Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1894-03-22
No. zoos.
AFRICAN BEVERAGES.
They Are Made Prom the sap of Palm
Trees aud Bananas.

larly the latter. being important bev-
erages in Germany. it IS not 10 be won
| dered at that. by an article in recent
1 number Of the Gartenlaube, high
toned German periodical, the question
is discussed whether the natives of the
! German colonies in eastern Africa are
using similar spirtuous beverages or
not and. if not. which kinds are they
using, if they use any at an. The ar
/ ticle starts with the statement that, al
/ though lager beer was TO be considered
nowadays as the German beverage
proper, such beverage had been
/ known 10 the ancient Greeks. who were
manufacturing II after ancient Egyp-
/ tian receipts
The Phpnicians and Carthagenians,
on their voyages, had made known
Egyptian beer in all parts of the world,
to which their commerce tended. 1t
might not have had the same taste as
the present lager beer. yet it had been
brewed nevertheless and 10 the cul-
tured people living on the banks Of the
Nile in ancient times the origin Of a
beverage was due, that is now being
used by millions.
To the natives of Africa, Of the pres
ent time. beer prepared from malt and
hops is unknown, although bottled
lager beer has reached Gerhard Rolls,
the well-known German traveller in
Africa. even at the oasis of kufra in the
sahara Yet there exists no lack of
Intoxicating beverages among the sons
of the dark continent They are not
required to wait for the fire-water Of
the Europeans 70 be sent them They
understand now to prepare spirituous
beverages of their own and they also
become intoxicated by the latter This
is only too frequently the case, as may
be seen from the accounts of foreign
travellers in Africa.
The Africans make wine and beer,
but neither grape juice is used for the
former nor malt extracted for the lat
ter. Palm trees Of different kinds,
bananas and millet furnish tho raw
material Palm wine is made from the
sap oozing from the cut-oft blossom
stems Of the oily palm tree and Of the
cocoa tree. II is a pleasant refresh
ing beverage and sufficiently known.
From the fruit Of the banana tree q
which they drink there as wine and
beer. Banana beer is chiefly used by
the natives Of Uganda. a country Dor
dering on Lake Victoria. The people
there are very fond of such beer, and
when Emin Pasha went To Rubaga to
meet King Mtesa he wrote in his diary:
This IS a real beer trip. from village
to village, or rather from beer pot to
beer pot, we are marching on In
that country the manufacture of the
banana beverage is extensively going
on. DR. FelBin, an English physician,
who formerly lived there, describes the
different kinds Of banana beverage
He makes a distinction between banana
beer and banana wine
According 10 his description, ''mu-
bisi. cooling banana wine, is manu-
featured in the following manner; A
big hole is dug in the ground, lined by
banana leaves. filed with unripe ba-
nanas and kept covered by mats and
earth until the fruit has become com
pletely ripe Then the bananas are
slit, mixed with fine hay and placed
into "A large boat-like, wooden trough,
which at one end has an emptving pipe.
After the addition of some water the
whole is thoroughly mixed Is the hand
OF by short wooden STICKS. Ihereupoa
the trough Is covered with banana
leaves ana the mixture IS left standing
for about one or two hours. After the
expiration Of that time it is taken ont
and through grass sleeves poured into
large alabashcs 1t is then ready for
use and represents sweet agreeable
and not Intoxicating beverage. The
fact that just this kind Of the banana
beverage is drunk in large quantities by
the natives explains why Emin pasha
did not see any drunken men in ugan-
ia and unjoro.
But if the mubisi is left standing for
three days it undergoes a fermentation
and becomes a slightly acid refreshing
beverage. which is strongly intoxieat-
ing. This wine or beverage is called
.muenge If il is filed into bottles
and they are kept well corked at cool
place for several months one obtains
sparkling wine strongly resembling
Mubisi, the principal beverage made
from bananas, can be changed yet in
another way. If larger or smaller
quantity of boiled millet is added to it
and the mixture is left standing in
large carthen pots for two or three
days and stirred from time to time it
becomes a beer. which according to the
quantity of millet added Is more or less
The beverages made from bananas
are not stored away for a long time.
They are mostly consumed soon after
When being sold they
are comparatively dear.
This wine or beer is either drunk from
gourd cups or sucked from gourd bot
ties by means of long, nicely made tu-
bules, the lower ends of which are
serving, at the same time, for filtering
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