The Men Went About During The Day, And Brought Back Wild Fruits
Of Several Varieties, Which I Had Not Hitherto Seen.
One, called mogametsa,
is a bean with a little pulp round it, which tastes like sponge-cake;
another, named mawa, grows abundantly on a low bush.
There are many
berries and edible bulbs almost every where. The mamosho or moshomosho,
and milo (a medlar), were to be found near our encampment.
These are both good, if indeed one can be a fair judge who felt quite disposed
to pass a favorable verdict on every fruit which had the property of being
eatable at all. Many kinds are better than our crab-apple or sloe,
and, had they the care and culture these have enjoyed, might take high rank
among the fruits of the world. All that the Africans have thought of
has been present gratification; and now, as I sometimes deposit date-seeds
in the soil, and tell them I have no hope whatever of seeing the fruit,
it seems to them as the act of the South Sea Islanders appears to us,
when they planted in their gardens iron nails received from Captain Cook.
There are many fruits and berries in the forests, the uses of which
are unknown to my companions. Great numbers of a kind of palm
I have never met with before were seen growing at and below
the confluence of the Loeti and Leeambye; the seed probably came down
the former river. It is nearly as tall as the palmyra.
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