J82 



EXPLAXATOEY IXDEX. 



r!AS3AVA PBESS. 



corn is to us. It is a tall, unbranched plant, grow- 

 ing irregularly and knotted at intervals, and having 

 leaves with a purple gloss. 



The root is the portion that is eaten, and it is 

 scraped doTvn on a hoard stuck full of sharp flint or 

 other stones, and called by the name of Tumarrie. 

 It then looks just like horseradish as brought to 

 r.ur tables, but is filled with a poisonous juice. In 

 rder to extract this juice, the scraped cassava is 

 forced into a long, narrow basket called a matappi, 

 and made exactly on the principle of the ' Siamese - 

 links ' which were once popular as toys. The ma- 

 terial of which it is made is a species of Calathea. 



When the matappi is full, it is scarcely half its 

 length when empty, but is more than double its 

 thickness. It is then hung to a branch cf a tree or 

 to a beam of a house, an earthen pot is placed under 

 it, and a heavy weight is tied to the lower end. The 

 weight of the stone causes the matappi to increase 

 in length, but to diminish in thickness, thus exert- 

 ing a powerful pressure on the cassava, and squeez- 

 ing out the juice, which runs through the interstices, 

 and so down the matappi into the pot. 



The dry Cassava is then removed from the matappi, 



rubbed through a basket-work sieve, formed into 



flat circular cakes about two feet in diameter, and a 



;uarter of an inch in thickness, and baked upon a 



flat, heated stone or 

 plate of ii'on. 



Meanwhile, the poi- 

 sonous juice has been 

 kept out of reach of 

 children, poultry, <tc., 

 and, on being boiled, 

 and flavoured with 

 the well-known eassa- 



CA35AVA BOWL. 



red-pepper or capsicum, becomes 



