296 MR. T. F. CHEESEMAN ON 
Ficus PRoLIxA, Forst.—Native name doa. The Banyan of the European settlers. 
Not common, but scattered irregularly over the whole of the lower parts of the island. 
In former times often planted for boundary-marks. A coarse kind of cloth was 
occasionally beaten out of the bark of the straighter branches. 
New Caledonia eastwards to Tahiti and the Marquesas. 
Ficus TINCTORIA, Forst.—Native name Mati. Woods on the lower part of the island, 
not common. 
Fiji eastwards to Tahiti. 
ARTOCARPUS INCISA, Linn.— Native name Kuru. Lower portions of the island, 
plentiful, but usually a little distance from the sea. According to the chief Tarare, the 
Bread-fruit was introduced by the natives from Tahiti, many generations before the 
arrival of Europeans. It still forms a large proportion of their food. Many varieties 
exist, the best being (1) Kwru-atu, (2) Tatara, (3) Patea, (4) Kuru-maori. In olden 
times the fruit was cooked by wrapping it in green leaves and then placing it on hot 
embers; but it is often now baked in European fashion. It was sometimes eaten raw, 
but was then allowed to become fully ripe or almost rotten. Great quantities were 
preserved by burying the perfectly ripe fruit (which has the consistency of paste) in pits 
in the ground, the sides of which were lined with banana-leaves, and the top covered 
with the same leaves well pressed down by a thick layer of earth or stones. If care was 
taken to renew the leaves periodically this paste—or * Mai," as it was called—would keep 
for more than a year, and was considered a great delicacy. It is now seldom made, and 
I had some difficulty in obtaining a small quantity. It has a most objectionable smell, 
looks somewhat like soft cheese, and has a sharp and acid taste. 
Pacifie Islands. 
FLEURYA INTERRUPTA, Gaud.—Shady places in the valleys, and a weed in the 
cultivations of the natives. 
Pacific Islands and Australia, and northwards to Malaya, India, and China. Also in 
East Africa. 
PELLIONIA ELATOSTEMOIDES, Gaud.—Common a£ the roots of trees in hilly forests. 
Fiji Islands, Marquesas, New Guinea, Moluccas. 
CYPHOLOPHUS MACROCEPHALUS, Wedd.—Hills of the interior, not common. Maun- 
garoa; slopes leading to Ikurangi; hills behind N gatangiia. Seems to have much 
larger leaves than the typical form. 
Pacific Islands and northwards to Sumatra. 
PrrrURUS VELUTINUS, Wedd.—Native name Orongo. Common all round the island at 
low elevations. 
Throughout the Pacific Islands. 
