We Started At
Daybreak On 13th January, And, Ascending The Whole Way, We Reached
Shooa, In Latitude 3 Degrees 4 Minutes.
The route throughout had been of
the same parklike character, interspersed with occasional hills of fine
granite, piled in the enormous blocks so characteristic of that stone.
Shooa was a lovely place. A fine granite mountain ascended in one block
in a sheer precipice for about 800 feet from its base, perfectly abrupt
on the eastern side, while the other portions of the mountain were
covered with fine forest trees, and picturesquely dotted over with
villages. This country formed a natural park, remarkably well watered by
numerous rivulets, ornamented with fine timber, and interspersed with
numerous high rocks of granite, which from a distance produced the
effect of ruined castles.
The pasturage was of a superior quality, and of the same description as
that of Farajoke. The country being undulating, there was a small brook
in every valley that formed a natural drain. Accordingly, the more
elevated land was remarkably dry and healthy. On arrival at the foot of
the abrupt mountain, we camped beneath an immense india-rubber tree,
that afforded a delightful shade, from which elevated spot we had a
superb view of the surrounding country, and could see the position of
Debono's camp, about twenty-five miles to the west by north, at the foot
of the Faloro hills.
By Casella's thermometer, I determined the altitude of Shooa to be 3,877
feet - 1,002 feet above the Asua river, and 89 feet lower than
Farajoke.
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