PALM WINE. 877 



which they obtain in the form of little bars. These rings are seldom above 

 a few ounces in weight, and are worn by men and women alike, very different 

 from the natives of Cabinda, on the north of the Congo, whose women wear 

 them as large and heavy as they can be made. The Congo teems with ani- 

 mal life ; above Porto da Leuha hippopotami are very abundant ; alligators 

 swarm, and are very dangerous. At Boma the Koodoo antelope is abundant. 



The oil-palm is abundant, and the finest palm-wine is obtained. The 

 natives ascend the trees by the aid of a ring formed by a stout piece of the 

 stem of a creeper which is excessively strong and supple; one end is tied into a 

 loop, and the other end thrown round the tree is passed through the loop and 

 bent back ; the end being secured forms a ready and perfectly safe ring, which 

 the operator passes over his waist. The stumps of the fallen leaves form projec- 

 tions which very much assist him in getting up the tree. This is done by 

 taking hold of the ring with each hand, and by a succession of jerks, the 

 climber is soon up at the top, with his empty gourds hung round his neck. 

 With a pointed instrument he taps the tree at the crown, and attaches the 

 gourd to the aperture, or he takes advantage of the grooved stem of a leaf cut 

 off short to use as a channel for the sap to flow into the gourd suspended be- 

 low. This operation is performed in the evening, and in the early morning 

 the gourds are brought down with the sap or juice that has collected in them 

 during the night. The palm wine is now a slightly milky fluid, in appearance 

 as nearly as possible like the milk in the ordinary cocoa-nut, having very 

 much the same flavour, only sweeter and more luscious. 



When cool in the morning, as brought down fresh from the tree, it is 

 perfectly delicious, without the slightest trace of fermentation, and not in 

 the least intoxicating; in a few hours, or very shortly, if collected or kept in 

 old gourds in which wine has previously fermented, it begins to ferment 

 rapidly, becoming acid and intoxicating ; not so much from the quantity of 

 alcohol produced, as from its being contained in a strongly effervescent medium, 

 and being drunk by the natives in the hot time of the day. Even in the 

 morning the wine has sometimes a slightly acid flavour, if it has been collected 

 in an old calabash. The smell of the palm wine, as it dries on the tree tops 

 where they have being punctured, is very attractive to butterflies, bees, wasps, 

 and other insects, and these in their turn attract the many species of insecti- 

 vorous birds. This is more particularly the case with the beautiful little sun- 

 birds (Nectariniae), always seen in numbers busily employed in capturing 

 their insect prey. 



The southern point, at the entrance of the Congo, is called Point Padrao, 

 from the marble Padrao, or monument raised by the Portuguese to commemorate 

 the discovery of the river, by Diogo Cam, in 1485. At a short distance from 

 it there formerly existed a monastery dedicated to Saint Antonio, and the 

 place still bears that name. Monteiro made a journey from Saint Antonio 



