in THE VICTORIA NYANZA 39 



In West Africa the negroes search diligently for the 

 fish in its encysted state, and they are particularly fond 

 of it and can keep it as a provision in the clod which 

 envelops it. 



The Papyrus is a beautiful rush with a long green 

 stem sometimes twenty feet high, which is not com- 

 pletely circular. The stems are crowned with tufts 

 of delicate filaments, which were used by the ancient 

 Egyptians to make garlands for the shrines of the gods. 



A Raft made of the dried Papyrus Stems. Used by 

 the Kavirondos on the Victoria Nyanza. 



The leaves are apple-green. The pith used for making 

 writing material by the ancient Egyptians earned for 

 this plant the name of " paper reed," it occupies that 

 portion of the stem which lies beneath the surface of 

 the water. The papyrus flourishes in the swamps of 

 Uganda, around the shallow margins of the Victoria 

 Nyanza and in the White Nile, but it is extinct in 

 Lower Egypt, 



