SCRUB
Famous countries which were covered by it--Trees which are
colonizing the desert--Acacia scrub in East Africa, game and
lions--Battle between acacia and camels, etc.--Australian
half-deserts--Explorers' fate--Queen Hatasu and the first
geographical expedition recorded--Frankincense, myrrh, gums, and
odorous resins--Manna--Ladanum--Burning bush--Olives, oranges,
and perfume farms--Story of roses--Bulgarian attar of roses--How
pomade is made--Cutting down of forests and Mohammed.
A scrub or Half-desert does not seem at first sight to be in the
least interesting.
But if one remembers such places as Cordoba, Seville, Florence,
Genoa, Sicily, Athens, Constantinople, the great cities of Ephesus,
Corinth, etc., of St. Paul's Epistles, Persia, Arabia, Palestine, and
Carthage, surely the countries which have had such splendid histories
deserve a chapter to themselves. What achievements in war, in art, in
literature, and in romance are connected with these lands bordering
the Mediterranean or fringing the great deserts of Sahara and central
Asia!
The animals which belong to such country are also interesting. It
is the home of the camel, ass, horse, donkey, not to speak of the
giraffe, rhinoceros, gazelle, antelope, zebra, lion, and hyena.
The plants are full of interest too, and some of them are of great
importance to man. The Olive, Orange, Fig, Roses, and many perfumes
and spice-trees, are natives of scrub. In fact, it is the real centre
of all gums, frankincenses, and myrrhs.
As man depends upon plants and animals, and as animals also are
dependent on the plant world, it is the climate which really is
responsible for everything.
The world of plants is entirely and exactly regulated by the
character of the climate. What, then, is the climate of scrub?
Those countries enjoy brilliant sunshine, cloudless skies, and yet
there is sufficient rain to permit of irrigation and to prevent
the unmitigated desolation of the desert. When, as has happened in
many of these famous lands, the forests have been cut down and the
aqueducts have been neglected, they become arid, dry, and almost
useless. But when carefully and industriously worked, as they were in
the days of Greece, Carthage, and Rome, they produce results which
will for ever live in the history of the world.
The meaning of such half-desert climates and of the scrub which
covers them has been already suggested.
The scrub is trying to occupy the desert.
If one takes the sternwheel steamer at the First Cataract of the
Nile and passes southwards, the desolation of black rock and
"honey-coloured" sand of the Libyan Desert is at first unbroken.
But here and there the thorny trees of the "Seyal". Acacia show
the beginnings of a scrub region. Much further to the south, those
acacias and others become great forests which extend all along the
south of the Sahara Desert and furnish the valuable gums of the
Soudan.
If one passes southward through this forest of acacias, it alters in
character. The trees become taller, closer together, and climbing
plants and undergrowth become more frequent. Still further south,
one finds the regular tropical forest which is characteristic of the
tropics everywhere.
[Illustration:
_Photo G. F._
GATHERING OLIVES IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE]
The most interesting part, which is also the richest in big game, is
the intermediate zone between the desert and the acacia forest or
scrub.
All sorts of transitions are found. Sometimes there are thickets of
thorny bushes. Occasionally scattered clumps of woodland alternate
with stretches of grass or what looks like grass. Near the desert one
finds pioneer acacias dotted singly here and there; these are the
scouts or skirmishers of the army of trees which is trying to occupy
and colonize the desert.
This explains why this sort of scrub occurs in so many parts of the
world. On the European side of the Mediterranean, the dry climate
of Spain, the Riviera, and Greece must no doubt at one time have
supported a scrub vegetation. At present it is difficult to tell what
this was. There is a sort of scrub called _Maqui_ which covers parts
especially of Corsica and other Mediterranean countries. In Greece,
also, thorny, woody little bushes are very common.
But these are just what the goats, who are fiends from a vegetable
point of view, have been unable to destroy. We cannot tell what sort
of country revealed itself to the first Phoenicians when they landed
in Southern Spain to traffic with the savage inhabitants, or what met
the eyes of Ulysses when he made his great voyage to unknown lands.
