474 APPENDIX. No. V. 
in like manner be supposed to have been superseded by the Manioc or 
Cassava. 
The Safu,* which “Mr. Lockhart understood from the natives was one of 
their most esteemed fruits, he observed to be very generally planted round the 
villages, especially from Embomma upwards, and to be carefully preserved 
from birds: its importance is perhaps increased from its ripening in October, a 
season when the general supply of vegetable food may be supposed to be scanty. 
There seems no reason to doubt that this tree, whose probable place in the 
system I have stated in my remarks on Amyridez, belongs originally to the 
west coast of Africa, 
Eleis guineensis, of which the oil is distinctly described in the begmning of 
the sixteenth century by Da Ca da Mosto, in his account of Senegal,-+- is without 
doubt indigenous to the whole extent of this coast; as is Raphia vinifera, 
of which the remarkable fruit also very early attracted attention ;} and the 
supposed species of Corypha. 
Of Alimentary Plants, whether cultivated or indigenous, that are known or 
supposed to belong to the west coast of equinoctial Africa, but which were not 
seen on the banks of the Congo, a few of the more important may be mentioned. 
Among these are the Cocoa Nut and Rice, the former, according to the 
natives, not being found in the country. The absence of these two valuable 
plants is the more remarkable, as the Cocoa Nut is said to exist in the neigh- 
bouring kingdom of Loango ; and according to Captain Tuckey, a certain por- 
tion of land was seen on the banks of the river well adapted to the production 
of Rice, which is mentioned as cultivated in some of the earlier accounts of 
* Congo. 
The Sweet Potatoe (Convolvulus Batatas), also noticed by the Portuguese 
Missionaries, was not met with. 
The Butter and Tallow Tree of Afzelius, which forms a new genus 
belonging to Guttiferae; the Velvet-Tamarind of Sierra Leone (Codarium 
acutifolium ;§) and the Monkey Pepper, or Piper A’thiopicum of the shops 
(Unona ethiopica of Dunal), which is common on many parts of the coast, 
were not observed. 
* Probably the Zaffo of some of the earlier accounts of Congo, vide Malte-Brun Precis 
de la Geogr. 5, p. 9. 
t Ramusio 1, p. 104. Gryn. Nov. Orb, 28. } Palma-Pinus, Lobel. advers. p. 450. 
\ Afzel. Gen Plant. Guincen. par. prim. p. 23. Codarium nitidum /aAl, enum. 1,p. 302. 
