The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1884-02-22
KoLA.
A Nut which Takes the Place of Ten and
Coffee In Africa.

Coffee In Africa.
A stimulant everywhere in use in
the interior of Africa, and especially
in the region of Sierra Leone where it
grows, is the nut known as kola or
9,tru. This is the seed of a tree be-
longing to the family of Sterculiacea,
of which there are several varieties,
and it is remarkable on account of con-
tanning (besides glucose, tannin, and
bitter principle) caffeine and theobro-
mine in large proportion. Therefore
in Central Africa it takes the place Of
tea and coffee or cocoa-products of
plants belonging to very different bo-
tanical groups, burJalued for the same
essential principle.
The kola seed has a kernel about two
inches in length, somewhat like that Of
peanut, with groove instead of the
projecting point at the germinal end.
1t may he white or red, or both, and
four or five fill rough brown pod.
These pods are gathered twice year,
the seeds carefully shelled, and the
bare meats are at once sent to market
or dispatched into the interior, careful
ly wrapped in green leaves to prevent
them from drying, as it is considered
very important that they should be
kept fresh and somewhat moist. To
this end they are picked over every
fortnight or so, and all defective ones
are thrown out. When they begin to
shrivel and dry up, the caravan mer-
chants dry them thoroughly in the sun
and pound them to powder in a NOR
tar, in which shape the substance can
long be preserved.
This nut is chewed as if it were to-
bacco, and the powder is eaten. The
taste is sweet, astringent, and bitter in
succession. Europeans as well as ne
groes are devoted to its use, and many
singular stories have b2en current as
to its strange effects upon the human
frame. 1t not only sustains the sys-
TEN under the greatest fatigues, even
without food for long periods, but it is
also a certain preventive Of the dysen-
teries and dangerous fluxes which rem
der the lowlands of Africa so danger
Gus. This powder makes foul water
drinkable and harmless. tits related
that the director of the Botanical Gar
den at Martinique was never able to
save single seed for propagation from
the plant in his collection, all being
stolen by the negroes as material for
love philters.
1t is not surprising, in view of these
qualities, to find the nut bearing an al
most superstitious value in the eyes OF
the West Africans. Among those peo-
pies, where it is not indigenous, nor
yet extravagantly dear, no transaction
of any moment can take place with
out an exchange of kolas. This is
either in token Of goodwill or to "bind
the bargain" >When two tribes ally
themselves they exchange white kolas,
this color representing peace and frlend-
liness, per contra, war is declared by
sending red kolas to the enemy.
A request for wife is accompanied
by the present of white kola from
the lover to the mother of the maid Of
his choice. A favorable response is
indicated by the return of white
seed; a rejection, by sending back a
red one--declaring war, as it were.
Wedding presents from a husband to
his bride must include certain pro-
portion Of kolas and in the interior
where they are so valuable, the gift OF
one is considered high attention, and
when rendered by chief to white
traveller, takes the character of an as
surance of his protection. Similarly
one of the chiefs on the upper Niger
signified his opposition to two French
explorers by sending them red kola'
wrapped in green leaves.
In religious and judicial proceedings
these nuts become of equal Importance
Witnesses take an oath by formally
eating them. An accuser demanding
Justice brings to the judge little bas
ket of rice with four or five }kolas on
it. The sorcerers lay great stress or
the attractive qualities of this seed ir
drawing away evil spirits, sickness anf
misfortune. Friends place with tht
dead some holas to nourish him to tht
endurance required upon his long jour
ney. Finally, it may be noted that thu
Mohammedans declare it to be a frui
of div ne origin, brought to earth b.
the Prophet himself.
at the plantations near Sierra Leone
according to a late review of this hith
erto vague matter in the Bul etin o
the Geographical Society Of Marseilles
the seeds are worth twenty or thirt,
cents pound, but the value increase
rapidly with distance. On the Nige
a dollar is often the price of singl
seed; while in the far interior Aral
merchants often receive its weight il
gold-dust for quantity of the powder