10S 



or kava. When well grown it is a noble, pictu- 

 resque-looking plant, worthy of cultivation in our 

 English hot-houses. The root is the part used, 

 and the plant is easily propagated by cuttings. Of 

 late, attention has been called to the medicinal pro- 

 perties which the plant is said to possess, and a 

 quantity of it has been exported to the Australian 

 colonies. The Fijians give presents of its roots to 

 their chiefs, friends, and anyone that they wish to 

 propitiate. Between them and some of the traders 

 it has a recognised market value, at which it is bought 

 and sold, varying according to the supply and demand. 

 The best quality is grown in the mountains where it 

 grows most luxuriantly, and in great abundance. 

 The Pijians say that the bird's-eye pepper or chillie 

 plant, boro ni papain gl, or foreign boro (capsicum 

 frutescens), is not a native of their country. If so, 

 it has long been naturalised, and is now one of the 

 most common plants in these islands. It bears an 

 abundant crop of fruit, very pungent in quality, from 

 which excellent cayenne pepper could be made. It 

 is largely used by the settlers to give pungency to 

 curries, sauces, &c. Some kinds of domestic fowls, 

 such as turkeys, guinea fowls, &c, are very fond of its 

 fruit, and it is said to give their flesh a pleasant spicy 

 flavour. 



Among the natives, the use of cotton cloth for 

 8ulvs is annually increasing. Still, their wants in 

 tin's respect arc to a great extent supplied by the 

 bark of the masi (broussonetia papyrifera), which 

 la extensively cultivated for the purpose. The muci- 

 lage,&c., i^ beaten out of the bark with wooden mallets; 

 and t he glutinous nature of the fibre serves in a great 

 measure to join pieces of the bark together till the 



