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Show ANNOTATIONS AND ADDITIONS. 131 Ba.hr-el-Azrek, in 1837 and 1 3 -had made the existence of the "Mountains of the l\Ioon" appear very doubtful. The Blue Nile, the Astapus of Ptolemy, issuing from the Lake of Ooloe (now called Lake Tzana) winds from amongst the colossal Abyssinian Mountains; but towards the south-west an axtensive low tract of country appears. The three exploring expeditions sent by the Egyptian government (one in November 1839 from Ohartum to the confluence of the Blue and the White Nile, under the command of Selim Bimbashi; another in the autumn of 1840, which was accompanied by the French engineers Arnaud, Sabatier, and Thibaud; and a third in August 1841), first unveiled the high mountains which, between the parallels of 6°-4°, and probably still farther to the sonth, run at first from west to east, and afterwards from north-west to southeast, and approach the left bank of the Bahr-el-Abiad. The second of Mehemet Ali's expeditions first saw the mountain chain, according to Werne's account, in lat. llto, where Gebel Abul and Gebel Kutac rise to 3400 (3623 Eng.) feet. The high land continued and approached nearer to the river more to the south, between 4t0 lat., to the parallel of the island of Tscbenker in 4° 4', where the expedition of Commander Selim and Feizulla Effendi terminated. The shallow river makes its way between rocks, and detached mountains rise again in the country of Bari to 3000 (3197 Eng.) feet. These probably belong to the Mountains of the Moon as represented in our most recent maps, although they are not indeed mountains covered with perpetual snow such as Ptolemy bad described (lib. iv. cap. 9). The limit of perpetual snow in these latitudes would not certainly be found below an elevation of 14,500 (15,450 Eng). feet. Perhaps Ptolemy transferred to the country of the sources of the White Nile the knowledge which he may have had of the high mountains of the Habesch, which arc nearer to Upper Egypt and to the Red Sea. In Godiam, Kaffa, Miecha, and Sami, the Abyssinian Mountains rise to 10,000 and 14,000 (10,657 and 14,920 Eng). feet, according to exact measurements; not according to Bruce, who gives the elevation of Ohartum exceedingly wide of the truth, i. e. 4 730 (50<11 Eng). feet, instead of 1430 (1524 Eng). feet! Riippell, one of the most accurate observers of the present day, found Abba Jarct, in 13° 10' of latitude, only 66 (70 Eng.) feet lower |