302 A MISSION TO VITI. 



is very agreeable to the palate. Altogether the Kawai 

 may be pronounced one of the finest esculent roots in 

 the world, and I strongly recommend its cultivation in 

 those parts of the tropics still deprived of it. 



Several species of wild yam, such as the Tikau, Tivoli, 

 and Kaile, trail in graceful festoons over shrubs and trees 

 of nearly every wood. The Tivoli (Dioscorea nummularia, 

 Lam.) has a prickly stem like that of the cultivated 

 Kawai, and climbs very high ; its roots are long, cylin- 

 drical, and as thick as a man's arm. When engaged in 

 the forest the natives will often dig up these roots with 

 a stick, roast, and eat them on the spot, when they taste 

 extremely palatable. The Kaile (Helmia lulbifera, Ktli.) 

 somewhat resembles the Tivoli in look, and is often found 

 entwined with it, but its stems and branches are round 

 and unarmed, and its roots, being acrid, require to be 

 soaked in water previous to boiling. The dish prepared 

 from them has the appearance of mashed potatoes, and 

 is made so thin that it can only be eaten with spoons, 

 which are either furnished by the leathery leaves of the 

 spoon- tree or Tatakia (Acacia laurifolia, Willd.), or any 

 other substantial leaf that happens to be at hand. 



The Taro, or, as the Fijian language has it, the Dalo 

 (Colocasia antiguorum, var. esculenta, Schott), is grown 

 on irrigated or on dry ground, perhaps more on the 

 latter than on the former. The water is never allowed 

 to become stagnant, but always kept in gentle motion. 

 When planted on dry ground, generally on land just 

 cleared, a tree or two with thick crowns are left stand- 

 ing in every field, which, as the natives justly conclude, 

 attracts the moisture, and favours the growth of the 



