586 Otaheitean Mode of preparing Arrow-root, 



full of eyes like a potato, and from 2 to 3 in. in diameter. 

 The flower-stem rises directly from the root, simple ; from 2 

 to 4 ft. in height, as thick as a man's finger, bearing its flowers 

 in a loose simple umbel on the summit; and, when large and 

 full blown, it presents a beautiful and delicate appearance. 

 The leaf is large, tri-pinnatifid, segments acute, of a rich 

 shining green : it is subject to great variation in the size of 

 the segments, some leaves being much more cut, and having 

 the segments narrower, than others. When a sufficient 

 quantity of the roots is collected, they are taken to a run- 

 ning stream, or to the sea-beach, and washed ; the outer skin 

 is carefully scraped off at the same time with a shell ; and 

 those who are particular in the preparation scrape out even 

 the eyes. The root is then reduced to a pulp, by rubbing it 

 up and down a kind of rasp, made as follows : — A piece of 

 board, about 3 in. wide, and 12 ft, long, is procured, upon 

 which some coarse twine, made of the fibres of the cocoa nut 

 husk, is tightly and regularly wound, and which affords an 

 admirable substitute for a coarse rasp. The pulp, when pre- 

 pared, is washed first with salt or sea water, through a sieve 

 made of the fibrous web which protects the young frond of 

 the cocoa-nut palm ; and the starch, or arrow-root, being 

 carried through with the w T ater, is received in a wooden trough 

 made like the small canoes used by the natives. The starch 

 is allowed to settle for a few days ; the water is then strained, 

 or, more properly, poured off, and the sediment rewashed 

 with fresh (or river) water. This washing is repeated three 

 times with spring water ; after which the deposit is made into 

 balls of about 7 or 8 in. in diameter, and in this state dried in 

 the sun for twelve or twenty-four hours. The balls are then 

 broken, and the powder spread for some days in the sun to 

 dry ; after which it is carefully wrapped in tapa (the native 

 cloth), and put into baskets, and hung up in the houses. 

 The natural indolence of the people is so great, and their 

 avarice such, that but few of them will give the arrow-root 

 sufficient time to dry, if they have an opportunity of parting 

 with it, which I suspect was the case with that sent to Eng- 

 land some few years back by the missionaries. So abundant 

 is the root, that several tons might be prepared annually by 

 proper management : as it is, there is a considerable quantity 

 prepared ; it being not only eaten by the natives and strangers 

 on the island, but also by the crews of the vessels that touch 

 there. 



At present, when the roots are taken up, the only precaution 

 used to secure a crop the following year is to throw the 

 smaller roots back into the holes from which they were taken, 

 and to leave them to chance. I have no doubt that, with proper 



