Foreign Notices : — Polynesia, 93 



grant. A scented gum-resin is produced from this tree, which at first exudeS: 

 of a clear amber colour, but soon after becomes of a greenish yellow. The 

 wood is hard, of a red colour, and handsomely veined; varying, however, in 

 the beauty of its veins; it is close-grained, and, according to the cabinet- 

 maker's phraseology, " bottoms well." It resembles Honduras mahogany' 

 in the working, as also, in some degree, in appearance. The tree attains 

 an elevation of 50 or 60 ft. ; and about 10 or 12 ft. in circumference. The 

 wood is used by the natives for a variety of purposes ; and they value and 

 plant the tree for the shade it aflbrds them, as also for the beauty and 

 fragrance of the flowers. * 



Spondias dulcis. A tree highly valued for its fruit is the vi (5p6ndias 

 dulcis of Parkinson) [called in English books on botany the Otaheite 

 apple] : it is found also abundantly at the Society Islands. It is a lofty 

 and handsome tree, attaining the height of 60 ft., and a circumference of 

 12 or 15 ft. It is one of the few trees found to be deciduous in Poly- 

 nesia. The leaves are pinnate, of a light green colour, with serrate and 

 transversely ribbed leaflets, the petioles are round ; the flowers are racemed, 

 small and white ; the fruit is oval, in size about that of a goose's egg, and, 

 when mature, of a bright yellow colour ; the external covering has a tere- 

 binthinate [turpentine] flavour, but the pulp is sweet and pleasant to the 

 taste ; it grows in bunches. The core is spiked, and is usually two-celled. 

 An albuminous substance is found in some quantity about the core. This 

 tree yields a resinous gum, of a greenish yellow colour and fragrant odour. 

 The wood is used at Tahiti in making canoes. 



Sapindaceous ? Trecy near the Genus Euphoria. Indigenous to this island 

 (and the only one, among the Polynesian group that I visited, at which it, 

 was observed) is a lofty tree, which appeared to be of the natural family 

 Sapindaceae, related to Euphoria, and is called thav by the natives : it 

 attains the height of 50 or 60 ft., and a circumference of 7 or 8 ft. ; it 

 bears a fruit, about the size of a walnut, with a thin rind, which being removed 

 displays a white glareous pulp, enveloping several rather semilunar brown 

 seeds ; the fruit has an agreeable flavour ; the leaves are pinnate, large, and 

 of a dark green colour. It is found in fruit about the months of December, 

 January, and February. 



Uvdria odordta. On elevated land, as well as occasionally planted about 

 the native habitations, is seen the Uvaria odorata, called mouscoi by the 

 natives. It is a small tree, with somewhat pendent branches. The leaves 

 are ovate-lanceolate, and of a dark green colour ; the flowers have long 

 linear-lanceolate petals, of a light yellow colour, with a red spot situated 

 internally at the base of each petal ; the flowers have a powerfully fra- 

 grant smell, which is retained for a very long time when they are in a dried 

 state. The natives dry the petals, and use them for scenting their cocoa- 

 nut oil. The flowers are succeeded by a fruit, which grows in bunches of 



* This tree is called tamanu, or ati, at the island of Tahiti, where the 

 wood is used in making canoes, and is also held valuable for shipbuilding. 

 It was formerly a sacred tree, and planted in the morai, where it was death 

 to break a branch, or in any way to injure it. In India, this tree is named 

 qashumpa, and the oil extracted from the nuts is there used as a liniment 

 in rheumatism, &c. The gum-resin, which exudes both spontaneously and 

 on incisions being made in the trunk, is the tacamahaca resin of commerce, 

 which was formerly held in high estimation as an ingredient in warm 

 stimulating plasters, &c. The females of Tahiti use the resin as a scent, 

 as also the fruit, which is possessed of much fragrance, and is said to 

 yield a yellowish dye. The fruit is also scraped, and mixed with the bark 

 of the ante (Broussonetea papyrifera), for the purpose of giving a fra- 

 grant smell to the cloth. 



