DE. KIEK ON" COPAL. 



479 



that wtile in general it forms a low suberect under-slirub, yet, like 

 some other Magellanic plants, such as Prionotes, it frequently as- 

 sumes a scandent habit, attaining a height of from 12 to 14 feet 

 when supported by tbe trunk of a tree ; and in illustration of this, 

 I may mention that on more than one occasion I have climbed a 

 tree in order to reacb its fine rose-coloured flowers. 



On Copal. By Dr, Kibk. (Extract from a Letter to Dr. 



HooKEE dated Zanzibar, November 13, 1869.)' 



[Eead May 5, 1870.] 



Hayikg 



go in order to meet the Sultan, I had occasion to make a few 

 observations that may interest you, and to collect plants, many of 

 which I know are new, not only to me, but to the Kew Mu- 

 seum ; these I shall send through the F. O. by the first op- 

 portunity. 



excursions 



miles from the coast, and that the Uzaramo country beyond is 

 still, to all intents, a terra incognita to the botanist, rich in 

 plants ; and I know of no more promising field for a three months' 

 excursion, if I only had the time, than the hill of TJsawbara, 

 4000 feet high, and the Uraramo plains, both opposite the island 



of Zanzibar. 



formation 



Animt) 



siderable attention to the subject this time. In the dense forest 

 I was struck with the immense number and size of these trees, 

 far exceedinsr any thing that I had before imagined. In no in- 



stance 



it was invariably hard. I send a fine specimen 



will 



•uU 



those of the ancient forests. In the dense jungles, where these 

 trees are found the largest, there is no under-grass to catch fire 

 and to destroy the fallen trunks ; when a tree dies it rots until, 

 eaten by white ants, it falls piece by piece on the ground ; any 

 resinous masses would thus be preserved. Struck by the num- 

 ber of these trees, I commenced turning up the sandy soil to the 



