40 
EASTERN ETHIOPIA 
III 
The thick stem of the papyrus is useful to the natives 
for making rafts and canoes. The Kavirondo fisher¬ 
men on the Victoria Nyanza use the stems for making 
seines, and the leaves they weave into baskets. 
The old Egyptians used the papyrus stems for making 
rafts, and in the wall sculptures men are represented 
constructing such rafts. It is probable that the little 
ark of bulrushes daubed with slime and with pitch,” 
which sheltered the infant Moses in the flags by the 
river’s brink” (Ex. ii. 3), was made of papyrus stalks. 
