MELANESIA. 43 



also to the plant from which it is obtained. This plant is known to 

 botanists as the piper methysticum, and is found on all the high islands 

 of the Pacific within the tropics. The liquor is an infusion of the 

 root prepared after a manner any thing but consonant with our ideas 

 of cleanliness. It is first chewed, several persons being usually 

 engaged at the same time in this part of the operation. The morsels, 

 as they are masticated, are placed in a shallow wooden bowl, and 

 when a sufficient quantity has been thus prepared, water is poured 

 upon it ; after which the infusion is strained through a mesh of the 

 fibres which form the husk of the cocoa-nut, and it is then ready for 

 drinking. The immediate effects are narcotic and stupifying. When 

 drunk to excess, it is destructive to both the bodily and mental powers. 

 The individual becomes afflicted with a general weakness and hebe- 

 tude; the mind is obscured, the flesh gradually wastes away, and, in 

 this last stage, the skin becomes covered with a white scurf repulsive 

 both to the sight and the touch. It is not known that any persons 

 die from this cause alone ; but many are, no doubt, carried off, while 

 in this weak condition, by diseases from which, under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, they would have recovered. 



The liquor, however, may be drunk in moderation, without pro- 

 ducing these injurious effects. In Samoa and Tonga, the " kava- 

 parties," or assemblies of chiefs for drinking, are occasions of much 

 state, and many ceremonies are practised in preparing and serving 

 the drink. In the eastern groups, this formality is dispensed with, 

 but the beverage is still considered one peculiarly appropriated to the 

 chiefs, for whom the plant is usually sacred or tabu. 



MELANESIA. 



The race of Oceanic negroes, either pure, or mixed with other 

 races, occupies the large island of New Guinea, with Arroo, Waygeoo, 

 My sol, and the interior of the Moluccas on the west, and New Bri- 

 tain, New Ireland, the Louisiade, the Solomon Isles, the New He- 

 brides, and New Caledonia on the east. The western portion of this 

 region forms a part of the East Indian Archipelago, bordering upon 

 the large islands inhabited by the Malay race. The result of the 

 constant and long-continued intercourse here maintained between the 

 two races, has been to people this portion of Melanesia with a hybrid 



