448 ACROSS AFRICA. [Chap. 



occasionally varied in the rainy season by stretches of mingled 

 marsh and water from one to two feet in depth. 



The mountains of Useghara rise abruptly in a mass of granite 

 peaks on the western side of this plain. Here a few villages 

 are to be seen, but the eastern part is entirely wild, and the fa- 

 vorite haunt of herds of giraffe, zebra, and buffalo. 



Close to the coast in this district the semi-fossil gum-copal is 

 found by digging from five to seven feet below the surface, and 

 the copal-tree still grows in some parts. 



The trees are principally acacias, of which there are many 

 varieties, covered with masses of different-colored blossoms. 

 There are also several kinds of valuable timber-trees and a few 

 fruit-trees. Near the sea the cocoa-palm, the mango, the mfuv 

 — producing a sort of damson-like fruit — jack-fruit-tree, oranges, 

 sweet lemons, limes, the custard -apple, the papaw, guava, and 

 tamarind, also mzambarau — another plum-tree — are cultivated. 

 African teak, black wood, Ugnum-vitce, the mparamusi, india- 

 rubber trees and vines, the wild date, the Boi^assusflaheUiformis, 

 the raphia (mwale), and many kinds of thorns and creepers, 

 grow luxuriantly in the woods ; while bamboos and cane-grass 

 fill the swampy bottoms, and the plains are covered wnth a va- 

 riety of grasses, w4iich attain a height of six or eight feet in the 

 rainy season. 



The inhabitants vary greatly in their manners. ]S[ear the 

 coast they have mostly adopted the habits of the Wamerima ; 

 but the grass kilt, like that of the Papuans, is still to be seen 

 near Simbaweni, and people smear their heads with red-ochreish 

 earths and oil. In the villages at the foot of the mountains are 

 seen extraordinary necklaces made of brass wire coiled horizon- 

 tally — flemished, in nautical language — and extending some- 

 times a foot or more from the neck. 



The rivers of these districts abound in hippopotami and croco- 

 diles. Buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, antelopes of various sorts, ant- 

 eaters, ocelots, occasiorial elephants, hyenas, leopards, wild cats, 

 monkeys, wild pigs, beautiful little squirrels, jackals, the buku, a 

 huge rat often larger than a rabbit, mongoose, the carrion crow, 

 guinea and jungle fowl, a sort of francolin, numerous hawks, 

 goat-suckers, orioles, and sun-birds, wild pigeons and doves, form 

 a portion of the fauna. But though numerous in species, in- 



