462 MANIOC THE CHIEF PRODUCT. 



covered with low trees, bushes, and fine pasturage. In the latter, 

 we were pleased to see our old acquaintances, the gaudy gladiolus, 

 Amaryllis toxicaria, hymanthus, and other bulbs in as flourishing 

 a condition as at the Cape. 



It is surprising that so little has been done in the way of 

 agriculture in Angola. Raising wheat by means of irrigation has 

 never been tried ; no plow is ever used ; and the only instru- 

 ment is the native hoe, in the hands of slaves. The chief object 

 of agriculture is the manioc, which does not contain nutriment 

 sufficient to give proper stamina to the people. The half-caste 

 Portuguese have not so much energy as their fathers. They 

 subsist chiefly on the manioc, and, as that can be eaten either 

 raw, roasted, or boiled, as it comes from the ground ; or fermented 

 in water, and then roasted or dried after fermentation, and baked 

 or pounded into fine meal ; or rasped into meal and cooked as 

 farina ; or made into confectionery with butter and sugar, it 

 does not so soon pall upon the palate as one might imagine, when 

 told that it constitutes their principal food. The leaves boiled 

 make an excellent vegetable for the table ; and, when eaten by 

 goats, their milk is much increased. The wood is a good fue], 

 and yields a large quantity of potash. If planted in a dry soil, 

 it takes two years to come to perfection, requiring, during that 

 time, one weeding only. It bears drought well, and never shrivels 

 up, like other plants, when deprived of rain. When planted in 

 low alluvial soils, and either well supplied with rain or annually 

 flooded, twelve, or even ten months, are sufficient to bring it 

 to maturity. The root rasped while raw, placed upon a cloth, 

 and rubbed with the hands while water is poured upon it, parts 

 with its starchy glutinous matter, and this, when it settles at the 

 bottom of the vessel, and the water poured off, is placed in the sun 

 till nearly dry, to form tapioca. The process of drying is com- 

 pleted on an iron plate over a slow fire, the mass being stirred 

 meanwhile with a stick, and when quite dry it appears aggluti- 

 nated into little globules, and is in the form we see the tapioca of 

 commerce. This is never eaten by weevils, and so little labor is 

 required in its cultivation that on the spot it is extremely cheap. 

 Throughout the interior parts of Angola, fine manioc meal, which 

 could with ease have been converted either into superior starch or 

 tapioca, is commonly sold at the rate of about ten pounds for a 



