THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE 433 



ceus) is alone used for this purpose: it is the same which 

 serves for poles to carry any burden, and for the floating 

 out-riggers to their canoes. The fire was produced in a few 

 seconds: but to a person who does not understand the art, 

 it requires, as I found, the greatest exertion; but at last, to 

 my great pride, I succeeded in igniting the dust. The 

 Gaucho in the Pampas uses a different method: taking an 

 elastic stick about eighteen inches long, he presses one end 

 on his breast, and the other pointed end into a hole in a piece 

 of wood, and then rapidly turns the curved part, like a car- 

 penter's centre-bit. The Tahitians having made a small fire 

 of sticks, placed a score of stones, of about the size of 

 cricket-balls, on the burning wood. In about ten minutes the 

 sticks were consumed, and the stones hot. They had previ- 

 ously folded up in small parcels of leaves, pieces of beef, 

 fish, ripe and unripe bananas, and the tops of the wild arum. 

 These green parcels were laid in a layer between two layers 

 of the hot stones, and the whole then covered up with 

 earth, so that no smoke or steam could escape. In about 

 a quarter of an hour, the whole was most deliciously cooked. 

 The choice green parcels were now laid on a cloth of 

 banana leaves, and with a cocoa-nut shell we drank the 

 cool water of the running stream ; and thus we enjoyed our 

 rustic meal. 



I could not look on the surrounding plants without ad- 

 miration. On every side were forests of banana; the fruit 

 of which, though serving for food in various ways, lay in 

 heaps decaying on the ground. In front of us there was an 

 extensive brake of wild sugar-cane; and the stream was 

 shaded by the dark green knotted stem of the Ava, so fa- 

 mous in former days for its powerful intoxicating effects. I 

 chewed a piece, and found that it had an acrid and unpleasant 

 taste, which would have induced any one at once to 

 have pronounced it poisonous. Thanks to the missionaries, 

 this plant now thrives only in these deep ravines, innocuous to 

 every one. Close by I saw the wild arum, the roots of which, 

 when well baked, are good to eat, and the young leaves 

 better than spinach. There was the wild yam, and a liliaceous 

 plant called Ti, which grows in abundance, and has a soft 

 brown root, in shape and size like a huge log of wood: this 



