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FLORA OF ZANZIBAR. 



Section 5. 



Notes on the Flora of Zanzibar. 



The prosperity of Zanzibar, the Island, has 

 hitherto depended upon the cocoa and the clove- 

 tree. The former grows in a broad band around 

 the shore: on the Continent it follows the streams 

 as far as 60 miles inland. In Zanzibar the 

 Arab saying that ' cocoa and date cannot co- 

 exist,' is literally correct; near Mombasah 

 town, however, there is a fruit-bearing phoenix, 

 and on the promontory, fronting the fort, there 

 is a plantation of small stunted trees. Every- 

 where on the Pangani river we found the 

 ' brab,' a wild phoenix, as the word derived 

 from the Portuguese £ brabo,' corrupted from 

 ' bravo,' or rather in the feminine (palma) 

 ' brava,' suggests ; and it would appear that the 

 cultivated variety might be induced to thrive. 

 The country was almost denuded of the cocoa to 

 make room for cloves, when the late Sayyid 

 threatened confiscation to those who did not 



