382 GEOGRAPHICAL BOTANY. 



of other botanical groups of the steppes, single forms only, 

 as Stapelia, Pergularia, and some succulent Euphorbias ; 

 but at the river Hawasch the vegetation became social, 

 by the formation of thickets of Tamarix or Balsamo- 

 dendron Myrrha, with single Capparidaceous trees 

 (i, p. 416). At the foot of the high mountains of 

 Abyssinia, Aloe Socotrina was also met with, and soon 

 after Tamarix Indica, with which the desert steppe was 

 overgrown. 



Harris read a paper on Balsamodendron Myrrlia before 

 the Linnsean Society (Ann. Nat. Hist. xiii,p. 220). This 

 important shrub is called by the Danakil tribes, who 

 inhabit the coast of A del, Kurbeta. Myrrh (Hofali) is 

 the milky juice which escapes from wounds made in it, 

 dried in the air ; it is usually collected in January, the 

 period at which the buds unfold, and in March, when 

 the seeds are ripe. Balsamodendron Opobalsamum grows 

 on the opposite Arabian coast, at Cape Adem. The 

 Frankincense trees of the mountains of Cape Guardafui, 

 have not been botanically determined. 



Harris's botanical reports upon Shoa are very un- 

 satisfactory (The Highlands, &c. ii, pp. 395 et seq.) The 

 pine of North Abyssinia is replaced in Shoa by the 

 Det, a Juniperus, 160' in height, with a stem from 

 4' to 5' in diameter, and with the growth of a cypress. 

 Forest trees are also mentioned : Taxus (Sigba), Ficus 

 (Schoala), and F. Sycomorm (Work a) ; moreover, 

 Riippel's Lobeliaceous tree, Rhyncliopetalum montanum 

 (Jibera), is common at Aukober, the stem of which is 15' 

 in height, and bears a crown of large leaves. Shrubs : 

 an Erica (Asta) and Polygonum frutescens (Umboatoo) 

 distributed generally. Celastrus edulis (Choat) is cul- 

 tivated commonly, and resembles tea in its action and 

 taste (ii, p. 423). 



Harris's meteorological observations, which were made 

 from August to December in 1841, and from January to 

 July in 1842, in Aukober, the capital of Shoa, are of 

 more importance. This place is situated below 9 35' 



