48 THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



Its oval fruit is of a yellowish red, and when full-sized it 

 is as large as a child's head ; it is eaten even unripe by 

 the people, and is said to be the favourite food of the 

 elephant. Pulpless, hard, and stringy, it has, when 

 thoroughly mature, a slight taste of gingerbread, hence 

 it is also called the Gingerbread-tree. The Ukhindu or 

 brab, of whose fronds mats and the grass kilts worn by 

 many of the tribes are made, flourishes throughout the 

 country, proving that the date-tree might be naturalised. 

 The Nyara or ChamaBrops humilis, the dwarf fan- 

 palm or palmetto of Southern Europe, abounds in this 

 maritime region. The other growths are the Mtogwe 

 and the Mbungo-bungo, varieties of the Nux vomica; 

 the finest are those growing in the vicinity of water. 

 The fruit contains within its hard rind, which, when 

 ripe, is orange-coloured, large pips, covered with a 

 yellow pulp of a grateful agro-dolce flavour, with a 

 suspicion of the mango. The people eat them with 

 impunity ; the nuts, which contain the poisonous prin- 

 ciple, being too hard to be digested. The Mtunguja 

 (the Punneeria coagulans of Dr. Stocks), a solanaceous 

 plant called by the Indians Jangli bengan, or the wild 

 egg-plant, by the South Africans Toluane, and by the 

 Baloch Panir, or cheese, from the effect of the juice 

 in curdling milk, is here, as in Somaliland, a spon- 

 taneous growth throughout the country. The same 

 may be said of the castor plant, which, in these regions, 

 is of two kinds. The Mbono ( Jatropha curcas ?) is the 

 Gumpal of Western India, a coarse variety, with a 

 large seed ; its fetid oil, when burnt, fouls the lamp ; 

 yet, in Africa, it is used by all classes as an unguent. 

 The Mbarika, or Pal ma Christi, the Irindi of India, is 

 employed in medicine. The natives extract the oil by 

 toasting and pounding the bean, adding a little hot 



