Of Acephala only one, Unio, was found near the Háwash.
A few frogs were seen in the waters, but no fish; and although lizards abounded on the land, there were no serpents. One large-sized tortoise was picked up.
Birds of all descriptions inhabit the plains and enliven the scanty woods: the ostrich, Otis arabs, the partridge, ducks, adjutant, Charadrius spinosus, Psittacus, Lampromis, Tanagra erythrorhyncha, Pyrrhocorax. Of beasts, the giant in creation, the elephant, and his rival in hugeness, the hippopotamus, abound in the plain of the Háwash; and rapacious animals, the lion, the leopard, and the hyaena, prowling about the camp during the night, render indispensable the protection of a stout thorn fence.
Of the order Rodentia the porcupine is common; also a variety of rats.
Of Ruminantia: a few antelopes.
Of Fissungula: Hyrax.
Of Setigera; Phacochaerus abyssinicus; and of Lemures: Galago.
The flora, so dependent upon the nature of the ground, offers little variety throughout this tract, although a few new plants were found in the favoured plain of Sultélli. Four Compositae (one Santolina), three Leguminosae (one Cassia, resembling Senna), one Euphorbia (rotundifolia), one Solanum, one Cucurbitacea (Cucumis africanus), one Crucifera (Farsetia linearis), three Malvaceae (Hibiscus urens, Althaea spec.), one Tiliacea (Grewia spec.), one Cistinea (Helianthemum spec.), one Acanthacea (Acanthus carduifolius), four Gramineae, one Cyperacea.
There were, however, no large timber trees, though edible berries of a sub-acid taste were supplied from a Helianthemum and a Grewia. Between Waramilli and Naga Koomi the shrubs of the Balsamodendron myrrha were first discovered, and these continued as far as the Háwash. Grass too is met with on the wide plains. Large camel-thorn acacias, and a strange tree of the family Capparidea, at intervals interrupt the uniform desert waste; but even the luxuriant vegetation which prevails on the banks of the Háwash contains little besides the Tamarix africana.
A high jungle of Acacia extends near the plain of Azbóti, supplying an abundance of sweet gum-arabic, and the last stage to Dathára is encumbered with the Aloe soccotrina. There are also many fine forest trees in the valley of Kokaï, amongst which the Tamarindus indica stands conspicuous; but no cultivation whatsoever is to be seen during the entire progress of upwards of three hundred miles from the sea-coast to the green hills of Abyssinia.