302 A MISSION TO VITI. 
is very agreeable to the palate. Altogether the Kawai 
may be pronounced one of the finest esculent roots in 
the world, and I strongly recommend its cultivation in 
those parts of the tropics still deprived of it. 
Several species of wild yam, such as the Tikau, Tivoli, 
and Kaile, trail in graceful festoons over shrubs and trees 
of nearly every wood. The Tivoli (Dioscorea nummularia, 
Lam.) has a prickly stem like that of the cultivated 
Kawai, and climbs very high ; its roots are long, cylin- 
drical, and as thick as a man’s arm. When engaged in 
the forest the natives will often dig up these roots with 
a stick, roast, and eat them on the spot, when they taste 
extremely palatable. The Kaile (Helmia bulbifera, Kth.) 
somewhat resembles the Tivoli in look, and is often found 
entwined with it, but its stems and branches are round 
and unarmed, and its roots, being acrid, require to be 
soaked in water previous to boiling. The dish prepared 
from them has the appearance of mashed potatoes, and 
is made so thin that it can only be eaten with spoons, 
which are either furnished by the leathery leaves of the 
spoon-tree or Tatakia (Acacia laurifolia, Willd.), or any 
other substantial leaf that happens to be at hand. 
The Taro, or, as the Fijian language has it, the Dalo 
(Colocasia antiquorum, var. esculenta, Schott), is grown 
on irrigated or on dry ground, perhaps more on the 
latter than on the former. The water is never allowed 
to become stagnant, but always kept in gentle motion. 
When planted on dry ground, generally on land just 
cleared, a tree or two with thick crowns are left stand- 
ing in every field, which, as the natives justly conclude, 
attracts the moisture, and favours the growth of the 
