THE OIL PALM. 443 



on beautiful high trees of the same kind as those I saw in 

 Uganda, where they appear to be confined to the lowlands. 

 The variety and abundance of species of Anona are very 

 noticeable. I send you the seeds of one of them, called m&m- 

 bara, which yields bright yellow fruits larger than a pine- 

 apple and distinguished by an acid taste. If it were possible 

 to improve their cultivation, they would become a magnifi- 

 cent fruit. I have collected a considerable quantity of Elais 

 seeds, and if I return to Lado I will have this beautiful 

 tree planted everywhere. Its most northerly limit in our 

 district, as far as I know, is in Makraka, where I saw it 

 spontaneously growing upon the small islands in the Yei. I 

 imagine that the seeds had been carried down the river from 

 the south. I see from a letter from Lupton Bey that the Elais 

 palm is found to the west of the Bahr-el-Ghazal district as far 

 as 6° N. lat. Seeds from there have been planted in Lado. I 

 may take it for granted beforehand that you will be satisfied 

 with the sample of caoutchouc I sent you. The juice was 

 collected, according to my instructions, without mixing it with 

 water, and was then simply thickened over the fire and smoked. 

 Masses of it could be collected in this country, as both species 

 of the Landolphia are very common. The juice is used in a 

 remarkable way here as an application in the treatment of dry 

 skin diseases. The affected places are painted with it, and it 

 forms an impermeable layer over the diseased skin. The facts 

 which you establish with regard to the flora of this land, namely, 

 the predominance of pure westerly forms and species, I can 

 corroborate with regard to the fauna, on the basis of my 

 zoological collections. But this was only what I expected from 

 the first. The want of text-books prevents me determining 

 more than, a very small portion of my collections, but I believe 

 that I have already collected much of interest and several 

 completely new species. 



My stay here is not exactly pleasant ; on the day of my 

 arrival the people commenced to complain of pricking and 

 burning in the skin, and several especially susceptible indi- 

 viduals suffered from small swellings, chiefly on their hands 

 and feet, as well as feverish symptoms. My turn came next ; 

 purplish-red spots appeared upon my neck, face, and hands, 



