Chap. XIII. FRUITS. 16c 



knew of the generous orders of Sekeletu, and was not dis- 

 posed to allow them to remain a dead letter. The villages of 

 the Banyeti contributed a quantity of mosibe, a bright red 

 bean which grows on a large tree. The pulp enclosing the 

 seed is the portion used, and is not much thicker than a 

 wafer. It requires the addition of honey to render it palat- 

 able. Another fruit furnished us in abundance was one 

 resembling a large orange. The rind is hard, and, with the 

 pips and bark, contains much of that deadly poison strychnine. 

 These have an intensely bitter taste, whereas the pulp, 

 which is the part eaten, is of a juicy nature, and has a 

 pleasant, sweet, acidulous flavour. The people diy the pulp 

 before the fire, the better to separate the noxious seeds, which 

 if swallowed inadvertently cause considerable pain, but not 

 death. 



A sweet fruit, called mobola, which was presented to us, 

 has the flavour of strawberries, with a touch of nauseousness. 

 Kound a pretty large stone there is about as much fleshy 

 matter as in the common date, which, as with the date, is 

 stripped off and preserved in bags. We carried some of the 

 dried produce more than a hundred miles from this spot. 

 Another fruit, about the size of a walnut, and named mamosho 

 (mother of morning), is the most delicious of all. The fleshy part 

 is juicy, and somewhat like the cashew-apple, with a pleasant 

 acidity added. Fruits similar to those which here grow on 

 trees are herbaceous products on the plains of the Kalahari. 

 There are several other examples of the kind. As our 

 latitude decreases, there is a gradual ascent of the same de- 

 scription of plant, beginning with the herbaceous form, and 

 passing on through the regular series of shrubs, bushes, small 

 trees and large. But it is questionable if, in the cases of 

 mamosho, mabola, and mawa, the tree and shrub are identical, 

 though the fruits so closely resemble each other; for I not 

 only found both the dwarf and the giant in the same latitude, 

 but there was a difference in the leaves and in the season oi 

 bearing. 



The banks of the river were at this time appearing to 

 greater advantage than before. Notwithstanding the want of 

 rain many trees were putting on their fresh leaves, their 

 lighter green contrasting beautifully with the dark motsouri, 



