220 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



Our lunch had to be limited to what we could 

 hold at the same time as we ate, and we longed for 

 the luxury of fiddles on the table. 



We were now well on our way across the mysterious 

 shallow lake that stretched boundless to the horizon, 



and, looking back, the 

 land became dimmer 

 and dimmer. Once it 

 was out of sight there 

 was nothing to give 

 point to our progress, 

 except wide - spreading 

 clumps of marea, papy- 

 rus, or rush. Where 

 they grow there is no 

 land, and they shake 

 their heads and rustle 

 and nod as the way- 

 farer passes by. 



The marea ^ is a sen- 

 sitive plant that grows 

 out of a depth of from 

 6 to 14 feet of water, 

 and varies in height 

 from 16 to 30 feet, its 

 upper branches over- 

 topping the giant rushes 

 and papyrus below. The 

 delicate grey -green leaves fold up when they are 

 touched, and the flower is like that of an acacia, save 

 that it grows on a single stem and is bigger. The 



Marea. 



^ Herminiera Elaphroxylon. Marea = Buduma name. Ambach = Arab 

 name. 



