Liberia *- 



when some religious or totemistic custom interferes with their 

 consumption. 



Except where prevented by superstition (as will be seen in 

 the paragraphs dealing with totemism) from eating any beast, 

 bird, reptile, or fish, the Liberian Negroes are singularly catholic 

 in their tastes. Almost every vertebrate and not a few insects 

 are in their eyes edible. I have already alluded to the canni- 

 balism which prevails amongst the Kpwesi and Kru races. 

 They will also eat the flesh of the leopard (except when super- 

 stition forbids), all forms of monkeys, the hippopotamus, all 

 antelopes, 1 in fact, any mammal they can get hold of, from a 

 mouse to an elephant. They will even eat the hides of crea- 

 tures after removing the hair. This is one of the reasons why 

 it is so difficult to obtain skins from the natives for natural 

 history collections. Every bird is good for food, as are also 

 the Monitor lizard and several snakes, but most other lizards 

 seem to be disliked. I have not heard that they eat crocodile, 

 but I should think it probable. The flying males of termites 

 (white ants) are of course a delicacy, as everywhere in Africa. 

 Not a few beetle-grubs are eaten, especially those very large 

 ones which burrow into the heart of the oil palm. They do 

 not seem to like the eggs of domestic poultry, but of course 

 they eat the flesh of fowls. 



As to drink, the country is ordinarily well supplied with 

 water. The sap of the oil palm, of the Raphia (R. vinifera\ 

 the wild date, and perhaps the Borassus is the national beverage, 

 either fresh or fermented. European alcohol (usually gin) is 

 employed more as a medicine than a stimulant. But the coast 

 Kruboys arc a very drunken lot, and some of the pagan chiefs 



1 Kxrept perhaps the blac k duiker {Cephalophus ni^cr}. There is a. strong 

 prejudice against this animal, which may be partly totemistic. Its flesh is said to 

 produce some kind of blood poisoning, manifested by an itchy skin disease. 



998 



