manioc

The banana, the most important crop above ground, quarreled with the manioc, the most important underground crop. […] The manioc said that it, the yam, the sweet potato, and others were the ones that fed people and that without them people could not exist.

In the morning, after a frugal breakfast of coffee and manioc - we had to be economical of our stores - we held a council of war as to the best method of ascending to the plateau above us.