THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 117 



metallic-blue spangles. It has a large, clumsy-looking head, and 

 the body tapers evenly to the tip of the tail. Near the gills there 

 are two limbs with muscular development, and fan-shaped finned 

 extremities. The fish uses these fins and tail to skip along the 

 mud banks and climb the mangrove roots. The eyes are situated 

 on the top of the head, are very prominent, can be moved to view 

 all points of the compass, and have movable eyelids. The pupil 

 of the eye is black, and the iris bright red. The fish can depress 

 these eyes until they are at same level as the top of its head. 

 The creature seems like a link between fishes and amphibians, 

 and is known to science as Periophthalmus, because of the 

 peculiar eyes. Sometimes it raises itself on its " elbows " to get 

 a better view. The " mud-skippers " of the North Australian 

 coast are probably allied species. 



The Grey Kingfishers here are protected by native "ju-ju," or 

 fetish worship, and are plentiful. 



Leaving the river-side and entering the country to the east, 

 which rises interiorly, the typical African bush comes into view, 

 and is, in general appearance, a dense, impenetrable thicket of 

 various flowering plants, relieved here and there with palms and 

 occasional tall trees. 



Of the palms, three are conspicuous and important. The Oil 

 Palm, Elais yuineensis, grows only in this part of the world. It 

 resembles the Cocoanut Palm, and grows to a height of 80 feet or 

 more. One tree yields about 20 lbs. of nuts in a season. The 

 nuts give nearly half their weight in oil. Two crops are taken, 

 one in the dry season and the other during the rains. The ripe 

 fruit — consisting of a pulp, fibrous and orange-coloured on outside, 

 and containing a dark-skinned, white kernel — is about the size of 

 a walnut, and droops in bunches several pounds in weight from 

 the centre of the crown of pinnate leaves. The pulp is separated 

 from the kernels and boiled, and the oil, which rises to the surface, 

 skimmed off and sent to the traders. The kernels also yield a 

 good oil when crushed, heated, and pressed. 



Two other palms are species of Raphia. R. Hookeri, known 

 locally as the Ukot, has a matured height of 70 or 80 feet. The 

 sap, extracted by the natives, is of milky appearance, and tastes, 

 when fresh, like cocoanut milk, but when fermented is sour, and 

 becomes a powerful stimulant, called mimbo, or palm wine. 



The third palm of the three selected for reference is the Bamboo 

 Palm, R. vinijera. The mid-ribs of the leaves are used for hut 

 building, the leaves for thatching, and the pinnules — when 

 stripped of the cellular epiderm — yield an excellent fibre for 

 mat and native cloth making. This species is short-stemmed. 



A bird which resembles a small brown thrush cleverly ties its 

 nest to the pinnules of the tall palms, and even the force of a 

 tornado fails to dislodge it, though the palm may be bent until 



