446 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 



forms a cheap article of diet with the poorer classes, 

 but is not considered wholesome, as it produces 

 diarrhoea. A curious fact connected with this grass 

 is its liability to produce a sort of intoxication, which 

 is vouched for by many authorities. The straw is 

 given to cattle, and is readily eaten by them, whether 

 green or dry.-^' Economic Products of India,' Watt, 

 part vi., No. 557, &c. 



Distribution : Cape Verd Islands, Upper Guinea. 



Fundi, Fundungi or Hungry Rice, Sierra Leone 

 Millet {Paspalum exile, Kippist). — Slender grass, much 

 cultivated and esteemed in Sierra Leone and other 

 places on the African Coast, where it is known by 

 the Foulahs, Joloffs and other native tribes under 

 the name of Hungry Rice. When cut down it is tied 

 up in small sheaves and placed in a dry situation 

 within the but. The grain is trodden out with .the 

 feet, and is then parched or dried in the sun, to allow 

 the more easy i-emoval of the chaff in the process of 

 pounding, which is performed in wooden mortars ; 

 it is afterwards winnowed with a kind of cane fanner 

 or mats. The grain is prepared for food in various 

 ways ; but it should be well washed in cold water and 

 afterwards washed in boiling water, in which case the 

 grain will be white and perfectly free from gritty 

 matter. — ' Simmonds's Commercial Products of the 

 Vegetable Kingdom,' p. 310. 



Distribution : Upper Guinea. 



