390 
BEVERAGE. 
is from sketches made by Captain W. Allen on 
the former Expedition : they were recognised by Pro- 
fessor Agassiz, who pronounced them to be very interest- 
ing, never having been before found in the rivers of 
Western Africa. The largest is of the genus Lates, 
the specimen had been speared by one of the natives ; 
it weighed seventy pounds ; was four feet four inches in 
length, and seventeen inches in the broadest part. It is 
very fine and delicate in its flavour. The next is of 
the genus Sudis, twenty-seven inches in length, called 
by the natives at the confluence “Kuanta’n Kaswa,” 
“ Sleep in the Market,” because it keeps longer fresh 
than any other of the finny tribe : nothing can exceed 
the flavour of this flsh. The third genus, Mormyrus, 
is twenty-two inches long, and is rather indifferent eating. 
The Pagans drink a great deal of palm-wine and beer, 
and consider that which is made from the corn, Ghiro, 
{Milium ) , as the most delicate in its flavour, but we pre- 
ferred the brown beer made from Dauer (a Sorghum), 
particularly if drunk on the second day, as they have 
no substitute for hops. They have also an intoxicating 
liquor called Bam. The Musselmen profess to follow the 
injunctions of the prophet, and abstain from beer and bam; 
they have a great contempt for such as use these beve- 
rages, but they cannot be expected to conform to the law 
in respect of our wines and spirits, since they never had an 
opportunity of knowing what the Koran means by them, 
until we opened their understanding, and still they are 
slow to believe that they transgress in drinking copiously 
