36 Volcanoes in the Bay of Bengal. 



feet beneath those of the sea, are all volcanic on the eastern 

 side. A bed of lava, containing several deep fissures, separate 

 the waters of the lake from those at Gubat-el-Kherab, of 

 which it appears to have been a continuation.* The lake is 

 11° 38' 12" N., and 42° 30' 6" E. It is about 7 miles across 

 in its larger diameter, and 570 feet below the level of the 

 sea. For about 300 miles westward into the interior the 

 whole country seems volcanic. To the south-westward of 

 this, near Shoa, is the volcano of Gibbel Abida, about 4000 

 feet high, its crater opening to the NW., and about 2\ miles 

 in diameter, and further on the still higher peak of Aiullo. 

 Here there is an even plain about 30 miles in diameter, 

 studded with small cones, of which as many as twenty may 

 be counted at once, each exhibiting a distinct and well-formed 

 crater. The lava everywhere around is fresh and glossy, but 

 no tradition exists of any eruption having occurred within 

 the memory of man. 



Returning to the Straits of Bab-el-mandeb, we find the 

 volcanic peaks of the High Brothers. On the far-extended 

 African shore, the island of Perim, which occupies a portion 

 of the straits near the Arabian side, with the Bab-el-mandeb 

 Peak on the mainland close by, are masses of lava. Along 

 the African shore, from lat. 11° to lat. 14°, and from long. 

 42° to long. 44°, the series of volcanoes is uninterrupted for 

 the space of 400 miles, running into the interior about 10° 

 N. towards Ankobar, long. 40° E.t How far the volcanic 

 district extends into the interior along the African shore, 

 within the Straits of Bab-el-mandeb, does not appear. A 

 range of hills above 14 miles from the sea, to which it is nearly 

 parallel, is set down on the chart as mostly volcanic. There 

 is a second chain of very high mountains parallel to this 

 again, about 50 miles further to the west, but its character 

 does not appear to have been ascertained. On the Arabian 

 shore, from lat. 13° to lat. 15° 40', for a distance of nearly 



* Dr Kirk's Journey from Tadjoura to Ankobar, 1841. Royal Geographical 

 Trans, 1841, vol. x. The paragraph is given verbatim. Ibid., and more ex- 

 tended, Bombay Geographical Transactions, vol. iii., 1841-44. 



t Dr Kirk, ut sup. 



