1844.] Agricultural and Laud produce of Shoa. 275 



grain being preferred to this, which when employed for family use, is 

 added in very minute quantities to a large proportion of some other 

 species.* 



66. There is no perceptible difference between either the Abyssinian 

 or the various oil plants, and those common in India ; the gram is re- 

 served exclusively for the food of man, and used either parched or 

 ground into flour. The seed of the ' loof or safflower, besides supply- 

 ing a fine clear oil, is also prepared for food, and being mixed with 

 the roasted pickles of gram and red wheat, and seasoned with salt, 

 forms the common subsistence called ' kolo,' which is always taken by 

 the Amhara on his journeys and military expeditions. In the ab- 

 sence of all machinery, the oil is extracted in a very simple manner, 

 although the process is tedious and unprofitable, and of course attend- 

 ed with considerable bodily exertion. The seeds are in the first in- 

 stance slightly roasted over a slow fire, then pounded in a wooden 

 mortar, and afterwards ground into a pulp on the hand-mill. This 

 consistency is mixed with a modicum of water and boiled in an earth- 

 en pot, until the water be entirely absorbed in the operation. The 

 oil remains at the bottom of the vessel, and is refined by repeated 

 strainings through a series of cloths. 



67- Tef bears much resemblance in its external appearance to rice, 

 and like that plant, delights in low moist hot situations. The color 

 and size of the stalk also, in all its forms and seasons, and the pecu- 

 liar aspect of the light waving ear further increases the deception ; 

 but the grain is very minute indeed in size, oblong in shape, and pos- 

 sesses a pleasant sweet flavor, and as it is one of the most expensive 

 articles of food, it is seldom used individually in the preparation of 

 bread, but mixed with some cheap grain. 



68. The juwarree, of which twelve sorts are distinguished, reaches 

 the enormous height of 15 and 18 feet, the head is gigantic, and often 

 weighs many pounds, and the natives are fond of chewing the green 

 stalk, the juice of which is agreeably sweet and refreshing. Some of the 

 varieties are used for food, whilst others, and more especially the 



* Secale nostrate carent Habessini, panem ex isto factum quum olfacerit Grego- 

 rius verum tefum esse, et ipsissimum ten' odorem olere ajebat. Avenam satione 

 indignam censebat, et a suis spemi dicebat. Hordeum enim, vel gramina plicata, 

 equorum ibi pabulum est.— Sobi Ludolfi Hist. JEth. Lib. 1. Ch, 3 and 4. 



