A voyage to Abyssinia (Salt)/Appendix 4

[ 426 ]

I have endeavoured in this Appendix to give a concise view of the animals indigenous to Abyssinia, and I have added the lists of a considerable number of rare birds and plants, which I discovered in the course of my travels in that country. The animals domesticated throughout the kingdom consist of oxen, sheep {of a small black species,} goats, horses, mules, asses, and a few camels. Two different species of dogs are commonly met with, one of which, like the paria dog of India, owns no particular master, but is attached in packs to the different villages; and the other is a strong and swift animal employed in the pursuits of the chase. The latter from its earliest age is taught to run down its game, especially guinea-fowls: and it is astonishing how expert it becomes in catching them, never for an instant losing sight of the birds, after it has once started them from their haunts. Tame cats are likewise to be found in every house in Abyssinia.

The wild animals, called Ansissa Gudam, inhabiting the forest or "barraka," form a very numerous tribe, of which a concise list, with their names in Tigré and Amharic, may tend to convey a sufficiently accurate idea.

The elephant, (armaz, T. zohan, Amb.) is found in all the forests bordering on Abyssinia, and is commonly hunted by the Shangalla for the sake of its teeth.

The camelopard, (zeratta, T. jeratta ketchin, A.} is an animal rarely to be met with, owing to the shyness of its nature, and from its frequenting only the interior districts uninhabited by man. Its skin forms an article of barter in some of the provinces: and an ornament made of the hair plucked from the tail is commonly fastened to the but-ends of the whips, used by the inhabitants for the purpose of brushing away flies, which are exceedingly troublesome during the hot season. The whips themselves are formed out of the skin of the hippopetamos, and are called "Hallinga."

The only species of Rhinoceros, (arwe haris, T. aweer haris, A.) which I could hear of, was the two-horned rhinoceros, similar to that found in the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope; of which a very admirable drawing is given by Mr. Barrow. This I believe was first described by Mr. Sparman. I myself never met with it alive, as it frequents only the low countries bordering on the Funge, or the wild forests of Wojjerat; but I procured several sets of horns, fastened together by a portion of the skin; whence it appears that they have no connection whatever with the bone of the head, a fact which gives a considerable degree of credibility to the notion generally received among the natives of Africa, that this animal possesses a power of depressing or raising the horns at will. Bruce ridicules Sparman for mentioning this circumstance; but as the drawing given by the former is evidently very incorrect,^[1] no great

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[ 444 ]commits those dreadful ravages so often recorded to have occurred in Abyssinia: and I can also add that, while I resided at Bombay, numbers of the same species of locusts were sent down to Mr. Duncan from the upper country for the purpose of pointing out the insect which had at that time laid waste several extensive tracts of land in the interior.

The head and shoulders of this insect are armed with a thick shell or case; that of the head has a leaden grey colour when alive, interspersed with red; the shoulder plate being of a reddish brown, spotted with white, smooth in front, and rough on the hinder part. The eye is bright yellow, with three black bars across it; feelers or horns black; the wings are of a yellowish brown, lower part tinged with a fine purple, and the whole obscurely dotted with black. The legs are externally of a leaden grey colour, the upper part shading off into black; the ribs also deep black, inside of second joint bright purple, and the thorns scarlet tipped with black; the extremities being formed of triangular shells formed of two sharp claws and a knob in the centre smooth and round. The body is cased with seven strong plates on the back, folding over one another, and the same number of a softer consistency covers the belly. It has four small feelers depending from the sides of the mouth, the two foremost of which have five joints and the hinder three. An immense flight of these insects came over to one of the Amphila islands while we remained in English Harbour, for an account of which see this work.

The plants having Br. MSS. annexed form new genera, described in the manuscripts of Mr. Brown. To this gentleman's kindness I am indebted for the list, which he made out from a collection of dried specimens brought by me into the country, and now in the possession of Sir Joseph Banks. The names without reference are considered by Mr. Brown as applying to new species; and for the few that have been published already, contracted references are given to the works in which they occur, namely, Willdenow's Species Plantarum; Forskal's Flora Ægyptiaco-Arabica; Vahl's Symbolæ Botanicæ; and the Appendix to the Travels of Mr. Bruce.

