BY N. DE MIKLOUHO-MACLAY. 691 



the mixtiire (1). The "Keu" beverage of the Maclay-Coast 

 being, in comparison with the Polynesian " Kava," a very con- 

 centrated drink, is taken, very likely, for this reason in com- 

 paratively small quantities. Each " Keu "-drinker carries in his 

 " gun " (2) his own neatly carved " Keu-gamba," or cup made of 

 the shell of the small kind of cocoanut (with the yellow nuts), which 

 may hold from 2-4 tablespoons full (from about 40-80 grammes) of 

 fluid, and it happens very seldom that more than one cup is drunk 

 by the same man. To lessen the bitter after-taste of the " Keu," a 

 small quantity of " Munki-la " (3) is taken after the swallowing 

 of the " Keu." (4) 



Without doubt, the strength of the " Keu "-beverage depends upon 

 the part of the plant used for chewing (the root gives the strongest 

 kind of " Keu "), very likely upon the age of the plant, and of 

 course on the amount of water employed. Therefore the beverage 

 used at different time and in different places is evidently different 

 in its strength, and naturally will produce on the drinker a different 

 effect. As far as I have seen the effects of the " Keu " upon the 

 " Keu " drinkers on the Maclay-Coast, I find that I have not 



(1) Prof. H. N. Moseley says the same about the "Kava " as it is made 

 at the Fiji Islands. "The infusion of the pepper-root is not allowed to 

 "stand so as to ferment, but some change probably is effected in the active 

 " principles by the action of the saliva, for grated " Kava," which is now 

 "used in Tonga, by order of the missionaries, as a substitute for the 

 "chewed preparation, is not so good as the latter." (H. N. Moseley. 

 Notes by a Natui'alist, on the Challenger, London, 1879, p. .312.) From all 

 the accounts of preparing the ' ' Kava ' ' by other travellers in the South 

 Sea Islands I have read, not one reports that the " Kava " is left to stand 

 so long as to ferment. I have tasted an infusion of grated " Kava " made 

 by the missionaries at Samoa. It was a kind of aromatic water of bitter 

 taste — a rather very indifferent than nice bevei'age. 



(2) " Gun " is a bag carried by the natives slung on a plaited band over 

 the left shoulder. It is an ever-constant companion of tlie Papuan of the 

 Maclay-Coast, in which he carries all the necessaries of his every-day life. 



(.3) " Munki-la " is a kind of pap made of the grated kernel of cocoanut 

 steeped in the so-called "cocoanut milk." It is a favourite dish of the 

 natives of that coast. 



(4) I have intentionally abstained in this paper from describing all the 

 ceremonies connected with the drinking of the "Keu." I will however 

 mention, that at the Maclay-Coast it is used only by men, and not daily or 

 many times a day, as it has been the custom on some islands of Polynesia, 

 but on special occasions as reception of visitors, old friends^ at feasts, &c. 



