14 



tort, serves the second-rate people that succeed them, and the 

 third is for the servants. Every man, when he is done, dries or 

 wipes his fingers upon the bread which he is to leave for his 

 successor, for they have no towels, and this is one of the most 

 beastly customs of the whole. 



" The Teff bread, when well toasted, is put into a large jar, after 

 being broken into small pieces, and warm water poured upon it. It 

 is then set by the fire, and frequently stirred for several days, the 

 mouth of the jar being close covered. After being allowed to settle 

 three or four days, it acquires a sourish taste, and is what they call 

 bouza, or the common beer of the country. The bouza in Atbara 

 is made in the same manner, only, instead of Teff, cakes of barley- 

 meal are employed ; both are very bad liquors, but the worst is 

 that made of barley." 



The Botanist, Kichard, in his book on the Flora of Abyssinia, 

 published in 1851, gives us the second account (2) we have on 

 record, as to the use of Teff for human food. He observes that 

 " Tefli is one of the cereals indigenous to Abyssinia. . . . The flour 

 of Teff is very white, and produces a bread of excellent quality." 



According to Mons. E. Coulbeaux (4), the white-seeded form of 

 Teff-hagaiz (the long-season variety), is used for the table by the 

 Abyssinian Court and Chiefs, while the seed of Teff-tseddia, the 

 qmck-growing variety, is of very inferior quality, and the flabby 

 cake, or "' tabita," made from its flour " is as disagreeable to chew 

 as if it were mixed with sand." The flour of Teff " is only 

 advantageously used," continues Mons. Coulbeaux, " in making 

 'tabita,' a kind of large fermented pancake. The ' tabita ' of Thaf 

 is: most easily digestible, and has none of the bitterness of some 

 other kinds of grain." 



Whether Teff grain was known to the Greeks and Romans, is 

 not clear. As Bruce quaintly puts it, " the various grains made 

 use of in antiquity, are so lamely and poorly described, that, 

 unless it is a few of the most common, we cannot even guess at the 

 rest. Pliny mentions several of them, but takes no notice of any 

 of their qualities, but medicinal ones ; some he specifies as growing 

 in Gaul, others in the Campania of Rome, but takes no notice of 

 those of Ethiopia or Egypt. Among these there is one which he 

 calls Tiphe, but says not whence it came ; the name would induce 

 us to believe that this was Teff, but we can only venture this as a 

 conjecture not supported. But it is very improbable, connected as 

 Egypt and Ethiopia were from the first ages, both by trade and 

 religion, that a grain of such consequence to one nation should 

 be utterly unknown to the other." 



USE OF SEED FOR STQCK-FOOD. 



Mr. W. Gillespie writes :—" Where I have second-grade Teff- 

 seed' on hand, I use it, in addition to the hay, for my horses 

 iji lieu of a nrnin TaHon. I seldom use mealies. ... I have 

 experiemed no difficulty in inducing my horses to take Teff seed as 

 a grain feed. A small feed is placed in each siall. and the eager- 

 ness of the horse is shown by the manner in which he begins to 

 eat. If the seed is free of sand and other dirt, and not fustr, I 

 should indeed be surprised to find any left in the manger The 

 se°d I use fc" feedinor is never first-e;rade ; I only use light grains 

 and such as the grader rejects." (23.) 



