468 THE MUKURU-MADSE. Chap. XXIII. 



nightshade (Atropa belladonna) without suspicion, were in the 

 early uncivilized state much more keen. In some points 

 instinct is still retained among savages. It is related that 

 in the celebrated voyage of the French navigator, Bougain- 

 ville, a young lady, who had assumed the male attire, per- 

 formed all the hard duties incident to the calling of a common 

 sailor ; and, even as servant to the geologist, carried a bag of 

 stones and specimens over hills and dales without a complaint, 

 and without having her sex suspected by her associates ; but on 

 landing among the savages of one of the South Sea Islands, 

 she was instantly recognised as a female.* They began to show 

 their impressions in a way that compelled her to confess her sex, 

 and throw herself on the protection of the commander, which 

 of course was granted. In like manner, the earlier portions 

 of the human family may have had their instincts as to plants, 

 more highly developed than any of their descendants — if 

 indeed much more knowledge than we usually suppose be 

 not the effect of direct revelation from above. 



The Mukuru-Madse has a deep rocky bed. The water 

 is generally about four feet deep, and fifteen or twenty 

 yards broad. Before reaching it, we passed five or six gullies ; 

 but beyond it the country, for two or three miles from the 

 river, was comparatively smooth. The long grass was over- 

 running all the native paths, and one species (sanu), which 

 has a sharp barbed seed a quarter of an inch in length, 

 enters every pore of woollen clothing, and highly irritates 

 the skin. From its hard, sharp point a series of minute barbs 

 are laid back, and give the seed a hold wherever it enters : 

 the slightest touch gives it an entering motion, and the little 

 hooks prevent its working out. These seeds are so abundant 

 in some spots, that the inside of the stocking becomes worse 

 than the roughest hair shirt. It is, however, an excellent 

 self-sower, and fine fodder ; it rises to the height of common 



