nited
States, as a substitute for olive oil, and for soap making."
"What is it called?"
"The plant is known as Benne. The product is Sesame oil. The peculiarity
of the plant is that nearly one-half of the leaf is a pure oil, and it
can remain exposed a long time before it turns rancid."
"I wonder if that is what they use in their cooking!"
"Yes; it is absolutely inodorous, and is better than lard for table
uses. Look at the seeds. They are classed with the most nutritious in
the world."
"The Chief had them, and I tried some of them the first night I dined
with him."
The route led to an upper plateau, well wooded, many of the trees being
of the palm variety, with plenty of silver-leafed families so common
everywhere.
"Do look at the Coffee trees?" exclaimed Harry.
The Chief's son was consulted. He had no knowledge of the use of the
berry. "We must take a lot of the berries back with us. This will be a
treat at the celebration." John stopped short, and the boys commenced to
laugh. He had almost given away the scheme for the wedding feast. Sutoto
did not catch the force of the allusion.
George and Harry were now on the quest for new things in every
direction, and the natives aided them in carrying out their every wish.
After they had reached a small stream flowing to the north it became
evident that they had passed the highest point of the plateau, and were
now descending.
[Illustration: _Fig. 9. Sesame Oil Plant. The Benne._]
One of the natives pointed out a peculiarly-shaped tree, tall, with
immense leaves, and at each leaf cluster there was an immense white
flower.
"Here is a tree with yellow flowers. We must have some of these as
specimens," said Harry.
The trees were exceedingly tall. "The men are asking if you want some of
the flowers," said Sutoto.
"By all means," answered George. Without a moment's hesitation a young
athlete made his way to the top, and gathered a dozen branches, which he
dropped to the ground.
The beauty of these flowers is difficult to describe. The tree body is
perfectly straight, and the limbs grow out uniformly on three sides, the
leaves being very rough.
"This is a species which belongs to the Indicus family," remarked John,
as he cut off one of the leaves. "It would be a good tree for carpenters
to raise."
[Illustration: _Fig. 10. Flower of Indica Tree._]
"Why so?" asked George.
"You see it is just like sand-paper."
"Well, that is something to
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