1867.] THE POTATO. COTTON. 267 



ever attempts to cross it even there. Its fisheries are of 

 great value to the inhabitants, and the produce is carried to 

 great distances. 



Among the vegetable products of this region, that which 

 interested me most was a sort of potato. It does not belong 

 to the solanaceous, but to* the papilionaceous or pea family, 

 and its flowers have a delightful fragrance. It is easily 

 propagated by small cuttings of the root or stalk. The 

 tuber is oblong, like our kidney potato, and when boiled 

 tastes exactly like our common potato. When unripe it has 

 a, slight degree of bitterness, and it is believed to be 

 wholesome ; a piece of the root eaten raw is a good remedy 

 in nausea. It is met with on the uplands alone, and seems 

 incapable of bearing much heat, though I kept some of the 

 roots without earth in a box, which was carried in the sun 

 almost daily for six months, without destroying their 

 vegetative power. 



It is remarkable that in all the central regions of Africa 

 visited, the cotton is that known as the Pernambuco variety. 

 It has a long strong staple, seeds clustered together, and 

 adherent to each other. The bushes eight or ten feet high 

 have woody stems, and the people make strong striped 

 black and white shawls of the cotton. 



It was pleasant to meet the palm-oil palm (Elais Gui- 

 neaensis) at Casembe's, which is over 3000 feet above the 

 level of the sea. The oil is sold cheap, but no tradition 

 exists of its introduction into the country. 



I send no sketch of the country, because I have not yet 

 passed over a sufficient surface to give a connected view 

 of the whole watershed of this region, and I regret that I 

 cannot recommend any of the published maps I have seen as 

 giving even a tolerable idea of the country. One bold con- 

 structor of maps has tacked on 200 miles to the north-west 

 end of Lake ISTyassa, a feat which no traveller has ever 

 ventured to imitate. Another has placed a river in the 



