228 PRODUCTS.

the fruit of the Douiii palm* and fan-shaped palm,f the outer skin is eaten, and a kind of syrup is also obtained from them.

Besides the trees above-mentioned, there is an innumerable variety of plants which spring up from the ground in full luxuriance after the first rain, and convert the whole province into a most beautiful flower-garden. I am too little versed in botany to be expected to give a full description of all the plants found in the country, more especially as there are many species not yet mentioned in any botanical work ; but I am convinced that Kordofan would prove a very interesting field to any botanist who would take the trouble to explore it by travelling there for a lengthened period. Dr. Ruejpell and Mr. Kotschy spent too short a time in the country, and visited, moreover, too few places to be able to make valuable collections.

The animal kingdom affords a no less fertile source of instruction and amusement in this country. Among domestic animals we have the horse, the camel, the ass, the mule, the cow, the sheep, the goat, the dog, the cat, fowls and pigeons ; and of wild beasts : lions, giraffes, leopards, panthers, two varieties of hyaenas, jackals, about ten species of antelopes, some of which are not yet known in Europe: further, monkeys, three varieties of wild cats, hares, hedge-hogs, black and yellow mice, rats, and * Cucifera thebaica, in the Description de TEgypte.—Tr.

t Faecher palme, Borassus flabelliformis, of Forskael. Tb.