XOTES OX LIU-KIU. 259 



most abundant crop. The sugar-cane is small, liardlv more than lour feet in 

 height, and wdth short internodes. 



Tobacco appeared to be largely grown. Its use is certainly almost as 

 general among the Liu-kiuans as it is with the Japanese, and large quantities 

 of it may be seen in the market at Xapha-kiang. It is apjiarently of the 

 same nature as the leaf cultivated in Japan, — mild and somewhat aromatic, 

 but very little care seems to be spent on its preparation. It is chiefly sun- 

 dried, but owing to its being often exposed to rain, its flavour is frequently 

 completely spoiled, and a great deal of the leaf we saw in Naplia market 

 was what, in America, would be termed " funked." 



Yam, millet, and cotton are all to be found in Great Liu-kiu, according 

 to Perry. The latter, however, cannot be very abundant. We did not see it, 

 neither does it appear that the members of the American Expedition found^t 

 actually growing, though it was noticed on the simple looms and spinning- 

 wheels of the natives. The banana is largely used for the manufacture of 

 coarse textile fabrics. It seems to be a species closely allied to Musa textilis, 

 though slightly lighter in the leaf. The true banana is, apparently, more 

 rarely grown : its fruit at least is not often seen, and what we were able to 

 obtain was of very coarse quality. Many kinds Ijoth of fruit and vegetables 

 exist on the island, but during our visit it was only with considerable 

 difficulty that anything of this description could be procured. Among the 

 former are oranges, figs, i^eaches, and water-melons. A very large turnip is 

 grown, apparently identical with the Japanese daiJcon, and carrots, parsnips, 

 pumpkins, onions, and brinjals are also cultivated. All these are, however, only 

 secondary to the enormous quantities of beans and sweet-potatoes which form 

 so large a part of the ordinary diet of the natives. The so-called " sago- 

 palm " {Cycas), which is not to be confounded -udth the true sago-pahn of the 

 Malay Archipelago and New Guinea, is very aliundant. A large cptantity of 

 it grows within the outer gates of the castle at Shiuri, and it is also planted 

 on steep and rocky hill-sides in various parts of the country — a situation 

 which would be impossible for almost any other plant or tree affording food, 

 but which, nevertheless, appears to be well suited for it. The trees grow but 

 .slowly, and it must be several years before they are sufficiently large to be 

 worth anything. 



On the whole, the Liu-kiuans are more than well oft' in the way of croj^s 

 and vegetable products generally, and though the soil is for the most part not 

 particularly good, the immense amount of care and labour expended on the 

 land to a great extent counterbalances this disadvantage. The climate is an 

 exceDent one, as I have already stated, but the farmer, here as elsewhei-e, has 

 his foes. The principal of these are droughts and typhoons. The elaborate 

 system of irrigation enables him to combat the former with more or less 



