84 FOOD. 



is afterwards allowed to decay on the banks, and the water of the 

 stream is contaminated for a long time after, whilst the air in the 

 vicinit}'^ is impregnated with the unpleasant sour odour of the de- 

 caying debris. 



The diet of these islanders is essentially a vegetable one, and 

 most of the common articles of food have already been referred to. 

 Yams, sweet potatoes, two kinds of taro,^ cocoa-nuts, plantains, and 

 sugar-cane form the staple substances of their diet. In St. Christoval 

 and the adjacent islands the yam is more extensively cultivated ; 

 whilst in the islands of Bougainville Straits the taro and the sago- 

 palm are more usually grown and the yam is less preferred. The 

 bread-fruit appears to be but an occasional article of food ; and it 

 was only now and then, as in the vicinity of the village of Toma in 

 Fauro Island, that I observed the tree in any numbers. In Bou- 

 gainville Straits there appears to be but one variety of the bread- 

 fruit tree {Artocarpus incisa) which lipens in August. Its leaves 

 are deeply lobed (jnnnatisect) and have an even surface ; and the 

 fruit are stalked, seedless, rough, and of a somewhat oval shape. In 

 Santa Anna there is another variety of the Artocarpus incisa, the 

 fruit of which has seeds and ripens in October. In the plantations 

 of Ti'easury Island I came upon a tree which is apparently a variety' 

 of the Jack-fruit tree (Artocarpus integrifolia) ; it is known to the 

 natives as the " tafati," whilst the bread-fruit tree is known in this 

 part of the group as the " balia." Two cucurbitaceous fruits are 

 commonly grown in the islands of Bougainville Straits. One is a 

 large pumpkin, and the other is an oval " popo," about six inches 

 long, known to the natives as the " kusiwura ; " it is a variety of 

 Cuciimis melo, and is a very good substitute for the ordinary cucum- 

 ber. Amongst other vegetables grown in the cultivated patches of 

 this region are two varieties of a species of Solanum, probabl}^ 

 repandiim, which are known to the natives as " kobureki " and 

 " kirkami ; " and a second species of yam, Dioscorea saliva (" alapa")."'^ 

 Amongst the fruit-trees grown by the natives of Bougainville 

 Straits in their plantations are the Papaw-tree (Carica Papai/a): a 



^ The small taro, which also grows wild on the sides of the streams and is called " koko " 

 in Bougainville Straits, is apparently Cdocasia csculenta. The large taro, which grows to a 

 height of 7 or 8 feet, and is known as the "kalafai," may be the same as the "via kana "' of 

 Fiji [Cyrtosferma tdulis). I cannot, however, speak with any authority on this subject, as I 

 collected no specimens. 



- Traders occasionally introduce foreign vegetables. Gorai, the Shortland chief, grows a 

 litt'e maize in one of his plantations. 



