THE STEPPES OF INNER AFRICA. 177 



steppe-grass, are, in the dry season at least, so closely congruent 

 with the surrounding flats that one must come very near before 

 one sees that they are there. Only the seasons can change the 

 sameness of the picture, and even they do not remove much of its 

 monotony. 



Inhospitable, too, is the reception which awaits the traveller in 

 the steppe. Perched on a camel he rides through the fields. Some 

 game or other invites him to the chase, and induces him to pene- 

 trate into the grass-forest. Then he finds out that between the 

 apparently smooth grasses there grow plants much more formidable 

 than the thorny mimosas. On the ground flourishes the " tarba ", 

 whose seed-capsules are so sharp that they cut through the soles of 

 light riding-boots; above it grows the " essek ", whose burrs insinu- 

 ate themselves almost inextricably into all clothing; and somewhat 

 higher the "askanit" rises, most formidable of the three, for its 

 fine prickles are loosened by the slightest touch, and, penetrating 

 one's clothes, bore into the skin and cause ulcerations small enough 

 individually, but in their incomputable numbers most oppressive. 

 These three plants make any prolonged sojourn or extensive ex- 

 ploration impossible, and are such a torture to man and beast that 

 one can readily understand why the natives always carry, as an 

 indispensable instrument, a fine pair of pincers. As among the 

 monkeys, the greatest kindness which one man can do his neighbour 

 is to pull out the fine, hardly-visible, needle-like spines from his 

 skin. Apart from the three formidable antagonists which we have 

 mentioned, most of the other steppe-plants, especially the trees and 

 shrubs, are covered with more or less repellent thorns and spines, as 

 one soon discovers if one tries to penetrate a thicket or even comes 

 to close quarters with a tree. 



Other even more unpleasant characteristics of the steppes make 

 themselves felt at night. It is often necessary to ride for days 

 without reaching a village, and one must therefore camp out on the 

 plain. A suitable sandy place free from obnoxious plants is sought 

 out, the beasts are unloaded and hobbled, a bed is made by spread- 

 ing a mat on the ground, and a huge fire is lighted to scare off 

 beasts of prey. The sun goes down, and a few minutes later the 



(M70) 12 



