chap, xiv.] NATIVE PREPARATIONS OF FOOD . 389 
whip; the result is extreme obesity. In hot climates 
milk will curdle in two or three hours if placed in a 
vessel that has previously contained sour milk. When 
curdled, it should be well beaten together until it as- 
sumes the appearance of cream ; in this state, if seasoned 
with a little salt, it is most nourishing and easy of di¬ 
gestion. The Arabs invariably use it in this manner 
and improve it by the addition of red pepper. The 
natives of IJnyoro will not eat red pepper, as they believe 
that men and women become barren by its use. 
Although the fever had so completely taken pos¬ 
session of me that I was subject to an attack almost 
daily, the milk fattened me extremely, and kept up 
my strength, which otherwise must have failed. The 
change from starvation to good food produced a mar¬ 
vellous effect. Curious as it may appear, although we 
were in a land of plantains, the ripe fruit was in the 
greatest scarcity. The natives invariably eat them 
unripe, the green fruit when boiled being a fair sub¬ 
stitute for potatoes—the ripe plantains were used for 
brewing plantain cider, but they were never eaten. 
The method of cider-making was simple. The fruit 
was buried in a deep hole- and covered with straw 
and earth;—at the expiration of about eight days the 
green plantains thus interred had become ripe;—they 
were then peeled and pulped within a large wooden 
trough resembling a canoe; this was filled with water, 
and the pulp being well mashed and stirred, it was left 
to ferment for two days, after which time it was fit to 
drink. 
Throughout the country of Unyoro, plantains in 
various forms were the staple article of food upon 
which the inhabitants placed more dependance than 
upon all other crops. The green plantains were not 
only used as potatoes, but when peeled they were cut 
in thin slices and dried in the sun until crisp; in this 
state they were stored in the granaries, and when 
required for use they were boiled into a pulp and 
made into a most palateable soup or stew. Flour of 
