FEWKES] SECULAR CUSTOMS 51 



The writer has been told by relial)le authorities that there still 

 remain in Cuba evidences of old Indian irrigation ditches, but he has 

 not seen theni. No evidence of this method of watering- the farms was 

 observed in Porto Rico, nor is evidence of prehistoric irrigation on 

 that island known to the author. 



The Haitian method of preparing fields for agriculture was to clear 

 them of vegetation by fire. The burning of the brush was apparently 

 done by men; the remaining processes of agriculture were performed 

 by the women. In planting they used a sharpened stick called coa as 

 a drill for making holes in the earth for sprouts, cuttings, or .seeds." 



The ancient Porto Kicans utilized for food a large numlier of native 

 or introduced plants and in .some parts of the island were essentially 

 frugivorous. We know the names of a few of their vegetable foods, 

 which in all probability were the same as those of the other West 

 Indians, and concerning which there are many references hy the early 

 writers. Corn was one of the important articles of diet, but a bread 

 called cassava, prepared from the root of the manioc, was the main 

 food supply. 



Some islanders of the West Indies lived wholly on easdlii (cassam), 

 but they had several other plants, some of which were adopted later 

 as foods b}' civilized races. Among the latter are roots called ar/cs 

 and batata (sweet potatoes), five varieties of which are mentioned — 

 aniguama7\ atibiuneix, (/uacaca,^ guanaivma, and guanano; but these 

 differed very little from one another and are possibly the .same. The 

 Indians of Haiti also cultivated plants called mani and yahutia, the 

 leaves and roots of which they ate, and another food plant called 

 axi was known and cultivated throughout the island. They likewise 

 raised for food plants known as Urenes,'^ and pineapples of different 

 kinds called yayama., honiama, and yayagua. The fruits, anon., gua- 

 ndhana^ cauallos, and mameyeti, all of which are aboriginal names, 

 were eaten and much prized. It would be an important contribution 

 to our knowledge of the diet of the aboriginal West Indians to con- 

 sider other food plants mentioned by the early historians, for the 

 islanders utilized many plants that would have an economic value if 

 added to the diet of civilized people of the Tropics. 



The two principal foods of the aboriginal Porto Ricans were a bread 

 made of corn meal and the cakes called cassava,'' made of the root of 

 the sweet and bitter yucca. The preparation of ca.ssava is a compli- 

 cated process, since the bitter manioc root contains poisonous elements 

 which must be eliminated before its starch can be eaten. Judging from 

 Benzoni's account of the preparation of this root the aborigines of the 



« Alvaro Reinoso, Agrieultura de loa Indigenes de Cuba y Haiti, Paris. 1881. 

 b Gua is apparently the article or some similar prefix. 



cSee Renato de Grosourdy, El Mi^dico BotAnico Criollo, pts i and ii, Paris. 1864. 

 dThe latter, essentially a South American food, is significant in the studyof .\ntillean racial (irifjins, 

 There are still in the island of Porto Rico good cassava-bread makers. 



