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.