18 Traiisactions. — Miscellaneous. 



Maranta are all American, and were discovered there iu 

 cultivation by the early European navigators. The manioc 

 is now largely cultivated throughout the whole of the tropical 

 world. On the west coast of Africa, where it is called 

 cassava, the starch, called tapioca, obtained from it is largely 

 used by the natives. Livingstone," in his journey to Loanda, 

 noticing the prevalence of weak sight amongst the inhabitants, 

 attributed it to a too general use of this food ; but starch does 

 not seem to have been anciently used by the peoples of Africa, 

 for Speke,f Elton, | and Stanley § make no mention of it, 

 even in countries where the cassava is at present abundantly 

 cultivated. 



The importance of dried starch to a people who were not 

 in possession of any of the cereals, as an article of food that 

 might be stored, is obvious. Whether its general use by the 

 ancient Americans and the Malayo-Polynesian peoples be- 

 speaks a connection, or was merely indicative of a primitive con- 

 dition of the agricultural art, we are not in a position to decide. 



Tahiti Chestnut {Biocarpns edulis).- — In the islands east- 

 ward of New Guinea this tree seems constantly to have been 

 planted by the natives. The Eev. Dr. Gill|| mentions that 

 one was pointed out to him on the Island of Vaitupu, one of 

 the Ellice Group, as having been planted by the first natives 

 who arrived from Samoa ; but whether it was an indigenous 

 species or introduced by man he does not say, though pro- 

 bably, as Vaitupu is a mere coral island, the latter was the 

 case. As far as I am aware, the chestnut did not find its way 

 into the Malay Islands in ancient times ; and this seems to be 

 the case with regard to all the plants brought into cultivation 

 in the eastern islands of the great chain. Probably the pro- 

 ductions of the larger masses of land that constitute the Malay 

 Islands were much superior or better fitted for the use of man. 

 Another species belonging to the same order as the chestnut, 

 the Mimtisops kmiki, produces a fruit which Dr. Gill says is 

 very largely used as food by the natives of southern New 

 Guinea; but this tree also seems to have remained confined to 

 its original habitat. All the species of this order, regarded by 

 De Candolle as cultivated plants, belong to the American 

 Continent, and were brought into use by the ancient inhabi- 

 tants of the regions in which they are found. As their culture 

 has not much extended since they became known to Euro- 

 peans, we can only conclude that the fruits they produce are 



* " Travels in South Afiica." Dr. D. Livingstone, 

 t "Journal of Discovery of the Source of the Nile." J. H. Speke. 

 + " Travels among African Lakes and Mountains." Elton and 

 Cotterill. 



§ "Through the Dark Continent." H. M. Stanley. 

 II "Life in the Southern Isles." Rev. Wyatt Gill. 



