474 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



the Niger, by the Ibos, and the following is the process employed in 

 those districts. 



The fruit is left on the bunch in the bush, covered with leaves, 

 for ten days; it is then brought into the village or place where the 

 fruit is cut or knocked oJBf the bunch. Large earthenware pots with 

 a little water in the bottom are then filled with the fruit ; this is then 

 heated, but the water does not actually boil, or even steam very much. 

 The fruit is then taken out and beaten in an old canoe or hard mud 

 trough until all the fibre is fairly well macerated and detached from 

 the nut. The whole mass is then placed in a shady place for four 

 days to enable the oil to " get strong," as the local people say. On 

 the fifth day the oily fibre and nuts are placed in the trough again, 

 and cold water is poured in until it is about a foot deep. The whole 

 mass is pounded with the bare feet of children, girls or women, so 

 that gradually the oil becomes detached from the fibre or from 

 adhering to the nuts, and floats on the surface of the water, especially 

 near the edges of the trough. It is then skimmed off with the hand 

 and put into calabashes. The nuts and fibre having sunk to the bottom 

 of the trough, the oil is left comparatively free from impurities. The 

 oil in the calabashes hardens to much the same degree as dripping, 

 and is ready for sale. 



On the banks of the Niger, where it is sold to European firms, 

 the natives are often obliged to boil it to purify it still further, and 

 to enable it to be poured into the puncheon in which it is shipped 

 to England. This oil, even when cleaned and boiled, has a bitter 

 taste, which the natives do not like when they have been accustomed 

 to soft oil. When this oil arrives in England it is quite hard again. 



Soft oil is made in Nigeria, as well as in Sierra Leone and the Gold 

 Coast Colony. The Lagos and Benin oil is the best, so the method 

 employed in that part of the country will be described. The fruit 

 is cut off the tree in much the same way, but the loose fruit is generally 

 collected from the ground as well as the bunches, which are then 

 carried to the oil-making place, which is usually situated near a running 

 stream for the convenience of the manufacture of the oil. The fruit 

 is cut or knocked off the bunch, cleaned of any extra stalk or dirt, 

 and placed in earthenware pots, in the bottom of which is a little 

 water. These pots are then put over a bright fire until the water 

 not only boils, but has quite steamed away. It is then considered 

 that the fruit is thoroughly soft and ready for crushing, when it is 

 placed in earthen troughs or old tree trunks which are used for this 

 purpose. Cold water is then poured over the fruit to about a foot 

 in depth, and the fruit is pressed by the feet of women or girls standing 

 in the trough. The oil rises to the surface of the water, is skimmed 

 off with the hand or a flat piece of wood, and put into earthenware 

 calabashes ; all fibre is thoroughly squeezed and rinsed to obtain the 



