Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/243

 from Makalch. South-west of the Bay of Assab, the irregular volcanic Mussali Mountain is stated to attain a height of more than 6,600 feet ; lastly a border range, skirting the north side of Tajurah Bay, is dominated by cones from which lavas have been erupted. Mount Juda, one of these extinct volcanoes, attains a height of some 3,000 feet above sea-level; it throws off a southern spur, whose reefs have almost separated into two parts the bed of the gulf, which thus forms an inner lake rather than a part of the Indian Ocean. To the west other lava streams have entirely covered what was formerly the marine bed, and have thus cut off a portion of the bay, which has become Lake Assal, or as the Arabs ironically call it, in spite of the saltness of its waters, "The Lake of Honey." It is also probable that the upheaval of the land has contributed somewhat to the isolation of this sheet of water, for the seaboard in the vicinity of Tajurah is largely composed of calcareous clays containing, to a height of from 130 to 160 feet, fossil shells similar to those now living in the African seas.

Ijake Assal, at present separated from Tajurah Bay by a ledge some 12 miles long, has undergone various changes analogous to those of liake Alalbed. It has also become a saline reservoir, and the crust of salt surrounding the shallows is so thick that laden camels can traverse it for nearly a mile from the bank. Like that of Lake Alalbed, the salt of this lake is a source of wealth to the neighbouring tribes. All the Afar and Somali peoples of the country here procure the supplies for their own consumption and for south Abyssinia, which gives them in exchange coffee, ivory, musk, and slaves. Like Alalbed, this lake is gradually subsiding, the waters brought down by the wadies being insufficient to replace the loss by evaporation. A whitish mark some 50 feet above the present surface of the lake indicates a former water level. At the time of Rochet's first journey to Shoa in 1834 it stood 600 feet below that of Tajurah Bay ; since then its level has been variously calculated at from 576 to 770 feet, with a probable depth of about 130 feet. According to Bianchi numerous other depressions are found in the country of the Afars, some 660 feet below the level of the sea. South-west of Lake Assal, in a region similarly studded with volcanoes and lava beds, are other lakes, but of fluvial origin, belonging to the basin of the Awash or Awasi. Unlike the other rivers of the country, the Awash does not disappear in deep narrow gorges. Whilst those watercourses sweep away the fertile soil along their banks, the Awash, which flows towards the Indian Ocean, waters its valley like the Egyptian Nile, without, however, reaching the coast. Like the Raguleh and other streams of the Afar country, it runs dry, notwithstanding the large volume of its middle course. The Awash rises south-west of the Shoa Alps, in the Finfini district, which is separated from the Nilotic basin by a mountain range. Its sources form several pools communicating with each other by several channels winding through a grassy district. Already broad and deep, the river sweeps round the mountains of Shoa, and after receiving a part of their drainage, it trends north-