FRUIT OF THE DOUM PAL^I 



107 



unlikely that the people of Mount Kulall would have anything 

 to sell, we abandoned the idea of visiting them. 



Mount Kulall, apparently an extinct volcano, is of pyramidal 

 form, and rises to a height of from about 3,300 to 4,000 feet, 

 without counting the peak. The crater has fallen in, and is 

 broken up. The south-west side of the mountain is split from 

 top to bottom, and the western base seems also to have been 

 depressed, as a fault is clearly visible running in an absolutely 

 straight line from north to south. This meridional course of 

 all dislocations of the surface is a most characteristic feature 

 of an extensive region. The upper sIojdcs of Mount Kulall 

 are fairly well wooded, whilst the base is proportionately 

 barren. A fire in the wood, which lit up the darkness for a 

 long distance, proved the mountain to be inhabited. 



Saturday, March 10. — After a march of two hours in a 

 northerly direction, we camped by the source of a swampy 

 little brook. A few isolated acacias were almost the only 

 vegetation of the district just traversed. The dried-up beds of 

 many streams, now encumbered with sand and debris, and 

 sometimes also with the trunks of trees, proved that everything 

 must look very different in the rainy season. 



Our pool of water was bordered by fresh green rushes 

 and grass, and near to it rose a little wood of doum jDalms. 

 The eyes of all our men were at once directed to the gleaming- 

 fruit hanging on these trees, and very soon they were all 

 happily gnawing the brown rind, which tastes more like bark 

 than anything else. One modest bite was enough for us, but 

 it was a long time before Hamis left off trying to enjoy the new 

 food, for he evidently could not believe that the insipid stuff 

 the men kept offering him was what they were themselves 

 eating with such enjoyment. 



During the march Count Teleki shot a rhinoceros, and in 

 the hope of getting more game we remained for Sunday at our 



