300 THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



quality. Rubbed upon a stone and mixed with water 

 it is applied with a pledget of cotton to sluggish and 

 purulent sores ; and women use it for fumigation. 

 The Africans ignore its qualities, and the Baloch, 

 though well acquainted with the bdellium, gugal, or 

 guggur, in their own country, did not observe it in 

 Ugogo. The succulent plants, cactus, aloe, and 

 euphorbia, will not burn ; the air within them expands 

 with heat, and the juices gushing out extinguish the 

 flame. Amongst various salsolae, or saltworts, the shrub 

 called by the Arabs arak, the Capparis Sodata of Sindh 

 and Arabia, with its currant-like bunches of fruit, 

 is conspicuous for its evergreen verdure ; the ragged 

 and stunted mtungulu rains its apples upon the ground ; 

 and the mbembu, in places sheltered from the sun, bears 

 a kind of medlar which is eagerly sought by the hungry 

 traveller. The euphorbias here rise to the height of 

 35 or 40 feet, and the hard woody stem throws out a 

 mass of naked arms, in the shape of a huge cap, imper- 

 vious to the midday sun. 



Wild animals abound through these jungles, and the 

 spoor lasts long upon the crisp gravelly soil. In some 

 districts they visit by night the raised clay water-troughs 

 of the cultivators. The elephant prefers the thick jungle, 

 where he can wallow in the pools and feed delicately 

 upon succulent roots and fruits, bark, and leaves. The 

 rhinoceros loves the dark clumps of trees, which guard 

 him from the noonday sun, and whence he can sally out 

 all unexpected upon the assailant, The mbogo, or Bos 

 Caffer, driven from his favourite spots, low grassy plains 

 bordering on streams, wanders, like the giraffe, through 

 the thinner forests. As in Unyamwezi, the roar of the 

 lion strikes the ear by night, and the cry of the ostrich by 

 day. The lion upon this line of Eastern Africa is often 



