Morning brought us into another beautiful fruitful valley,
studded with villages, the sight of which gave me courage to leave
the caravan, and hasten on.
The Lake Oromia, from which the town takes its name, is more than
sixty miles long, and in many places more than thirty wide. It
appears closely surrounded by lofty mountains, although considerable
levels intervene. Its water contains so much salt, that neither
fish nor mollusca can live in it. It is a second Dead Sea--it is
said that a human body cannot sink in it. Large patches of the
shore are covered with thick, white saline incrustations, so that
the people have only to separate the salt they want from the ground.
Although the lake, and the country round it are very beautiful, they
do not present a very attractive prospect, as the surface of the
lake is not enlivened by any boats.
Since I had left the sandy deserts round Baghdad, I had not seen any
camels, and thought that I should not see this animal again, as I
was travelling northwards. To my astonishment, we met several
trains of camels, and I learnt afterwards, that these animals were
used as beasts of burden by the Kurds, as well as the Arabs.
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