3i8 foiinml (ij '/'/diui d/ui Natniitl History 



The species of Zi/.y])hus arc extremely comnujii slirubs, growing 

 in all soils ; l)iiL in poor ground the leaves are smaller, and the 

 s])iry stipules very strongly developed. Tlie fruit of Z. jujube and 

 other si)ecies arc eaten. "dhesh" is a s])efies of Khamnus, 

 whose leaves arc cmjjloyed in the preparation of beer. 'J'hcl)itler 

 fruits of Rhamnus vStaddo are, also, used in the same way which, as 

 well as the leaves of R. ])aucillorus, are said to accelerate fermenta- 

 tion, and at the same time to impart an agreeable bitterness to tlie 

 beer, (Gunpowder is manufactured from the wood of Celastrus 

 serratus (Celastraceie). Plate 49 (jf " Rruce's 'J'ravels" re])rc- 

 sents the fruit of a Sterculia, wiiic h he erroneously states to be 

 that of the tree figured in the preceding i)late, which is ])robal>ly 

 Meliaceous or Anacardiaceous. 'J'hat ])ortrayed on plate 48 

 is ])r()l)ably the one referred to, as being the tree which the 

 Abyssinians believe to be the tree that bears frankincense, and wc 

 arc told that it does })roducc a gum much resembling it. 



Malvaceae arc numerous. One of the most remarkable and 

 interesting is the gigantic tree, Adansonia digitata, or I3ina, the 

 Baobab of Western Africa, belonging to the tribe Bombaccfe. 

 This abounds in all die low valleys of the interior, especially in the 

 valleys of the Tacagzzc, where it attains enormous dimensions. 

 The diameter of its trunk is out of all proportion to the height of 

 the tree, lacing from twenty to thirty feet, with a height of fifty to 

 sixty feet. 'J'he wood is soft and s])ongy, antl of no particular value; 

 but the bark is ulill/.ed in various ways, sucli as cord and net-making, 

 and in the manufacture of cloths, &c. There is only one other 

 sj)ecies known, A. Oregorii, a native of N. J'",. Australia. 



Cotton is fre([uently seen in cultivated ground ; but I have not 

 been able to ascertain whether it is made use of by the natives, 

 tliough most likely it is to a certain extent. Dwarf prickly shrubs 

 of Zygophylle;c and C"a])i)aride;e are conunon on sandy soil and 

 volcanic liills. JVlenispermace;e and Anonaccx present nothing 

 particularly worUiy of notice, which brings us to the end of our 

 epitome. 



From the foregoing notes and extracts a tolerable idea of the 

 Idora of Abyssinia may be formed ; but in a sketch, necessarily 

 short and fragmentary, much of interest has been omitted. The 

 details of the preparation of vegetable substances, cither for food 

 or medicine, and for the manufacture of various articles, would have 

 occupied too much s])ace in a paper de\oted t<j the general 

 aspect of things. 



