170 MOZAMBIQUE 



of hot water just upon the simmer, though not 

 actually boihng. The usual method is to fill 

 a basket with the beans and dip it slowly two 

 or three times into the cauldron. While hot 

 and steaming the beans are piled into a heap 

 and kept covered with blankets till the morning. 



In the morning they are spread out between 

 blankets in the sun on stages of bamboo or light 

 timber, and kept thus covered for a week or ten 

 days till the colour has deepened to a rich choco- 

 late — being of course brought in at night or 

 whenever it rains. Thereafter they are spread 

 out on bamboo or trestle shelves in the drying 

 house, constructed to admit of a good circulation 

 of air and not much light. Two or three months 

 may elapse before the beans are dry, and during 

 that time, having a tendency to curl, they are 

 straightened out with finger and thumb and 

 undergo a preliminary sorting through separation 

 of the split from the sound. 



Condition being the same, market price depends 

 upon the length of the beans, the price decreas- 

 ing in the ratio of Is. 6d. to 2s. per inch. That is 

 to say, 8- to 8|-inch beans being worth IBs. a lb., 

 7|- to 8 would probably be worth 17s. ; and as 

 a bundle is classed according to the length of its 

 shortest beans, care must be exercised in the 

 grading. The "trade" is also very particular 



