TANNA. 213 



The natunil products of the island are tlie cocoa-nut 

 tree and other palms ; a great variety of ferns, the banana, 

 and breadfruit tree, tlie rose apple, taro, arrow-root, sweet 

 potato, a sort of fig-leafed cabbage, and sugar-cane. The 

 yam is very extensively and carefully cultivated. The 

 Missionaries had some four feet long, and weighing forty 

 and even up to fifty pounds. The plants introduced are, 

 the orange, lemon, citron, the pine-apple, the papau, the 

 coffee plant, and pepper tree. I have already observed 

 that the ava (Piper Mephysticum) is plentiful. 



Eats and different kinds of bats are the only indigenous 

 mammals. Pigs, cats, and dogs have been introduced. The 

 attention of the islanders is principally directed towards 

 raising pigs. Whales abound on the coast. 



Barndoor fowls thrive well. Parrots, parroquets and 

 pigeons are seen in great numbers, and of beautiful plumage. 

 Swallows are plentiful, and varieties of small birds are seen 

 in twos and threes. In the vicinity of the volcano is found 

 a large bird that lays its eggs on a mound of earth, which 

 it has made for the purpose ; it does not fly, but runs so 

 swiftly that it is seldom caught. 



As to serpents it is questionable whether any exist. 

 There are four kinds of hzards, and, moreover, a large black 

 species of which the natives are much afraid ; they say its 

 bite is deadly, and connected with it they have a tradition 

 of the fall. Two species of turtles are often speared in the 

 bays round the island. 



Many species of beautiful fish are taken, l)ut they are dry 