But there are places in the world where man has never either kept
domestic animals or cultivated the soil. Possibly Spain and Sicily in
those early days were not unlike parts of British East Africa, such
as the Taru Desert between Mombasa and Kibwezi.
The following may give an idea of how this scrub or desert appeared
to me.
Gnarled and twisted acacias of all sorts and sizes, usually with
bright white bark and a thin, naked appearance, cover the whole
country. Amongst these one finds the curious _trees_ of Euphorbia.
In Britain Euphorbias are little green uninteresting weeds, but
here some of them are twenty to thirty feet high, with many slender
whip-like branches, but no leaves. Others are exactly like Cactus,
and take on weird, candelabra-like shapes. Nobody meddles with
them for, if the slightest cut is made in the bark, out pours an
acrid, white milk which raises painful blisters, and may even cause
blindness if a drop touches the eyes.
Almost all the plants are either covered with thorns or protected by
resins, gums, or poisonous secretions.
Between the scrubby trees the soil is dotted over by little tufts
of grass or sedge, but these are so far apart that the tint of the
landscape is that of the soil.
Game is abundant everywhere. Sometimes it is a small bustard or
a persistent, raucous guinea-fowl that affords a chance for a
good dinner. Occasionally a tiny gazelle, the "paa," with large
ears, springs out of the thorns and vanishes down the path. I saw
footprints of giraffes, and came across ostriches more than once. I
also made a persevering attempt to slay a Clarke's gazelle, an animal
with enormous ears and a long thin neck.[45]
[45] _Naturalist in Mid-Africa._
These long-necked creatures can see far above the usual short thorny
bush, and it is exceeding difficult to get near them. Water probably
exists under the stony grit soil, but at present one has to be
contented with that found in the stagnant pools at Taru, Maungu,
etc., which, if not occupied by the decaying remains of a dead
antelope, are, as a rule, drinkable.[46]
[46] _Naturalist in Mid-Africa._
These acacias are quite well fitted to live in this dry and arid
region. Their roots go down to twenty feet or more, so as to reach
the deep-seated water supplies.
Their leaves are generally adapted to resist any injury from the
strong glare of the sunshine. The gums, already alluded to, are also
very important, for any crack or break in the tree is promptly gummed
up, and there is no loss of precious water thereby. This gum will
also prevent or discourage burrowing and boring insects from getting
in; they would, if they tried to do so, become "flies in amber," like
those found in fossil resin. The trees are generally provided with
strong spines, which guard them from the many grazing animals which
try to devour the succulent leaflets.
The fight between the grazing animal and the plant is, in these
scrubs and half-deserts, very severe. In Egypt it is said that the
whole flora has been entirely altered by the camel and the donkey.[47]
[47] Floyer.
But in this case the battle is unfair. Man keeps those camels,
donkeys, and goats. He provides them with water and protects them
from lions, leopards, and snakes. In East Africa man has not yet
interfered, and the plants probably get the better of the animals.
In such places lions, leopards, and hyenas are common. It will be
remembered that a lion not very long ago stormed and took charge of a
railway station on the line to Uganda, and was only routed with very
heavy loss.
There is also some reason to suppose that the antelopes and other
creatures do help the plants in their efforts to colonize the Sahara.
Their droppings will very greatly improve the soil, and more vigorous
thickets and undergrowth will spring up when the soil is improved in
this way. Such a vigorous growth of plants will be better able to
resist the long eight or nine months' drought, and so help the wood
to develop, until perhaps it is too thick, and the trees are too
high, for the antelopes to graze upon them. In this manner the Acacia
scrub is slowly and painfully colonizing the desert.
It is not only in Africa that one finds these half-deserts or scrub.
There is the Brigalow Scrub in Australia, which has a curious
silver-grey shimmering appearance on account of the blue-grey
sickle-like leaves of the Brigalow Acacia. The foliage casts no
shade, for the leaves are flat and thin, and place themselves
edgewise to the light, so that there is no danger of the strong
light injuring them. Also in Australia is the Mallee Scrub, covering
thousands of square miles between the Murray River and the coast. It
consists of bushy Eucalyptus, six to twelve feet high. Its monotonous
appearance when seen from a small hill is very striking.[48] "Below
lies an endless sea of yellow-brown bushes: perhaps far away one
may observe the blue outline of some solitary hill or granite peak,
but otherwise nothing breaks the monotonous dark-brown horizon.
