Woosnam, R. B.

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THE MELON OF THE KALAHARI DESERT 25
out. In the interiorof this caveis a pit whichis visitedby
nativeswho brave the fleas,as the earthin this pit is saline
andsalt is extracted.
In thesenotesin manynamesboththeEnglishandnative
articlehasbeenusedfor the sakeof clearn(,ss,i.e. ' the' EI-
geborit, 'the' El-kabeywa. It would probably be more
correctto say , The Geborit,', The Kabeywa.'
THE MELON OF THE KALAHARI DESERT
By R. B. WOOSNAM, F.Z.S.
. It wassuggestedto methat it mightbeof interestto some
of themembersof this Societyto hearsomethingof theresults
of anattemptwhichI havemadeto acclimatisethewildmelon
of theKalahariDesert(Cucumiscaffer)in theSouthernGame
Reserveof this protectorate.Thereis alwaysan elementof
doubtin the introductionof any new plants into a country
strangeto them. But althoughthefirst seedsof this melon,
which wereplantedlast year,practicallycameto nothing I
am glad to say that the secondattemptduringthe present
yearhasmetwith quiteencouragingresults.
BeforeI tell youof theprogressof theexperimentI ought
perhapstogiveyousomeideaofthekindofcountryandgeneral
conditionsunderwhichthismelonflourishesin its nativewilds.
TheKalaharidesert,whichformsthestrongholdof thiswild
melon,may roughly be said to be comprisedby thenorth-
westernpart of SouthAfrica andextendsfromIlake Ngami,
downpastKurumanand PrieskaandKenkart to theOrange
River. Thiswildmelonis, I believe,onlyfoundin anyquantity
in thenorthernpartsof the Kalahari in N.W. Bechuanaland
and the BechuanalandProtectorate,and it is here that I
have met with it. It is called by the Bechuanaskengwe
and by the Dutchand Englishsarna. In sizeit variesfrom
an orangeup to a man'sheador larger,andis ofa darkgreen
colour bandedwith lightergreenstripes,andwhenfully ripe
26 THE MELON OF THE KALAHARI DESERT
it turnsto an almostuniformbrightyellow. It is of thetaste
andconsisteJ?cyof a cucumber,but someareintenselybitter,
and it is full of small,veryhard,brownseeds.
The word 'desert' usually calls to the mind of most
peoplea vast expanseof perfectlyflat, bare,yellow sand,
with here and therea gauntisolatedpalmtreeandperhaps
a missionaryon thesky line,andof courseno water.
TheKalahariisnotadesertofthiskind,in factit is doubtful
whetherit isnotaninjusticetocallit adesertatall. It consists
of a vast extentof comparativelyflat or gentlyundulating
countryof soft deepred or greysand,andis not openbut is
coveredall overwith kamelthornforest,in partsvery dense,
or with low scruband thorn bush,beneathwhichthereis an
amplesupplyof grass. There is no permanentwater other
thannativewellslong distancesapart. The Kalahari under-
gOf:3smuchthesameseasonalchangesastheAthi Plains,except
that therainsonly comeoncea year,fromDecemberto April,
and during thesemonthsand for the month or six weeks
followingnumerous'salt-pans' or shallow,brackishpoolsof
rain-waterareto be foundwidelydistributedoverthe whole
desert. After this periodthereis no waterto behad except
at veryfewplaces,greatdistancesapart; andagainstthis long
drought,until thenextrains,Naturehasmadeamostwonderful
provisionin theformof thiswild melon. Duringtherainsthe
Kalahariproducesa luxuriantcropof grassandherbs,andat
thesametimethemelonsgrow. They donot growlmiformly
ail over the desertbut in patches. Sometimesten, twenty,
or thirty milesor morewill be passedwithouta singlemelon
being seen, and then suddenly, for no apparent reason
(althoughof coursetheremust be one),the travellercomes
upona patchof melons,sometimesonly a fewhundredyards
in extent,sometimesreachingfor many miles. In placesI
haveseenthe sama lying so thickly on the groundthat it is
difficult to believethey have not been collectedthereby
natives,and it is a curiousfact that in thesepatchessweet
and bittermelonsare to be found all growingtogether,but
I was never able to decide definitelywhethertheygrow
upon the sameplants,althoughthebushmenassuredmethat
theydo.
