205 
sides gleam with fires and the hoarse songs and shouts of the natives at 
work are heard throughout the night 
The trees continue to bear small quantities of fruit during the remain- 
ing months of the year, but the amount of palm oil produced for ship- 
ment is comparatively small 
In order to gather the fruit the trees are climbed with the help of two 
I ody 
movement. oth ends of the other rope are loops, through the 
e climber rests by the weight of his reclining body and the pressure 
of “ts feet against the stem. The waist rope is held in the hands and 
jerked upwards against the tree. The body is then thrown backwards 
so as to put a full strain upon this upper rope, while the feet are planted 
firmly against the tree and worked alternately upwards, carrying the 
lower rope with them. 
In this way a man can walk up a palm tree with great rapidity "€ 
ease, and on arriving at the top can move guest = nds freely, while lea 
ing back comfor tably on his ropes , Scaly excrescences on 
the stem of. the Oil Palm [bases of old be: j^ them Pim slipping 
down though they offer no resistance to their upward moveme 
The *hands" of fruit (Yoruba, Idi okpwe) are cut with a small 
native hatchet, with a narrow triangular blade, and are trimmed and 
cleaned with a cutlass. 
They are then put in a heap and are covered with a thin layer of 
palm leaves, and leit to stand fora period varying from four to ten 
days until fermentation sets in, Care is taken that this process (called 
in Yoruba “On she basha”) should not continue for long. As 
soon as the nuts become loose in their sockets they are removed by 
hand, a pui into baskets. In order to be able to pick them out more 
easily t “ heads ” are cut into small pieces with a cutlass. 
ole is then dug with a channel leading to it, and a large earthen- 
ware pot holding about 11 gallons is placed upon bricks which are 
balaneed on the edge of the hole. rac this means a thorough draught 
o wood; 
ashes, and water, the object being to secure a snort heat, which could 
not otherwise be obtained with irregular firin 
Five or six double handfuls of dried palm kernel shells are then 
thrown into the hole, fire is made with the dried refuse of the pericarp 
of the par, and logs of wood about the thickness of a man’s wrist are 
used as fue 
About "^ pounds of palm nuts (Yoruba for palm nut, Enyin) are put 
in the pot and covered with water. ‘They are then boiled for an lier 
and a half or two bean un til the periearp is soft enough to be 
squeez zed easily between the fingers. A little water is added from time 
to time during the boiling ise in order to keep the nuts covered. No 
oil exudes during this ds 
ashing process rub bOn te enyin).—When considered to be 
sufficiently softened, de nuts are strained in baskets, and put into a canoe 
which has been hauled up out of the water for the purpose. They are 
then trodden with the bare feet by natives who support themselves on 
