MABULAS 
193 
the track of a tiny bird not bigger than a lark, which, from 
its size, could have no connection with the question. Had the 
light been stationary, and not moved backward and forward, 
we could have easily found an explanation for its existence in 
the colonies of luminous infusoria that often inhabit old tree 
stumps, and by their existence impart a luminous appear¬ 
ance to their habitation, or, had the light been playing near the 
fountains instead of over the sandy soil in the belt, there still 
might have been a reasonable explanation for its existence 
given, but as it was, we were compelled to admit that we could 
assign no cause for its appearance. Old Sakoonima’s explana¬ 
tion that it was a ‘ star ’ sent by the ‘ Great Being ’ to indicate 
a subsequent heavy rainy season seemed to be as near as any 
conclusion we could come to, so we left the argument there. 
From inquiries made later we have not been able to get at the 
cause of this light, and even had to put up with the morti¬ 
fication of being told by a very learned German professor, that 
probably this phenomenon existed .only in our excited fancies. 
The fact remains, and therefore I record it; the elucidation will 
surely follow some day. 
The mabula tree, so often mentioned in these pages, plays 
a conspicuous role in the economy of the natives’ lives who 
inhabit these parts, for its fruit-bearing qualities. Usually 
the tree has a straight stem several feet thick, growing 
mostly to the height of over thirty feet before it sends out 
its wide-spreading branches, which are thickly clothed with 
small, oval, dark green leaves. The fruit, dotted about in great 
profusion amongst the leaves, is from the nature of its 
position very difficult to get at; however, it falls in showers 
when ripe; and a group of these trees, usually growing about 
ten yards apart from each other, just distant enough for the 
dark foliage of the separate trees to intermingle and form a 
grand canopy aloft, through which the sun’s rays rarely pene¬ 
trate, supplies many families of natives with the means of 
subsistence. They grow mostly on clear sandy soil without 
underwood; thus when the ripe fruit falls it is easily 
