210 
BUTTER NUTS AND FRUITS. 
[chap. Villi 
not spread upon the ground, like most of the vines 
that characterize the yams, but it climbs upon trees or 
upon any object that may tempt its tendrils. From 
every bud upon the stalk of this vine springs a bulb, 
somewhat kidney-shaped; this increases until, when 
ripe, it attains the average size of a potato. 
So prolific is this plant, that one vine will produce 
about 150 yams : they are covered with a fine skin of 
a greenish brown, and axe in flavour nearly equal to a 
potato, but rather waxy. 
There are many good wild fruits, including one very 
similar to a walnut in its green shell; the flesh of this 
has a remarkably fine flavour, and the nut within 
exactly resembles a horse-chestnut in size and fine 
mahogany colour. This nut is roasted, and, when 
ground and boiled, a species of fat or butter is skimmed 
from the surface of the water : this is much prized by 
the natives, and is used for rubbing their bodies, being 
considered as the best of all fats for the skin; it is 
£tlso eaten. 
Among the best of the wild fruits is one resembling 
raisins; this grows in clusters upon a large tree. Also 
a bright yellow fruit, as large as a Muscat grape, and 
several varieties of plums. None of these are pro¬ 
duced in Latooka. Ground-nuts are also in abundance 
in the forests; these are not like the well-known 
African ground-nut of the west coast, but are con¬ 
tained in an excessively hard shell. A fine quality of 
flax grows wild, but the twine generally used by the 
natives is made from the fibre of a species of aloe. 
Tobacco grows to an extraordinary size, and is pre¬ 
pared similarly to that of the Ellyria tribe. When 
ripe, the leaves are pounded in a mortar and reduced 
to a pulp; the mass is then placed in a conical mould 
of wood, and pressed. It remains in this until dry, 
when it presents the shape of a loaf of sugar, and is 
perfectly hard. The tobacco of the Ellyria tribe is 
shaped into cheeses, and frequently adulterated with 
cowdung. I had never smoked until my arrival in 
