Page 368 - Lanzarotto Malocello from Italy to the Canary Islands

368 from Italy to the Canary Islands

contain glutamic acid, which could produce gluten during digestion. The
outward appearance of gofio is similar to flour with a darker colour.
Nature would also provide everyday life and work tools, such as wood-
en bowls and combs, leather sacks and cases, reed bags, bone and polished
stone knives.
The natives kept time according to natural cycles; Benesmen was the
name of the main harvest festival, and it coincided with summertime.
Everyone took part in it; they would prepare a collective banquet (called
guatativoa), with dancing and singing, and had ritual skill and strength
competitions (jumping and wrestling). The celebrations were held in spe-
cial rooms where dancing also took place. Dancers would line up in two
opposite rows and recede from and approach each other rhythmically; this
kind of dance was also known in Europe.
For all of the islands (including Lanzarote), the main problem was al-
ways water; the original natives built artificial ponds, wells, and small un-
derground deposits.