88 FOOD. 



of the Philippines. The fruit of the " aligesi " (Aleurites ?), a stout 

 climber common in the woods of Treasury, has a pleasantly 

 flavoured kernel like that of the kanary-nut ; and on one occasion 

 my party and I lunched on these kernels ; the outer pulp of the 

 fruit has a dry scented but by no means unpleasant flavour. The 

 kernels of the fruit of a stout tree that grows on the verge of the 

 mangrove-swamps in Fauro Island, and which is probably Sapivbin 

 indicmn, are said to be edible by the natives ; my natives and I 

 partook of them on one occasion when one man became very sick 

 for some time, and I afterwards found that it was an euphorbiace- 

 ous tree, a circumstance which explained his illness ; I should 

 therefore doubt the edibility of these nuts. This tz-ee is known by 

 the same native name ("aligesi") as the preceding, which apparently 

 belongs to the same order. The white kernels of the " kunuka," a 

 species of Gnetum, are cooked and eaten by the inhabitants of Fauro ; 

 this tiee grows to a height of sixty feet and has a cylindrical pro- 

 minently ringed trunk. 



The growing tops of several species of palms are much appreci- 

 ated by the natives of Bougainville Straits; and on several occasions 

 I have largely made my lunch off" them. They are usually eaten 

 uncooked. The top of the common Caryota palm (" eala ") is often 

 preferred. Mr. Marsden ^ and Mr. Crawfurd ^ inform us that in the 

 Malay Archipelago the growing top of the same or of an allied 

 species of Caryota (C. urens) is a favourite article of food. It is 

 there known as the true " mountain cabbage," and Mr. Marsden 

 tells us that in Sumatra it is preferred to the cocoa-nut. Amongst 

 other palms which in Bougainville Straits supply in their growing 

 tops the so-called cabbage are the " momo," a species of Areca, the 

 " sensisi," a species of Cyrtostachys, and the " kisu." 



I have already referred to the fact that the small taro grows 

 wild in the ravines and on the banks of the streams in this region. 

 A very savoury vegetable soup is made from the leaves and unopened 

 spathe of a small arum that grows wild on the banks of the streams 

 in Fauro Island. It is a species of Schizmatoglottis and is known 

 to the natives as the " kuraka." I should here allude to a wild yam 

 which I found during One of my excursions in this island. The 

 mountain-j)lantain, which grows on the sides of the valleys, and in 

 moist, sheltered situations as high as a thousand feet above the sea, 



1 " History of Sumatra." Loudon, 1811 : p. 89. 



2 " Hibtory of the Indian Arcliipelago." Edinburgh, 1820 : vol. i., p. 447. 



