Chap. VI. FEVER PLANT. 153 



is not to be wondered at that men suffer from fever. The 

 feeding of the pigs is indescribably shocking; but they are a 

 favourite food themselves, and the owners may be heard, 

 both here and at Tette, recalling them from their wanderings, 

 by pet names, as " Joao," " Manoel," " kudia ! kudia ! (to 

 eat, to eat), Antonio ! " We saw a curious variety, which had 

 accidentally appeared among these otherwise uninteresting 

 brutes. A litter was beautifully marked with yellowish brown 

 and white stripes alternately, and the bands, about an inch 

 broad, were disposed, not as in the zebra, but horizontally 

 along the body. Stripes appear occasionally in mules and 

 in horses, and are supposed to show a reversion to the 

 original wild type, in the same way that highly-bred domestic 

 pigeons sometimes manifest a tendency to revert to the 

 plumage of the rock-pigeon, with its black bar across the tail. 

 This striped variety may betoken relationship to the original 

 wild pig, the young of which are distinctly banded, though 

 the marks fade as the animal grows up. 



For a good view of the adjacent scenery, the hill, Bara- 

 nmana, behind the village, was ascended. A caution was 

 given about the probability of an attack of fever from 

 a plant that grows near the summit. Dr. Kirk discovered 

 it to be the Pcedevia foetida, which, when smelt, actually 

 does give headache and fever. It has a nasty fetor, 

 as its name indicates. This is one instance in Avhich fever 

 and a foul smell coincide. In a number of instances offen- 

 sive effluvia and fever seem to have no connexion. Owing 

 to the abundant rains, the crops in the Senna district were 

 plentiful ; this was fortunate, after the partial failure of the 

 past two years. It was the 25th of April, 1860, before we 

 reached Tette ; here also the crops were luxuriant, and the 

 people said that they had not had such abundance since 1856, 



