hill, stretched out as far as the eye could reach, was a howling,
blank-looking desert, all hot and arid, and very wretched to look
upon. It was the more disappointing, as the Somali had pictured this
to me as a land of promise, literally flowing with milk and honey,
where, they said, I should see boundless prairies of grass, large
roomy trees, beautiful valleys with deep brooks running down them, and
cattle, wild animals, and bees in abundance. Perhaps this was true to
them, who had seen nothing finer in creation; who thought ponies fine
horses, a few weeds grass, and a puny little brook a fine large
stream. At noon we reloaded, and proceeded to join the camels and men
sent forward on the previous day. The track first led us a mile or two
across the hill-top, where I remarked several heaps of stones piled
up, much after the fashion of those monuments the Tibet Tartars erect
in commemoration of their Lahma saints. These, the Somali said, were
left here by their predecessors, and, they thought, were Christian
tombs. Once over the brow of the hill, we descended the slopes on the
south, which fell gently in terraces, and travelled until dark, when
we reached a deep nullah, here called Mukur, in which we found our
vanguard safely encamped in a strong ring-fence of thorn bushes.

The distance accomplished was seventeen miles; the altitude 3660 feet.
The two following days (5th and 6th) we halted to rest the cattle,
whilst I went shooting and collecting. There were a great number of
gazelles and antelopes, some bustard, many florikan and partridges, as
well as other very interesting birds and reptiles. These were mostly
found in ravines at the foot of the hills, or amongst acacia and
jujube trees, with patches of heather in places. We now held
_durbar_,[16] to consult on the plan of proceeding. It was obviously
impossible to march across the plateau directly upon the southern
Dulbahantas, as there was not a blade of grass to be seen nor any