in the mountains of southern Abyssinia, passes between
the territories of the Gallas on the west and the
Somali on the east, and debouches in the Indian
Ocean at the northern extremity of the Zanzibar coast.
According to Lieutenant Cruttenden’s map, there are
only two other rivers besides this of any consequence in
the land,—the Webbe (river) Shebdli, or Haines river,
which is of considerable importance, having a large flow
of water, trending down a cultivable district of rich
red soil, and another less important to the eastward of
these two, called very unfortunately by him the Wadi*
Nogal. The proper specific name for this river has
never, to my knowledge, been given| but the Jid Ali
Tug is one of its head branches. I t rises in some small
hills close overhanging the north coast, and runs southeasterly
into the Indian Ocean, dividing two large territories,
called Ugahden, or Haud, on the west, and
Nogal on the east, mouthing at Eas U1 Khyle. Ugahden
is said to be a flat grassy country, of red soil,
almost stoneless, and having water everywhere near
the surface. I t is considered by the pastoral Somali a
famous place for keeping cattle, of which by report
they possess a great abundance, such as camels, ponies,
cows, and Dumba sheep—a fat-tailed animal, like the
Persian breed. Game also abounds in this country, of
which the gazelles and antelopes, I was assured, roamed
about in vast herds like sheep.
The Nogal country is the opposite of this, containing
nothing of any material value in it. The rock-
* Wadi, river or nullah.
formation is all lime, very pure and white like marble,
which consequently makes the soil white, and, being
very stony, it is almost barren. The Somali keep cattle
here, but with much apparent difficulty, being, from
the scarcity of springs and want of water, obliged to
march about, following the last falls of rain, to obtain
fresh herbage for their cattle. My first and greater
journey gave me an insight into this portion of the
interior of the country south of Bunder Gori. I t was
very interesting, though not profitable, from its never
having been visited by any Europeans before. I observed
here two distinct leading features in its physical
geography. The first is a narrow hill-range, about
180 miles long and 20 or more broad, which is occupied
by two large tribes—the Warsingali on the east,
and a branch of the Habr Gerhajis on the west. I t is
situated at an average distance of from 200 yards to
three or four miles from the sea-shore, separated from
it by a sandy flat or maritime plain, and, like the line
of coast, extends from east to west. Immediately due
south of Bunder Gori, the sea-face, or northern slopes
of this range, are very steep and irregular, being
trenched down by deep ravines, which, during the
rainy season, shed their water across the maritime
plain into the Gulf of Aden.
The lower folds on this side of the range are composed
of brown rocks and earth, having little or no
vegetation upon them, and are just as uninviting in
appearance as the fight-brown hills which fringe the
coast of Arabia, as seen by voyagers on the Eed Sea.