KITCHEN VEGETABLES. 309 



leaves and fruit. The Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum, 

 Mill.), as a tropical production, is quite at home. The 

 Cajan, pigeon-pea or pea- tree (Cajanns Indicus, Spr.), 

 introduced from the United States, is cultivated success- 

 fully. Its seeds, when young, make a tolerably good 

 substitute for green peas, acceptable in a country well 

 supplied with both wild and tame ducks. The Dra- 

 lawa (Lablab vulgaris, Savi) grows in great abundance 

 about Somosomo, covering whole acres of ground, and 

 if not indigenous, has at all events become perfectly na- 

 turalized in that and various other parts of the group. 

 It seems to bear without interruption throughout the 

 year, its numerous white flowers being always seen 

 wherever the plant has established itself. The beans 

 are extremely tender, and after having been boiled in 

 water and salt, oil and vinegar will convert them into 

 an excellent salad. A species of Dolichos was noticed 

 at Levuka, in the garden of a French settler. Indian 

 corn (Zea Mays, Linn.), termed " Sila ni papalagi" 

 (i. e. foreign Sila), from its resemblance in habit and 

 foliage to the indigenous Sila (Coix Lachryma, L.) 

 our Job's tears has as yet been raised sparingly, as 

 the Fijians and Polynesians in general have never been 

 accustomed to grow any grain whatever, and most of 

 the white settlers are English, ignorant of the innu- 

 merable uses to which the Americans apply it. There 

 is only one rather inferior kind, a small yellow-grained 

 one, and the introduction of the larger and better sorts 

 would be a boon easily conferred upon the islands. The 

 settlers sadly complain that their domestic fowls (toa) 

 become wild, and instead of keeping near the houses 