THE MELON OF THE KALAHARI DESERT 27
Duringthelong dry season,the samaformsthemainspring
of life in the Kalahari. Upon it not only the gamebut the
bushmenand the herds of cattle of the Bechuanassubsist
to a greatextentand in someplacesentirely,for it supplies
both water and food. The speciesof gamewhichI knowto
rely entirelyuponsamaare Oryx andEland, for I haveseen
themin placeswheretherewasno waterobtainablewithin a
hundredmilesin anydirection,andI havefoundthestomachs
of Oryxentirelyfilledwithsama. GreaterKudu eatit readily,
but I believearegenerally,not entirely,out of reachof water.
HartebeesteandWildebeesteI havealsoseenat greatdistances
~romwaterin placeswheretherewasplenty of sama. It is
eatenby cheetahsandjackalsandnumerousmallbirds. The
bushmenburn the grassand then collectgreatnumbersof
the melonswhicharethusexposedto view. Theyeatthemin
severalways. Generallytheycut themup intostripsanddry
themon the bushesandafterwardsboil themup into a paste.
They eatthemraw and they alsocollectthe seedsand roast
themand then grind themup into a porridge. It is a diet
uponwhichhumanbeingscannotexistwithoutsometraining,
for, beingof a verylow orderof nutriment,it is necessaryto
consumeenormousquantities,and thefiguresof the bushmen
duringthetime theyare feedinguponsamabearveryevident
witnessto this fact in their abnormallyprotrudingstomachs.
The melons,I have beentold, remainintact on the ground
for as longas two years,but I think they mustbe uselessas
a water-supplyafteraboutten months,for theyhaveby then
becomewoollyand lost muchof theirmoisture.
I have beenfortunateenoughto make two expeditions
into the Kalahari and had ampleopportunityof observing
thephenomenonof thiswonderfulprovisionof Nature.
On the secondoccasionI took a wagonandeighteenoxen
and two horsesacrossto the Germanborderand up through
thedesertoLakeNgami. Theoxen,althoughnotaccustomed
like thosewhichlive in the desertto eatingsama,wereable
to thrive for long periodswithout water, living entirely on
the sama. After very little difficultythe horsesweretaught
to eatit, andon oneoccasionon arrivalat water,aftera long
trek of ten daysthroughwaterlesscountryin whichsamahad
28 THE MELON OF ~'HE KALAHARI DESERT
beenparticularlyplantiful,neitherhorsesnor oxenwoulddrink
thewater,whichhappenedto be,for an exception,particularly
goodandfresh.
I myselfanda friendwhoaccompaniedmeusedthe sama
on manyoccasions.By cuttingit up into lumpsand boiling
it in a potit appearsto melt; thefibrousandmoresolidparts
canthenbestrainedout andthe syrupyliquid whichremains
can be usedfor makingtea,porridge,and boilingmeat--to
whichit givesrathera pleasantsweetishflavour.
Samatea I cannothonestlyrecommend-itgivesonethe
sensationof beingwhat the Dutch call 'dik,' and one has
no inclinationfor eitherfood or drink for abouttwenty-four
hours afterwards,as well as other less pleasantsensations.
WhennecessaryI alwayseat it raw, andin this way a white
man,providedhe doesnot walk abouttoo muchin the hot
sun,cansustainlife onsama,butit is nota pleasantexperience,
and one is consciousof a continualdesirefor a goodlong
drink. But the Bushmencanlive for monthswith no water
otherthansama.
