THE SCREW-PINE TRIBE. 245 



from its root serves for empoisoning arrows. Good and evil are both 

 strangely mixed in this important plant. 



The Corchorua olitorius* an annual cultivated in Egypt as a 

 potherb, is largely grown in Senegal for the tenacious fibres of its 

 root and the oily juices of its seeds. The Black Pepper (Piper nig- 

 rnm) of India and the Sunda Isles we find perfectly acclimatized in 

 this part of Africa, and it flourishes even in a wild state. Finally, 

 the Coffee-tree (Coffea Arabicd), the Cocoa (Theobroma Cacao), Indigo 

 (Indigofera tinctoria}, and the Cocos oleracea, are among the culti- 

 vated plants of Senegambia. 



In northern Guinea and the Gaboon, recently made famous by 

 Du Chaillu's discovery of the gorilla, Savannahs and cultivated dis- 

 tricts are intermingled, though their flora is still imperfectly known. 

 A great number of grasses adorn the fresh and humid prairies, and 

 sedges and reeds abound, while, on the river-banks, in shady nooks, 

 flourish some of the Screw-pine tribe, -f- notably the Pandanus Oan- 

 delabmm, a highly curious plant, which attracts one's attention by 

 its mode of vegetation, its graceful ribbon-like foliage, and its small 

 fragrant flowers. Thatching and cordage are obtained from the 

 fibrous leaves; the fruit resembles a richly-coloured pine-apple, but is 

 insipid to the taste. 



The Savannahs of the neighbouring provinces, and especially those 

 of the Gold Coast, are in general sparsely inhabited, nor are those 

 on the banks of the Niger an exception ; man shrinks from a region 

 which the deadly malaria seems to claim as its own. The flora is 

 very poor, consisting chiefly of aquatic grasses, with blades of moderate 

 height, arid leaves of comparatively little succulence. The herbaceous 

 plants, suitable for food or industrial uses, which are most frequently 

 met with in Guinea and the Gaboon, resemble those already described 

 as belonging also to Senegambia. But there are many different Arums, 

 such as the Caladium segmium and Colocasia mucronatum, properly 

 known as Taro, Tara, or Tayo, and employed in making granulate 

 sugar from the stem of the former, and in boiling or roasting for food 

 * Order, Tiliacex. f Order. Pandanacex. 



