Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/178

 Azgedeh, running parallel with the coast, is connected by ridges with the Rora Isallim, or "Black Mountain," which lies still nearer the coast. They jointly bound the upland plain of Nakfa, about 5,000 feet above the sea, which drains into the Red Sea through one large torrent. At present a desolate district consisting of nothing but pasture lands, the Nakfa, "the most delightful region in Abyssinia," appears to be suitable for the culture of coffee, cotton, mulberries, the vine, and tobacco. A few mountain masses project in lofty headlands west of the Rora Azgedeh. Such is Hagar Abei Nejran, that is, "Capital of Nejran," over 8,000 feet in height, which is now covered with ruins, but which formerly contained the celebrated monastery frequented by pilgrims journeying from Aksum to Jerusalem.

Farther south the valley of the Anseba is dominated east by the Debr-Abi, or "Great Mountain," another almost solitary cliff, known also by the name of Tembelleh.

Bounded westwards by the valley of the Barka, the mountain range, forming a continuation of the Rora Azgedeh, is intersected by numerous headstreams of that river. The most important of these affluents, notably of the Anseba and the Barka itself, rise west of Massawah on the plateau, 4,000 feet high, which forms the north-east corner of Abyssinia proper. On this base another group of superb granite mountains rises to an elevation of some 16,000 feet. Such is the famous Debra Sina, or "Mount Sinai," to the east of Keren, and capital of the Bogo country.