284 FLORA VITIENSIS. 
out somewhat like an umbrella, and divided into numerous, deeply cut segments. The flowers are 
not put forth until the leaf is beginning to die off, and emit an offensive carrion-like odour, The 
acrid properties of this plant are turned to singular account in Polynesia. Turner (‘Nineteen Years 
in Polynesia, p. 286), speaking of the punishments inflicted in Samoa, says one of them was to take 
five bites of its pungent root, which was like filling the mouth five times with cayenne pepper, and 
that i& was considered cowardly to shrink from the punishment on which the village court might 
decide, and so the young man would go boldly forward, sit down before the chief, bite the root five 
times, get up, and walk away with his mouth on fire. According to Tahitian tradition, says Ellis (* Poly- 
nesian Researches,’ vol. ii. p. 43), “at first the heavens joined the earth, and were only separated by the 
Teva [the Vitian ‘ Daiga’], till their god, Ruu, lifted up the heavens from the earth." The Samoans (says 
Turner, * Nineteen Years in Polynesia, p. 245), * believe that once upon a time the old heavens fell down, 
and that people had to crawl about like the lower animals. After a time the Arrowroot and another similar 
plant [again the Vitian *Daiga'], pushed up the heavens. The place where these plants grew is still 
pointed out, and called the Te'enga-langi, or heaven-pushing place.” The Fijians recommend the place 
where this plant grows as a safe refuge when the end of the world approaches, the Daiga being in their 
opinion a * Vasu” to heaven (Vasu ki lagi). A Vasu, it should be added in explanation, is, according 
to widely-spread Polynesian custom, a nephew who holds the movable property of his mother's brothers at 
his almost absolute disposal, having the power to do whatever he pleases with it. Some Vasus even ven- 
ture so far as to dispose of the very lands belonging to their maternal uncles. There are Vasus to every 
family, town, and kingdom. A Vasu to heaven is the climax of the whole system, cleverly employed in the 
- charming Fijian story of the Princess Vilivilitabua. The root of the Daiga is acrid, but after being freed 
— from that property, esteemed on account of its nutritious qualities. Being thought to assist fermentation, 
some of it is mixed with the leaven of bread; for the Fijians, though not growing any grain, or import- 
ing flour, prepare what they call * Madrai," or bread, from the fruits of the Ivi (Znocarpus edulis, Forst.), 
Kavika (Eugenia Malaccensis, Limn.), Banana, Plaintain, Breadfruit, mangrove, and the roots of the Taro 
(Colocasia antiquorum, Schott, var. esculenta, Schott), Kawai (Dioscorea aculeata, Linn.), Via mila (Alocasia 
Indica, Schott), Via kana, and the Daiga. A hole, having the shape of an inverted cone, is dug in the ground, 
and having been lined with leaves, the different materials are put in, covered with leaves, earth, and stones, to 
undergo fermentation, and become fused into a homogeneous mass. Two or three, ay, even nine months 
are allowed for that process. "When taken out, the dough emits a sour fetid smell. It is then either 
baked on hot stones, or steamed in large earthenware pots; but the taste is such that few foreigners 
acquire a partiality for it, and the natives themselves infinitely prefer our bread and biscuit to their own 
madrai. Yet it is most fortunate that in a country where numerous kinds of fruits and edible roots, how- 
ever abundant at certain seasons, are subject to such rapid decay, the natives are acquainted with a simple 
process, by means of which they are able to store up their provisions, and thus effectually guard against 
extreme want in a land of plenty. 
II. Colocasia, Schott, Melet. vol. i. p. 18; Prodr. Aroid. p. 137; Gen. n, 37. tab, 37. 
Spathze tubus diu vegeto- persistens, lamina lanceolata (flava). Spadix liber, spatha brevior, parte ? 
ovarodiis immixtis obsitus, parte 7 a ? organis neutris remota, appendice conoidea, interdum obso- 
leta. Ovaria in stylum brevissimum attenuata, stigmate depresse hemisphzrico minore connata 
(stigmata ergo non contigua), placehtis parietalibus oc-ovulatis, ovulis horizontalibus hemiortho- 
tropis. Synandria breviter stipitata, loculis apice implicatis exinde vertice aperientibus. Bacce 
spathze tubo disrumpente obtecte, virides, non decidue. Semina minutissima, oblongula, horizon- 
talia, epidermide succulenta, testa ob sulcos longitudinales parallelos striato-costata. Germinatio 
remotiva, cotyledone dilatata apice reniformi.— Folia peltata, simultanea, supra zquata, Spadix 
suavolens. 
l. C. antiquorum, Schott, Melet. vol. i. p. 18; foliis glaucescenti-virentibus, lamina peltato- 
ovata, inferne 2-fida; scapis.oo ex eadem axilla, petiolis brevioribus ; spathz lamina lanceolata aurea ; 
clava acutata. 
Var. B. esculenta, Schott.— rum esculentum, Linn.; Forst. Pl. Escul. 27; Prodr. n. 328.— 
Nomen vernac, Vitiense, “ Dalo ;" N. Zeland., Tahitiense, et Rarotonguense, * Taro;" Hawaiense, 
* Kalo.,"— Viti Levu, on the banks of the Rewa and Navua rivers, wild, or at least naturalized. 