Everything is silent and motionless save perhaps where the scrub-hen
utters its complaining cry, or when the wind rustles the stiff
eucalyptus twigs."[49]
[48] Drude, _Vegetation der Erde_.
[49] Drude, _l.c._
There is a melancholy interest attaching to both the Mallee and
Brigalow, for in them lie the bones of many gallant and persevering
explorers. Nor is the East African thorn-tree desert without its
victims. The missionary, Dr. Chalmers, was lost near Kibwezi in the
Taru Desert.
[Illustration: THE EGYPTIAN QUEEN HATARU'S EXPEDITION
The ships of the expedition are drawn up along the shores of Punt
(in Somaliland), and incense trees are being carried on board.
Notice the baboons on board ship, and the rays and sword-fish in
the water.]
There are a certain number of valuable plants found in these
half-deserts or scrubs. Perhaps the earliest geographical
expedition of which we have a good account (with illustrations) is
that sent by the Egyptian Queen, Hatasu, from Thebes, about three
thousand years ago. She built on the Red Sea a fleet of five ships,
each able to carry from fifty to seventy people, and sent them to
the land of Punt, which was probably Somaliland. The natives lived
in round huts built on piles like the ancient lake dwellings. The
object of the journey was to obtain incense. No less than thirty-one
incense-bushes were dug up with as much earth as possible about their
roots, and carried to the ships, where they were placed upright on
the deck and covered with an awning to keep off the sun's rays.
Whether they did really survive the journey and grow in Egypt is
uncertain. Sacks of resin, ebony, cassia, apes, baboons, dogs,
leopard-skins, and slaves, as well as gold and silver, were also
taken away. The Queen of Punt accompanied them. From her appearance
it is not probable that the Queen of Sheba was any relation, although
some writers have supposed that Sheba and Punt were the same place.
The whole story is represented in coloured bas-reliefs in the temple
at Tel-el-Bahiri, near Thebes.[50]
[50] Rawlinson, _Story of Egypt_.
The incense here alluded to was a very valuable drug in Egypt on
account of its use in embalming mummies. Quite a number of gums,
resins, and the like, are obtained from Somaliland and similar
half-desert countries. The frankincense of the Bible, which may
be the incense of Hatasu, is obtained from _Olibanum_ produced by
various species of Boswellia. In February and March, cuts are made by
the incense gatherers in the bark of the trees. Tears of resin soon
appear and become dried by the sun over the wound. The best kinds
still come from Saba, in Arabia, where the Romans obtained it in
the time of Virgil. Besides Olibanum, frankincense contains Galbanum
(_Ferula galbaniflua_) and Storax (_Storax officinale_). Equal parts
of these were mixed with the horny shield of a certain shell-fish.
When the last is burnt, it has a strong pungent odour. The Galbanum
is now found in Persia, and Storax in Asia Minor, both half-desert
countries. The true Myrrh (_Commiphora myrrha_) is also found in East
Africa and South-west Arabia.
The name is supposed to be derived from Myrrha, the daughter of
Cinyras, King of Cyprus, who in consequence of a great crime was
banished to Arabia and became the tree which bears her name. The
myrrh of the Sacred Oracles was used as incense at least 3700 years
ago, and it is mentioned by Moses (Genesis xxxvii. 25).
The sovereign of England used always to present gold, frankincense,
and myrrh in the Chapel Royal, London, on the feast of the Epiphany,
and, strange though it may appear, the symbolic offering is still
made each year by our present king.
Balm of Gilead (_Balsamodendron Gileadense_) belongs to scrub or
half-desert regions. Cleopatra obtained plants from Jericho for her
garden at Heliopolis. The Jews used to sell it regularly to the
merchants of Tyre.
It is still valuable, for the essence is worth from £2 to £3 per lb.
