HILL VILLAGES. 217, green, and in the short grass just shooting up, quantities of various Liliacee are in blossom, among which a fine white Crinum attracts attention by its sweet scent. A multitude of small khors intersect the hilly country, and granite and mica crop out on the surface. A sort of open defile is formed by a continuous line of isolated hills on one side, and the range of Jebel Kajumbo on the other. We passed through this over a very good road, and in the midst of a lovely wood of lofty trees, until a sudden turn led us into a narrow valley lying between Jebel Kajumbo and Jebel Tollogo; this was the dreaded Liria pass of Tollogo. We halted under a sycamore, but before we could sit down to rest, the men provided by Befo in the morning ran away, leaving us with only our few . Latuka porters. Large numbers of houses were visible on Jebel Tollogo, all standing on small terraces levelled for the purpose, many of them high up on the mountain-side, and hedged round with strong fences of thorns and bamboos. ‘The foot of the mountain and the valley were very diligently cultivated. Large numbers of men were industriously grubbing up the soil with long shovels and preparing it for seed, while the women and girls were collecting the uprooted grass into heaps, to be subsequently burnt in order to extract salt from the ashes. An attempt to procure porters here for the short distance to Rugane’s village was of no avail, for no one would leave his work. We had, therefore, to distribute some of the loads of flour, &c., among the remaining porters, and then we commenced the passage of the narrow defile, for in some parts it well deserved this name.

The valley is at most half a mile wide, and rises but slightly ; the small Khor Modira, which flows through it, receives from all sides the tribute of numerous rain-drains. The mountains are in some parts richly wooded, but elsewhere they are quite bare, and exhibit the grey granite with white and red stripes of which they are composed. Numerous villages are situated on them, so completely matching in colour the dark rocks and woods ‘that they are only discovered with difficulty. Their strong zertbas indicate great caution, which is no doubt necessitated by the continual feuds and raids among the small - independent Bari tribes. I purposely use the word “ Bari,”