236 REMARKS AND OPINIONS. 



trunk of vvliich the large canoes of" the natives are 

 hollowed, attains only in the niountaihs the height 

 necessary for this purpose; you find also here and 

 there the sandefs-tree, the wood of which, so highly 

 valued in China, bestows riches on the rulers of" 

 these islands, while the oppressed people, Who are 

 obliged to collect it, are impoverished, as they are 

 taken away from their agriculture and arts. 



The taro-root, (^Arum esculentum^ beaten to a sofi 

 pap, after it has been boiled, constitutes the chief* 

 food of the people. Woahoo is the most fertile 

 of the Sandwich islands, from which Owhyee re* 

 ceives a part of the taro necessary for its consump- 

 tion. The Cultivation of the valleys behind Hana=» 

 rura is remarkable. Artificial ponds support, evert 

 on the mountains, the taro plantations, which are 

 ilt the same time fish-ponds; and all kinds of useful 

 plants are cultivated on the intervening dams. 

 Many imported plants are novV cultivated close to 

 the originally native, but the people who are 

 attached to their ancient mode of life, make use of 

 only a few of them. Among these the tobacco 

 must be chiefly mentioned, the use Of which all 

 the nations of the earth have been equally ready 

 to adopt. The water-melon, the melon, and fruit 

 in general, have, next to tobacco, met With the 

 best reception. Besides the pernicious kava> fer- 

 mented liquors are prepared from the tea-root, 

 {Dracaena terminalis ;) but the sugar-cane is not 

 yet employed for this purpose. 



