. The earth and its inhabitants ... Geography. ANTALO—SENAFEH. 175 Fig. 56.—KuMAÏLi Valley. Scale 1 : 650,000. plateau intersected by deep ravines. Farther on comes Addigrat (^Add* Igrat) or Aftegra, standing in a fertile valley about 8,000 feet above tbe level of the sea, and commanded west and south-west by heights rising to a still farther elevation of over 3,000 feet. To the west, on a sandstone amba whose terminal escarpment, some 100 feet high, can be scaled only by means of ropes, lies the monastery of Dehra-Damo, one of the most celebrated in xVbyssinia. Here all the surrounding popula
. The earth and its inhabitants ... Geography. ANTALO—SENAFEH. 175 Fig. 56.—KuMAÏLi Valley. Scale 1 : 650,000. plateau intersected by deep ravines. Farther on comes Addigrat (^Add* Igrat) or Aftegra, standing in a fertile valley about 8,000 feet above tbe level of the sea, and commanded west and south-west by heights rising to a still farther elevation of over 3,000 feet. To the west, on a sandstone amba whose terminal escarpment, some 100 feet high, can be scaled only by means of ropes, lies the monastery of Dehra-Damo, one of the most celebrated in xVbyssinia. Here all the surrounding populations come to deposit their wealth on the least indication of war. The summit of this rock, covered with a vegetable soil and provided with one hundred and fifty peren- nial wells, although carefully cul- tivated, yields but an insufiScient crop, so that the monks have to trust to the generosity of the faithful on the plains. Formerly the younger members of the reigning house were banished to this amba. Senafeh, a town situated still farther north, occupies a sheltered position at the foot of precipitous rocks. As the first mountain sta- tion on the route followed by the English army to rescue the pri- soners in the hands of Theodore, the camp of Senafeh, during the campaign of 1868, was one of the greatest strategic importance. When the English carriage road, from Adulis Bay to Senafeh through the gorges of KumaïK is repaired, this village will pro- bably become a flourishing city. To the west Haldi, or the " ascent," which was till recently entirely Catholic, and Digsa (^Digsun^^ are the first upland towns on either branch of the river Hadas, and have also gained a place in the history of Abyssinian exploration. The capital of Tigré is connected with the Red Sea coast by two routes. The shortest runs north-east towards Senafeh ; the other takes a northern direction, crossing the Mareb at an elevation of about 4,000 feet, and thence ascending the. bQ'ZO E of G
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