With regard to the acclimatisationexperimentswhich I
haveratherneglectedso far, it occurredto methat it would
be of greatvalue and interestif this wild meloncould be
introducedinto the SouthernGameReservein British East
Africa,for,asall of you probablyknow,duringthedryseason
thegreaterpartof theAthi Plainsacrossto theGermanborder
is extremelywaterless,in fact in bad droughtyears the
SouthernGameReservebecomesa veritableKalahari desert,
and I thoughtthat if this wild melonwould grow there it
would help very considerablyto solvethe problemof water
andfoodfor the gameandalsofor the Masaicattle--for it is
both. I therefore,afterconsiderabledifficulty,obtainedfrom
a friendin Bechuanalandabout10lb. of samaseedfrom the
Kalahari. It arrivedin goodconditionandwasplantedover
a considerableareaof the Reservein October1911,but the
rains,althoughfairlyplentifulin somepartsoftheProtectorate,
werealmosta failureoverthis areaof the GameReserve,and
no signwasto befoundof the sama.
At the sametime I gavesomeseedto Mr. C. A. Hill of
Machakos,whoplantedit onhisfarm. At firsthetoldmethat
THE MELON OF THE KALAHARI DESERT 29
this also had beena failure,but later he found somesmall
stripedmelonsamongthe grasswhich I haveno doubtwere
sama. This wasmostencouraging,for I wasverymuchafraid
that the seedmusthavebeentakenfrom unripemelonsand
wasuseless. Someof themelonsonMr. Hill's farmhavebeen
left ontheground,andit will beinterestingtoseewhetherthey
will growagainof theirownaccord.
Thisyearin April I plantedanotherlot of thesameseedin
the Reservefrom Athi River downto SimbaStation,and as
the rains wereabnormallyheavy I was in greathopesthat
successfulresultswouldfollow,and I am gladto say that in
someplacesthe melonshavegrownand producedfruit. On
the Athi and Kapiti no signsof thesamacouldbefound,but
fartherdownthe line, at SultanHamud,andparticularlyat
Simba,therewasquiteagoodcropandthegamehadapparently
beeneatingthem,but the melonsweremuchsmallerthan in
SouthAfrica. It is rathercuriouswhytheyshoulddosomuch
betterat Simbathan at Athi River; possiblythereis some
differencein thesoil,or thealtitudeandtemperaturemayhave
beenmoresuitableat Simba,or, again,theremay be some
insectson the Athi Plains whichdestroyedthe youngplants.
I amratherinclinedto think that insectshaveplayeda more
importantpart in preventingthe sama from growingthan
altitudeor climaticconditions,for the followingreasons:
This year I alsoplantedaboutfifty seedsin my gardenin
Nairobi,andafternearlytwomonthsanda half of heavyrain
fourteenof the seedsgerminatedandyoungplantsappeared.
Theygrewwelluntil-as I supposewasonlytobeexpected-the
residentinsectlife discoveredthestrangersandsetuponthem.
First somethingbeganto eattheleaves,thensuddenly,without
any visiblecause,five of the plantsshrivelledup and died.
They had so obviomdythe appearanceof having beencut
throughjust belowthe surfaceof thegroundthat I dugthem
up and foundthat suchwas indeedthe case. I took oneof
the deadplantsto Mr. Andersonwho at oncediagnosedthe
caseas ' cut-worm,'andI amstronglyof theopinionthat it is
thisor someotherinsectpestwhichhasdestroyedthesamaon
the Athi Plains. Mr. Andersonadvisedme to mix a little
poison(Parisgreen)with branand a little sugarand sprinkle
30 THE MELON OF THE KALAHARI DESERT
it amongthe plants: this I did ",ith mostsuccessfulresults,
for no moreplantsdiedanda fair numberof melonscameto
maturity,buttheeffectsuponthelocalchickenswhofrequented
my garden,althoughsatisfactoryfrommy pointof view,were
fatal to them. PossiblyI hadput too muchParis greenwith
thebran; however,I amafraidit is notpracticableto sprinkle
theAthi Plainsall overwith branandParis green,andunless
thesamaareableto hold theirownagainstinsectpestsin the
strugglefor existencethe acclimatisationexperimentswith
theKalaharimelonwill not beverysuccessful.
