Chap. VIII. 



rHE MOPANE-TREE. 



Hi 



bulb rim up to seed than a tree. The roots, which often 

 extend forty or fifty yards from the trunk, are equally 

 indestructible and retain their life after the tree is laid low. 

 The Portuguese have discovered that the best way to treat the 

 mowana is to let it alone, for it occupies more room when cut 

 down than when growing. The wood is spongy, and an axe 

 can be struck into it so far with a single blow that there is 

 difficulty in pulling it out again. 



The Mopane-tree (Bauhinid) is remarkable for the little 

 shade its leaves afford. Thev fold together and stand nearly 



Mopane or Bauhinia leaves, with the insect and its edible secretions. 



perpendicular during the heat of the day, and only the shadow 

 of their edges is cast upon the ground. A winged insect — 

 a species of Psylla — covers them with a sweet gummy secretion. 

 The people collect this in great quantities, and use it as 

 food. The lopane — large caterpillars three inches long, which 

 feed on the leaves — share the same fate. (22) 



In passing along we everywhere see the power of vegeta- 

 tion in breaking up the outer crust of tufa. A mopane-tree, 

 growing in a small chink, as it increases in size lifts up large 

 fragments of the rock and subjects them to the disintegrating 

 influence of the atmosphere. The wood is hard and of a fine 



