AN UNCANNY PLANT. 347 



the chief beauty of the landscape. The rich green foliage of 

 the indiarubber creeper (called here billa), with its white 

 bunches of blossoms and its strong but pleasant perfume, 

 abounds in the Mittu country, and is very beautiful. Sanse- 

 viera (toi) also grows there, but the most curious form I 

 noticed was a plant much like a euphorbia, about three feet 

 high, with a grey stem about two and a half inches thick, 

 which had at its upper end six to eight short thick branches ; 

 these, as well as the stem, had an immense number of scars 

 where the leaves were inserted, and beneath each scar a short 

 sharp thorn, which gave to the plant, at this time without 

 leaves or flowers, a stumpy, prickly, uncanny appearance. 

 It grows in groups of two or three, and its character appears 

 to resemble its looks, for the natives, who call the plant Jcibboia, 

 say that if buffaloes knock their heads against it, they are 

 blinded by the juice and their heads swell. The people take 

 good care, therefore, to avoid it. 



Khor Maholu, which delivers a considerable quantity of 

 water into Khor Lila during the Jcharif, was at this time only 

 a large pond. Its water is used by the people living in the 

 scattered zeribas belonging to the village of Magulu. Where 

 the corn-fields which surround these zeribas end, park-like plains 

 abounding in high trees, or broad bare flats of ferruginous clay, 

 covered with scanty moss-like turf and many small termite 

 hills, are noticed. The wells of Kara'ibote are circular basins 

 sunk into the hard clay soil ; they contain dirty water and 

 water-lilies. Worms of all kinds are found in them, and they 

 are the breeding-places of the Ferentit (Filaria medinensis, 

 Guinea worm), which is so abundant in this district. Hundreds 

 of swifts flew over the small doleb plantation near the village 

 of Imudi, which lay hidden in the midst of bamboo thickets. 

 The latter extended to the corn-fields of the village of Bauru, 

 where we camped. 



Our porters, with their " buttoned " upper lips and the 

 glittering knives stuck behind in their girdles, were a merry 

 set, always ready to sing and dance. Hardly had they laid 

 down their loads, when they formed a large circle for con- 

 versation, their naked and very ugly wives joining in quite 

 freely. I noticed here an exceedingly curious custom. One 