The opoponax described by Dioscorides belongs to the Orient. It
yields a valuable gum resin, which is much used in perfumery
(_Pastinaca opoponax_). It also is obtained by incisions in the
bark[51] of the tree.
[51] Ridley, _l.c._; Lindley, _l.c._; Maisch, _Materia Medica_.
In fact a very large proportion of these fragrant sweet-smelling
substances, Myrrh, Cassia, Bdellium, etc., come from these sunny
Eastern lands, which are not exactly deserts but very close to them.
Manna, e.g., is obtained from the flowering Ash (_Fraxinus ormus_)
in Sicily by transverse incisions being made in the bark, so that
the brownish or yellowish viscid juice exudes and hardens on the
wound. _Ladanum_ is a varnish or gluey coating found on the leaves of
_Cistus creticus_, which grows in Crete. In old times the glue was
collected from the beards of the goats which had been browsing on
the plant. Although this method, no doubt, increased the strength of
the perfume, it has been abandoned, and the ladanum is obtained by a
"kind of rake with a double row of long leathern straps." The straps
take the glue from the leaves. It is used as a perfume in Turkey.
Another very interesting Eastern plant sometimes seen in
old-fashioned country gardens in Britain is the "Burning-bush"
(_Dictamnus fraxinella_). Like a great many of these half-desert
plants, it is full of an acrid, ethereal, odorous substance. On a
calm, hot summer's day, this material exudes from the leaves and
surrounds the plant with an invisible vaporous atmosphere. Such an
atmosphere probably assists in preventing the water from evaporating
or being transpired from the leaves.[52]
[52] This was suggested by Tyndall, but has been denied by others.
Now if one places a lighted match a little below the leaves or
flowers this vapour catches fire, and there is a display of flames
and smoke with little explosions, followed by a strong smell. The
plant may be injured if it is set on fire too frequently, but
generally does not seem to be any the worse for the experiment.
The Mediterranean is the home of the Myrtle and Olive, of Oranges and
Lemons, of Figs and Vines, of Almonds and Raisins, as well as of
many other important and interesting plants.
The olive crop in Italy yields about ninety millions of gallons of
olive-oil every year. The olives are collected as soon as they become
ripe, and are crushed in circular stone troughs with a perpendicular
millstone. The paste is then pressed in bags and afterwards clarified
by passing through cotton wool.[53] To the eye of a foreigner the
white gnarled stems and silver-green foliage of the olive groves are
not particularly attractive.
[53] _Journal Society of Arts_, August, 1896.
Near Burriana, in Spain, one may walk for miles through the
plantations of oranges. The dark-green glossy leaves and golden
fruit of the orange make a most beautiful contrast, but the dry,
thirsty soil, and the careful way in which the water is regulated
and supplied by small gutters, most jealously watched over, make the
tourist realize the difficulty of agriculture in so dry and arid a
country.
The Myrtle is not a very important plant nowadays, though its berries
are still eaten and myrtle wreaths used to be worn by the bride at
every wedding. In classical times it was sacred to Venus, but the
victors in the Olympian games were also crowned with myrtle, and the
magistrates at Athens had the same privilege. It is no longer used as
a medicine and for making wine. It is really a native of Persia, but
has been introduced to the Levant, Italy, France, and Spain.
It is along the Riviera that one finds a very curious and interesting
industry. This is the manufacture of perfumes and essences from the
petals of flowers. A great many different flowers are used, such as
the Garden Violet, Mignonette (a native of Egypt imported in 1752),
Lily of the Valley, Tuberose, "the sweetest flower for scent that
grows," Jonquil (_Narcissus jonquilla_), Heliotrope (imported from
Peru in 1757), Spanish Jasmine (_J. grandiflorum_), which is a native
of Nepaul, and was brought to Europe in 1629, and various Roses.[54]
[54] Heuzé, _Les Plantes Industrielles_. Most of the following
details are obtained from this valuable work.
These Roses have had a long, interesting, and honourable history.
No one knows when they were first cultivated. Solomon had his
rose-gardens at Jericho. Queen Cleopatra spent some £400 on roses
in one day, and Nero is said to have beaten this record by wasting
4,000,000 sesterces (£30,000) in roses for a single banquet.
