THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT chap. 



system, and, among other effects, it seems to produce 

 excessive activity of the brain. By constant chewing 

 of this bark one may go several days without sleep, 

 and yet feel no great ill effects, as the reaction does 

 not appear to be violent. The older men among the 

 inhabitants of the Jombeni range are unable to carry 

 on any business whatever without the spur derived 

 from chewing this plant. They carry a small sheaf 

 of the twigs in a bag, bound together, and covered 

 with a strip of banana leaf, which, upon entering into 

 conversation, they at once produce and begin to chew. 

 I found that a very small quantity of the bark was 

 sufficient to produce in me a considerable elevation 

 of spirits, but some hours after eating it I perceived a 

 distinct feeling of lassitude. The young men among 

 the natives are not allowed to eat it, the reason as- 

 signed for this restriction being that if the young men 

 were allowed freely to indulge in this plant, they would 

 be apt to remain awake at night, and be tempted, under 

 cover of the darkness, to gratify desires which the light 

 of day forces them to curb. 



The Embe are not nearly so fine looking as the 

 Wamsara. I account for this by the fact that among 

 the Wamsara are settled many Masai. The cross 

 seems to have added greatly to the vigour of the 

 tribe, as well as to have much improved their appear- 

 ance. Then, too, the Wamsara are nearer the plain. 

 It may be stated as a law in that portion of Africa 

 which I have visited, that the inhabitants of the plains 

 are better looking and have finer physical develop- 

 ment than the natives living on the peaks or moun- 

 tain tops. The Wamsara possess larger herds than 



