The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1884-03-01
NUMBER II.


The Upper Niger region produces a
great number of important vegetable
products. Among these are various
kinds of millet, produced by the genus
sorghum and other allied grasses; rice,
as good as that of the Indies; haricots
of two species, the largest called niebes
queries, aud growing two in a pod,
which hides below ground like the pea
nut; tobacco, peanuts, indigo, sesame
and cotton. Among the edible roots is
one belonging to the E,tphorbiacee.
This is very common, and when young
may serve as substitute for the potato.
Some Of the forest trees that are use
full to man are the houl, which has pod
containing several grains Of the size of
small bean, surrounded by sweet
yellow farina; The citron; the
baobab, both fruit and leaves
of which are used for food, while
the bark is made into cordage: the gon-
alter, an excellent timber tree, the
seeds Of the pods of which are used In
tanning; the tamarind, from the acid
fruits of which a refreshing drink is
made; the callcedrat, which Yields
GOOD timber, while febrifuge is made
from its bark; the berre, a shrub yielding
small, round, edible fruits, from which
an alcoholic drink is made; the dinlb, a
fine tree, with pear-shapcd fruits,
which produce syncope if eaten in ex-
cess; the rhat, the wood of which is
used in the light structures of the coun-
try, while from the bark is made the
dye used to stain yellow the drawers Of
the Bambaras and Malinkes; the din
go.ton, with yellow edible fruits; the
silk cotton-tree, an immense tree, the
wood of which is made into pestles
and mortars, while the berry is made
into kind of finder; the toroninkoko,
a sort of fig, tine fruits Of which are at
tached directly to the trunk and large
branches; the n'taba, which bears large
fruits containing six or eight kernels
covered with a white or reddish flesh of
delicious taste, and many others, Per-
haps the most important of all is the
karite, or butter tree (Bassia Parkii).
This IS fine tree with oulong leaves,
very common in some districts, and
bears fruit of the size of the walnut,
with thin shell covered by savory
flesh. The nut is filled with white
compact substance, which is made into
vegetable butter. The fruit is thrown in
cylindrical cavities dug In the ground,
where it is left until the external fesk
is putre6ed. 1t is then placed IN
kind of clay furnace, where it is dried
and slightly cooked. The shells are
then broken and the kernels pressed into
homogeneous paste which is placed In
cold water, well beaten, and then
wrapped up in leaves.
The butter of the karite is in con-
slant use among the Bambaras and Ma
linkes of the Upper Niger and Upper
Senegal. 1t serves for cooking, for use
in lamps, for the manufacture of soap,
for the amounting of wounds, etc. "We
believe" writes NJ. Gallieni Bull. de
La Societe de Geographic, ''that this
product might be used on large scale
in Europe for the manufacture of soap
and of candles" The plant appears to
be richer in oleaginous matter than the
arachide or groundnut, of which Cayor
alone now produces 100000 kilo-
grammes. Immense forests of this
butter-tree exist on both sides Of the
Niger, on the Gambia and on other
livers, and can easily be exploited and
converted into an article of commerce.