Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/262

 towards the Awash by the market-towns of Daweh and Mejettieh. Abargues de Sosten claims to have explored these two northern routes in their upper part, in spite of the vicinity of the dreaded Dawri tribes. Bianchi has recently attempted to explore auother and more northern route, from Makaleh to the port of Assab, by way of the country of the Taltals ; but he was compelled to retrace his steps. The presence of ferocious peoples on the spurs prevent traders from visiting this part of the Abyssinian watershed, whilst the caravans coming from the Red Sea coast or Tajurah Bay are compelled to make a complete detour from the direct route to reach the provinces of Shoa. From Tajurah to the town of Ankober, the usual caravan route is about 360 miles, some 120 to 150 miles longer than the direct route towards the plateau.

At present the most frequented route between Ankober and the shores of the Indian Ocean is that which passes through the principality of Harrar, terminating in the port of Zeila. From the Shoa uplands, it descends at first to the town of Aliu-Amba, inhabited, like the neighbouring village of Abderasul, by merchants, slave-dealers, hotel-keepers and muleteers of all races, nearly all of whom, however, are zealous Mussulmans. After paying the custom-house duties, the caravans pass on to Farrch, or Farri, the last village of the province of Efat, built at a height of 5,560 feet on a projecting terrace ; then skirting the craters and lava-fields, they reach the Awash, which they cross to enter on the great plain of Mullii. Beyond this point the caravans proceed over the hills of a watershed, belonging to the country of the Ittus, thence redescending into the plain of Harrar. Some 24 miles west of this town is the little Lake Haramoya, near which the French explorer Lucereau was assassinated in 1881.

The town of Harrar, also called Harrayhch by the Abyssinians, Ada or Adari by the Somalis, and Herrer by the Egyptians, is stated by travellers to be exactly midway between, or 170 miles from, Ankober and Zeila. Lpng at an altitude of 5,600 feet, Harrar enjoys a relatively temperate climate, from 54° to 59° F., and is surrounded by fertile fields and groves of diversified vegetation. A delightful and well-watered oasis situated on the border of the arid regions, Harrar could support itself, even if it had no commercial relations with the neighbouring countries. But it is moreover an important market-town, and its two ports, Zeila and Berbera on the Somali coast, keep up a brisk trade with Egypt and Arabia. In 1883 it had an European settlement of five persons. Said to have been founded three centuries ago, it is the most populous city in the whole of Abyssinia, and even one of the largest on the continent, for from Cairo to Zanzibar, a distance of 2,400 miles, its only rival is Khartum. Accordingly the Egyptian Government took possession of it in 1875, so as to protect this precious market from the attacks of the surrounding Somali and Galla tribes; but the garrison of from four thousand to five thousand soldiers, more dangerous than the nomads in the vicinity, has exhausted the country by oppression and plunder. The English, who as they