Respecting the country, I have little to tell that is not already known to English readers. After the tremendous gorges of the Djedda and Bachelo, which are now ascertained to be 3900 feet in depth, the hills upon this side of the Tacazze, which had appeared so formidable when we before crossed them, are mere trifles. The roads, too, were much better than when we went up, the second brigade and Sappers and Miners having done a good deal of work upon them to render them practicable for elephants. The rain which has fallen lately has done a good deal to brighten-up the country; not upon the bare hill-sides—there all is brown and burnt-up as before—but in the bottom of the valleys and upon the hill-sides, where streamlets have poured down during the rains, the bright green of the young grass affords a pleasant relief to the eye. The crops, too, look bright and well; and it is a curious circumstance, that here there appears to be no fixed time for harvest. It is no unusual thing to see three adjoining patches of cultivated land—the one having barley in full ear, the second having the crop only a few inches above the ground, and the third undergoing the operation of the plough. The army is now about seven days in my rear, as I travel very much faster than they do. Every available mule is being sent up to meet them, to carry down stores and baggage; and there is rum and all other comforts for them at the principal stations upon their way. The native carriage is at work bringing down the spare supplies; and if there are but sufficient of them employed, the stores will soon cease to trouble us; for the natives are such arrant thieves, that between this and Atzala, only two days’ march, bags of rice and flour which started weighing 75 lb. arrive weighing only 40 lb., 30 lb., and sometimes only 25 lb. The word Habesh, which is their own general name for the people of Abyssinia, means a mixture; and I can hardly imagine a worse mixture than it is, for they appear to have inherited all the vices and none of the virtues of the numerous races of whom they are composed. Beyond this I need write no more; but I cannot close my journal of the Abyssinian expedition without expressing my gratitude for the very great and uniform kindness with which I have been treated by the Commander-in-chief, and by the greater portion of his staff. I would particularly mention Colonel Dillon, the Military Secretary; one of the most able and certainly the most popular officer upon the staff, and whose kindness and attention to us has been unbounded. He has been always ready to afford us any information in his power, and to assist us in all those little difficulties with which a civilian travelling with an army is unavoidably beset.