PALMS. 367 



ferns (Lyqodictyori), partially no doubt from some super- 

 stitious notions, but partially also to keep out the wet. 

 The trunks of the Balabala, cut into ornamental forms, 

 are frequently observed around tombs, temples, churches, 

 and bures, presenting a pretty effect. The little sticks 

 which the chiefs carry, stuck under their turban, and 

 with which they scratch their heads, are also made of 

 Balabala. The young leaves are eaten in times of scar- 

 city, while the soft scales covering the footstalks, or 

 more correctly speaking the stipes, of the fronds, are 

 used for stuffing pillows and cushions by the white set- 

 tlers, in preference to feathers, because they do not be- 

 come so heated, and are a real luxury in a sultry tropical 

 night. The Balabala is common all over the group, es- 

 pecially on the weather-side, and its trunk attains the 

 height of about twenty-five feet, and eight or ten inches 

 in thickness. The fronds form a magnificent crown of 

 gigantic dimensions, rendering the plant a noble feature 

 in the landscape. 



Palms play an important part in the domestic econo- 

 my of the natives. The Fijian s are the only people who 

 in their barbarous state had a collective term for the 

 great natural order of palms, applying that of "Niu" 

 to all those inhabiting their islands, and adding specific 

 names to distinguish the one from the other ; viz. : 



Niu dina = Cocos mtcifera, Linn. 



Niu sawa = Kentia exorrliiza, Wendl. 



Niu niu = Cagicake = Ptycliosperma filiferum, Wendl. 



Niu soria = Sogo = Sagus Vitiensis, Wendl. 



Niu masei = Sakiki = Viu = Pritchardia pacifica, Seem, et 



Wendl. 

 Niu Balaka = Ptyclwsperma Seemanm, Wendl. 



