310 A MISSION TO VITI. 



take up their abode in the woods, where they have to be 

 shot when required. If more Indian corn were grown, 

 and these birds fed with it regularly, they would pro- 

 bably preserve their domestic habits as thoroughly as 

 they do in other countries. Hitherto no attempts have 

 been made to cultivate our so-called European vege- 

 tables in the cooler regions of the mountains, where 

 they would doubtless thrive well. None have been 

 raised except on the coast, where the heat of the tropics 

 is not moderated by elevation, and the unchecked in- 

 fluence of the sea air proves destructive to many kinds. 

 Yet even here cabbages and turnips have been produced 

 from foreign seeds, and parsley may be looked upon as 

 a permanent acquisition. 



Bananas and plantains understanding by the for- 

 mer those Musas the fruit of which may be eaten raw, 

 by the latter those which have to undergo some pro- 

 cess of cooking before eating are known by the col- 

 lective name of " Vudi." There are about eighteen 

 different species, or rather say kinds (for the boundary 

 between species and variety has never been determined 

 with accuracy in this genus) all of which bear distinc- 

 tive names.* With the exception of one, the Soaqa 

 (Musa Troglodytarnm, Linn.), none are found wild, and 

 this wild one even is occasionally met with in planta- 

 tions. It grows spontaneously in the depth of the forests, 



* The following are the different kinds known to me: Vudi ni papa- 

 iagi (Musa Chinensis, Sweet [Cavendishi, Paxt.]), Soaqa (Musa Troglo- 

 dytarum, Linn.), Balawa ni Rakiraki, Bati, Dreli, Buli, Droledrole, Gone- 

 gone, Leve ni Ika, Mudramudra, Soqo, Tumoutala, Ura, Vudi dina, Vudi 

 Kalakala, Vudi ni Toga, Waiwai Leka, Waiwai Salusalu, Waiwai Vula, 

 and Sei. 



