80 FOOD. 



Mendana, seized and carried oil' to their ships the stores of these 

 ahiionds; as tliey called them, which they found in the houses of the 

 unfortunate natives. Accordino; to Miklouho-Maclay, the inhabitants 

 of the Maclay Coast of New Guinea store up the nuts of the Cana- 

 riiim commune between May and Jul}^^ Labillardiere, writin<:j at 

 the end of last century, tells us that the natives of Amboina lay in 

 a large stock cf the kernels of the Canarium for their voyacjes.^ 



With reference to the mode of cooking employed, I should re- 

 mark that it varies in different parts of the group. In St. Christo- 

 val and the adjacent islands very palatable cakes are produced by 

 mashing together the taro, cocoa-nut, plantain, and kanary-nut. 

 Portions of the paste are placed between leaves in a pit in the 

 ground in the midst of hot ashes and heated cooking-stones, and 

 the whole is covered over with earth and left undisturbed for some 

 time. The vegetables may be also cooked entire in this manner. 

 Stone-boiling is also employed in this part of the group in* cooking 

 vegetables and fish. A laro;e wooden bowl, about two feet long and 

 containing water, is filled with yams, breadfruit, and other vege- 

 tables. Red hot cooking-stones of the size of the two fists are then 

 taken out of the fii-e and dropped into the bowl until the water 

 begins to boil. The top is then covered over with several layers of 

 large leaves which are weighed down by stones placed on them. 

 The heat is thus retained in the bowl, and after an hour the leaves 

 are removed when the contents are found to be daintily cooked.^ 

 In volcanic islands, such as Simbo, the natives utilise the steam- 

 holes or f umaroles for cooking their food. Whilst I was examining 

 a solfatara in this island, I found that I had unconsciously trespassed 

 within the precincts of a public cooking-place ; and in order to 

 silence the clamour of the native women, I had to distribute neck- 

 laces to all. 



In the islands of Bougainville Straits, where the art of pottery is 

 known, the vegetables are usually boiled in the cooking-pots which 

 are not cleaned out after use. The leaves of the small taro are thus 

 cooked and make an excellent substitute for spinach. The plan- 



1 " Proc. Lin. Soo . iSi.S.\VV Vol. x., p. 349. 



- " Account of a Voyage in Search of La Perouse." London. ISOO (Vol. i., p. 377). 



3 This method of cooking, aptly termed "stone-boiling" by Dr. Tylor ("Early History of 

 Mankind:" 3rd edit., p. 203), which is often employed by savage races unacquainted with 

 the art of pottery, is represented in our own day by the old-fashioned tea-urn. As late as 

 IGOO, the wild Irish are said to have warmed their milk with a stone first cast into the fire. 

 <"Tylor's Primitive Culture : " vol. i., p. 40.) 



