248 AGARU TO FAJULI.

past the huts of the village of Madi, which was deserted last year on account of sickness, and finally turned through grassy flats and very numerous bamboo copses straight to Jebel Abayo, passing round which, in a sharp curve to the east, it brought us to a rocky hill at the eastern declivity of that mountain. ‘There we halted, and obtained a glorious view to the east and south-east over blue mountains which no Huropean had hitherto seen. Last year thick mist partly concealed the horizon, and it was impossible to obtain any compass bearings. This time also an evil star seemed to rule, for the interpreters I had brought with me became confused in giving the names, and contradicted one another, which was very annoying, for some forty mountains and mountain groups were in sight. So I only accepted those names which were given me unanimously, and left the rest to fill in at favourable points along the road from native information, a plan which proved successful beyond my expectations.

A long row of doléb palms marked the course of Khor Funotar, a tributary of the Bagger, to which we next made our way. Darkish water flows down the rocky bed of the khor, but is good for drinking. Up to this point the country is covered with brushwood, interrupted by corn-fields, high grass, and bamboo copses. <A large savannah, grown over in parts by low brushwood, commences here; it is crossed by numerous rivulets, all of which run into Khor Bagger. When we passed through it the grass was already very high. I may mention that all these grassy flats found in the Shuli and Madi countries, and often twelve to fifteen hours’ march across either way, are purposely left unoccupied, as preserves for elephants and game. Jebel Goma, which on this journey was occasionally seen far off to the right, was an old acquaintance. The rushing water of Khor Bagger, to which we descended, struggles through acacia bushes and over patches of sand and slabs of mica schist, and is audible at some distance. Flowing in a curve from east to west, it is here about forty feet broad, and pours down its rocky bed a volume of water, four to five feet deep, into Khor Agua, which, without it and the Atappi, would be only a rain-torrent.

We crossed the khor without any annoyance from crocodiles,