filled with water, and two or three women tread out the semi-liquid oil, which comes to the surface as disengaged from the fiber, where it is collected and again boiled to get rid of the water which mechanically adheres to it. The inner surface of these clay vats, having at first absorbed a small quantity of oil, is not afterwards affected either by the water or oil. It is said that palm-oil loses its color by being kept for some time at the boiling temperature.
No part of the palm-nut is wasted. The oil being extracted, the fibre, which still retains some oil, is dried and used for kindling. The kernel is used for making another oil, adi, excellent for burning in lamps and making native soap. The hard shell or pericarp is burnt for charcoal and used by the native blacksmiths. They prepare several other kinds of oil, such as agusi, beni, and ori, or shea butter. The last, which possesses medicinal virtues, is now exported from Abbeokuta.
Palm-oil, considering the profit which it brings the manufacturer, the abundant growth of the plant which yields it, and the great and increasing demand for it, is destined to become of great commercial importance.
The native women all through the country prepare from the juice of the sugar-cane, by boiling, a sort of "taffi." The cane is cut in short bits, crushed in a
