The desert of the Adaiel, spreading from the sea to the foot of the
Shoan Alps, is not altogether a plain, as it has been most likely in
remote ages, numerous wadies, with banks more or less high, now
intersecting the greater part of it. These banks rise in some instances
to hills of firm rock, generally wacke. They however consist of but
lightly cemented conglomerates, or loose boulders. Towards the middle,
as the ground rises, extinct volcanoes make their appearance, sometimes
scattered and solitary, with indistinct cones and craters, completely
covered with volcanic cinders, and sending off sheets of lava in all
directions; or in whole clusters, with cones and craters complete,
connected with each other, and environed by belts of their products.
The extensive plain of Eyroluf is a solid level of a dark, black,
undecayed lava.
The tract of land between Killulloo and Dathara especially has been
visited and overwhelmed by the action from below, which, having reversed
the original disposition, has covered the surface with the effects of
its violence. There is little to be seen of the under parts, although
here and there some of the later formation, the residuum of the
calcareous waters, has spread like a thin coat over the low grounds; but
violent commotions have again and again altered and destroyed the first
appearance, and it is now difficult to determine the centre pool from
whence the fiery stream issued. In the absence of a main volcano and a
main volcanic range, it may be concluded that, similar to some violent
eruptions in South America, large mountains have been thrown up in the
midst of former extensive plains, the fluid and half-fluid matter having
burst forth wherever they were nearest to the surface.
Small extinct volcanoes were found on the plains of Sultelli and
Eyroluf. The road passes close to the isolated cone of one of these,
called Jebel Helmund. The walls are straight and black, covered with
several smaller cones of ashes; the hill itself is about four hundred
feet in height; the crater is on the eastern side, a little below the
top; and the sides, which are steep and sloping, are clothed with shrubs
towards the base.
On the road to Moo stands a similar volcano; but the influence of these
craters does not seem to have extended far beyond the immediate
neighbourhood, although there is a connexion between the whole cluster
on the plain of Mittur, which may be seen in the small lava streams and
debris of volcanic product on the adjoining plains of Sultelli and
Eyroluf. It is not, however, apparent that they alone have formed the
present state of the surface, as the south-eastern side of the plains is
terminated by a much older formation of wacke.
Between Meinha-tolli and Madera-dubba, obsidian, pumice, clinkstone, and
fresh-water limestone containing shells of Melania, were strewed about
Excellent soil is found in all these situations, the low grounds being
overflowed at some seasons, and, as in all volcanic countries, producing
much vegetation. The extensive plains of Moolu and Burdudda are thickly
covered with grass, and intersected by small brooks and pools,
terminating towards the Hawash in very broken, hilly ground, and the
large plain on the eastern bank of the river bears every sign of being
annually deluged.
The country of the Adaiel is throughout very sparingly watered. During
spring and autumn the hills collect sufficient rain-water for numerous
rivulets, which after a course of scarcely one mile are absorbed by the
sands, and dry up altogether by the end of the rains, whilst the deep
hollows and clefts in the firmer rock preserve small quantities for the
dry months of the year. The Hawash itself, although receiving all the
rivers of Efat, and of the eastern declivity of the Shoan mountains,
does not reach the sea. The banks, thickly overgrown, are about thirty
feet in height, and very abrupt. Its fall is scarcely perceptible, yet
the rush of the water is very considerable.
On the western bank volcanic hills and sheets of water again appear, the
latter being situated lower than the bed of the stream. One of these,
impregnated with alkali, is evidently an old crater filled up, and
supplied by a hot mineral spring. The water is much esteemed for
washing clothes; it possesses an hydrothionic smell and a bitter taste,
resembling that of the salt of magnesia; but the borders are verdant,
and a species of Cyperus grows luxuriantly in the water.
This portion of the country, though still sparingly supplied with the
means of subsistence, is more favourable for specimens of zoology than
the burning tract between Tajura and Killulloo.
Of _Beetles_ the family _Coprophaga_ had many representatives:
Scarabaeus, Copris, Ateuchus, Onitis, Aphodius, Trox; Melolontha; four
species of Cetonia (on the Aloe); one Silpha, Hister, Abax,
Graphipterus, Anthia, Staphylinus, Elater, Cantharis, Erodius, Moluria,
Pimelia, Mylabria, Chrysomela.
Of _Orthoptera_, large flights of Gryllus migratorius were observed near
Azboti. Acrydium and Gryllotalpa very common throughout. Also many
Neuroptera, and termite cone studding the face of the country.
Of _Acephala_ only one, Unio, was found near the Hawash.
A few frogs were seen in the waters, but no fish; and although lizards
abounded on the land, there were no serpents. One large-sized tortoise
was picked up.
Birds of all descriptions inhabit the plains and enliven the scanty
woods: the ostrich, Otis arabs, the partridge, ducks, adjutant,
Charadrius spinosus, Psittacus, Lampromis, Tanagra erythrorhyncha,
Pyrrhocorax. Of beasts, the giant in creation, the elephant, and his
rival in hugeness, the hippopotamus, abound in the plain of the Hawash;
and rapacious animals, the lion, the leopard, and the hyaena, prowling
about the camp during the night, render indispensable the protection of
a stout thorn fence.
Of the order _Rodentia_ the porcupine is common; also a variety of rats.
Of _Ruminantia_: a few antelopes.
Of _Fissungula_: Hyrax.
Of _Setigera_; Phacochaerus abyssinicus; and of _Lemures_: Galago.
