166 TO THE LAND OF THE NEGROID to recognize any suggestion that he should be able to discriminate between trees and iron telegraphpoles, which suffer accordingly ; and in the rains he has a peculiar aptitude for utilizing the line of the wire as a footpath, leaving tracks 2 feet deep, which, when masked by vegetation, are discovered later on by the unfortunate white man, to the detriment of his shins and the hindrance of his progress.

Though, generally speaking, the timber is poor, it grows to considerable dimensions in some localities. The hard " sunt," when large enough, makes a decent substitute for mahogany.

Apart from the use its bark is put to for making rope, the tebeldi has an important function in Kordofan, and may constitute a valuable asset to its owner. Being generally hollow, it acts as a natural storage reservoir for rain-water, which is used for drinking purposes, and keeps perfectly good for a considerable time.

Rubber is being experimented with in various latitudes, and there is reason to hope for considerable development in its cultivation.

The samr and marakh, whose shoots are beloved of camels, are used by the natives in the making of fire by friction ; while the kittir, abominated of mankind owing to its thorny denseness, partly redeems itself by also providing bark as material for rope.

The great deleb palm, scooped out, forms the canoe of the Nuer ; the pith-light ambatch, the buoyant raft so easily carried on his back. Many