It will beinterest,ingafterthenextrainsto seewhetherthe
seedsfromthemelonsgrownat SimbaandSultanHamudwill
germinatenaturallyand grow a crop. If this takesplaceit
may reasonablybe hopedthat they will form a nucleusand
graduallyspreadoverthe surroundingwaterlesscountry,and
fromthemacclimatisedseedsmaybeobtainedandplantedin
otherpartsof the Protectorate.
Thereis oneotherpoint of interestconcerningthe growth
of the sama which I noticedfrom the seedsplantedin my
garden,andthatis theverylongperiodwhichelapsedbetween
the time that the seedswereplantedand the appearanceof
the plants. It was nearly two monthsand a half after the
seedswereplantedin my gardenthat the plants appeared,
andnearlya monthlaterseveralmoreplantscameup. This
is a veryinterestingpoint,becausethenativesin theKalahari
say that all the sama seedsdo not groweveryyear,but that
Somelie on the groundfor two or threeyearsandthengrow,
the objectof this beingt.opreventthe exterminationof the
speciesthroughdroughtand to makethe utmostuseof the
rains. It is possiblethat sama seedgerminatesonly after it
is two or threeyearsold or evenmore,and in this casethere
wouldalwaysbe seedsin varyingstagesof ripenesslying on
the ground,someonly of whichwouldgrowwhenrain came,
andif suchrainwasoutof seasonorprematureor onlyof short
duration,andtheyoungplantswhichcameupwereconsequently
unableto cometo maturity,therewould still be left ample
seedsreadyto springup duringtherealrainy season,andthe
specieswouldnot dieoutaswouldhavebeenthecaseif all the
seedshad germinatedat once,for the sama plant only grows
THE EVOLUTION OF THE ARROW 31
once. This is the explanationgivenby the bushmenof the
Kalahari. Thereis only onerealrainy seasonin theKalahari
andBechuanaland;but a fewstormsmayoccurat any time,
andit is obviousthatif thesama seedgerminatedat onceafter
a few showersand the plantsthendiedtherewouldsoonbe
noneleft to carryon the race. However,from my own ex-
perienceof the Kalahari I am convincedthat the samaonly
growoncea yearduringtherealrainyseasonfromNovember
to April, and the long periodof germinationnoticedin my
gardenis probablyto ensuretheseedsonly comingup during
thisseason;butontheotherhandtheseedsmaynothavebeen
old enough. I still have someseedsleft from the original
consignmentand it will be interestingto seewhetherthey
germinatemorequicklynextyear,but in anycasetheexplan-
ation of this long periodof germinationdoesnot seemat all
clear. I believeit is thesamein thecaseof BlackWattleseed,
which I think is usuallysoakedin boilingwater beforeit is
planted. As an experimentI triedsoakingsama seedin boil-
ing waterbeforeplanting,but noneof theseedsevercameup.
I do not know whetherany otherseedsare knownwhich
have a similar long periodof germination,or whetherthe
objectof this is known. Perhapssomememberwill be able
to giveus furtherinformationon this subject.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE ARROW
By C. W. HOBLEY
This seemsat first sight a trivial subject,but big issues
sometimeshangon little things,andwhenoneconsidershow
throughuntold agesthe fate of nationsand the livelihood
of mankindoften hinged on this weaponits development
may be consideredworthy of someattention. It is beyond
my powersto tracethehistoryof thearrowthroughpastages,
but my attentionhasbeenturnedto thesubjectby somepre-
historic arrow-headswhich lately cameinto my possession
and the varioustypesof arrowsusedby the tribesin East


The Melon of the Kalahari desert

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The Melon of the Kalahari desert

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