The flora, so dependent upon the nature of the ground, offers little
variety throughout this tract, although a few new plants were found in
the favoured plain of Sultelli. Four _Compositae_ (one Santolina),
three _Leguminosae_ (one Cassia, resembling Senna), one _Euphorbia_
(rotundifolia), one _Solanum_, one _Cucurbitacea_ (Cucumis africanus),
one _Crucifera_ (Farsetia linearis), three _Malvaceae_ (Hibiscus urens,
Althaea spec.), one _Tiliacea_ (Grewia spec.), one _Cistinea_
(Helianthemum spec.), one _Acanthacea_ (Acanthus carduifolius), four
_Gramineae_, one _Cyperacea_.
There were, however, no large timber trees, though edible berries of a
sub-acid taste were supplied from a Helianthemum and a Grewia. Between
Waramilli and Naga Koomi the shrubs of the Balsamodendron myrrha were
first discovered, and these continued as far as the Hawash. Grass too
is met with on the wide plains. Large camel-thorn acacias, and a
strange tree of the family Capparidea, at intervals interrupt the
uniform desert waste; but even the luxuriant vegetation which prevails
on the banks of the Hawash contains little besides the Tamarix africana.
A high jungle of Acacia extends near the plain of Azboti, supplying an
abundance of sweet gum-arabic, and the last stage to Dathara is
encumbered with the Aloe soccotrina. There are also many fine forest
trees in the valley of Kokai, amongst which the Tamarindus indica stands
conspicuous; but no cultivation whatsoever is to be seen during the
entire progress of upwards of three hundred miles from the sea-coast to
the green hills of Abyssinia.
Appendix, Number III.
Description of the Frankincense Tree, as Found near Cape Guardufoi, on
the Somauli Coast, by Captain C.B. Kempthorne, Indian Navy, Commanding
the Hon. Company's Sloop of War "Clive."
At Bunder Cassim, about one hundred miles to the eastward of Berbera,
the mountains come close down to the coast. There is a pass and road
over them, and a few hours' walking will, it is said, lead to a fine
climate, and to a beautifully fertile country, abounding in the
elephant, the rhinoceros, and the lion, and thickly populated by
pastoral tribes. Several rivers take their source in the high land,
and, flowing to the southward and eastward, fall into the Indian Ocean,
4 degrees or 5 degrees north of the equator.
The chief town of the Miggertheyn Somauli is at Bunder Maryah, which
lies twenty miles south-west of Ras Feeluk. The range is here about
5000 feet in altitude, and three miles from the shore. Ascending 1000
feet, a wide plain presents itself, bounded on every side by precipitous
mountains studded with the frankincense and gum acacia trees, but
looking bare and naked from the total absence of underwood.
The frankincense assumes the most singular aspect, from the fact of its
invariably growing from the bare and smooth sides of the white marble
rocks of which these bills are composed, without any soil whatever to
nourish it. Many of the trees have even attached themselves to the huge
masses that have rolled down into the valley, and now lie scattered over
the stony surface. From the base of the trunk, and about treble its
diameter, a very round thick substance is protruded, of a nature between
bark and wood. This adheres most firmly to the stone, and at a distance
resembles a mixture of mortar and lime. From the centre of the mass the
stem, having first taken a bend or curve outwards of several inches,
rises straight up to a height of forty feet. It throws from the top
short branches covered with a very bright green foliage, the leaves
being narrow and rounded at the end, five or six inches in length by one
broad, crimped like the frill of a shirt; or rather bearing a stronger
resemblance to that beautiful species of sea-weed found along the coast
of England, and styled by urchins "the old gentleman's ruffles."
From a foot to eighteen inches is the usual girth of the stem, and it
tapers gradually away to the summit. The bark is perfectly smooth, and
consists of four distinct layers. The outermost of all is very thin,
and similar to that of the beech. The two next are of a singularly fine
texture, resembling oiled letter-paper, perfectly transparent, and of a
beautiful amber colour. It is used by the Somaulis to write upon. The
inner bark of all is about an inch thick, of a dull-reddish hue, tough,
and not unlike leather, but yielding a strong aromatic perfume. The
wood is white and soft, and might be applied to many useful purposes.
By making a deep incision into the inner rind, the gum exudes profusely,
of the colour and consistency of milk, but hardening into a mass by
exposure to the atmosphere.
The whole mountain range from Bunder Maryah to Cape Guardufoi is
composed of limestone and marble, and near the latter place especially
the marble is so white and pure that it approaches to alabaster. Pink
and greyish black are also common colours, and in parts it might be
mistaken for sandstone, until chipped off with the hammer. On the plain
visited the frankincense is nowhere to be found resting upon the ground,
or upon any sort of soil, and the purer the marble to which it adheres
the finer the growth of the tree. It would seem that this singular
production of the vegetable world derives its sole nourishment from
carbonate of lime. The young trees produce the best and most valuable
gum, the older merely yielding a clear glutinous fluid resembling copal
varnish, and exhaling a strong resinous odour.
During the south-west monsoon the pastoral tribes in the neighbourhood
of Ras Feeluk collect large quantities of frankincense, which they
barter to the Banians, of whom a few reside at the villages along the
Abyssinian coast. Boats from Maculla, and from other ports on the
opposite Arabian shore, also come across during the fine season and
carry away the gums that have been accumulated, and which are exchanged
for a coarse kind of cotton cloth worn by the Somauli.
End of the First Volume.
Volume Two, Chapter I.