3l6 
BUTTER TREE. 
resembles the American oak ; and the fruit (from 
the kernel of which, being first dried in the sun, the 
butter is prepared by boiling the kernel in water,) 
has somewhat the appearance of a Spanish olive. 
The kernel is enveloped in a sweet pulp, under a 
thin green rind ; and the butter produced from it, 
besides the advantage of its keeping the whole year 
without salt, is whiter, firmer, and, to my palate, of 
a richer flavour than the best butter I ever tasted 
made from cows’ milk. The growth and prepara - 
tion of this commodity seem to be among the first 
objects of African industry in this and the neigh- 
bouring states, and it constitutes the main article of 
their inland commerce. 
