346 THE GREAT THIRST LAND. 



Massara speak true, with lions so fierce that they will 

 drive the intruder out of the velt. I am prepared to 

 risk this, and can only say that if they succeed they 

 must be a different kind from any I have met before. 



A tree that I have noticed before, but paid little 

 attention to, now becomes abundant it is the meruley. 

 Among the vegetable kingdom of this part of the earth 

 it is one of the most beautiful ; here it is to the land- 

 scape what the birch is to American scenery the queen 

 of the forest. 



Its height is seldom above sixty feet, but the stem 

 is straight, and covered with a smooth, clean bark, not 

 unlike our ash. The leaves are a very dark green, and 

 in shape remind one strongly of the walnut. As a rule, 

 it does not stand crowded in with other trees, but in 

 openings, where it has plenty of breathing-space ; it 

 produces a fruit about the size of a husked walnut, 

 covered with a thick fleshy skin, inside of which is a 

 very large stone, not unlike that of the peach. When 

 ripe the skin of the fruit becomes yellow, and soon after 

 falls. It is then delicious, but unfortunately it requires 

 a very great number to satisfy the palate, for, like all 

 these wild fruits, the stone is so large that there is but 

 a small portion of edible part. Possibly, by cultivation, 

 this might be altered. The flavour is that of an acidu- 

 lated drop the desirable combination of sweet and sour. 



Nearly all the wild beasts eat them, the elephant 

 particularly, who will get his forehead against the trunk 

 of the meruley, and then, bringing his enormous weight 

 and power into action, shake down a sufficient quantity 

 of the fruit to afford him, if not a meal, at least a very 

 pleasant dessert. 



A black mamba a description of snake common in 



