Chap. LI. 
EDIBLE POA. 
447 
The soil consists partly of lime (" ane ") and partly 
of sand ("sinaka"), and accordingly produces either 
Negro millet (Pennisetum, "chengo") or sorghum 
("wa"), which two species of grain, with their dif- 
ferent varieties, form the chief article of food not 
only of the people of Bagirmi, but almost all over 
Negroland. But besides this, a great deal of se- 
samum ("karru"), is cultivated, which branch of 
cultivation imparts quite a different aspect to this 
country, as well as to many of the pagan countries, 
as numerous tribes seem to subsist chiefly upon this 
article. In many other districts of Bagirmi, beans 
(" m6ngo") form one of the chief articles of food, 
but ground-nuts, or " biili," seem to be cultivated 
only to a very small extent. 
Wheat is not cultivated at all, with the exception 
of a small patch in the interior of the capital, for the 
private use of the sultan. Rice is not cultivated, but 
collected, in great quantities after the rains, in the 
forest, where it grows in the swamps and temporary 
ponds ; indeed a good dish of rice, with plenty of 
butter and meat, forms one of the few culinary luxu- 
ries which I have observed in Bagirmi. Another 
article of food in very general use, is afforded by 
several varieties of grass or Poa, identical, I think, 
with the Poa Abyssinica, here called "cheima" by 
the black, and "kreb" by the red natives (I mean 
the Shuwa). The variety most common in Bagirmi 
is called "joj6," and is not only eaten by the poor 
people, but even by the rich ; indeed I myself am fully 
able to speak from experience concerning it, as, with 
