Aden on the Casam River, the Territory of the Adel Sub-Tribe Gareemra Damoosa.

A canopy of thick clouds clinging to the high hills of Ankóber had indicated that rain still continued to deluge the more elevated regions; but on the wide undulating plains of Berhut, the thermometer in the tents stood at 105 degrees; and although the sky was occasionally overcast in the morning, the sun shone with due tropical fervour up to the day fixed for departure to the low country. It was still dark when the cavalcade filed past the church of Saint George, which, ornamented with a triangle of ostrich eggs as a spire, stands at the extremity of the village; and as every Abyssinian lip in succession saluted with a pious kiss the rough bark of the kolquál trees by which it is fenced round, many an offering was vowed for individual safe return from the dangerous expedition.

Dawn of day found the party at the termination of the tract of table-land claimed by the crown; and the sun, as he rose behind the lofty peak of Assibote, lighted our descent by the Dodóti pass, a winding path overhanging the valleys, which still lay in darkness. Commanding a boundless prospect across the burning plains below, it leads by a very judiciously selected line, with a gradual descent of eighteen hundred feet, over barren mountain ridges rapidly diminishing in height, to the foot of the Abyssinian range, where, watered by the Casam, stretches the Adel district of Aden; and beyond, wild, desolate, and hot, and surrounded by extensive white desert tracts, rise the isolated craters of Sáboo and Fantáli.

The entire mountain-side is well-peopled by Mohammadan subjects of Shoa, whose progenitors arriving from the country of the sun with the great invader Graan, selected this as the location most congenial to their habits, and with it bequeathed to their descendants all the ancestral aversion to a cold climate. A stronger and more athletic race than the Amhára, the dark-eyed females present features far more feminine and agreeable than their coarse highland sisters, with forms more becomingly attired. The hot dusty hamlets and scattered farm houses, which crown many of the peaks, are surrounded by extensive cultivation. The square domiciles, constructed of loose stones with mud terraces, afford sufficient accommodation both for owner and cattle, and the rich stores of grain proclaim a life of industry and abundance.

The retinue of the governor increased rapidly with his advance. Every hamlet now poured forth its quota; and before reaching the Fótah river, he mustered in horse and foot full four hundred retainers. For some miles the road wound along the dry channel of the mountain torrent, the banks rising on either side steep and perpendicular, so as to form a deep chasm, partially obstructed by huge masses that had been precipitated from above. Here and there a solitary Karaiyo hamlet met the eye—the flocks and herds assembled in the neighbourhood of the only well, around which the heathen maidens, in rude leathern petticoats, fearlessly drew water, proclaiming a district dependent upon Shoa. Debouching at length upon the plain of the Casam, the increase of temperature was at once perceptible; and the feeble breeze could not be felt through the mass of acacias and wild aloe which in full blossom covered the entire face of the country.

We were here joined by a weather-beaten old warrior, covered with silver decorations for valour, who had lost an eye by the spear of the Galla. He was to act in capacity of guide; and an hour through the low jungle brought us to the river at a point where the width is from seventy to eighty yards, a strong stream of turbid water running through a rocky channel, in parts choked with groves of tamarisk. Skirting the northern bank for a considerable distance across hot loose boulders and hard volcanic terraces, we gained a prominent height, whence the view extended over the lowest valley threaded by the well-wooded Casam, the whole reach of which was covered with great herds of homed cattle.

Here the cavalcade halted, and was presently joined, from a group of Adel wigwams, by Godána, one of the braves of the Gareemra Damoosa, carrying a broad-headed spear, and wearing his lank hair twisted into thin cords. A long and animated conference ensued, throu............