154 



DE. SEEMAKN ON THE 



name of ' Dolaib,' * Delaib/ or ' Deleb,' on the Senegal by that of 

 * Ennn/ and amongst the Fidaees by that of ^ Vige-Tjo.* 



The trunk is about 2 feet in diameter, and according to Ed. 

 Vogel 40, according to Thonning from 60-70, and according to 

 Barth from 60-80 feet high. It is undivided, imarmed, and shares 

 with Iriartea ventricosa and several other palms the pecidiarity of 

 having above its middle height a very perceptible swelling, 

 Kotschy informs me that this swelling does not remain fixed in 

 the particular part in which it makes its first appearance, but that, 

 as the plant grows higher, it shifts its position, draws in, and ap- 

 pears m another place. Judging, however, from what I know of 

 Iriartea, I do not see how it is possible for this hard woody swelling 

 to become contracted ; perhaps it may be that the part below the 

 veutricose extension increases so much in thickness that the swell- 



■fyy 



ing itself becomes obsolete, and that a new swelling appears. 



The foliage, forming a magnificent crown at the end of the 

 trunk, is, according to Ed. Vogel, of a more lively green than that 

 of the Ginger-bread-tree or Doom-palm, and is composed of fan- 

 shaped leaves, measuring 5 to 12 feet in diameter. They are used 

 for thatch, for making baskets, mats, hats, and other articles for 

 which the leaves of most palms are usually employed. The palm 

 is polycarpaeous, — the inflorescence appearing between the leaves, 

 bearing large bundles of almost round fruits, about as large as a 

 common-sized melon, of a dark-yellow colour, and about four or 

 five poimds in weight. The fruit has three seeds, surrounded by 

 a fibrous husk which contains a pulp, of an acid sweet (according 

 to Ed. Vogel, rather bitter) flavour, and an agreeable odour 

 resembling that of the pine- or the Mamey-apple, on account of 

 which (the fruit being either raw or boiled) the natives eat or 

 rather suck it. The seeds are planted in the groimd. In about a 

 fortnight seedlings have sprung up, which are eaten, either roasted 

 or raw. Barth states that he never saw them eaten in any other 



M 



state than raw, in the parts he visited. " I am inclined to believe, 

 says the last-named traveller, " that a well-kno^Ti flour, called * fid- 

 ogma,' in the southern provinces of Bomoo, is derived from their 

 root." The albumen of the seed, when still soft, is likewise eaten. 

 It is ciuious to find this palm applied to the same uses in Afnca, 

 as its congener the Palmyra (-B. flahelliformisy L.) is in Asia, 

 especially the sucking of the husk of the fruit, the eating of the 

 yoimg seedlings, and the extracting from the latter (as most pro- 

 bably is the case) a kind of flour, Now there may not be anything 

 peculiar in the way in which the fruit is eaten, 



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