October i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



243 



nature extracted such from the hardest of rocks in these 

 unknown days, so do we extract them from the soil by 

 vegetable growth, but at a much more rapid rate than 

 can be replaced by nature, hence the need of replacing 

 by manure is shown. Live stock does not manure land — 

 such an idea is a vulgar fallacy — they do not put more 

 back than they take away; it is upon this point that 

 successful agriculture must hang — or in other words upon 

 such foundation must it be laid. You cannot continue 

 taking off crops unless you put more mineral matter 

 back into the soil than what your crops have removed. 

 But plants require more than pure mineral food, or 

 mineral substance per se the nitrogen must also be sup- 

 plied. The amount of this substance must to a certain 

 extent bo regulated by the nature of the crop, it may be 

 presented to the roots as nitrates of potash, soda or am- 

 monia or as sulphate or chloride of ammonium, or it may 

 be in the shape of animal or vegetable matter containing 

 nitrogen so as to decompose in the soil. — Siu/ar Planter. 



MR. MOBNS AND THE PRODUCTION OF 



CINCHONA BAKK. 

 Mr. Von Winning, of Bandong, Java, brother-in- 

 law of Mr. Moens, writes to us about a mistake 

 iu a note on page 69 of No. 1, vol. III., of the 

 Tropical AgricuUurist, in which Mr. Moeus is said 

 to have stated in his great work that in 12 or 15 

 years Java would supply the world with cinchona 

 bark. What Mr. Moens really wrote, it appears, was 

 that in 12 or 15 years, India would so increase its 

 production that exports from the forests of South 

 America should be impossible. The error, however, 

 was not ours, but was made by the transliitor of 

 the items from .Java jpapers in the Straits Times, as 

 will be seen from the extract on page 46 of the same 

 number of the T. A. 



FROM NEW ZEALAND THROUGH THE 



SOUTH SEA ISLANDS TO CENTRAL 



AMERICA. 



[By an ex Ceylon Planter.) 



According to promise, I must try and tell yon some- 

 thing of my late wanderings but am quite at a 

 loss to know where and how to begin. Queensland, Aus- 

 tralia, has been written about and well exhausted by able 

 %VTiters, so that what I have to say will be old news. The 

 same may be said of the Fiji and Saraoan groups of 

 islands. From the latter place I remember writing you, 

 and am afi'aid of repeating what I have already com- 

 mmiicatfd. 



Sajioan Islands. 



The Samoan group comprizes nine islands, varying in 

 area from 700 to 2 square miles each. Tliey contain a 

 population of about 10, DUO, most of whom are distiibuted 

 through the thi-ee principal islands, Tutuila, Opolu .and 

 Savaii. The men and women are very fine models and are 

 credited with a perfect physique. A learned professor of 

 America, in an exhaustive work on the human race, places 

 the Samoan-speaking people fii-st on the hst for figure and 

 general physical development. They can nearly all read 

 and write, which has been brought about through the energy 

 and perseverance of Dr. Turner and other veteran mission- 

 ary representatives. Dr. Turner has spent fully 40 years 

 of his life in Samoa, and has bmlt a college at a place 

 called Maloa to instruct the Samoan youth and teach him 

 •how to guard the moral welfare of his countrymen. I may 

 here say that the language is spoken over a wide and 

 scattered section of Polynesia. The gi'oups are as follows: — 

 The Society Islands, Marquesas Taliiti, Tougan, and Sa- 

 moan Islands, besides tlie Maori of New Zealand. The 

 language is very pretty and musical, wliich is greatly owing 

 to the large number of vowels the words contaii.. 



The lang-uage of a nation is ti'uly considered an index to 

 the character and manners of the people. In the case of 

 the Samoans, the rule finds no exception. In their habits 

 they are pohte and ceremonious. They never meet but 

 they shake hands and say " How are you ?" or part 

 hut say "Good bye." They have also words which 

 have the full meaning of our " Thank you" and " If 

 you please." AU foreigners they call " Papalangies," 

 which hterally means " burst from heaven." This was 

 the name they gave the first vessel they saw approaching 

 then- shores, and has since been corrupted to simply 

 mean foreigner. They are very kind and very hospitable. 

