Great Lost Teas Part IV
Dankalia Bone Vine Tea
On the second week of his expedition into the Dankalia province of Eastern Africa, the Victorian explorer, James Stalham, found himself travelling away from the coast and into the inhospitable desert region.
He noticed that the caravan would often stop by piles of bleached animal bones. One of the men would pick-up a large bone and hold it at eye level, studying it carefully. The bone would then either be tossed back into the sand or stowed away in one of the panniers.
That evening a fire was lit and a small pot of water was brought to the boil. One of the Danakils produced a camel femur and held it above the steam. Gradually, a small, green, arrow-shaped leaf, forced its way out from a hairline fracture in the bone. It was soon followed by another and then another. After a quarter of an hour, Stalham tells us, there were six wiry vines, interspersed with dark green leaves dangling down from fissures in the bone.
The Danakil plunged the femur into the boiling liquid and stirred vigorously with it, the vines trailing behind it in the water. When it was removed the vines had shrunk to a fraction of their length and were blackened and ruined. The Danakil served up mixture, heavily sugared, in small clay cups. Stalham found it to be a very strong flavoured tea, with a 'planty' after-taste. He was told by one of the Danakil that the mixture was helpful in preventing Dysentery.
When he returned to England, Stalham took samples of animal bone with him, for more detailed study. He discovered the strange vine takes root inside the bone and only emerges, through tiny cracks, when the leaves detect moisture in the air. When the humidity decreases, the plant withdraws back into the bone and coils up tightly inside, protecting its delicate foliage from the sun.
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""All my friends are soldiers
and they are getting drunk
Oh, Johnny come and save me
I believe my luck has sunk.""
- Jeffrey Lee Pierce"
