Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/184

 lowest breach in the border chain of Eastern Abyssinia. But on this side, where the regions are broken up into distinct fragments by the deep river gorges, many mountains attain a height inferior only to those of the SImen and Gojam, Thus east of Lake Ashangi, on the almost isolated upland province of Lasta, which is almost surrounded by the Takkazeh and Tzellari rivers, Mounts Biala and Gavzigivla exceed 12,600 feet; while the heights of Abuna, Yosef, and Imaraha, not far from the source of the Takkazeh, attain an elevation of over 13,000 feet. South of the Takkazeh an irregular plateau stretches westwards, terminating in Mount Guna, one of the highest Abyssinian summits (14,000 feet). Its western spur, sloping towards Lake Tana, forms the famous Debra-Tabor, or " Mount Tabor," site of the present military capital of Abyssinia. To the north rise the Beg- hemeder Mountains, beyond which are the still little-known Belessa highlands, connected with those of Wagara and Kwalla Wagara, the whole series forming a successive series of terraces towards the Nilotic plains. West of the Galla Wollo plateau, supposed to be a vast lava field, the slopes incline gradually towards the Blue Nile, interrupted, however, by secondary chains. Abruptly intersected southwards by the deep semicircular gorge containing the waters of the Abai, or Blue Nile, the plateau recommences more to the west, rising in terraces up to the Gojam Mountains, which, jointly with those of Simen and Lasta, form the culminating points of Abyssinia. The chief range of this mountainous province extends in a semicircle, concentric to that described by the Blue Nile; its highest crest, the Talba Waha, probably exceeds 12,000 feet. But although one of the peaks takes the name of Semayata, that is "Heaven-kissing," it does not appear to be ever covered with snow; nor do any of the summits in this region, between 11" and 12° of latitude, seem to reach the snow-line.

Like most other Abyssinian ranges, the Talba Waha Mountains fall in steep escarpments east and north, whilst on the west they slope gently towards the territory of the Gumis and Bertas. The rest of the plateau is broken in the north and north-west by watercourses into countless fragments, forming a succession of steps overlooked by a few pyramids of a relatively slight elevation. The Waldebba height, in the north-west angle of Lake Tana, exceeds 7,000 feet. The whole of this region is of volcanic origin, terminating towards the lowlands in abrupt masses with vertical walls from 80 to 100 feet high, surmounted by basaltic columns. Beyond the promontory of Ras-el-Fil, that is, "Elephant Cape," skirted by the river Rahad on the south-west, the level steppe presents an extraordinary appearance, from the fantastic crags, peaks and needles covering it. The most advanced of these remarkable formations is the completed isolated granite mass of Gana or Jebel Arang, whose sides and summit to a height of nearly 2,000 feet are clothed with large forest-trees, including the baobab, which here reaches its northern limit.