282 
CULTIVATION AND GRANARIES. 
[chap. X. 
claimed by Debono’s people, would form an excellent 
point d’appui for operations towards the unknown 
south. 
Shooa was “ flowing with milk and honey f fowls, 
butter, goats, were in abundance and ridiculously cheap; 
beads were of great value, as few had ever reached that 
country. The women flocked to see Mrs. Baker, bring¬ 
ing presents of milk and flour, and receiving beads and 
bracelets in return. The people were precisely the 
same as those of Obbo and Farajoke in language and 
appearance, exceedingly mild in their manner, and 
anxious to be on good terms. 
The cultivation in this country was superior to any¬ 
thing that I had seen farther north; large quantities of 
sesame were grown and carefully harvested, the crop 
being gathered and arranged in oblong frames about 
twenty feet long by twelve high. These were inclined 
at an angle of about sixty—the pods of the sesame 
plants on one face, so that the frames resembled enor¬ 
mous brushes. In this manner the crop was dried 
previous to being stored in the granaries. Of the latter 
there were two kinds—the wicker-work smeared with 
cow-dung, supported on four posts, with a thatched 
roof; and a simple contrivance by fixing a stout pole 
about twenty feet long perpendicularly in the earth. 
About four feet from the ground a bundle of strong 
and long reeds are tied tightly round the pole; hoops 
of wicker-work are then bound round them at intervals 
until they assume the form of an inverted umbrella 
half expanded; this being filled with grain, fresh reeds 
are added, until the work has extended to within a few 
feet of the top of the pole; the whole is then capped 
with reeds securely strapped: the entire granary has 
the appearance of a cigar, but thicker in proportion 
about the middle. 
Two days after our arrival at Shooa, the whole of 
our Obbo porters absconded: they had heard that we 
were bound for Kamrasi’s country, and having received 
exaggerated accounts of his power from the Shooa 
