azelles. His highness En-Noor made us a
present of two ostrich eggs, and we supped on this out-of-the-way
delicacy the last day of the year. The date of the black country
(Soudan) is deserving of notice. It is called in Bornou, _bitu_; and in
Haussa, _aduwa_ and _tinku_, both tree and fruit. Its kernel, or stone,
is very large, and the little pulpy matter upon it has the taste of a
bitter sweet. It is about the size of an almond, and covered with a
green husk, a little thick. This fruit is now ripening fast in Aheer.
The tree is covered with thorns, very large, and projecting in every
direction. The leaves are small, almost without veins, and with a thick
stalk.

To-day we had the karengia, or bur, with a vengeance. En-Noor had
already advertised us of its appearance hereabouts two days ago. It is
certainly the most troublesome thing that can well be conceived for all
travellers, and more so for Europeans. This bur is from a species of
herbage bearing grain, very small, and which the people make bazeen of,
like ghaseb and other grain. All feet of men, women, and animals, were
to-day covered with this teasing bur.

The animals seen on this plateau, it will be seen, are in reality mostly
of the harmless kind. The giraffe, the wild ox (considered a species of
immense gazelle, or stag), the gazelle, a large and small species, the
ostrich, the guinea-fowl, the hobara (in Haussa, _tuja_), various kinds
of vultures, the crow, many small birds, the lizard (in small numbers),
the jerboah, the locust, butterflies, and other insects, the thob, the
large turtle, &c. Overweg says the footmarks of the hyaena were also
seen.

En-Noor's people caught a young ostrich, only a few hours hatched. It is
now kept as a pet. Several eggs have been also picked up. The ostrich
has been seen feeding on the gum of the tholukh-tree.

As to trees, we have still the eternal tholukh, or mimosa. What an
omnipresent tree is this in Africa! The mimosa is found at the Cape,
with the ethel; it is found in all the northern Sahara, and the ethel
with it, wherever there is some water, as in the wadys of Fezzan. In all
the western Sahara it abounds, producing the finest gums. Consider also
the gum-trade at Mogador and Senegal! In the plain of Timbuctoo, the
mimosa is found in scattered forests. Our people pretend, however, that
the tholukh does not occur in Soudan, its place being filled up by
various thorny trees, much resembling the mimosa. We have aroun