Chap. XXII. 
WELLS OF Gi'LMIRA'M. 
5 
into which we next descended, I observed the first 
regular ant-hill. Small groups of corn- 
stacks, or rumbus, further on dotted a 
depression or hollow, which was encom- 
passed on both sides with gently-sloping 
hills. Here I had to leave the path of 
the caravan with my new companion Gajere, who 
was riding the bullock, in order to water our two 
beasts, a duty which now demanded our chief atten- 
tion every day. 
At length we reached the watering-place of Gil- 
miram, consisting of a group of not less than twenty 
wells, but all nearly dry. The district of Damerghii 
must sometimes suffer greatly from drought. The 
horses and cattle of the village were just coming to 
be watered ; what time and pains it must take to 
satisfy a whole herd, when we were scarcely able to 
water our two animals ! Passing along through thick 
underwood, where the " kalbo," with its large dry 
leaves of olive hue, and its long red pods similar to 
those of the khariib-tree, but much larger, predomi- 
nated almost exclusively, and leaving the village 
Maihankuba on our right, we at last overtook the 
caravan ; for the A'sbenawa pack-oxen are capable of 
carrying heavy loads at a very expeditious pace, and 
in this respect leave far behind them the pack-oxen 
of the fertile regions of Negroland. We now kept 
along through the w^oody region, where the tree 
" g6shi," with an edible fruit, was most frequent. 
We encamped in a thickly-wooded hollow, when my 
B 3 
