The deep erosion of the upper strata of basalt and trap, and subsequent decomposition, lays bare the gneissic and hornblendic schist formations below, so that nearly the whole country from the foot of Chochi to the river, a distance of 15 miles, is covered with quartz pebbles and boulders, and shows numerous outcrops. The decomposed portions of the reefs are strewn over the ground, and the gold they contain is thus washed into the small streams, and then carried into the Abai.〔Weld Blundell, "Exploration in the Abai", p. 544〕

Admittedly, at certain times of the year (''Dejazmach'' continued ), a few Shankallas worked in some cotton fields, which he had just planted 15 miles north of the Dadessa bridge; but even these few miles were, to use his own words, "a country fit only for monkeys." He emphasized the difficulties which we would encounter: no paths, thick bamboo forests, fever, and, with an expressive upward wave of his hand, the steepness of the mountains bordering the river. He suggested that, if we were anxious to see the confluence of the Abbai and Dadessa, we would be well advised to follow the track from Nekemti to Nejo, thence along a known track to the junction.〔A. Dunlop, ("The Dadessa Valley" ), ''Geographical Journal'', 89 (1937), p. 513〕