57 
shoot up even after being burned down. This ey from 
Shupanga to Kelrabassa is well stocked with fine wo 
“In waste ground near the settlements of Shupanga, Senna 
and Tette, the Indigo plant [Indigofera tinctoria, Linn.] grows 
wild, but the people are quite unacquainted with its phe at 
Shupanga it is often 5 feet high and I have made indigo from ‘the 
leaves which seemed to be good, considering the small scale on 
which it was made.” 
“The Borassus palm [Borassus flabellifer, Linn.] with stem 
80 feet high bears a long cluster of fruits, the yellow fulvous pulp 
surrounding the three seeds is agreeable when ripe and much 
eaten by the elephants. The Hyphaene palm has a fruit resem- 
bling that of the Doum of Egypt, from which I do not feel quite 
satisfied that it differs materially; at the coast this palm is a 
small bush or with only a short stem which is frequently divided 
dichotomously ; in the upper parts it is much higher, being 30 feet, 
and I have not observed this variety branching. I can find no 
specific distinction however between these two forms [probably 
the same—Hyphaene thebaica, Mart.].”’ 
On his return from the Zambesi in 1863, Kirk spent some 
time at Kew working on his collections and in January, 1866, 
he was appointed Acting Surgeon to the Political Agency at 
Zanzibar. His administrative abilities led to his being made 
Vice-Consul in 1867, and in the following year Assistant Political 
Officer. In April 1873 he became Agent and Consul-General and 
held that Office until his retirement in 1887. 
During his twenty-one years of service in Zanzibar, Kirk 
was in constant correspondence with Kew and his letters to Sir 
William, and Sir Joseph Hooker and later to Sir William 
Thiselton- -Dyer contain much information about the vegetation 
and products of East Tropical Africa. He investigated the 
source of the different grades of the valuable East African Copal, 
Trachylobium Hornemannianum, Hayne, of which, as already 
mentioned, he sent excellent specimens of the gum and tree. 
Great quantities of the Copal were at that time dug by the natives 
of the mainland, being the remains of ancient forests of this 
tree. 
The following is an extract from one of his letters to J. D. 
Hooker on this subject dated Zanzibar, 20 March, 1868 :— 
“While enjoying a little relaxation and a the fresh air 
for a few days on the African mainland. . . I met with 
‘one or two things worthy of note which will prove of interest to 
you, being supplemented by specimens. . The spot we 
selected for our holiday was opposite the southern end of 
Zanzibar island, where we could remain at anchor in a large 
oe creek which there furnished a natural harbour. The 
te sea-edge is lined with Mangrove vegetation ere a 
of Avicennia, Sonneratia, Rhizophora, Bruguiera iera, etc., the last 
yi the well known Zanzibar ‘ Benti’ re rafters on which 
the flat roofs of the mere are supported. A few paces from the 
B 
@ UTS 
