SPICES. 295 



rolled up and strained through a fine basket lined with 

 fern leaves. It is then carried away in bamboos, and 

 for several days exposed to the air, when the fluid is 

 gently poured off, and a sediment, the Eerega of Fiji or 

 turmeric of commerce, is found at the bottom. A species 

 of ginger (Zingiber Zerumbet, Rose.) also abounds in the 

 lower districts of the group, where it is called " Beta." 

 The rhizome, though less pungent than that of the spe- 

 cies exported from China, has been found to make tole- 

 rably good preserves, and answers all the other purposes 

 for which genuine ginger (Zingiber officinale, Linn.) is 

 commonly employed. During our journey we often 

 used it with turmeric, a few leaves of an aromatic Zingi- 

 beraceous plant termed " Cevuga " (Amomum sp.), and 

 a few fruits of the bird's-eye pepper for making curry, 

 which, all the ingredients being fresh, proved of excel- 

 lent flavour. A species of Nutmeg (Myristica castanece- 

 folia, A. Gray), termed " Male," is found in the larger 

 islands, forming trees sixty to eighty feet high, but 

 yielding a very inferior kind of timber, which rapidly 

 decays when exposed to the influence of the weather. 

 Both its mace and nut prove a good substitute for those 

 of the genuine nutmeg (Myristica moschata, Linn). The 

 " nut " was turned to no account until the whites 

 pointed out its valuable properties. It is about the size 

 of a pigeon's egg ; the mace (arillus) is of a fine pink 

 colour, and the shape of the nut it encloses is too oblong 

 to allow this kind of nutmeg ever to be passed off for the 

 genuine and best sorts of the Indian Archipelago, though 

 the Fijian produce may resemble them in every other 

 respect. Bird's-eye pepper (Capsicum frutescens, Linn.) 



