54 THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



The one drawback to Fijian beef is that it is sometimes very 

 tough, in consequence of being cooked the very day it is 

 killed. The papaw (Cerica papaya) grows, however, luxuriantly 

 all over the Pacific, and is a remedy for this. The juice 

 is found to possess the property of rendering tough meat 

 tender when boiled with it. If the unripe fruit be placed in 

 the water in which the toughest meat is to be cooked, it 

 is found to render it perfectly digestible, and the same results 

 are observed if the meat be merely washed with the juice 

 of the fruit. The thick white milky juice, when extracted 

 from the unripe papaw, contains properties similar to those of 

 pepsine; and it is possible that it may be susceptible of 

 chemical preservation, and become a valuable preparation. 

 Tough meat is not unknown in England, and surely the papaw 

 could be canned and sent over here, even if no other mode of 

 preservation is arrived at. 



Among indigenous fruit and vegetables, tomatoes grow 

 wild, but are smaller than the cultivated European variety; 

 the fruit pronounced ' wee ' has a sharp flavour, stringy flesh and 

 a large stone in the centre ; the moli-apple, also growing wild, 

 gives a refreshing cleansing of the mouth ; while the grenadilla, 

 common to the West Indies, is also to be found in abundance. 

 The pine-apple, limes and oranges, shaddocks, citron and sweet 

 lemons, all grow wild, as do bananas, which are now being 

 extensively exported. Pomegranates, gourds, and vegetable- 

 marrows flourish abundantly, but the latter are not seen 

 as often as they might be. Oranges of the most delicious 

 flavour are to be had very cheap, sixpence purchasing a 

 basket containing thirty to forty, while limes are to be had 

 for the asking in most localities. The young leaves of 

 the cocoa-nut tree make a most delicious salad if properly 

 dressed ; but all of us know who sends the cooks, and Fiji is 



