CHAPTER XXIII. 



INTRODUCED ANIMALS AND PLANTS OF EQUATORIAL 



AFRICA. 



Certain domestic animals, appear to have been introduced into 

 Equatorial Africa at a very ancient period ; and in all probability, 

 either by the way of Egypt and the river Nile, or by the nearer and 

 more accessible route of Southern Arabia. To this class, belong : 

 The bullock, universally in the possession of the tribes of Eastern and 

 Southern Africa, when these countries first became known to Eu- 

 ropeans. 



The sheep, found in like manner, universally in the possession of the 

 same tribes. Some remarkable varieties of the sheep, have sprung 

 up, subsequently, to all appearance, to the original introduction. 



The domestic dog, which at the present day, seems to be universally 

 known in Equatorial and Southern Africa; the animal being kept, 

 as I was informed, by the Ethiopian tribes. — A trader at Zanzibar, 

 pointed out to me a dog, (like the common Arab variety, but parti- 

 coloured,) as a specimen, or rather, as "altogether resembling the 

 breed which prevails in Western Africa; where also, he had seen 

 a variety that does not bark, though in other respects not materially 

 differing." 



The goat, which has reached the Comoro Islands ; and is known 

 to all the tribes of East Africa, as far in the Interior as the Mono- 

 moisy country. 



The donkey, which has not yet reached the Negro tribes of the In- 

 terior ; although it is well known to their Ethiopian neighbours on 

 the North. 



The horse, which has a yet more limited diffusion ; for although the 

 animal has reached some of the Galla tribes, their Ethiopian 

 brethren on the South, the M'Kuafi and Mussai, have hitherto 

 rejected its use. 