Rosewater is said to have been first produced by an Arab physician
called Rhazés in the tenth century. When Sultan Saladin recovered
Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187, the pavement and walls of the
Mosque of Omar were washed and purified with rosewater. That stout
warrior Thibault IV, Count de Brie et de Champagne, brought back
roses from Damascus on his return to his native land. That was the
origin of the valuable Provence roses. The Lancastrians chose a
Provence rose as their badge at the beginning of the Civil Wars of
the Roses in England.
Otto of Roses, or the essential oil, was discovered by Princess Nour
Jehan at the court of the Great Mogul, and she received as her reward
a pearl necklace worth 30,000 rupees. The price of otto of roses
seems to have been about £320 per pound in Persia and India when the
traveller Tavernier visited those countries in 1616.
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, peers of France had to
present bouquets and crowns of roses to the assembled Parliament.
At present there are very important rose plantations in France,[55]
Bulgaria,[56] and in the Fayoum in Egypt. In France about ten or
twelve thousand roses are grown on two and a half acres. The season
is from April to May. Women gather from twenty to twenty-five pounds
daily, and obtain from twopence to threepence for two and a half
pounds. Each tree will give about a quarter of a pound of roses. The
petals are distilled to make rosewater.
[55] 4,400,000 pounds of roses were produced in France in one
year.
[56] In 1899 Philippopolis produced 1800-2000 kilogrammes of otto
of roses, worth 700 to 800 francs the kilo. (_Pharm. Journ._
Sept. 1st, 1900).
Some 12,000 people on the slopes of the Balkans, at Kerzanlik and
other places, entirely depend upon their rose plantations. These are
on light soil, fully exposed to the sun, at over 1200 feet above the
sea. It is interesting to find that the pure mountain air strengthens
the perfume, for these Balkan roses are fifty per cent. richer in
essences than those of lowland plants.
Another interesting plant much cultivated in the Riviera is the
Cassier (_Acacia farnesiana_). It is really a native of India, but
was introduced from the West Indies to Europe in 1656. Cannes,
Grasse, Antibes, and Nice are the places where it is most cultivated.
Its flowers appear from July to November. An old tree may yield as
much as twelve to twenty pounds of flowers, worth about five to
six francs. But 116 pounds of flowers only yield about a pound of
essence, so that it is not surprising that this last is worth £60 the
pound.
The cultivation is a little uncertain, for a temperature of three or
four degrees below the freezing-point kills the trees.
The pomades made from many of these flowers are produced as follows:
A series of trays are covered with fat or grease; the petals are
placed on the grease and replaced by fresh petals every twenty-four
hours or so; in the end the grease is so saturated with scent that it
forms pomade or pomatum.
Thus these half-desert countries are by no means without interest
from a botanical point of view. The conditions of life are no doubt
hard both for plants and animals. The scent so richly produced
depends upon the strong sunlight and pure air. It is very useful,
partly because it attracts those useful insects which carry the
pollen, but also because such odours are distasteful to grazing
animals. The gums, incenses, thorns, and spines are all of great use
to the plant in its dangerous struggle for existence with hungry
camels and thirsty soil.
When men understood how to irrigate the soil, and before they were
foolish enough to cut down the forests which once guarded the
mountain springs, these half-deserts were exceedingly prosperous;
they were full of vigorous intellectual life, and of strong, hardy,
and industrious peoples. Asia Minor, Turkey, Greece, and the Northern
Coast of Africa from Morocco to Egypt, were rich and wonderful
countries.
But it was not only the destruction of the forests that has ruined
them. The curse of Mohammed, the fatalism produced by his religion,
and the slavery which is a necessary part thereof, have destroyed the
people in mind, body, and spirit. Even in Greece, Algiers, and Cyprus
there has been as yet but small recovery.
In the future, not merely these countries, but Northern Nigeria,
British East Africa, and South-west Cape Colony, may have as rich
a history as Greece, if British brain and energy are helped by the
strong muscles of the African.