312 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 



— ' Catalogue des Produits des Colonies Frangaises, 

 Exposition Universelle de 1867,' p. 44. 



Distribution : Upper Guinea, North Central, Nile 

 Land, Lower Guinea, Cape de Verd Islands. 



Seslania agyptiaca, Pers. — Shrub attaining ten feet 

 in height. The wood is used in India for poles, and 

 is said to make the best gunpowder charcoal. The bark 

 IS made into rope, amd the leaves and branches used 

 as a cattle fodder. Messrs. Speke and Grant state 

 that the herd boys on the banks of the White Nile 

 used the pod as a rattle. — ' Manual of Indian Timbers,' 

 J. S. Gamble, p. 119, &c. 



Distribution : Upper Guinea, Nile Land. 



"Dhunchee" or "Danchi" of India {Sesbania 

 aculeata, Pers.). — Annual. Cultivated about Calcutta 

 during the rains. It grows to a height of from six 

 to ten feet, and yields fibre six to seven feet long, 

 coarser than hemp {Cannabis), unless cut at a very 

 early period. In Bengal the fishermen make the 

 drag-ropes to their nets of this fibre on account of its 

 strength and durability in water, as it is said to be 

 more durable and stronger than jute {Corchorus). 

 In Spon's ' Encyclopaedia ' it is stated that, if properly 

 prepared and scutched, it would doubtless command 

 a sale on this market for rope-making. The plant 

 is said to require little attention, and to be of 

 rapid growth. — 'The Fibrous Plants of India,' Dr. 



