254 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXXIX. 
three miles, more undulating and fresher pasture- 
grounds ; but stony ground soon began to prevail, 
although without entirely excluding vegetation. Here, 
before we reached the cape called Immanan, meaning 
the fish-cape, the several branches of the river united, 
while a grassy lowland was attached to the higher 
bank which bounds the river during the period of its 
inundation. This fresh grassy tract, full of herbage 
and trees, was awhile interrupted by the high ground 
attached to the cape ; but as soon as we had left the 
naked hills behind us, we descended into a lovely 
little valley or ravine, which in a winding course led 
us to the beach of the river, which here formed a 
magnificent reach ; but a little further on, at a place 
called Ekeziriden, it was broken by a ledge of rocks, 
which stretched almost across its whole breadth, 
and, at this season at least, made it totally unnavi- 
gable. A short distance beyond, a second ledge set 
across the river, while a little further on a rocky islet, 
overgrown with rich vegetation, caused the stream 
to divide. The bank itself now became stony, mica- 
slate protruding everywhere, and we ascended a small 
ridge, which formed a higher cone at some distance 
on our right, while on our left it formed a promon- 
tory jutting out into the river. The whole district 
is called Beting. 
Having descended from this small ridge, we ap- 
proached nearer the river, which was here tolerably 
free from rocks, and then entered a dense but short 
tract of forest, full of the dung of the elephant, and 
