342 A MISSION TO VITI. 



affected parts. It is also recommended for coughs and 

 colds, in common with an Acanthaceous herb inhabiting 

 swamps (Adenosma triflora, Nees), which shares its aro- 

 matic properties. The people of Somosomo declare 

 that the leaves of the Vulokaka (Vitex trifoliata, Linn.), 

 with which their beach is thickly lined, when reduced 

 to a pulp by chewing, are employed by them for stuffing 

 hollow teeth. The leaves and bark of another sea-side 

 shrub, the Sinn mataiavi (Wikstroemia Indica, C. A. 

 Meyer), are employed for coughs, the bark alone for 

 sores. 



Through a native connected with the Wesleyan mis- 

 sion, I succeeded in purchasing a knowledge of the drugs 

 employed about Bau for procuring abortion. It appears 

 there are five plants which furnish them, two Mal- 

 vacese, a Biittneriacea, a Convolvulacea, and a Liliacea 

 namely, the Kalakalauaisoni (Hibiscus diversifolius, 

 Jacq.), a spiny shrub, growing in swamps ; the Waki- 

 waki (Hibiscus [Abelmoschus\ moschatus, Moench), 

 closely resembling the latter, and bearing large yellow 

 flowers like it, but being destitute of spines, and inva- 

 riably preferring dry ground ; the Siti ( Grewia pruni- 

 folia, A. Gray), a small tree, abounding in the groups, 

 and producing a fruit eaten by the Fijian bat ; the Wa- 

 vuti (Pharbitis insularis, Chois.), a blue-flowering sea- 

 side creeper, and the Ti Kula, Te Kula, or Va sili da- 

 mudamu (Dracaena ferrea, Linn., var.). Of the Kalaka- 

 lauaisoni, Wakiwaki, and the Wa buti, the juice of the 

 leaves, of the Ti kula, that of the heart of the leaves 

 and surface of the trunk^ are used. The Ti kula is held 

 to be the most efficacious, and only administered when 



