if! 



180 



THE MANDIOC. 



and on being suffered to cool is in a state to be 

 made use of. * 



There is another mode of preparing the 

 mandioc for food; it is put into water in a 



* Barrere says, speaking of Cayenne, " Les Creoles prt- 

 ferent encore au meiUeur pain du monde la cassave qu elles 

 mange rarement seche ; car elles la font toujours tremper dans 

 I'eau ou dans quelque sauce : c'est sans doute cette nourriture 

 qui leur domie cette couleur pdle, et qui jait qu elles n'ont 

 point de coloris." I am afraid he does not look quite far 

 enough for the want of colour in the ladies of Cayenne. 



Then again, he says, " On ne mange que tris rarement a 

 Cayenne, ou pour mieux dire, presque jamais de la Coaque, 

 qui est la nourriture ordinaire des Portugais de Para, du 

 Maragnan, et des peuples, qui sont sur les rivages du Jleuvc 

 des Amazones." He describes the coaque ; and it is clearly 

 the farinha, but he does not explain how the cassave was 

 made, of which the Creole ladies were so fond, and which 

 did them so much mischief. 



He says afterwards, " Les Tndiens Portugais, quand Us 

 veulent prendre leurs repas, Us mettent une poignee de coaque 

 dans le creux de la main, qui leur sert d'assiette ; et de la Us 

 la font sauter adroitement dans la bouche ; I'ont boit par des- 

 sus une bonne couye d'eau et de boisson : et voila leur repas 

 pris." — Nouvelle Relation de la France Equinoxiale, p. 55. 

 and 56. 



This mode of eating and the abstemiousness of the repast 

 are both common in Brazil to all casts of people. With re- 

 spect to the cassave, I cannot comprehend what he means. 

 But, contrary to his notion, to eat farinha in the manner 

 that he mentions quite dry, although it is done by most peo- 

 ple, is not reckoned wholesome. In fact, it is one of the 

 duties of afeitor or manager to see that the negroes do not 

 make their meals with dry farinha, but he should see that 

 they make piram; this is done by mixing the flour with 



