Vegetables used hy the Natives for Suslemuice. 243 



(pine-apples), papayas (pomegranates?), pandanus fruit, cocoa- 

 nuts, oranges, lemons, anonas (a kind of custard apple), 

 guavas, &c. The chief sustenance of the natives consists of 

 the following : — 



I. The f^i, or wild plantain (3Iusa Fez, or 3Iiisa Rubra), of 

 which there are five varieties. It is first encountered at an 

 elevation of from 600 to 800 feet above the sea, grows most 

 luxuriantly between the zones of 1000 and 1500 feet, is of a 

 very peculiar saffron-yellow colour, and is usually either 

 roasted or boiled. 



II. The haari, or cocoa-palm ( Cocos nucifera), whose trunk, 

 bark, leaves, and fruit are pressed into their service by the 

 natives. The fruit, however, is the most important, as it is 

 used as meat for man and beast, as well as a beverage, and 

 to obtain oil from it. Mixed with fine sandal-wood shavings 

 and other aromatic substances, the oily liquid pressed out 

 from the cocoa-nut is used by the Tahiti women as a much- 

 prized cosmetic {mono'i), with which to lubricate their long 

 beautiful black hair. Here, as among the other South Sea 

 islands, the cocoa-palm begins to bear after the first seven or 

 eight years only, after which, however, it becomes so abund- 

 ant that the fruit of each tree is valued at five francs annu- 

 ally. It takes 20 to 25 cocoa-nuts to make a gallon of oil.* 



III. The urii (also called 3Iawre), or bread-fruit tree (Arto- 



* A gallon of cocoa-nut oil is worth, by way of barter for goods, about one franc 

 and a half, and for specie one franc. The adjoining islands abound in cocoa-nuts, 

 Anaa, one of the Paomotu group,- being capable of delivering from 300 to 400 tons of 

 oil per annum. 



R 2 



