Toreign Notices : — Polynesia, 9i 



it growing on low land. I have presented a young specimen of this palm 

 to the botanical collection of the British Museum. 



Of the Genus Viper, they have the kava or ava plant (Piper methis- 

 ticum), which is cultivated for use ; and also a twining species, called shas 

 by the natives, which envelopes the trees in its vicinity with its dark 

 foliage. 



Of Plants allied to Amomum. The turmeric plant is abundant, both wild 

 and cultivated : the root is used by the natives in the formation of a 

 colouring substance for daubing their bodies on particular occasions. By 

 cultivation, the roots attain a larger size and better quality. The ginger 

 [Zingiber officinale ?] is also seen abundant, wild, and is called rang apua 

 by the natives, and at Tahiti, rea : it is also abundant, wild, at the New 

 Hebrides group. 



Dioscorea, or Yam. The natives of this island have a small species of 

 yam (Diosc6r<?«), named by Europeans the Rotuma potato, and by the 

 natives, ule: it occasionally grows large j but the small ones are con- 

 sidered of the best quality. 



The Ahan or Taro (A^'rum esculentuni) is also cultivated ; but, from A 

 deficiency of water irrigation, it is principally confined to the mountain 

 variety. The taro plant requires a moist soil, and that the roots should 

 be kept covered with water : this is indispensably requisite for the pro- 

 duction of good taro. If the soil is not sufficiently moistened, the roots 

 become watery, and not eatable. It can be planted at any season of the 

 year, and is propagated by means of the tops and young shoots ; and 

 requires about six months to attain perfection. There are also several 

 varieties of mountain or dry land taro ; but the roots are not equal to 

 those which grow in a moist or watery soil. 



Of the Tho, or Sugar Cane, they have several varieties ; but the cane is 

 (as at the whole of the Polynesian Islands) only eaten in a raw state. 



The splendid Barringtoma speciosa, or huthu of the natives, is abundant ; 

 as also at Tongatabu, where it is named futu ; and at Tahiti, where it is 

 named hutu. It is lofty, branchy tree, and bears a profusion of mag- 

 nificent pinkish flowers, which are succeeded by a large quadrangular 

 drupe containing a four-celled nut : it attains the elevation of 40 or 50 ft^, 

 and a circumference of 10 or 14 ft. : the leaves are entire, obtuse, shining, 

 coriaceous, and of a dark green colour. The wood is seldom or never 

 used, except as firewood; but the fruit is used (as at Tongatabu and 

 other of the Polynesian Islands) for poisoning fish. 



Pandanus, Species and Varieties of. There are several species of the 

 Panddnus on the island, bearing the native names hoshoa, pauhuf, sahang, 

 and hat. The first attains a very large size, and the foliage is several feet 

 in length. The fruit is of. great magnitude; one I procured weighed 60 

 pounds. The pauhuf is the male tree of the Panddnus odoratissimus (the 

 female tree has a distinct native name of hat) ; the floral leaves are of a 

 milk-white colour, and very fragrant. I am not aware that the farina or 

 pollen is possessed of any fragrance. The younger leaves of the species 

 named sahang are bleached, and afterwards used in the manufacture of 

 the varieties of matting, named by the natives ape sala, &c, ; and from the 

 older leaves a coarse matting is manufactured, named ehap. 



Of the Porij or Plantain Tree (Musa), they have several varieties; 

 and they have also the mountain variety (the fei of Tahiti) named shai. 

 This variety differs in its mode of growth from the lowland varieties, in 

 having clusters of fruit rising erect from a short thick stalk in the centre 

 of the tuft of leaves at the summit, whilst the others have them pendent 

 from the stem. The mountain variety, when roasted, either when green or 

 mature, is excellent ; but, when raw, has a roughness, even when ripe, 

 which renders it not very agreeable to eat. The colour of the fruit ex- 

 ternally is of a bright orange, and internally the pulp is of a bright yellow. 

 The broad expansive leaves are of a very dark shining green. The trunk, 



