nged their games for shield and buckler to fight the new men clamoring at their gates, they turned the pieces of their chessboard into mountains. In Semien they stand enchanted, till once again the world is pagan and the titans and the earth gods lean down from the monstrous cloud banks to wager a star or two on their sport.''

The Semien highlands constitute one of the major massifs in Africa. The highest point in Ethiopia, Ras Dejen, at 4620 meters is the fourth highest mountain in Africa. Its dramatic topography is the result of basalt lavas which have been calculated to be 3000 meters thick.

Apart from the spectacular scenery, the region contains a number of unusual botanical phenomena and some of the rarest animals in the world. The Walia Ibex has its citadel among the Peaks of the Semien. One of the major justifications for making this region into a national park is that it is the last stronghold of the Walia Ibex, which is a type of wild goat they have been brought to the verge of extinction by poaching and distraction of their habitat. Fortunately, the establishment of a national park has kept the poaching somewhat under control.

The Walia live on nearly vertical cliff faces and narrow ledges in restricted area within the Semien Mountains. The gelada, a primate, which looks like a cross between a lion and baboon, is another exclusively Ethiopian species, which lives in this habitat. Over fifty species of birds have been positively identified in the Semien Mountains. The Semien region, though it is in the continent of Africa and not far from the Equator, has temperatures which sometimes drop below freezing at night. On the other hand, the sun's rays beat directly down and the rarefied atmosphere does not act as an effective filter. The visitor should thus be prepared for warm days and the likelihood of sunburn.

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