VILLAGES 



between, the African has many indigenous forms 

 of nourishment to fall back upon, including the 

 roots of a score of different growths, from the seeds 

 of the Kigelia or Sausage-tree, which he roasts, to 

 the roots of the blue water-lily, which he devours 

 as he finds them. He also obtains, in their season, 

 a number of fruits of a more or less palatable 

 description. I have tried most of them, and dis- 

 covered that where not absolutely injurious they 

 are vague and unconvincing in flavour. I should 

 not, perhaps, omit to mention a wild coffee bush, 

 which I have been brought to believe is indigenous. 

 It is a fruitful plant, but the coffee made from its 

 small, dark beans is an acquired taste which I have 

 not yet been able to develop. Coconuts, of course, 

 cease to appear a short distance from the coast, 

 and, unhappily, no attempt has yet been made to 

 cultivate on anjrthing like a large scale that lucra- 

 tive growth the Oil Palm of the west coast. 



Domestic animals include the goat, fat-tailed 

 sheep, pig, cat, and dog, and to these may be added 

 the common fowl, pigeon, and duck. It would be 

 wrong to include the ox among what are, properly 

 speaking, the domestic animals kept by the natives. 

 There are oxen, as I have stated, and considerable 

 numbers of them, but their ownership is restricted 

 almost entirely to Europeans. The goat is a most 

 useful animal at all times. Of all sizes and colours, 

 he is the hfe and soul of the village. The milk 

 supplied by the females has often enabled unpalat- 

 able dishes and barren puddings to take on a 

 totally different aspect, whilst a fore-quarter of 

 a young kid is by no means to be despised. The 



