I • 



38 



"■ botanical source of the ' nuts/ " On July 19 Kew replied that 

 i Yebb ' still remained a mystery; that no plants had come up 

 from the seeds sent on April 23, but that two small plants 

 had been raised from some seeds previously received at Kew. 

 The letter further stated that Kew assumed that these earlier seeds 

 also came originally from Somaliland although Somaliland corre- 

 spondents w T ho had replied to our enquiries appeared not to have 

 heard of 4 Yebb, 1 and added that Kew had been put in touch by 



information was still hoped for. 



To the letter begging for his help in the matter Capt. Cordeiux 

 replied as follows, in a letter received on August 17 :— 



" Camp Arioleh, Berbera, July 28th, 1906. 

 "I write to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 

 " Gth instant asking for further information about the Yebb nut. 



"There is no doubt that these nuts really do come from 

 • Somaliland, though I believe they are not to be found actually 

 within the British Protectorate limits. 



- " The Yebb or Yeheb (which spelling more correctly 

 represents the native pronunciation) is a small bush which 

 grows in great quantities in the < Haud ' or waterless desert south 



- ot Bohotleh and of the southern frontier of the Protectorate. 



«wi?K e . ne I? r myself seen the bush which is described by 

 *4«? x*t m h \ s , Re P° rts on Journeys in Somaliland as 'a smafl 

 ^ ^ thick-leaved bush, always green, with a nut enclosed in a thin 



"■,T3! 8 S ell / n l eaten stew ^d. If the green leaves are rubbed 

 in the hands, they are stained red.' 



« ™3fcj mt *i W ? 1 ich accordin g t0 Professor Dunstan's recent 



'< tSr \l n/ V f a I ?u SS6SS greafc nutrient value > f orm th « staple 



, t ,° n ood f tbe P°^r classes of natives living in the 



tiaud, and are for the most part consumed as they are collected 



Small quantities of the nuts, however, find their way amonTst 



he northern tribes and even as far as the coast towns wff 



hey are eagerly bought by the Somalis, who have grit fa Mb In 



heir nutrient and medicinal properties often preferring them to 



their usual dietary of rice and date* Tho kSTu? * , 



» itself readily and to grow wUh great rapTdfty^ " "* ** " 8ed 



• : rwire 1 but n w??' l ° °^ ln ° le herbari ™ specimens you 



''advanced pos^li if also ^ffi eh u b . C ° UntlT fr0m our ™ st 

 " good specimens at tL W f ° Ul t0 get natives to bri "g in 



4nd darned on * th^ iowne^T "T 7 ° f them bein " 8 P oilt 



>-ed. 1 Lpe, howe^r toYe atTtn %£* *" Pr ° P6rly P re " 

 44 good specimens to enahlV 11 t i to ° btain S0E oe sufficiently 



"and will despatch them as' soon affW intere «ting plant, 

 H Kew." F em as 800n as Possible to your address at 



4i 



enabled ns to obtain th "li „',„ ?£o T^' , ,t9 in,rin8i ° ™Iue it 



which had been nnknow, ' , n/ %t *'"' ,y ' the exiBtence »' 

 information, which will i» • i e im l>ortance of Wellbv'a 



' Teheb • was taStfSfi Xg^ 1 ™' »« '» «» teK 



