296 GONDOKORO TO OBBO.

Agou. Fadibék has grown into a large and beautiful station, and is the centre of numerous smaller establishments in the Shuli district, viz., Fallibek, Farajok, Fajulli, Lira, &. The excursion to Tajulli, the frontier post towards the Lango country, proposed last year, and now rendered necessary, was actually made, and opened up a new and extensive mountain country, which may be looked upon as the southern slope of Shoa, Kaffa, &c. Ascending gradually through the district Labongo, we reached Khor Bagger, which we had crossed last year on the way from Fadibék to Fatiko, and which may be considered the chief tributary of Khor Asua, for its course is longer than that of Khor Atappi. A savannah, interrupted occasionally by thickets of brushwood, stretches from here for a considerable distance as far as the steppes of Koliang, Termayok, Turkan, and the prairies of the Lango country in the south-east. ‘Tall forests only exist round the mountains, where alone there is always plenty of moisture.

The traveller need not be surprised if he often traverses long distances of two to three days’ march in the Shuli country without meeting with any villages, as these savannahs are reserved for the chase. At Jebel Leruama settlements and fields begin again. ‘The corn was nearly ripe when we passed. On the hill of Gikkor there were patches of Musa ensete. From its heights I was able to take observations, connecting my work in this part with that in Fatiko. The station of Fajulli is very unfavourably situated in the midst of a wide hilly savannah. It has no surroundings worth speaking of and no outlook, but it forms a centre for the people in the south and east, who come to barter their ivory for glass beads, copper, brass, &c. This accounts for my finding men here from Bognia and Lirém, from whom I obtained information about their countries, which he at a distance of eight to ten days’ journey from here. They wore the usual Lango head-dresses, and spoke Lingo, which is quite different from Shuli. Unfortunately, we had to return to Fadibék by the way we had come, for the road through Facher, Ogilli, Akkara, and Oppei was longer, and would have taken at least ten days more, which I could not spare, owing to engagements elsewhere. I was therefore unable to complete and correct my notes of this journey.