'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from January 1847 to May 1849. Edited by the Secretary. Volume VIII.' [‎203] (312/496)

Sunday morning afforded us a rest, but in the afternoon we pushed on
for an hour, passing on our road many places where the track of the
rhinoceros was recent. The cactus appears to be the favorite food of
this animal, for we found many trees torn down and half eaten also.
A beautiful red flower, too delicate to preserve, was here first observed.
Specimens of red ochre, and fossil shells filled with the same, were to be
picked up at every step; and the gum arable had now replaced the
luban or frankincense tree. Before sunset we halted on a plain im
mediately below the summit of the mountains, and were honored with
the presence of the sister of Mahomed Ali Gferad, who, in company with
a relation, was travelling to her home in the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Nog&l. The night was
bitterly cold, the thermometer shewing a temperature of 48°, and
the dew falling like soft rain. An occasional howl from the jungle
warned us that leopards were to be found in the neighbourhood, and
kept our Somali conductors on the qui vive; and we were not sorry to
re-commence our journey at sunrise.
Sending the tent round by a more practicable road, we scaled the
almost perpendicular cliff, rising some 750 feet above us, and by eight
o’clock found ourselves on the summit of Eyransid, 6500 feet above the
sea, and the first Europeans that had ever placed foot on the soil.
To describe the grandeur of the prospect before us is impossible.
Bange after range lay stretched like a map at our feet, and the view was
bounded only by the ocean. The towns of Kas Kori and Sohm were to
be seen dotted on the glaring sandy shore; and the Euphrates lay
like a speck on the water. At noon the thermometer stood at 64°, and
the sand driving past and below us, warned us to prepare for a cold
night. As the afternoon advanced, the clouds packed heavy and thick
below us, and the rocket and blue-light fired to notify our safety to our
friends on board were consequently not seen at the ship.
To our surprise the temperature during the night was not so low as
on the plain 800 feet below us—the thermometer standing at 52° : warm
clothing was however indispensable, and our Somali guards peevishly
remarked, that though we were always wishing for cold weather we did
not appear inclined to benefit by it, judging from the blankets &c. that
we were glad to creep under. As they had but a single cotton cloth
themselves, some little excuse might be made for them ; and a venerable
old ram, purchased the next morning from a passing Dulbahanta Somali,
restored them to their good honour. We spent the following day in