474 APPENDIX. No. V. 



in like manner be supposed to have been superseded by the Manioc or 

 Cassava. 



The Sqfu,* which Mr. Lockhart understood from the natives was one of 

 their most esteemed fruits, he observed to be very generally planted round the 

 villages, especially from Euibomma upwards, and to be carefully preserved 

 from birds : its importance is perhaps increased from its ripening in October, a 

 season when the general supply of vegetable food may be supposed to be scanty. 



There seems no reason to doubt that this tree, whose probable place in the 

 system I have "stated in my remarks on Amyrideae, belongs originally to the 

 west coast of Africa, 



Elms guineensis, of which the oil is distinctly described in the beginning of 

 the sixteenth century hy Da Ca da Mosto, in his account of Senegal,-f- is wltlwiit 

 doubt indigenous to the whole extent of this coast ; as is Raphia vinifera, 

 of which the remarkable fruit also very early attracted attention ;| and the 

 supposed species of Corypha. 



Of Alimentary Plants, whether cultivated or indigenous, that are known or 

 supposed to belong to the west coast of equinoctial Africa, but which were not 

 seen on the banks of the Congo, a few of the more important may be mentioned. 



Among these are the Cocoa Nut and Rice, the former, according to the 

 natives, not being found in the osuntry. The absence of these two valuable 

 plants is the more remarkable, as the Cocoa Nut is said to exist in the neigh- 

 bouring kingdom of Loango ; and according to Captain Tuckey, a certain por- 

 tion of land was seen on the banks of the river well adapted to the production 

 of Rice, which is mentioned as cultivated in some of the earlier accounts of 

 Congo. 



The Sweet Potatoc {Convolvulus Batatas), also noticed by the Portuguese 

 Missionai'ies, was not met with. 



The Butter and Tallow Tree of Afzelius, which forms a new genus 

 belonging to Guttifera; ; the Velvet-Tamarind of Sierra Leone (Codarium 

 acutifolium ;§) and the Monkey Pepper, or Piper ^thiopicum of the shops 

 (Uncna cethiopica of Dunal), which is common on manj' parts of the coast, 

 were not observed- 



• Probably the Zaffo of some of the earlier accounts of Congo, vide Malle-Brun Prens 

 de laGeogr. 5, p. 9. 



+ Ramusio \,p. 104. Cryn. Sor. Orb. 28. + Palma-Pinu«, Label, advert, p. 450. 



\ Afzel.Gen Plant. Guineen. par. prim. p. iS. Codariura nitidum /'aA/.enK;n, I,p. 302. 



