OILS. 



225 



sailors pronounce it to be very c chawable.' Here 

 it sells at two pice, 1 or frf., per cake ; at ITsuni- 

 bara it commands about one-fifth of that price, 

 paid in cloth and food. 



The oil palm (Elaeis Guineensis), whose pro- 

 duce has done so much for the Guinea Coast 

 and the fatal Bight of Biafra, is found, I am told, 

 on the Island of Pemba, and at other places near 

 Zanzibar. About the Lake Tanganyika it grows 

 in abundance; the fruit, however, is a raceme, like 

 the date's, not a spike, as in the Bonny river. 

 The 6 Mchikichi ' is, therefore, a different and 

 probably an unknown species. Like that of West 

 Africa, it supplies wine as well as oil (The Lake 

 Begions of Central Africa, vol. ii. p. 59). The 

 palm-oil might easily be introduced into Zanzi- 

 bar, and would doubtless thrive ; but the people 

 have enough to do without it. 



The Mbono or Palma Christ i springs up 

 spontaneously, as in most tropical regions, 

 throughout Zanzibar Island and on the coast. 

 The Hindus say of a man with more vanity 

 than merit, ' The castor shrub grows where 

 other plants can't.' The seed is toasted in iron 

 pots, pounded, and boiled to float the oil. After 



1 The Hindu anna, which contains four pice, is here reckoned 

 at eight. 



VOL. I. 15 



