332 
THE COLA T-T REE AND NUT. 
bit of tin in which they make holes very close together. The 
Bambaras are very fond of the colats ; but as they have not 
facility for going to the country vrhere they grow, they 
purchase them with cotton and other produce of their agri- 
cultural industry. 
The colat-tree resembles the plum-tree in size and 
form. The leaves are alternate, and about twice as broad as 
those of the plum ; the flower, which is small and white, has 
a polypetalous corolla ; the fruit is covered with a brownish 
yellow husk or rind, within which is a pulp, which is at 
first pink or white ; but which, on attaining full maturity 
acquires a greenish hue. The same tree bears fruit of both 
colours. The colat-nut is of the size of the chesnut, and of 
the same degree of hardness. At first it appears to have 
a bitter taste ; but after it is swallowed it leaves a sweet 
flavour, which the negroes like very much. A glass of 
water taken immediately after one of these colat nuts, has 
the effect of having been sugared. The nut easily splits in 
two without changing its colour; but if one of the two 
halves be broken and exposed for a moment to the air, the 
pulp which was previously pink, or white, becomes of a 
rust colour. 
I wished to ascertain the distance from Jenne to Tim- 
buctoo ; but nobody could give me any positive information 
on the subject. The inhabitants seemed to think it immense. 
Their journeys being merely commercial speculations, they 
pay little attention to geography, and very often they 
do not even know the names of the villages which they pass 
through. The negroes in this part of Africa are not so 
hospitable as those on the north of the Dhioliba, or even in 
the neighbourhood of the Senegal. They are generous only 
among themselves, and if they shew any kindness to 
strangers it is merely from motives of interest. This I at- 
tribute to the numerous caravans which are continually 
passing through their country, for, if they were to receive 
