SAVU SAVU TO TAV2UNL 193 



former gentleman possessed (he has left Fiji now, to educate 

 his large family) a weather-board house, of the bungalow 

 character, while that of the Dods father, mother, and sons 

 is of the log order, and, to my mind, more substantial, though 

 of course not so imposing. After an early lunch was disposed 

 of, most of the party, reinforced by two of the younger 

 Messrs. Dods and Mr. Thomas P. Elphinston, departed to 

 practise for the cricket-match, while Black and myself went to 

 inspect some native yam plantations. 



The yam is the staple article of food in the South Pacific. 

 The shape of the root is usually long and round, and the sub- 

 stance fibrous, but remarkably farinaceous and sweet. It is 

 generally of a dark brown colour, and has a rough sort of skin. 

 The slopes of the inferior hills and the sunny banks sometimes 

 met with in the valleys are the best places for its growth. Small 

 terraces are formed one above the other, covered with a mix- 

 ture of rich earth and decayed leaves. The roots intended for 

 planting are kept by themselves in baskets till they begin to 

 sprout ; a yam is then taken, and each eye or sprout cut off, 

 with a part of the outside of the root about an inch long and 

 a quarter of an inch thick attached to it, and these are put in 

 a place to dry, the remainder of the yam being baked or boiled 

 and eaten. When the detached pieces are sufficiently dry, 

 they are carefully put in the ground with the sprouts upper- 

 most, a small portion of dried leaves is laid upon each, and the 

 whole lightly covered with mould. When the roots begin to 

 swell the cultivators keep them covered to about an inch with 

 rich light earth. Yams can be preserved longer out of the 

 ground than any other Polynesian root, and thus make excel- 

 lent sea stock. The average price in Levuka for yams is from 

 3 to 4 a ton. 



I have already mentioned the taro, on the cultivation of 



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