trees surrounds the only cultivated ground near Zayla: as Ibn Sa'id declared in old times, "the people have no gardens, and know nothing of fruits." The variety and the luxuriance of growth, however, prove that industry is the sole desideratum. I remarked the castor-plant—no one knows its name or nature[1]—the Rayhan or Basil, the Kadi, a species of aloe, whose strongly-scented flowers the Arabs of Al-Yaman are fond of wearing in their turbands.[2] Of vegetables, there were cucumbers, egg-plants, and the edible hibiscus; the only fruit was a small kind of water-melon.
After enjoying a walk through the garden and a bath at the well, I started, gun in hand, towards the jungly plain that stretches towards the sea. It abounds in hares, and in a large description of spur-fowl[3]; the beautiful little sand antelope, scarcely bigger than an English rabbit,[4] bounded over the bushes, its thin legs
- ↑ In the upper country I found a large variety growing wild in the Fiumaras. The Badawin named it Buamado, but ignored its virtues.
- ↑ This ornament is called Mushgur.
- ↑ A large brown bird with black legs, not unlike the domestic fowl. The Arabs call it Dijajat al-Barr, (the wild hen): the Somal "digarin," a word also applied to the Guinea fowl, which it resembles in its short strong flight and habit of running. Owing to the Badawi prejudice against eating birds, it is found in large coveys all over the country.
- ↑ It has been described by Salt and others. The Somal call it Sagaro, the Arabs Ghazalah: it is found throughout the land generally in pairs, and is fond of ravines under the hills, beds of torrents and patches of desert vegetation. It is easily killed by a single pellet of shot striking the neck. The Somal catch it by a loop of strong twine hung round a gap in a circuit of thorn hedge, or they run it down on foot, an operation requiring half a day on account of its fleetness, which enables it to escape the jackal and wild dog. When caught it utters piercing cries. Some Badawin do not eat the flesh: generally, however, it is considered a delicacy, and the skulls and bones of these little animals lie strewed around the kraals.
