Interior of the Chief's House. — Preparation of Breadfruit. 567 



random, suspended from pegs and lines all romid tlic wide 

 hall, and in the middle a hole had been excavated, which 

 apparently was intended for a fire-place. Among the articles 

 of furniture we specially noticed a large iron chest, with iron 

 clampings, and a very singular-looking loom, on which a 

 fabric was being woven in variegated colours. The chief 

 was not at home, and had to be summoned, his timely 

 absence affording an excellent opportunity for examining 

 the environs of the palace a little more closely. In im- 

 mediate proximity were a number of bread-fruit trees {^Dong- 

 dong\ the fruit of which forms the staple diet of the natives, 

 and has long been prepared by them in quite a unique 

 manner. 



The bread-fruit, so soon as it is ripe, is stripped of its husk, 

 and cut into small pieces. These the natives place in pits 

 dug for the purpose about three feet deep, in which they 

 are placed in layers carefully vrrapped in banana-leaves so as 

 to prevent moisture reaching them. Thus prepared, the pits 

 are filled up to within a few inches of the surface, covered 

 with leaves, and weighted with heavy stones so distributed 

 as to diffuse an equal pressure tliroughout. Thus each pit is 

 both air and water tight. After a short time fermentation 

 sets in, till the whole is converted into a substance resembling 

 cheese. The original idea of thus storing the bread-fruit is 

 said, according to tradition, to have been suggested to the 

 natives by a violent hurricane having at a remote period 

 levelled all the bread-fruit trees on the island, thus causing a 



