KAVA OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 233 



the size of a plum, jnilpy, and of a sweetish taste, containing a 

 single seed. The pulp is esteemed by the natives, as is also the 

 seed, but the latter in a raw state is highly poisonous. It is, 

 however, rendered wholesome by being first steamed and tlien 

 buried in the earth for some days ; but even when thus prepared 

 fatal results have arisen. In early times such food as this was 

 used in periods of scarcity. It is, however, now displaced by 

 the introduction of other food plants. 



Kat (Catlia ed'idis), a shrub of the Spindle Tree family 

 (Celastraceae). It attains a height of 10 or more feet, and 

 has rusty-coloured leaves not unlike those of the strawberry 

 tree. It is a native of Yemen and other parts of Arabia, where 

 it is extensively cultivated for its leaves, which have properties 

 similar to those of tea and coffee, and they have been used by 

 the Arabs as such from time immemorial. They are either used 

 for preparing a decoction, or are chewed. They are considered 

 by tlie Arabs highly stimulating, producing wakefulness and 

 hilarity. This tea is brought to Aden in bundles on camels to 

 the amount of 300 camel loads per year. 



Kauri Pine. (Sec Dammar.) 



Kava, or Ava {Pijm- methysticum), a knotted, erect, soft- 

 stemmed shrub of the Pepper family (Piperacese), 8 or 9 feet 

 high, with heart-shaped, dark-green leaves. It is a native of 

 many of the islands of the Pacific, where it is in common use 

 for making a stimulating and intoxicating drink, which is pre- 

 pared by chewing the root and ejecting the saliva into a bowl, 

 varying in size according to the rank and number of the parties 

 for which it is prepared. After a certain quantity of juice is 

 obtained, water is added ; it is then well stirred and strained, 

 when it is fit to drink, and the whole party partake of it. The 

 ladle, as it may be called, is a bunch of tow (fibre of the Paper 

 Mulberry, or of Hibiscus tiliaccits), which is dipped into the liquid 

 and squeezed into the drinking cup. The late Captain Sir Everard 

 Home informed me that he was a guest of a royal banquet at 

 Tonga-ta-boo, and witnessed the whole operation of j)reparing 

 the drink, and that as much etiquette and ceremony is observed 



