The Republican journal., 1892-07-14
The Staff of Life in Brazil.
SOME SOUTH AMERICAS MYTHOLOGY. HOW
THE TAPIOCA, FARINA AND ARROW
ROOT OF COMMERCE Is MADE. INDIAN
HOT SCOTCH.

ROOT OF COMMERCE Is MADE. INDIAN
HOT SCOTCH.
Especial correspondence of The Journal.
RIO DE JANElRo, May 20. In Brazil,
mandioco is as much in use as wheat and
corn in the United States, and after all
that may be said about coffee, cotton. SUI
gar. dan-rubber, gold and diamonds
it is the most important production, for
by it the people live. Not only is it
very valuable article of food eXport-in
the shape of tapioca, arrow-root and fari-
na-but it is staple article of food, as in
despensible to the average Brazilian as
Englishman, or frejoles to the Mexican.
1t is found upon every Brazilian table. in
some form or other at every meal, not only
in various wholesome and palatable dishes,
but it figures largely in greasy, garlicy
soups. in the everlasting ola podrida of
cu171d seca dried meaD sliced together
with lard. beans. yalns, seeds and good
ness knows what In the form of coarse
Hour, majority Of the population use it
the year around in lieu of bread; made in
to thick polridge it is eaten at all times;
babies are weaned on it: it is the sole diet
of invalids in Brazilian hospitals; a mild
intoxicant is distilled from it which is the
universal drink of the lower classes: and
it appears in no end of strange culinary
messes whose other ingredients are an UNI
guessable conundrum.
The plant, which is indigenous to Bra
ing the most common and Jatroph0 mani
hot its scientific appellation. 1t is also
called yucca. cassava, maniac, and mandi
&C, and was eaten by the Indians centu-
ries before the discovery oft his hemis-
phere by Europeans. The wonderis that
those untutored savages learned its nutriti
Gus uses, because in its natural state it is
deadly poison, containing so much hydro
cyanic acid that thirty drops of the clear
Juice will kill man in six minutes. The art
of rendering it innoxious and fit for food
was next to the potato, the most valuable
Gift of the aboriginal South American to
the civilized world and one which reflects
no small credit on the donors. because,
had it not been accompanied by informa-
ton on its culture and conversion into
the ''statf of life (the result OF their
own primitive expeliments), no attention
would ever have been paid to the poison
weed. Perhaps You remember that South
ey says IF Ceres deserved a place in the
dedication Of that person have been eX-
pected, who instructed his fellows in the
use of mandiac.
Of course there are many traditions and
legends connected with it. The most
common is that of venerable stranger.
dressed in white. with long yellow hair
and eyes the color of summer sky-a
sort Of Peruvian Manco- Capac. or Aztec
Observation-Disclosures taught the early Bra
zilians the secret of cultivating and pre-
pairing mandioca: and also the use of fire,
W llltiilStlNtS tIi III IttlStS
though to this day the lower classes do
not indulge to any great extent in either
of the two latter accomplishments. The
A mazonian Indians. who We're once can
nibals. have another story concerning it:
to the effect that. many years ago. babe
was born in one OF their tribes who, when
o,,l,- Jo, o1j yro11-aI a,,I foil odd
instructed the people. She was named
Mani, and died within the year. Accord
ing to the custom of the tribe. she was
buried inside the hut OF her parents and
the thatch was removed So that the tears
of heaven. (rain)might fall every day upon
her resting place, soon a plant. before
presently the earth opened and revealed
some large white roots. which a mysterious
voice babe them eat. They found the new
food pleasant to the taste. and believing
it to be the body of Mani. named it Mani
oca, 'The house OF Mani" A cultivated
field of this queer shrub looks like a nur-
sery of young peach trees. The plants
grow about five feet high. the stem of each
being isolated, with few long pointed
leaves at the top: and a bud. OF projecting
nucleus of sprout, occu ring at nearly
every inch of the otherwise naked stem.
Dig down bit, and you will find cluster
of irregular shaped tubers, resembling very
large, long parsnips-tive or six to the
plant, weighing altogether twenty five or
thirty pounds. The roots only are eaten
When field has been reaped, the stems
are chopped into pieces about four inches
long, and these are planted. They quick
ly take root, sending forth shoots from
the buds, and in two years mature a new
crop.
The Indian mode of preparing the roots
for food, in vogue nobody knows how
many centuries before the first Spaniard
or Portuguese came to the country, has
never been much improved upon, though
modern machinery has somewhat shorten
ed the process. With a shell, or a rude
rasp made by setting a small, sharp
stone into bit of bark the roots were