1 June, 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. . 489 
General Notes. 
THE KOLA NUT TRADE. 
Mosr people are acquainted with the Kola nut tonic, so universally sold as a 
“soft drink” in this colony, but few know much of the great esteem in which 
the nut is held in the Soudan. As an article of commerce in Central Africa, it 
far and away exceeds in importance every other article of commerce throughout 
the whole of the Western and Central Soudan. Mr. ©. H. Robinson, in an 
article on the Kola nut, in his book “ Hausaland,” says :— 
Though not found originally in any part of the Hausa States, there is 
nevertheless no village or hamlet, however small or remote, in which it is not 
constantly used. The Kola nut is the product of a tree called Sterculia 
acuminata, which is found in the greatest perfection in the country to the back 
of the Gold Coast Colony. It is also found as far east as the River Gambia, 
and, with more or less frequency, in all the intervening country. 
The fruit resembles a large-sized chestnut, and is encased in long pods, each 
containing 4 or 6 nuts. It grows like chestnuts, in bunches of 3 or 4 on the 
tree. Round the Kola nut there is usually a black line, sometimes two, at 
which it can be divided or subdivided. ‘The colour is generally brick-red, 
though in some countries, especially in the Far West, there are all sorts of 
intermediate shades between red and white. In the country of the Bambarra 
tribe the Kola nuts play an important part in private and public life. The 
colour in this case has a special significance: a white kola is always a sign of 
friendship and hospitality, whilst proposals of marriage, acceptances-or refusals, 
defiances, declarations of war, &ec., are conveyed by the sending of a number of 
kolas of the prescribed colour. 
The Kola from Gandja, which is of a uniformly red colour, is the one most 
frequently brought to Kayo (the capital of Central Soudan), as it keeps better 
than any other. The most minute care and attention on the part of the 
merchant are necessary, in order that the Kolas may reach the market in good 
saleable condition. ‘They are carried for the most part in Kayo-made baskets, 
each of which contains 3,000 or 4,000 Kolas, whilst two of them form a donkey- 
load. If treated with the utmost care the nuts may be preserved fresh for 2 
or even 3 years, but in order to secure this they must be kept constantly damp. 
Tf exposed to the air and allowed to dry the Kola opens along the black line 
mentioned above, wrinkles, and becomes as hard as wood. In this condition it 
has lost 99 per cent of its value. During the march the nuts are packed in 
baskets and covered with fresh green leaves. Every 4: or 5 days they ought to 
be repacked, in order that the leayes may be renewed and that the nuts which 
are touched with mildew may be removed. 
The large profits obtainable on the sale of those which reach the various 
markets in good condition compensate for the risk and trouble of their carriage. 
At Gandja the average nut costs 5 cowries; at Say, on the Middle Niger, 70 
to 80 cowries ; at Sokoto, 100; at Kayo, 140 to 250; at Kuka, on Lake Tchad; 
250 to 800. 
What, then, one may naturally ask, are the peculiar virtues of this fruit, 
which forms by far the most important article of commerce in the Central 
Soudan? The fact that for generations past it has been eagerly sought after by 
rich and poor alike, and that men will constantly spend the last cowries they 
possess in buying one to chew, seems clearly to show that it is something more 
than a mere luxury. The scientific analysis of the nut shows the existence of a 
large quantity of tannin and of an alkaloid analogous to theime and caffeine. The 
natives believe that it keeps off the pangs of hunger and enables them to work 
for long periods without food. As a stimulant, it takes the place which tea 
. 
