THE TECHNOLOGIST. [May 1, 1864. 



476 AFRICAN VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 



the outer skin is of a dark dull brown. The small pod of Codarium 

 acutifolium, Afzl., is remarkable for its velvet appearance ; hence it is 

 sometimes called velvet tamarind, and is also known as black tamarinds. 

 The pulp enveloping the seed has quite the flavour of East Indian 

 tamarinds, and is valued by the natives of Sierra Leone on that account. 

 The ochro (Abelmoschus esculentus, Med.) is common on the Niger, and is 

 used on account of its mucilaginous properties in various ways, in the 

 preparation of native dishes. The seeds of a species of Triculia are also 

 eaten in this part of Africa ; the fruit is very similar to the bread-fruit, to 

 which it is closely allied. Its size is about that of a child's head ; the 

 seeds are small and hard; the native name is "Akna." The fruits of 

 Habzelia JEthiopica, D.C., are used as pepper, and are sold in the markets 

 at Nupe as well as at Bahia. The seeds of Monodora grandiflora, Bth., 

 M. tenuifulia, Bth., and M. brevipes, Benth., are all more or less aromatic, 

 and would seem to be well adapted, if shipped in any quantity, for a 

 useful coudiment in this country. Many of the Anonacece have the 

 same decided fragrance, but none so powerful as in this genus. The fruits 

 are very large and round ; those of M. grandiflora quite the size of a large 

 cannon ball, the other species somewhat smaller. The seeds are about 

 the size of a common scarlet runner bean, and are very thickly embedded 

 in the pulp, which fills up the interior of the fruit. The fruits of the 

 wild mango, probably a species of Spondias, are eaten on the Niger, and 

 on the Zambesi the kernels of a species of Sclerocarya. The stones of this 

 fruit, however, are very hard and difficult to crack ; these kernels appear 

 to contain a quantity of oil, and perhaps might be turned to account in 

 that way. The fruit of Malpighia saccharina, called in Sierra Leone the 

 Sugar Plum, in shape and size much resembles the Damson. It has a 

 sweet and agreeable flavour, and is in perfection in the months of February 

 and March, when it is to be seen in large quantities in the market of 

 Freetown. The tree producing it is lofty and majestic in appearance, 

 attaining a height of SO feet. The large seeds of Pentaclethra macro- 

 phylla, Bth., known in the Eboe country as " Opachalo," and in Gaboon 

 as " Owala," are collected at the seasons of their falling, and eaten as 

 food ; they also yield a clear, limpid oil. The young germinating shoots 

 of Borassus ^Ethiopian, Mart., are eaten by the natives both of East and 

 West Africa ; for this purpose they are taken up soon after the seed has 

 vegetated, and are then boiled in a similar manner as we cook cabbages 

 or some such vegetable. The large seeds of Cycas circinalis, L., from 

 which the natives of Ceylon and Western India prepare a kind of Sago, 

 are valued as an article of food in some parts of the Zambesi. The exist- 

 ence of a species of Cycas was discovered in Western Africa by the 

 botanist of the Second Niger Expedition, as well as by the subsequent 

 botanist, Gustav Mann, both of whom found the natives applied the 

 seeds as an article of food. Of the Dika or Udika bread, a specimen of 

 which arrived in this country some three or four years since, and was 

 then supposed to be procured from the seeds of Mangijera gabonensis, it 



