POLYNESIA 201 



and they are probably forms of M . fehi. Bennett writes : 

 " The Fei, or mountain plantain, beaten into a pulp, and 

 diluted with coco-nut milk or w#ter till brought to the 

 consistency of arrowroot as ordinarily prepared in England, 

 was formerly much used in the Society Islands. Large 

 quantities were usually prepared for every festival ; a kind 

 of cistern was made, with a framework of wood and a lining 

 of leaves, which, when filled, was a sufficient load for six 

 men to carry. Seven or eight of these were sometimes 

 filled and carried on men's shoulders to one feast." 



Moseley in " Notes of a Naturalist " writes of his 

 experience of this plant at an altitude of 1600 ft. in the 

 mountains of Tahiti : " The plant is closely similar in 

 appearance to an ordinary banana, but the large bunches 

 of fruit, instead of hanging down, stand up erect from the 

 summit of the stem. They are bright yellow when ripe. 

 ... A fire is lighted and a bunch of these wild bananas 

 is thrown into it. The outer skin of the fruit becomes 

 blackened and charred, but when it is peeled off, a yellow 

 floury interior is reached, which is most excellent eating 

 and like a mealy potato. This is one of the very few plants 

 which, growing spontaneously and in abundance, afford a 

 really good and sufficient source of food to man. Hardly 

 any improvement could be wished for in the fruit by 

 cultivation. It could not but be most advantageous that 

 the plant should be introduced into many other tropical 

 countries." 



NEW CALEDONIA. A curious kind of Musa grows wild 

 in New Caledonia. It produces no fruit, but it has a 

 long, thick underground stem or bulb, which is boiled 

 or roasted like a yam. The native name is " Poiete." 

 The botanical name first given to it was M. oleracca, 

 but it has been considered later to be a variety of 

 M. paradisiaca. 



PAPUA. Bananas are cultivated by the natives together 

 with vegetables and coco-nuts. The Jamaican banana 

 has been sent from Jamaica through Kew to Papua, and 

 is now well established there. F. M. Bailey states that the 



