430 THE GUM-COPAL TREE. 



scrubby thorn, as some have supposed ; its towering bole has 

 formed canoes sixty feet long, and a single tree has sufficed for 

 the kelson of a brig. The average size, however, is about half 

 that height, with from three to six feet girth near the ground ; 

 the bark is smooth ; the lower branches are often within the 

 reach of a man's hand, and the tree frequently emerges from a 

 natural ring-fence of dense vegetation ; the trunk is of a yellowish 

 whitish tinge, rendering the tree conspicuous amid the dark 

 African jungle growths ; it is dotted with exudations of raw gum 

 which is found scattered in bits around its base, and is infested 

 by ants, especially by a long ginger-colored and semi-transparent 

 variety, called by the people maji-m'oto, which means boiling 

 water, from its fiery bite. 



The special interest attaching to the tree is on account of its 

 gum, which is probably the only article convertible into the 

 finer varnishes now so extensively in use throughout the civilized 

 world. It is not the gum which is collected from the trees 

 which possesses this peculiar excellence. This is distinguished 

 as raw copal, and is of comparatively little value. The true or 

 ripe copal, properly called sandumsi, is the produce of vast ex- 

 tinct forests. The gum buried at depths beyond atmospheric 

 influence has, like amber and similar gum-resins, been bitu- 

 menized in all its purity, the volatile principles being fixed by 

 moisture and by the expulsion of external air. There are many 

 tints and peculiarities known only to those whose interests com- 

 pel them to search them out. As a rule, the clear and semi- 

 transparent are the best. According to some authorities, the 

 gum when long kept has been observed to change its tinge. 

 There are nearly one million pounds of this valuable substance 

 exported every year from Zanzibar. 



Another tree deserving special mention was the malole. The 

 grain of the wood of this tree is particularly fine, and it is 

 sought among all the trees because of its excellence in the quali- 

 ties of strength and elasticity ; nearly all the bows of the country 

 are made of it. The fruit, however, though so very tempting 

 to the eye, forms only a feast for maggots. 



Livingstone appreciated very highly the natural beauties of 

 the region. But as he advanced, the unworthy Indian attend- 

 ants became increasingly worthless. They possessed marvellous 



