348 A MISSION TO VITI. 
used exclusively in thatching heathen temples, but now 
also for common dwelling-houses. The flowers are small 
and white, slightly tinged with purple, and the fruit has 
a rough, woody outside, of a light-brown colour, con- 
taining a large kernel, which possesses a scent much 
esteemed by the Fijians, but in which we detect no- 
thing remarkable either as regards strength or beauty, 
The fruit of the Leba (Eugenia [Jambosa] neurocalyz, 
A. Gray), a middle-sized Myrtaceous tree, with large 
flowers, considering the natural order to which it be- 
longs, has much more to recommend it to the notice of 
Europeans. It ripens about September, and its odour 
gravitates between that of the apple and the melon. It 
is roundish, strongly ribbed, often three inches long 
and eight inches in circumference; of a dark purple, and 
contains five large seeds, of an angular shape, and a 
beautiful crimson colour. The natives wear a whole 
fruit, or part of it, suspended around their necks, and 
also use it for scenting cocoa-nut oil. 
Materials for the scanty clothing worn by the Fijians 
are readily supplied by a variety of plants, foremost 
amongst which stands the Malo or Paper Mulberry 
(Broussonetia papyrifera, Vent.), a middle-sized tree, 
with rough trilobed leaves, cultivated all over Fiji. On the 
coast, the native cloth (Tapa*).and plaitings are gradually 
displaced by cheap cotton prints introduced by foreign 
traders,—a fathom of which is considered enough for the 
entire dress of aman. In the inland heathen districts the 
* Tapa—= Kapa of some dialects, I take to mean originally “ covering ;” 
Atap, the name for thatch in the Indian Archipelago, doubtless belongs to 
the same set of words. 
