92 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
heavily with leaves on the outside. Everything was scrupulously 
clean. Inside was some European furniture such as a table, a few 
chairs and an oil lamp. This table is historic as it is reported to 
be the one on which was signed the document which turned the 
islands over to the British through King Cakobau. There were a 
few pictures on the walls and, contrary to the usual custom, there 
were several windows in addition to two or three doors. The chief 
wore the native sulu consisting of a rectangular piece of white 
cloth about the size of an ordinary towel simply wrapped around 
the loins and tucked or rolled in at the waist. He also wore a 
white shirt with a collar and neck-tie, but no shoes while at home; 
however, he wore the regulation European clothes while on official 
duty at Suva. We ate alone at dinner attended by a man servant. 
No native woman entered the house while I was there. We had 
soup, chicken, vegetables and very good coffee. Afterward he 
seemed to enjoy one of my cigars and we had a delightful chat 
in which he showed considerable acquaintance with world affairs. 
Ratu Popé then invited the other visitors to join us in a kava 
drinking ceremony which partook of the nature of a solemn ritual. 
Kava, a drink known all through Polynesia, is made from a root 
ealled ‘‘yangona.’’ The fibers are separated by pounding in water 
so that the juice is extracted and they are then strained out with 
an instrument resembling a bunch of fine twigs. The remaining 
liquid is whitish or milky and has an aromatic twang, rather bitter 
and peppery. At the ceremony in the evening I was seated at the 
right of the chief and the other visitors sat along the sides of the 
room in chairs brought for the purpose. Near the center of one 
end of the house, opposite most of the visitors, was the kava bowl 
about three feet across supported on short wooden legs, shallow, 
like a great wooden soup plate. The men who were to take part 
sat cross-legged back of the bowl. A string of cowry shells 
stretched out from the front indicated that it was the property of 
the chief. The main functionary, himself a subordinate chief, took 
a kava eup made of the half shell of a coconut, stirred the fluid 
solemnly for a while, then filled the cup and handed it to a second 
man who, kneeling, gave it to the visitor regarded as the guest of 
honor. The recipient took the cup, which is almost as thin as an 
egg-shell and pointed at the bottom, in both hands. Etiquette re- 
quired that he empty the cup at one draught and then spin it on 
the floor by a dexterous twist of the wrist. At the same time all 
the men clapped their hands rather slowly and solemnly and cried, 