 Every village has a house built and set apart especially for 

 the .accommodation of travellers and is called the reception- 

 house. I will, however, relate exactly what happened to me 

 in an out-of-the-way village on the island of Savaii, which 

 will give a good idea of all other receptions. The village 

 was far removed from all communication with traders (ex- 

 cept those who came regularly;, and most of the younger ones 

 had .seen but few if any whites, or Papalangies; they rejoiced 

 and stared accordingly. I had walked some 25 miles tliat 

 day and was glad of the inviting shelter of the reccptiou- 

 hou.se. My coolies au<l interpreter were equally pleased to 

 have a sit domi and smoke their " Soolooie" (a kind of 

 cigarette made of tobacco and rolled iu a dry banana leaf). 

 Our arrival was soon noticed, and the cry quickly flew, and 

 almost immediately the women cama running with whatever 

 cooked victuals were at hand, and placed them at our feet 

 The food was conveyed on banana leaves and consisted, 

 chiefly of breadfruit, taro, aud fish, cooked in a rude way, 

 but very palatable. 



I p.assed the food to my coolies, as my stock of " civil- 

 ized" provisions was not exhausted. By this time, the 

 village chief, village orator and other dignitaries began to 

 assemble followed l;iy many others of low degree. Thi-ough 

 the interpreter, the chief expressed himself very glad to 

 see me (after shaking hands, which is always the first 

 thing). In return he was informed that I was a great 

 chief from England a' id had been in India, a country where 

 the elephants run wild, etc., and that I had come to 

 see the Samoan people .and was glad to find them so kind 

 and hospitable, etc. ^V'e all then sat down round the 

 house. I maj- here explain that all the houses have one 

 room only and are built perfectly round. There are no 

 permanent sides ; but a kind of Venetian arrangement is 

 let down on the windward siile of the house whenever 

 rain falls. The roof is very substantial and quite a work 

 of art. Accordingly when we sat down we sat round the 

 house and were facing each other. The ceremony of the 

 kava-bowl was then gone through. The kava-stalk has 

 a slight resemblance to a green bamboo of an inch or 

 more in diameter. It is seldom used before it is three 

 years old,aud is dried first. The bowl which was to contain the 

 the beverage was placed iu the centre of the room and two 

 village maids were selected to prepare it. They sat down 

 on each side of tlie bowl with their legs tucked uuder 

 them like a tailor : iu fact we were all seated in the same 

 way, as it is thouglit extremely rude and bad-mannered to 

 stretch ones' legs out towards the centre of the room. The 

 maids were then handed small slices of kava, which they 

 chewed into a pulp aud then deposited in the bowl. After 

 enough " pulp " had been produced it was mixed with 

 water, at which time it resembles oatmeal and water. The 

 next process in the order of preparation is to pass coconut 

 fibres through the water iu such a manner as to strain 

 the oatmeal-like grains, which are thrown away. In this, 

 practice has made them very expert, audit was very in- 

 teresting to watch the cunning way the fibres were swept 

 round. The preparation is then passed round, first to the 

 chiefs and distinguished visitors; then to those of low degree. 

 The chewers of the kava had the most beautiful teeth of any 

 I ever saw. Their diet too is entirely vegetable if we 

 e-xcept fish ; and, being quite free of diseases, I half per- 

 suaded myself into thinking the kava bowl must be nice. 

 The dignitaries thought .so anyhow, to judge from the long 

 and deep draughts they took with such evident relish. Ac- 

 cordingly I took mine with the best possible grace audsweetest 

 smile : — thought of claret and champagne cups, and quatt'ed 

 it to the dregs which delighted my friends more than it 

 did me. In taste it resembles soap suds ; butleaves a pleasant 

 feeling behind. Almost immediately I was most r.aveuously 

 hungry, and after a rcfreslnng bath ale heartily. 



