Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/63

ABYSSINIA 43 between 7,000 and 8,000 ft. Among them, forming river beds sometimes thousands of feet below the general surface of the surrounding territory, wind ravines and gorges of extreme depth, which are among the most striking natural features of the country. Mr. Clements R. Markham, who accompanied the British military expedition to Magdala, classifies the Abyssinian highlands as follows : 1, the region drained by the affluents of the river Mareb ; 2, the region drained by those of the Tacazze and Atbara ; 3, the region drained by those of the Abai. The first of these is in Tigre, and in- cludes a considerable portion of northern Abys- sinia. Here the average altitude of the plateaux is 9,000 ft. above the level of the sea. They enclose numerous extensive valleys, which, al- though many hundred feet lower, are none of them at an elevation of less than 7,000 ft. A peculiarity of the valleys here is that valley hills rise from their level tracts, just as mountains rise from the plateaux above. The principal summits of this region are Mt. Sowayra, 10,328 ft., and Arabi Tereeki, near Senafe, 8,560 ft. The next great physical division of the table land comprises the drainage basin of the Ta- cazze and Atbara rivers. The loftiest dis- trict of this region is the rich agricultural plain of Haramat, 8,000 ft. above the ocean level. In the N. W. part of Amhara, which is included in this division of the highlands, the country is lower, not exceeding 6,000 ft. of average elevation ; but the province of Sem- yen contains the highest mountains in Abys- sinia, of which the most important peaks are the Abba Jarrat, in lat. 13 10' N., 15,088 ft., and Mt. Buahat, in lat. 13 12' N., 14,362 ft. E. of these are the Harat hills and Wadjerat range. The third clearly defined region is that watered by the tributaries of the Blue Nile, comprising View In the Mountains near Magdala. the greater portion of Amhara or the former kingdom of Gondar, with an altitude varying in different districts from 5,000 to 7,000 ft. on the plateaux, and attaining a height of 11,000 ft. in the Talba-Waha mountains. The Wadela and Dalanta plateaux, near Magdala, with an elevation exceeding 9,000 ft., are in the W. portion of this region, the river bed of the Jitta, 3,500 ft. deep, running between them. The steep scarped rock of Magdala itself rises to a height of 9,050 ft., its summit being a flat plain 2 m. long and half a mile wide. The only important rivers of the country which flow toward the Eed sea are the Kagolay, in the north, a perennial stream which loses itself in the sand before reaching the coast, and the Hawash in the south, which forms a portion of the boundary between Abyssinia and Adal, and is likewise absorbed in the swamps or deserts on its path to the ocean. All the great Abyssinian rivers belong to the Nile basin. Of these the Mareb is the most northern. It rises in the district of Hamasen, flows S. and "W. around Serawe, and thence in a N. W. di- rection through the Nubian province of Taka. In the rainy season its waters reach 'the At- bara, but during the remainder of the year they disappear in the sand. The Tacazze rises in Lasta from a spring which was first caused to gush forth from the rock, according to tradition, by a blow from the hand of Menilek, son of the queen of Sheba. Its name signifies " the terri- ble." Flowing northwesterly, it enters, or prop- erly receives, the Atbara at Tomat, in Nubian territory. It is a rapid and impetuous stream, dashing down rocky falls and between lofty pro-