50 A MISSION TO VITI. 



(i. e. foreign Vauvau), from its close resemblance to the 

 Bele, or Vauvau (Hibiscus [Abelmoschus~] Manihot, Linn.), 

 a cultivated species, the leaves of which are eaten as a 

 potherb. It is true that when foreigners speak about 

 "Vauvau" the natives of the coast know cotton is meant, 

 but in districts where cotton has not yet penetrated, as 

 for instance at Namosi, Viti Levu, one is sure to get the 

 edible Hibiscus, if Vauvau, without adding "ni papalagi" 

 (foreign), be asked for.* 



Yet, notwithstanding cotton being undoubtedly an 

 introduced plant, and although until lately no attention 

 whatever was paid to its cultivation, it has spread over 

 all the littoral parts of Fiji, and become in some locali- 

 ties perfectly naturalized. Six different kinds have come 

 to my knowledge, all of which are shrubby, and pro- 

 duce flower and fruit throughout the whole year, though 

 the greater number of pods arrive at maturity during 

 the dry season, from June to September. There are 

 two kinds of kidney-cotton, one ( Gossypium Peruvianum, 

 Cav.) having naked, the other (Gossypium sp. nov.?) 

 mossy seeds. A third kind ( Gossypium Barbadense, Linn. ) 

 has disconnected naked seeds ; a fourth ( Gossypium ar- 

 boreum, Linn.) has disconnected seeds covered with a 

 greenish moss and long staple ; a fifth is probably an 

 inferior variety of the preceding one, and only differs 

 from it in the length of the staple ; and a sixth ( Gossy- 

 pium religiosum, Linn.), being the Nankin cotton, valua- 

 ble only in certain foreign markets. The four first-men- 



* In Tahiti Gossypium Barbadense is known as " Vavau," a name evi- 

 dently identical with the Fijian " Vauvau." Nankin cotton (G. religiosum) 

 was found wild in Tahiti by Forster. 



