3-021-416 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Abyssinian Expedition: the Hot Springs of Ailet, 1868. 'A remarkable feature in the strip of border-land outside of Abyssinia, along the shores of the Red Sea, is the hot springs of Ailet, which have recently been visited by Major H. A. Leveson, "the Old Shekarry." He ascended to the Abyssinian highlands from Ailet by a very steep and difficult pass, making his way, through Murraha and Hamham, to Amba Saul, and thence to Senafe. He met everywhere with much civility from the people of the country, who seemed to be thriving and had plenty of cattle. Some of them are shown lounging about, or crouching on the ground, in the sketch we have engraved, which represents the picturesque valley of Ailet, with the English travellers' tent pitched on the top of a hillock, and their camels reposing. The boiling water here rises in pools, and flows in a stream about one mile before it is lost in the sand. Its temperature near the source was 196 deg. of Fahrenheit. It was perfectly clear, and, when drunk cold, had no unpleasant taste; but there is evidently much iron in its composition'. From "Illustrated London News", 1868.