Chap. XLVIL THE DELE'B-PALM AGAIN. 285 
was of a rich and fertile character, but insufficiently- 
cultivated. Besides grain, there was a great deal 
of cotton ; and numbers of trees of various species 
gave it a charming appearance, the beautifully rich 
foliage of several of them relieving entirely the mo- 
notony which is usual in these Central African 
forests. Amongst the underwood the diim-bush was 
predominant ; gradually, however, the " haras " or 
u kar&ge " tree began to prevail. The pods of this 
tree, which contain the seeds, are not only much 
liked by camels, but also by monkeys and hogs, both 
of which seemed to be very numerous, and lived to- 
gether in the greatest harmony. Numerous holes of 
the earth-hog ( Orycteropus JEthiopiensis) were like- 
wise to be seen. 
We met a number of native travellers and people 
going to market, who saluted us in a cheerful manner, 
and bore testimony to the fact that we were drawing 
near a larger place ; and the neighbourhood of the 
town was still further indicated by women who had 
come out to gather wood for the supply of the market. 
Here I was agreeably surprised to see again my 
noble old acquaintance of the Musgu country, the 
deleb-palm or " uray." At first a single specimen 
appeared towering with its proud fanlike foliage over 
the numerous karage-trees that still continued to 
retain their predominant position in the vegetable 
kingdom ; but when the clayey soil gave way to 
sand, a large group met the eye, in close array, and 
full of fruit. It was, however, entirely limited to 
