104 COCONUTS, KERNELS, AND CACAO. 



The Kamoot Nut. Very similar is that of the Kamoot 

 or Butter and Tallow tree, which the author experimented 

 with in Sierra Leone. The fruit of this tree closely 

 resembles the kola acuminate, and is often placed among 

 genuine kola nuts as an adulterant ; but it does not 

 contain theine like the kola, and it yields fat and tannin, 

 neither of which are to be obtained from the genuine 

 kola. The fat is edible, and can be profitably used in 

 candle-making, margarine, and soap manufacture. As 

 much as 41 per cent, of oil has been obtained from the 

 seeds, and 10 a ton in pre-war times has been obtained 

 for the commodity. 



The Sierra Leoneans and the Mendis do not use the 

 tree, but the Temnes, from whom the name Kamoot is 

 borrowed, express the oil for food purposes in the same 

 way as palm oil.* They dry the seeds, parching them 

 over a fire, then pound them in a mortar, add water, 

 and boil, skimming off the fat or oil as it rises to the 

 surface. The tree is propagated by means of seeds, and 

 is usually found near streams, being plentiful in the 

 Savannah districts of Sierra Leone, and particularly in the 

 neighbourhood of the old Christineville Rubber Estates 

 between Rokelle and Waterloo, where it is called by the 

 Mendis " Jorrah " or " Black Mango." It is also plentiful 

 on the Niger River and Congo district, where the natives 

 call it " Ngoumi," and a trade is done in it with Europe 

 from French West Africa, where it is called by the name 

 of " Lamy." 



Dika Nuts. Another oil-bearing product is the Wild 

 Mango, the fruit of which is like but very inferior to 

 the ordinary Mango. 



* See also " Sierra Leone : Its People, Products, and Secret Societies." 



