2i4 Life at Banza Nokki. 
will be injured. It cannot be kept; acetous fer¬ 
mentation sets in at once, and presently it coagu¬ 
lates and corrupts. At Banana and Boma it is 
particularly good ; at Porto da Lenha it is half 
water, but the agents dare not complain, for the 
reason which prevents them offering “ spliced 
grog” to the prepotent negro. Europeans enjoy 
the taste, but dislike the smell of palm-wine ; those 
in whom it causes flatulence should avoid it, but 
where it agrees it is a pleasant stimulant, pectoral, 
refreshing, and clearing the primce vice. Mixed 
with wine or spirits, it becomes highly intoxi¬ 
cating. The rude beers, called by Merolla Guallo 
and by Tuckey (p. 120) Baamboo, the Oualo of 
Douville, and the Pombe of East Africa, mentioned 
by almost every traveller, are not now found on 
the lower river. 
About noon the slaves return from handling 
their trowel-shaped iron hoes, and the “gentle¬ 
man” takes a siesta proportioned to his drink. 
The poorer classes sit at home weaving, spinning, 
or threading beads, whilst the wives attend to 
household work, prepare the meals, buy and sell, 
dig and delve. Europeans often pity the sex thus 
“ doomed to perform the most laborious drudgery;” 
but it is a waste of sentiment. The women are 
more accustomed to labour in all senses of the 
word, and the result is that they equal their 
mates in strength and stature; they enjoy robust 
