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" In the forest near Algoa Bay, I remarked three species 

 of Cissus. The largest sort climbs up to the tops of the 

 tallest trees, adorning them with garlands of the most vivid 

 green. The leaf in its outline resembles that of the Ivi/. The 

 fruit is larger than our red cherry, pulpy, grateful to the taste, 

 and leaving the slightest impression of acrimony on the palate. 

 Its colour is a deep purple. The fruit of the second species 

 is of a greenish colour, the size of a common grape, rough to 

 the taste, and intolerably acrid. The leaf is fleshy, wrinkled, 

 and divided into five lobes. The fruit of the third is about 

 as large as a pea, of a purple colour, and sweetish taste. 



" Visiting Dr. Vanderkemp, at his Hottentot village of 

 Besseldorf, he showed me a shrub growing plentifully in 

 the district, the properties of which seem to entitle it to more 

 careful notice. I did not see it in flower, therefore cannot 

 describe its botanical characters. It rises to the height of 

 seven or eight feet, in a close bushy form. The leaves are 

 about two inches in length, lance-shaped, and serrated. The 

 fruit, equalling that of a small grape, is covered with a rough 

 coriaceous capsule, which opens vertically into two sections, 

 exposing to view a pulpy rose-coloured arillus. Within this 

 envelope, which is of a delicate acid taste, is a kernel the size 

 of a large pea, covered with a thin shell, and rivalling, in 

 taste and flavour, the finest filbert. By bruising these ker- 

 nels, and boiling them in water, the boors procure a large 

 quantity of oil, which they apply to various economical pur- 

 poses, and I have not the least doubt, that, if the fruit were 

 subjected in a skilful manner to the press, it would yield 

 an oil equal in flavour to the finest extracted from the olive. 

 Qicere — Is this shrub a Dimocarpus ? 



" The Speckboom [Portulacaria Afro) is common in the 

 eastern parts of the Colony, but does not grow in the vicinity 

 of the Cape. It is an ornamental shrub. The leaves are 

 small, cuneiform, fleshy, and of an agreeably acid taste. The 

 wood is as soft as a cabbage-stock, and separates into thin 

 layers, which exhibit a delicate net-work, resembling that of 

 the Paper Mulberry. In no part of the world, indeed, 

 are the ornamental productions of the vegetable kingdom 



