388 
CORN MILLS. 
which are terminated by a bundle of stieks, apparently put 
in the thatch for their accommodation. They remain in 
patient contemplation of what passes in the court below, 
and very soon rid it of any oifal that may be tin-own about. 
Corn is ground by the women in a hut appro- 
priated solely to this purpose, the apparatus consists 
merely of two pieces of stone, a “ slab and muller 
having undergone the process of trituration by a 
succession of these stones of different texture, it is 
converted into fine flour, which, however, retains much 
of the grit. 
The apparatus used for cooking is very simple. Three 
broken jars are placed upside down, to support the vessel 
containing the viands, and the fire is made between them. 
Very little skill, however, is required in the preparation of 
food, their principal subsistence being on yams, roasted 
Indian-corn, tuah — which is a sort of pudding, made 
of the grain, Dauer or Ghiro — and rice; which they 
boil to perfection. Yams are very fine, and are eaten 
roasted, or pounded until they become like a stiff 
dough, this is called “ Fofo,” and is an excellent way of 
preparing them; towards the latter end of the dry 
season this admirable vegetable becomes scarce, and 
small dried chips of it are sold in the market very 
dear. Little cakes are carried about by young girls, 
made of the flour of Dauer, or of Indian-corn, mixed 
with honey and abundance of pepper, rolled up in balls, 
or in long pieces, and half-boiled ; but they are some- 
times fried with palm-oil. Rarely they indulge them- 
selves with a “ hot chop” — a stew of meat or fish, with 
