climate, diseases, &c., a short account of the immediate neighbourhood
is necessary.

About four miles north of Massowah is Haitoomloo, a large village
of about a thousand huts, the first place where we meet with sweet
water; a mile and a quarter further inland we came upon Moncullou,
a smaller but better built village. A mile westward of the last
place we find the small village of Zaga. These, with a small hamlet
east of Haitoomloo, constitute all the inhabited portions of this
sterile region. The next village, Ailat, about twenty miles from
Massowah, is built on the first terrace of the Abyssinian range,
600 feet above the level of the sea. All these villages are
situated in the midst of a sandy and desolate plain; a few mimosas,
aloes, senna plants, and cactuses struggle for life in the burning
sand. The country residences of the English and French consuls shine
like oases in this desert, great pains having been taken to introduce
trees that thrive even in such a locality.

[Illustration: Grove House at Moncullou.]

The wells are the wealth of the villages--their very existence.
Most probably, huts after huts have been erected in their vicinity
until the actual prosperous villages have arisen, surrounded as
they are on all sides by a burnt and desert tract. The wells number
about twenty. Many old ones are closed, but new ones are frequently
dug, so as to keep up a constant supply of water. The reason old
wells are abandoned is, that after a while the water becomes very
brackish. In a new well the water is almost sweet. The water obtained
from these wells proceeds from two different sources: First, from
the high mountains in the vicinity. The rain filters and impregnates