I started reading a bunch of 19th century safari books recently and it took me a while to figure out what the heck they were talking about lugging about all tho

I started reading a bunch of 19th century safari books recently and it took me a while to figure out what the heck they were talking about lugging about all those "mealies". It obviously was some kind of staple food, and it finally dawned on me they were dried ears of corn.