Jasminum abyssinicum.
Hypoestis Forskalii (Justicia Forskalii, Willd. sp. pl.)
Justicia cynanchifolia.
———— bivalvis. Willd. sp. pl.
Meisarrhena tomentosa. Br. MSS.
Salvia abyssinica.
Stachytarpheta cinerea.

Geissorhiza abyssinica.
Commelina hirsuta.
———— acuminata.

[ 445 ]Cyperus involutus.
———— laxus.
———— scirpoides.
Cyperus melanocephalus.
———— densus.
Cenchrus tripsacoides.
Pennisetum villosum.
Aristida ramosa.
Eleusine (?) stolonifer.
Panicum ovale.

Pavetta congesta.
———— reflexa.
Canthium lucidum.
Buddlea acuminata. (Umfar. Bruce).
———— foliata.
Nuxia congesta.
———— dentata.
Dobera glabra. (Tomex glabra, Forsk.)
Fusanus alternifolia.

Heliotropium gracile.
———— cinereum.
———— ellipticum.
———— ?dubium.
Lithospermum? ambiguum.
Anchusa affinis.
lxiv] Ehretia obovata.
———— abyssinica.
Cordia ovalis.
———— abyssinica (Wanzey, Bruce.)
Plumbago eglandulosa.
Convolvulus cirrhosus.
———— congestus.
———— pilosus.
Neurocarpaea lauceolata, Br. MSS (Manettia lauceolata, Vahl.)
Solanum cinereum.
———— uncinatum.
Erythraea compar.
Strœmia longifolia.
———— farinosa, Willd. sp. pl.
———— rotundifolia, Willd. sp. pl.
Rhamnus inebrians, (called in Tigré "Sadoo")
Celastrus serrulatus.
———— glaucus.
Impatiens tenella.
Paronychia sedifolia,
Saltia abyssinica, Br. MSS.
Carissa abyssinica.
———— edulis, Willd. sp. pl.
Kanahia laniflora. (Asclepias laniflora, Willd. sp. pl.)
Pentatropis cynanchoides, Br. MSS.
Petalostemma chenopodii, Br. MSS.
Breweria evolvuloides.
Taxanthemum attenuatum.
Crassula puberula.

Loranthus lætus.
———— congestus.
———— calycinus.

Combretum ovale.
———— molle.
Amyris Gileadensis, Willd. sp. pl.
———— Kataf, Willd. sp. pl.
Polygonum sinuatum.

Cassia pubescens.
Pterolobium lacerans, Br. MSS. (Kantuffa, Bruce.)
Fagonia armata.
Terminalia cycloptera.
Dianthus abyssinicus.

Calanchoe pubescens.
Sterculia abyssinica.
Reseda pedunculata.

Rosa abyssinica.
Rubus compar.

Corchorus gracilis.

Nepeta azurea.
Satureja ovata.
———— punctata.
[ 446 ]Ocymum cinereum.
———— monadelphum.
Leucas quinquedentata.
———— affinis.
Molucella integrifolia.
———— scariosa.
———— repanda.
Linaria gracilis.
———— hastata.
———— propinqua.
Buchnera orobanchoides.
Dunalia acaulis, Br. MSS.
Bignonia discolor.
Sesamum pterospermum.
Barleria brevispina.
———— macracantha.
———— eranthemoides.
———— grandiflora.
———— mollis.
———— parviflora. [lxv
Acanthus tetragonus.
Thunbergia angulata.
Lantana polycephala.
Clerodendrum myricoides.

Pelargonium abyssinicum.
Geranium compar.
Sida acuminata.
———— gracilis.
———— pannosa.
Hibiscus parvifolius.
———— erianthus.
Urena mollis.
———— glabra.

Polygala linearis.
———— abyssinica.
Erythrina tomentosa.
Crotalaria Saltiana.
———— propinqua.
———— farcta.
Onobrychis simplicifolia.
Indigofera albicans.
———— diffusa.

Bracheilenia paniculatum, Br. MSS.
Teichostemma fruticosum, Br. MSS.
Cacalia abyssinica.
Pulicaria involucrata.
———— viscida.
———— aromatica.

Euphorbia propinqua.
Dalechampia tripartita.
Crotou acuminatum.

Cissampelos nympheæfolia.

Acacia læta.
———— fasciculata.

Cheilanthes leptophylla.