YARAQU]^ 291 



interstices of the squeezer and trickles along its sides to 

 fall into some receptacle placed to receive it. It is from 

 this juice that the thick black syrupy liquid known as 

 cassareep is made. The dry cassava when taken out of 

 the cylinder is in the form of big lumps. These are 

 broken up and passed through a sieve, after which the 

 coarse flour so obtained is spread in the form of a large 

 thin circular cake on the baking plate. A woman with 

 a fan in one hand and a knife in the other attends to this 

 part of the operation, which is performed in a very short 

 space of time. After the cakes have been baked on both 

 sides they are thrown on the roof of the house to dry in 

 the sun. From the odds and ends of the cakes and the 

 coarser parts of its meal a fermented drink called yaraque 

 is prepared. Ordinarily this drink is made only in suffi- 

 cient quantities every three or four days to meet the 

 requirements of the household. Banana-leaves are placed 

 on the ground in a corner of the hut, and upon these 

 leaves the cassava, thoroughly damped with water, is 

 spread in layers. On each layer a powder of a sage-green 

 colour is sprinkled. This powder is called yaraquero 

 and is prepared from the leaves of a plant of the same 

 name {Trema micrantha) . The preparation of this powder 

 is simple. The leaves having been dried on the large 

 slab used for baking cassava, an operation which does not 

 take long, are then reduced to powder by being rubbed 

 between the hands. This powder is kept in well-stopped 

 gourds, as there is a minute red ant that is very fond of 

 it and will find it out wherever it may be hidden. The 

 mass of damped cassava and yaraquero is then covered 

 over with the banana-leaves and allowed to ferment. At 

 the end of two or three days the mass becomes slightly 

 sour. In this state it is either eaten or drunk mixed witli 



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