502 GUAM AND ITS PEOPLE. 



nut of the betel palm, with the addition of a pinch of lime. This habit 

 is still universal among the natives of Guam. The betel thus pre- 

 pared has an agreeable aromatic pungency, not unlike that of nutmeg. 

 It imparts a fragrance to the breath, which is not disagreeable, but 

 it discolors the teeth in time and causes them to crumble away, while 

 the constant expectoration of saliva, red like blood, is a disagreeable 

 habit. 



CuUt vated plants, — The principal plants cultivated ])y the natives 

 before the discovery were the bread fruit — a sterile form of Arfocar- 

 2?ux colli niuiuH, which is propagated by cuttings, or sprouts, from the 

 roots; the dugdug, or fertile form of the same species, which also 

 grew wild upon the island, 3nelding an edilde, chestnut-like seed, logs 

 from which they made their largest canoes, bark for their aprons or 

 loin cloths, and gum which served as a medium for mixing their paints 

 and as a resin for paying the seams of their canoes; the betel palm 

 {Areca catechu) and the ])etel pepper {Piper hetle),, which were undoubt- 

 edly brought to the island in prehistoric times, as also were rice, sugar 

 cane, and the species of Pandanus called aggak, from the leaves of 

 which they made their mats, baskets, hats, and boat sails. Of this 

 plant only one sex occurs on the island, and it nuist consequently be 

 propagated by cuttings. Cocoanuts were also, in all probability, 

 brought hither, as were several varieties of yams," separated by them 

 into two groups, which, according to the shape of the leaf, they call 

 nika and dago. A third species,* called gado, which now grows wild 

 in thickets, is characterized by sharp, wiry, branching thorns near the 

 ground, which serve to protect its starchy tubers from wild hogs. 

 Several varietic^s of taro were cultivated, both in swampy places and 

 on dry hillsides. Among the less important plants were the Polynesian 

 arrowroot, called gabgab;" turmeric {Curcurna loriga), called mango; 

 wild ginger oi- asngod halom-tano; and a species of red pepper, called 

 doni. There were no edible oranges, mangoes, mangosteens, nor 

 locpiats. A fruit nmch relished by the fruit-eating pigeons was the 

 piod {Kimenia americana),, which resembles a small yellow plum with 

 a slight flavor of bitter almond. 



Agricidtaral and otlter 'useful a?is.—Yov growing taro little art is 

 required. Yams require more care; while bananas, breadfruit, and 

 the textile pandanus, propagated by cuttings or sprouts, have to be 

 severed from the parent stock, stuck into the ground, and occasionally 

 watered. For the cultivation of rice — the only cereal of the aborig- 

 ines — far greater skill is required on account of the necessary prepara- 

 tion of the fields and the consti'uction of irrigating ditches. Rice was 

 the principal staple furnished to vessels in considerable quantity. 

 Oliver van Noort, who visited the island in 1(100, mentions it in his 

 narrative, and the Nassau fleet in 1(525 bought it in bales containing 



(tDioscorea alata and D. uculeata. b Diosrorea spinosa. <■ Tncm pimintifida. 



