AM) ITS APPEARANCE. 271 



think, would grow very well in England. Its 

 leaves are largely pennated, and of a lively green 

 colour ; a great deal brighter than the foliage of 

 the chesnut-tree, which, in figure, the cosso some- 

 what approaches to, except that it is not quite so 

 high. The flowers are of a blood red colour, and 

 hang in large bunches, sometimes a foot or a foot 

 and a half long, consisting of numerous small 

 flowerets attached to one common footstalk. Amidst 

 the bright green leaves of the tree, these drooping 

 crimson masses have a very picturesque appear- 

 ance. Cosso-trees do not seem to be so carefully 

 cultivated at the present day in the country to 

 the west of Tchakkah, as they appear to have 

 been when the Sara and Durra Galla tribes 

 occupied the country between the Barissa and 

 Angolahlah. We find them now generally mark- 

 ing the sites of former Galla villages. On riding 

 off the road on one occasion to examine a group 

 of these trees, a civil herdsman conducted Wal- 

 derheros and myself into a cave of some extent 

 where cattle used formerly to be kept by the 

 Galla, whom I then learned, in this situation had 

 their principal town. 



The fruit of the cosso is gathered for medicinal 

 purposes before the seeds are quite ripe, and whilst 

 still a number of the flowerets remain unchanged. 

 The bunches are suspended in the sun to dry, and 

 if not required for immediate use deposited in a 

 jar. Cosso is taken in considerable quantities to 



