Edible Products. 



m 



with its highly poisonous juice, is now forced into the matapie; through the 

 loop at the bottom of this a heavy pole is passed, one end of which is allowed 

 to rest on the ground and is there fastened by means of a heavy stone or some 

 such device, while the other is raised into the air. A woman now sits on the 

 raised end of the pole, and her weight stretches the matapie downwards. In 

 proportion as the length of the cylinder increases its diameter is of course 

 reduced. The pressure thus applied to the cassava pulp immediately forces the 

 poisonous juice out through the walls of the matapie. The juice drops down 

 into a buck-pot which stands on the ground ; and it is this when it is afterwards 

 boiled becomes cassareep, a thick treacle-like liquid which is no longer poisonous, 

 and the use of which in the manufacture of pepper-pot has already been described. 

 Cassareep when but slightly boiled is sometimes eaten by itself and without 

 further preparation ; but if it is meant for pepper-pot it may either be used at 

 once, or if boiled to a high degree of density, not for some considerable time. 

 The cassava, now dry and free from juice, is taken from the matapie, broken into 

 a sieve, and sifted so that it becomes a coarse Hour. This is either wrapped in 

 leaves and put away for future use, or is at once made into bread. 



A large circular iron griddle or plate, of European manufacture, is now 

 placed over the fire ; by some of the remote Indians a flat slab of stone is used for 

 this purpose, and there can be little doubt that this stone was originally universally, 

 used. On the griddle, whatever its material, a thin layer of the meal is spread. 

 A woman, fan in hand, sits by the fire watching. With her fan she smooths the 

 upper surface of the cake, and makes its edges round. In a very few minutes one 

 side of the large, round, white cake is done ; and when it has been turned, in yet 

 a couple of minutes the bread is ready. When a sufficient number of these oatcake- 

 like pieces of bread have been made, they are taken out of the house and thrown 

 upon to the roof to dry in the sun. I have often admired, and vainly tried to 

 imitate, the skill with which an Indian woman "quoits" up these large and thin 

 cakes (which until they are well sun-dried are limp and flabby) on to the roof, often 

 high above her head. When thoroughly sun-dried the bread is hard and crisp 

 with a flavour like that of freshly-gathered nuts ; in this state, if guarded from 

 damp, it will keep for an indefinite time. 



Not quite all the cassava meal, freed from juice by means of the matapie, 

 passes through the sifter— a small residue, consisting of the more starchy matter, 

 adheres together in particles too large to pass through the close woven wicker-work. 

 This coarse, starchy residue, called by the Caribs Emoo, which is always small in 

 quantity, is at once made into a cake, which differs from the ordinary cake made of 

 the sifted meal in that, if eaten at once, it has a half gelatinous consistency and a 

 pleasant subacid flavour ; while, if it is allowed to become cold, it acquires a leathery 

 consistency and is tasteless and uneatable.— "A mong the Indiana of Guiana" by 

 E. F. im Thum, 1883, pp. 260-2. 



(Annexure E.) 

 Cassava as Food. 



Cassava seems to have a great tendency to extend the paunch, and to 

 puff out the flesh and make the whole body look fat and round, without giving 

 any real stamina, and as soon as it fails, even for a few days, the paunch hangs 

 like an empty sack, and the fat disappearing, the skin hangs in folds, and every 

 bone in the body becomes prominent.— " A mong the Indians of Guiana" by E. F. 

 im Thurn, 1888, p. 264. 



