194 
THE NEW AFRICA 
gathered. The natives informed us that these trees bear fruit 
every other year, and sometimes only every third year. In 
colour of a yellowish brown, the fruit when ripe is about the 
size of a plum, and nearly spherical in shape. Between the 
outer, somewhat tough, skin and the large hairy pip is a pulpy 
fruity mass of sweet taste, something like a good banana in 
flavour, which we consumed raw, or boiled into a soup, or even 
fermented into a very nutritious and agreeable beverage. There 
is a peculiar sweet smell attached to this pulp that reminded 
one most of the aroma of opium, and in fact we found that the 
consumption of this fruit brought about a state of the bowels 
not unlike that of opium or laudanum taken in mild doses. We 
had to resort freely to the medicine chest to accelerate the 
flagging energies of our bowels after eating much of this fruit, 
which by the way also left a dry taste in the mouth and throat. 
The pip, when broken open, revealed a seed much like an almond 
in taste, but shaped more irregularly than an almond should be. 
With regard to the statement that the mabula trees are 
biennials, it is necessary to make the remark that all the trees 
we passed were bearing fruit at this season of the year, and 
although we were assured over and over again by the natives 
of the accuracy of their account, we should have been more 
satisfied to have a little actual proof, by seeing some trees not 
in fruit to confirm the statement. 
The wood of the mabula is excellent for ornamental house¬ 
hold purposes, acquiring a rich light brown surface when 
polished, with a beautiful tangled hard grain. The Jesuit 
Fathers at Panda Matenga had all their household furniture 
made from this wood, and one table top in particular was 
made from a single cross section of a large tree. 
We were now well rid of the Mashubia people, and following 
old Sakoonima, our guide, before the sun was well up we had 
made five miles, each of us heavily burdened as heretofore. 
A troop of blue wildebeest scampering past gave Hammar 
a favourable opportunity for a shot, and he dropped one. The 
country, hitherto covered with thicker bush, was now more open 
