The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

FAUNA OF iLVSAI LAND. 853aspect, but recall rather tlie general physiognomy of the woodlauds in WestEurope. The valleys between 3,000 and 6,000 feet are extensively overgrownwith the miisa ensctc, or wild banana of Abyssinia. The lovely tree-ferns, whichare intermingled with the vegetation of the lower slopes, continue to ascend ashigh as the line of 8,000 feet. A few hundred yards higher up the}- are mostlyreplaced bj' giant heaths of the common erica genus, growing to the size oftaUish trees ;and here also the stems and branches of the trees are densely hungwith mosses, orchilla-Uchen, or delicate epiphytic ferns.An extraordinary composite plant, named from its discoverer senecio Johnstoni,flourishes in the marshy ground, and sometimes grows to a height of 20 feet.From a distance it looks somewhat like a banana, with huge broad leaves at thesummit of a slim black trunk, but with yellow flowers like a groundsel, to whichit is allied. Some of these curious plants are met as far up as 14,000 feet, inregions where the snow lodges in some seasons.Farther up the flowering vegetatirmis represented only by some low plants, such as dwarf heathers, beyond whichnothing is seen except red or green lichens, yellowish sands, rocks, and snowfields.The species of these higher regions are connected on the one hand with those ofAbyssinia, and on the other with the Drakenberg Alpine flora. Johnston alsodescribes some varieties which show a certain afiinity to the characteristic forms oftropical Africa, and which appear to have been slowly modified in order graduallyto adapt themselves to the new conditions of life in the higher altitudes. Buttwo distinct genera seem to be altogether peculiar to Kilima-Njaro, or at leasthave hitherto been met nowhere else. On the other hand the superb calodeudronsof the Cape regions, which tiU recently were supposed to extend no farther norththan Natal, are now known to be common on the slopes both of Kilinia-Njaro andKenia.Fauna.Some species of birds frequenting the Kilima-Njaro woodlands are new toscience, and on the surrounding plains a variety of the ostrich {struthius danaoides)has been discovered which differs from the common species. Althougli quadrupedsof the mammal order differ in no respects from those of the surroundingregions, the explorer is surprised to meet certain species at such great altitudes onthe flanks of the mountain. Thus the elephant roams over its valleys and rocksup to an altitude of over 13,000 feet ; the lion and the leopard do not range sohigh, but are still met as far as 8,000 feet. Monkeys, and especially baboons, arevery numerous. They keep for the most part in the neighbourhood of the plantations,where they live on terms of friendship, or at least of mutual forbearance,with the natives. The colobus, however, with his magnificent black and whitefur coat, wliich is much prized as an ornament by the Masai warriors, alwaj^scarefully shims the vicinity of human habitations. Sportsmen also occasionallymeet a member of the canine family which differs from the jackal, but like him isof nocturnal habits.