ; during the wet season, however, they are frequently 

 impassable. The country drained by them is of a general level of 

 3,000 to 5,000 feet, with many hills rising 6,000 and 7,000, and 

 a few small plateaus, such as that of Marea, of the same height as the 

 highlands to the south (7,000 — 8,000 feet). These countries are inhabit- 

 ed by tribes of Bedawin, formerly all Christian, but of late years largely 

 converted to Mcihomedanisin. Amongst the tribes which are still 

 Christian, some of the most important inhabit the upper Anseba 

 valley, and of these the Bogos is one of the largest and wealthiest. 



Our party left Zoulla on the 18th June, in a steamer for Massowa : 

 only a few hours distance by steam. At Massowa we were detained 

 for 4 days making arrangements for our journey, obtaining transport, 

 &c.j and we left on the 22nd, delighted to escape from the heat, 

 which was almost insupportable. For our carriage we used some of 

 the camels left behind by the army in Mr. Munzinger's charge, 

 engnging a wild looking crew of drivers from the Habab tribes, who, 



