264 EASTERN ETHIOPIA xx 



their huts (Weule). The little girls of the Masai make 

 their dolls from this fruit. Some native tribes use the 

 fruit to make bottles, pans, cups, ladles, and other 

 domestic articles. The wood is sometimes employed to 

 make frames for drums. The natives of Central Africa 

 hollow out 'the fruit and use it as a mouse-trap and bait 

 it with roasted maize or ground-nuts ; a noose arranged 

 at the mouth of the trap is kept open by a bent stick 

 (Werner). Schweinfurth expressed the opinion that the 

 Kigelia in appearance may bear comparison with a 

 majestic oak. It occupies the place of nut trees, such 

 as the walnut and chestnut. 



An interesting feature of the flora of British East 

 Africa is the number of European plants it contains. I 

 was surprised in the Kikuyu country to find brambles, 

 blackberries, clover, forget-me-nots, clematis, geranium, 

 heath, ranunculus, violets, thistle, St. John's-wort, 

 bracken, rue, and the stinging-nettle. 



The tall trees commonly referred to as cedars and 

 used extensively for fuel on the railway are junipers ; 

 they have tall, straight trunks, and grow to a height of 

 one hundred feet. The presence of so many forms of 

 northern plants in the equatorial tracts of East Africa 

 was a subject of comment by Sir J. D. Hooker in his 

 interesting remarks, which form an appendix to 

 Thomson's account of his journey through Masailand. 

 Many of the trees growing on the island of Mombasa 

 and the adjacent coastlands have been introduced by the 

 Arabs. This refers to such trees as the Mango, 

 Papaw, Jack-fruit, orange, lemon, pomegranate, and 

 pine-apple. 



The presence of so many species of plants in the 

 highlands of East Africa common to northern countries, 

 especially Europe, may in part be explained by the 

 migration of birds. That birds play a part in the 

 dispersal of seeds has long been recognised. Seeds, 

 especially those invested by a hard capsule, will germin- 

 ate after passing through the alimentary caijal of birds. 



