A F R I C .4. 189 
called by the Nimlquas karap^ by the Dutch 
kookcr-boom (quiver-tree), and by botanifts aloe 
dichotomy. This aloe rifes to the height of 
twenty-five or thirty feet : its trunk is fmooth, 
and the bark white. When young, and the 
trunk not more than four or five feet long, it 
terminates with a fingle tuft of leaves, which, 
like thofe of the ananas, fpread and form a 
crown, from the midfl: of which all its flowers 
iffue. As it grows older, it pufhes out lateral 
branches, perfedly regular and fymmetrical, 
each of which has at its extremity a crown 
fimilar to that of the young plant. Tht kooker^ 
doom thrives much better on mountains than 
in the plain. Inftead of long roots penetrating 
d.eep into the earth, like thofe of other trees, 
it has but a very flight one by which it is fixed 
to the foil. Accordingly, three inches of mould 
are fuflBcient to enable it to grow upon the very 
rocks, and attain its utmoft beauty : but its 
root is fo feeble a fupport, that I ceuld throw 
down the largeft with a fingle kick of my foot. 
The hordes on the weft make their quivers of 
the trunk of this tree when young, whence is 
derived the name given it by the planters. 
My vlfit to the mine employed the whole of 
my 
