'FRENCH POSSESSIONS IN THE GULF OF ADEN. COMPILED BY CAPTAIN E.J.E SWAYNE, 16TH BENGAL INFANTRY.' [‎13r] (30/76)

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long, the descent to the lake is steep. At 550 yards sea level is reached, but
the descent still continues, so that by the time the lake is reached, we are 490 feet
below sea level.
There appears to be very little doubt that both Lake Assal, and GUBBET
Kharab were once craters of volcanoes which rose to a high elevation above
the surrounding country, and poured lava and cinders over it for considerable
distances. A great stream of lava descended to Ras Eroli, and thence spread
out over the land as far as JlBOUTl. During some great convulsion, these
volcanoes disappeared, and the sea flowed into the depressions caused by their
subsidence. The Assal Salt Lake in course of time was cut off from the sea
by the upheaval of a ridge, and the level of the water, evaporated by a constant
heat of nearly ioo°, gradually subsided.
Certain evidences of this exist in the formation of the ground. The ridge
separating Lake Assal from Gubbet Kharab, and its western slope to the
lake, are white with calcareous deposits, and sea shells, and there is a great white
zone of cleanly cut cliffs, 160 feet high, completely encircling the lake.
The lake is oval in shape, the major axis 5J miles long, lying east and
west, the minor axis being about 2^ miles.
It is fed in the south west by a small salt spring of a temperature of
about 157!° Fahrenheit, and on the north by a strong cold spring, also salt.
A solid mass of salt clings in the form of a segment to the western shores.
The deposit is about 7 miles in arc, and is 1J miles broad at its greatest breadth.
The bottom is incrustated with salt, and although the people for 100 miles
around come to the lake, and periodically remove large quantities, yet the
evaporation is quite sufficient to make good the difference. The salt is cut into
blocks, and taken to Aussa and Abyssinia where it passes for money.*
The French, aware of the flourishing condition of the Aden Salt Company,
are fully alive to the commercial value of Lake Assal, and have lately exchanged
views with the Italians, in order to secure an undisputed title to its possession.
The correspondence is of interest as showing to what extent the French are
inclined to recognize the Italian Protectorate over Abyssinia.
In the meantime, the claims of the Danakil tribes, who have held a mono
poly of the salt from very ancient times, have been ignored, and a concession has
been granted to a Mons. Chefneux.
The tribes, however, protested against this, and took up such an attitude,
that Mons. Lagarde, Governor of Obok, found himself obliged to convene a
meeting of the Chiefs at Obok on the 13th March 1893.
Only the SULTAN OF Raheita, however, and the Bey OF JlBOUTl,
(BOURHANE Bey), accepted the invitation. The Sultan of Laita sent his
youngest son, but the most powerful chief of all, Mohamed HANFULA OF
AUSSA refused to have any communication with the French in the matter.
The communications between TAJOURA and the interior lie through the
lake Assal valley.
The road from TAJOURA to the lake is through the difficult and rocky Rah-
Esa pass, where the track is encumbered by heated blocks of lava.
Near the lake the track forks into two branches. One skirts the margin
of the lake, and is utterly devoid of fresh water; the other leads over high
lava ledges past the small well of HANLEFANTA. Even this route is extremely
trying to a European, owing to the excessive heat of the utterly arid district
of the Te’hama through which the road lies. It is usual to obtain guides from
the Sultans OF TAjoURA and OF Laita when visiting the lake.
The former is responsible for the travellers’safety on the road from the coast
to the lake; the latter is chief over the Debeneh in whose country the Lake lies.
The Sultan of Tajoura appears to make visitors pay heavily for their guides,
he having in 1893 furnished a French traveller with three guides at 4 / a head.
Vide also chapter X, Route //, Alcek Shatan.
•Note.— The blocks are neatly wrapped up in date matting. They are ip inches long, H to 2 inches wide
and i$ to 2 inches thick. From three to twelve blocks are equal to one dollar, according to the exchange, which
fluctuates.