It Is Remarkable That We Now Meet With The Same Trees We Saw In Descending
Toward The West Coast.
A kind of sterculia, which is the most common tree
at Loanda, and the baobab, flourish here; and the tree called moshuka,
which we found near Tala Mungongo, was now yielding its fruit, which resembles
small apples.
The people brought it to us in large quantities:
it tastes like a pear, but has a harsh rind, and four large seeds within.
We found prodigious quantities of this fruit as we went along.
The tree attains the height of 15 or 20 feet, and has leaves, hard and glossy,
as large as one's hand. The tree itself is never found on the lowlands,
but is mentioned with approbation at the end of the work of Bowditch.
My men almost lived upon the fruit for many days.
The rains had fallen only partially: in many parts the soil was quite dry
and the leaves drooped mournfully, but the fruit-trees are unaffected
by a drought, except when it happens at the time of their blossoming.
The Batoka of my party declared that no one ever dies of hunger here.
We obtained baskets of maneko, a curious fruit, with a horny rind,
split into five pieces: these sections, when chewed, are full of
a fine glutinous matter, and sweet like sugar. The seeds are covered
with a yellow silky down, and are not eaten: the entire fruit is about
the size of a walnut.
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