There Is No Necessity
For Reaping Soon, As The Roots Do Not Become Bitter And Dry
Until After Three Years.
When a woman takes up the roots,
she thrusts a piece or two of the upper stalks into the hole she has made,
draws back the soil, and a new crop is thereby begun.
The plant grows
to a height of six feet, and every part of it is useful: the leaves
may be cooked as a vegetable. The roots are from three to four inches
in diameter, and from twelve to eighteen inches long.
There are two varieties of the manioc or cassava - one sweet and wholesome,
the other bitter and containing poison, but much more speedy in its growth
than the former. This last property causes its perpetuation.
When we reached the village of Kapende, on the banks of the rivulet Lonaje,
we were presented with so much of the poisonous kind that we were obliged
to leave it. To get rid of the poison, the people place it four days
in a pool of water. It then becomes partially decomposed, and is taken out,
stripped of its skin, and exposed to the sun. When dried,
it is easily pounded into a fine white meal, closely resembling starch,
which has either a little of the peculiar taste arising from decomposition,
or no more flavor than starch. When intended to be used as food, this meal
is stirred into boiling water: they put in as much as can be moistened,
one man holding the vessel and the other stirring the porridge
with all his might.
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