OF ACCOMPANYING ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 



427 



on the "Nile banks in any quantity at 7 ," its wood used for tooth-scrubbers ; by Delile, on mount 

 Ghareb in Upper Egypt ; by Irby and Mangles, at the Southern extreme of the Dead Sea ; and is 

 known to occur in the low valley of Engedi (J. D. Hook., and Sm. bibl. diet.). Farther East, " grows 

 to be a very large tree" in Scinde and Northern Hindustan (Drur.); is called in Northern Hindustan 

 "kharjal" (Royle) or"miswak" toothbrush tree (pharm. Ind.), in Telinga "ghoonia" or "pedda- 

 warago-wenki," in Tamil "ooghai" (Drur.) ; was observed by Roxburgh cor. i. pi. 26, Ainslie, and 

 Wight, on the Circars and in peninsular Hindustan ; by Graham, " near the sea, both Concans," but 

 by myself, a large tree planted around villages on the Deccan ; the berries according to Stewart punj. 

 are sweetish and much eaten, the seed according to Royle having an aromatic pungency and substi- 

 tuted for mustard ; and according to Lindley, and others, the bruised bark of the root is often used 

 by the natives for raising blisters. 



Mimtisops kummel of Abyssinia. A tall tree called there "kummul" (Bruce), on the Nile 

 " m'nyemvee " (Grant) ; and probably included by Agatharchides 84 among the various fruits un- 

 known to the Greeks and having a feeble NUU6PAN taste, growing in this region: — M. kummel 

 was observed by Bruce xii. pi. 54 in Abyssinia; by Grant, at "3° 15' N." on the Nile, in the bed of 

 a rocky stream, common. 



Raphia vinifera of Equatorial Africa and Madagascar. A lofty palm called on Madagascar 

 "raffia" or " ruffia" (Boj.), on the Upper Nile " nakhl-el-Faraoon " Pharaoh's date palm (Schweinf.); 

 and a *OINIKOC of incredible size is mentioned by Agatharchides as growing in this region : — • 

 R. vinifera was observed by Beauvois pi. 45 frequent along the banks of streams in Oware and 

 Benin; by Schweinf urth v. to xiv., in Lat. 5 on the Upper Nile, its fronds "twenty-five to thirty-five 

 feet " long, their midrib " the most popular building material throughout Central Africa," and observed 

 by myself substituted for house-ladders on Zanzibar ; growing also according to Bojer in marshes 

 along the East coast of Madagascar. By European colonists, was carried to the Mauritius Islands, 

 where it continues under cultivation and growing spontaneously (Boj.). From transported specimens 

 is described by Jacquin fr. pi. 4 (Pers.). 



Thespesia populnea of Tropical shores from Africa to the Samoan Islands in the Pacific. The 

 bendy or portia tree is called in Hindustanee " parspippu," in Bengalee " poresh," in Canara " boo- 

 gooi," in Telinga " ghengheravie," in Tamil " pooarasoo " or " porsung " (Drur.) ; and the M A A A X H C 

 of incredible size, growing according to Agatharchides 84 in the region in question, — may be com- 

 pared : T. populnea was observed by myself planted in a court-yard in Mocha, its leaves used medici- 

 nally as a cooling application, while at Zanzibar the tree was growing wild along the seashore ; is 

 known to occur also in Guinea (Graham). Eastward, was observed by Rheede i. pi. 29 in Malabar ; 

 by Graham in the environs of Bombay, but by myself only under cultivation there ; by Roxburgh, 

 Ainslie, Wight, and Drury, in other parts of peninsular Hindustan and as far as Bengal, remarkable 

 for its easy growth from cuttings and frequently used for roadside avenues, its wood making pretty 

 furniture, and selected for purposes where closeness of grain is required ; by Mason, " exotic " in 

 Burmah ; by mjself, to all appearance indigenous in the Malayan archipelago ; by Blanco, on the 

 Philippines, and called in Tagalo "boboi gubat ; " and is figured by Rumphius ii. pi. 74 (Pers.). 

 Farther East, was known to the first colonists of New Zealand, for its Polynesian name " miro " 

 (Hale) was retained for a New Zealand tree (see Podocarpus ferruginea) ; was observed by myself 

 submaritime and indigenous along the shores of the Feejeean, Tongan, and as far as the Samoan 

 islands ; by Rich, on the Tarawan coral-islands ; but clearly by Polynesian colonists, had been car- 

 ried to the Hawaiian Islands, where it continued under cultivation. 



The " Isles of the Chelonophagi," — described by Agatharchides 47. as low, very numerous, and 

 abounding in sea-turtle, seem to be the Laccadive and Maldive Islands ; this being the earliest Greek 

 notice of coral-islands . The Chelonophagi are also mentioned by Artemidorus, Pomponius Mela, 

 Pliny, Solinus, Claudius Ptolemy, and Marcianus. 



The absence of twilight in this low latitude, and the disappearance during a portion of the year 

 of the constellation Great Bear, — are mentioned by Agatharchides 104. 



The " Isles of the Chelonophagi " (Maldive Coral-islands) continuing devoid of useful plants in 

 the days of Agatharchides, the American coast visited by Polynesians hardly earlier than this date. 



Cocos nucifera of islands along the Pacific side of the Panama Isthmus. The cocoatiut palm is 

 called in Mexico " coyolli " (Hernand), at Taheiti the fruit " nia " and the palm "ari" (Forst. esc. 



got" (Blanco), in Malay "nyor" (Crawl.), in Burman "ung" (Mason;, in Sanscrit ■• nariKeia, in 

 Telinga "nari kudum " (A. Dec), in Bengalee "narikel," in Hindustanee " nariyal" (D'roz.), in Tamil 

 "taynga'^ (Drur.), in Yemen " nardjil " (Forsk.) ; and known to the Polynesians, if not before col- 

 onizing the Hawaiian islands, prior at least to their colonizing New Zealand, for on leaving the Trop- 



