CEREAL GRASSES. 41 



lacking in tragic and painful scenes. Longfellow's 

 ' Slave's Dream ' shadows forth some of the sad associa- 

 tions of the rice fields : — 



" Beside the ungathered rice he lay, 



His sickle in his hand ; 

 His breast was bare, his matted hair 



Was buried in the sand ; 

 Again, in the mist and shadow of sleep, 



He saw his native land." 



But though the rice-field has been sometimes a u dis- 

 mal swamp " to the slave longing for freedom, it has 

 far oftener been the scene of easy labour and abundant 

 food. The best ground for rice is low land by the side 

 of rivers, and, wherever it is possible to do so, they pre- 

 pare the ground for the reception of the seed by inun- 

 dating it, and they steep the seed in water in the mean- 

 while. Having broken up the muddy ground, and 

 raked it with a sharp-toothed hurdle, they sow the rice 

 by hand, and the sprouts appear within a day cr two of 

 sowing. The Chinese take the plants up again and 

 plant them in tufts, and then overflow the land again. 

 When mature the plant is about two feet and a half 

 high, and its leaves resemble those of the leek. It has 

 a diffuse panicle, the florets are bearded, and the 

 glumes yellow. When the grain is ripe, which is known 

 by the general yellow appearance, it is cut down with a 

 sickle, made into sheaths, and carried to a barn to be 

 threshed.* 



Rice is one of the most important of cereals, afford- 

 ing wholesome and nutritious sustenance to vast num- 

 bers of the human family in Asia and Africa, a valuable 



# In India, according to Duchesne, this is the only grain from which 

 beer can be made. By fermentation, a spirit called rack or arrack 

 is extracted from it. 



