A LEGION OF CASSIAS. '241 



low table-land, situated upwards of 3000 feet above the sea-level, and 

 fuiTOwed by deep gorges, in whose rocky beds the rivers roll and 

 foam, fed by the waters of numerous streams. Grassy savannahs and 

 wide cultivated areas are here inhabited by a numerous population. 

 Several travellers have explored these regions; but all have specially 

 applied themselves to make known the colossal plants which flourish 

 therein, and those, first and foremost, which have a particular interest, 

 either from their Anak-like stature or the manifold uses of their pro- 

 ducts. I shall have occasion to speak of the arborescent species which, 

 in this part of the Old Continent, blend in immense and impenetrable 

 forests. But owing to this very circumstance we possess few details 

 respecting the plants which clothe the vast plains of Senegambia and 

 Upper Guinea. We only know that there, as everywhere, the great 

 family of the Graminese is largely represented. In general these 

 species far exceed in height the plants which make the wealth and 

 glory of our English meads ; and they chiefly belong to the tribe of 

 Panicese. A legion of Cassias inhabit the low fresh hills of the 

 Senegambian lands ; and some are held in high estimation for their 

 fruit, as the Cassia, or Senna, which is considered one of the most 

 active purgatives. The species generally recognized as best adapted 

 for medicinal purposes are those with oboval and those with obtuse 

 leaves Cassia obovata and Cassia obtusifolia. The former is a 

 perennial herbaceous plant, from one to two feet high, with smooth 

 egg-shaped leaves and racemes of yellow flowers; the latter differs 

 only in the form of its leaves, which are short and broad, or 

 obtuse. 



Many of the cereals are cultivated in Senegambia on a very large 

 scale; but they differ wholly from those which engage the attention 

 of the European agriculturist. Barley will not grow even on the 

 most elevated plateaux, on account of the constant and excessive 

 heat. It is true that it will germinate ; but it develops so rapidly 

 that it passes through all the phases of its vegetation in the space of 

 a few weeks, and yields but impoverished ears empty of grains; it is 

 useless to the people of Senegambia except as forage. But, on the 



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