238 Mr J. Buclianan on the Vegetation 



ing on mats in the sun. A receptacle of black mud cut 

 out in the solid interior of a small tree branch serves as a 

 salt bin. The village has on one side a dense jungle, whose 

 monotony of acacia thorns is here and there enlivened with 

 Euphorbias having shady creepers intertwined. On theother 

 side of the encampment stately baobabs raise their monster 

 heads, as also do Njale trees, whose trunks rise straight from 

 30 to 40 feet. Cleonie gynandra is cultivated in the open 

 spaces between the huts ; while tobacco, raised under the 

 eaves, is planted out on mounds ; and Ipomcea and Convolvuli 

 meet you at every corner. A stockade, 10 or 12 feet 

 high, encirles the village. It is made of Pterocarpus cut- 

 tings 10 or 12 feet long, and 4 to 8 inches in diameter. 

 The passage through this stockade to the village will only 

 admit one at a time, and can be closed by a board. It is 

 ornamented on the outside by an arch of Euphorbias, 

 around which creepers of a climbing species of Bryo- 

 p)liylhuii entwine. In the spaces outside the stockade may 

 be seen many large fields of sorghum, patches of sweet 

 potatoes, beans, and pumpkins, as well as rice on moist 

 places ; and Arachis Jiypogcea, ground nuts, as well as Voand- 

 zeia Mtfe/ianus, ground beans, on sandy knolls. 



Blantyre and Zomha. — At both these places, which attain 

 an elevation of 3000 feet, the difference betwixt the high- 

 land and lowland vegetation of Eastern Africa is very 

 marked. The district looks well wooded when viewed 

 from a tree top or mountain side, though of forest there 

 is none, except the jungle covering ravines which scarp 

 the mountain sides. The Napcea Kirhii, n.n. Msuku^ the 

 most important tree of the district, grows freely to a fair 

 size. A tree a foot in diameter and 16 feet long is not 

 uncommon, though the usual length is from 10 to 12 feet. 

 The Msuku is less liable to insect attacks than soft-wooded 

 trees ; though hard and difficult to work, with an inclina- 

 tion to twist and split, it has, when planed and dressed, 

 somewhat the appearance of mahogany. It is confined 

 entirely to the highlands. I have never seen it growing 

 lower than 2000 feet high, and it indicates a healthy dis- 

 trict. The Parinarium mohola, n.n. Mhemhii, has a clear 

 straight stem of from 20 to 25 feet, invaluable for beams 

 and joists, but it is now scarce round Blantyre. The Khaya 



