206 
two sticks as they amp heavily backwards and forwards in the canoe, 
pressing with a peculiar twisting motion of the feet so as to strip the 
pericarp from the kernels. phg feet are carefully washed both before 
and after the treading proces 
In this manner it tabo 45 minutes for three men to tread two 
hundredweight of nuts. 
Washing process (Yoruba—On she epol’owo).—Cold water is then 
poured into the canoe to a depth of 3 or 4 inches above the pounded 
mass, a portion of the canoe seal a third of its length being dammed 
off for this purpose by the material in process of being washed. 
The fibre of the bruised pericarp is stirred up in the water with the 
hands, grasped in handfuls, separated from the kernels, shaken to and 
ro with a switching TEE in the water, thoroughly squeezed and 
thrown aside into basket 
While this is going o y water is poa up and poured Tapay from 
a height out of ppp si back into the canoe. e remaining fibre is 
separated rom the kernels and sieved ont by sidelong Bite d of a small 
basket. Neither the fibre nor the kernels mek on the surface. 
After a short time the water in the mes covered with a 
thick gamboge-coloured scum, which is Hus en mae ee by agitating the 
surface ef the water with the fingers, and is skimmed oif with the double 
hands into a floating calabash. is scum contains the oily particles 
which have been set free from the bruised pericarp. It is of the con- 
sistency of thick cream, and is full of minute air bubbles. As the water 
in the canoe gets muddy, with a peculiar dirty greenish tinge, it is 
thrown X and fresh water is added. 
This process is repeated unti! the whole of the material has been 
ibori washed. The fibre is then placed i in a mortar and beaten, 
and afterwards washed again, Me which it is pressed into balls with 
the hands and put in the sun to 
Of this dried fibre I dudes a eats which may possibly prove of 
some value at home. The only use for. it here is as tinder and in 
fires. 
Tho kernels are placed in baskets, and afterwards dried in the sun 
and cracked between stones for export as “ palm-kernels,” over 3 
tons of which are annually shipped from Lagos. The kernel shells are 
used for firing and are made into blacksmiths’ charcoa 
The oil is now ladled out of the pot into which it has been skimmed, 
and is placed in another pot on the fire. About one-eighth of its bulk 
of water remains in the ae in which it has been standing. 
Clarifying ay A ba—On se epo). While the crude oil i 
being clarified by boiling ii is carefully sieved by passing a small basket 
through it so as to remove all fragments of fibre. By this means 
also it is kept well rel Considerable care has to be used in regu- 
lating the fire so as to avoid excessive heat. After boiling for about 
halfan hour the oil is seen to turn almost sates red, while the water 
basket into an earthenware pot. Aft br dE | in t for a few 
minutes it is again skimmed with a small calabash oa a five-gallon 
jar in which it will eventually be sent to market. As the water 
ins to show in the lower portion of the oil, iti is submitted to a 
further process of deum and is skimmed azain. 
e whole process of palm-oil making, from the boiling of ns nuts 
to the final -skimming of the oil takes from 8 to 14 hours, according to 
the quantity dealt with and the number of persons employed. 
