81 



turned over on its side, or upside down. Boys follow, 

 and break up these lumps by blows from short sticks, 

 pulverizing the soil with their hands. 



Among native food plants the banana may be 

 ranked after the yam and dalo in order of merit. This 

 is more especially the case in the interior of Viti Levu, 

 where the people have not so many cocoa-nut trees 

 as those who live on the coast, and in the smaller 

 islands, where the cocoa-nut abounds. Even then the 

 bananas are largely used for food, roasted (when 

 green), raw (when ripe), also cooked with cocoa-nut 

 milk and the juice of the sugar cane, as a vakalolo 

 or pudding. Banana plantations abound everywhere, 

 and extensively so in Colo, i.e., the mountain districts 

 of Viti Levu. They are planted along the sides of the 

 road to shade the traveller from the sun, sometimes 

 forming avenues miles in length or more. The fruit 

 on these trees is tabu, that is forbidden to travellers. 

 The tabu is invariably respected by the natives. 



Bananas are planted in rows, and the trees are 

 put down at about 8 feet apart, and the same dis- 

 tance is allowed between each tree. Suckers from 

 the sides of old roots are used as plants, the leaves 

 being cut off before planting for the reason already 

 mentioned. The soil in the place where the young 

 tree is to be planted, is dug in a circle of about 3 

 feet in diameter, and to the depth of 2 feet, and well 

 manipulated. The young trees bear in about two or 

 three years after planting. These plantations are fre- 

 quently formed on land that has yielded a crop of 

 yams or dalo. The latter is sometimes planted along 

 with bananas, whose leaves, as the natives say, shade 

 it from the sun, or more correctly they shade the 

 ground, and prevent a too rapid evaporation cf mois- 



Q 2019. F 



