Economic Botany Collection

Catalogue no.:

44419

Botanical classification:

EUPHORBIACEAE Omphalea diandra

Common name:

Ouabe Fin, Jamaica Navelspurge, Onabe Oil Plant

Geographical description:

Paramaribo, Suriname and Grand Riviere, Martinique

Item description:

Seeds, cutter for bead-making, and beads.

Size:

Cutter: 18cm long

Additional information:

Notes accompanying object: 'Seeds and cutter used for making beads from the shells of the seeds. Beads from Thierry, Grand Riviere, Martinique 18/4/93.'

Letter to Consul Wyndham from Benjamino, Paramaribo, 21Oct 1891.: 'Since I received your letter of June 3, I have been trying to find the origin of Ouabe beads. I have interviewed bush negroes of upper Marowyne and also gold diggers from the Lawa. All agree that the beads are from a tribe of Indians called Trios living on the upper Lawa above the settlements of the bush negroes. My opinion is that the beads are not a manufacture but some natural product. They are called avroe and in Cayenne Ouabe gros. There is another kind of beads called in Cayenne Ouabe fin, and in this colony Arewepie, made by the Indians on the Upper Marowynefrom the shell of a nut. I send a specimen and the instrument for making them. Necklaces can easily be bought here.'

Plant information:

A shrub with trailing or climbing habit, native to Antilles, tropical South America.

Donor date:

18/04/1893

Donors:

Consul Wyndham and Thierry MQ. Captain Wyndham was HM Consul in Suriname with responsibility for monitoring commercial conditions and assisting British firms. He was a frequent contributor to the Foreign and Colonial Office’s Diplomatic Reports in the 1880s and 1890s.