COCOS NUCIFERA. 237 
“to be fit only for plaiting sinnet,’’ as applied to a rainy day; ‘‘to be neither too 
old nor too young,’’ as applied to coconuts fit for making sinnet; ‘“afa-afai,’’ a verb 
signifying “to wind sinnet around the handle of a weapon to prevent it from slipping;”’ 
‘“afa-pala,”’ ‘“‘sinnet stained black by steeping it in the black mud of a swamp;”’ 
‘“‘afata ai, a large roll of sinnet.’”’@ In every native house of Samoa there are large 
rolls of sinnet, and these are used in part as currency in paying a housebuilder, a 
canoe maker, or a tatooer for his work. Together with their fine mats they may be 
said to constitute the capital of the Samoans. In Guam in place of coconut sinnet 
the natives use the leaves of the ‘‘aggag’’ (Pandanus tectorius) for lashing together 
the framework of their houses, fences, and the like. 
9 66 
TODDY. 
The custom of making a fermented drink from the sap of the coconut palm, of 
which the Polynesians are ignorant, was introduced into Guam by the Filipinos 
brought by the Spaniards to assist in reducing the natives. Before the arrival of the 
Spaniards the aborigines had no intoxicating drink. The spathe of the young 
inflorescence is wrapped with strips of the green leaf to prevent its bursting and 
allowing the branches of the spadix to spread. The tip of the flower cluster is then 
sliced off with a sharp knife and gently curved, so that the sap may bleed into 
the joint of bamboo hung to receive it. This sap is collected at regular intervals, 
usually every morning and evening, and poured into a large bamboo, all of the septa 
but the lowest of which have been removed. The sap flows most freely at night. 
When the flow of sap becomes reduced owing to the healing of the wound, another 
thin slice is cut off the tip, and the flow of the sap begins afresh. Toddy, or 
“tuba,”’ as this liquid is called in Guam, is very much like cider in taste and con- 
sistency. At first it is sweet and may be converted into sirup or sugar by boiling, 
but it soon begins to ferment and acquires a sharp taste, somewhat like hard cider, 
which is very agreeable if the receptacle has been kept thoroughly clean and free 
from insects. The natives, however, are apt to be careless and do not cleanse the 
bamboos each time they are emptied, so that the tuba is apt to have an offensive 
odor and flavor from putrefying organic matter. Care is taken in gathering the 
tuba not to spill it on the leaves and flower clusters of the tree, as this invites the 
attacks of insects. In some countries it is customary to coat the inner surface of the 
receptacles with whitewash of lime to prevent fermentation if the tuba is intended 
for sugar making. If tuba is desired for drinking purposes, the bamboo receptacles 
should be scalded out daily. The natives of Guam use fermenting tuba for yeast in 
making bread. This is made from imported wheat flour, and is snowy white and 
light. If the fermentation goes on unchecked the tuba is converted into vinegar, 
which is of an excellent quality. Under the usual conditions after having fermented 
four hours, tuba contains sufficient alcohol to be intoxicating. 
AGUARDIENTE. 
From the fermented liquid a kind of rum is distilled, called ‘‘aguayente’”’ (aguar- 
diente) by the natives of Guam and ‘“‘arak’’ in the East Indies. The distilling of 
aguayente was the only industry in Guam up to the time of the American occupation. 
It has been prohibited by an official order on account of its evil effects upon our men. 
By double distillation almost pure alcohol was obtained. Good aguayente compares 
very favorably with Mexican mescal, and tuba is far more agreeable to the taste of 
the uninitiated than pulque, the fermented sap of Agave. Aguayente was seldom 
drunk to excess by the natives of Guam, but according to Padre Blanco its immoder- 
ate use by the Filipinos caused great harm, resulting in sleeplessness, loss of appetite, 
premature old age, extraordinary obesity, and diseases resembling dropsy and scurvy 
a Pratt, Grammar and Dictionary of the Samoan Language, ed. 3, p. 65, 1893. 
