26 CULTUEE OF THE YAM. 



land again I never saw the slightest attempt at 

 gardening. 



The principal 3^am, or that known by the names of 

 Mtai and ketai, is the most important article of vege- 

 table food, as it lasts nearly throughout the dry season. 

 Forming a yam garden is a very simple operation. 

 No fencing is required, — the patch of ground is 

 strewed with branches and wood, which when 

 thoroughly dry are set on fire to clear the surface, — 

 the ground is loosely turned up with a sharpened 

 stick, and the cut pieces of yam are planted at 

 irregular intervals, each with a small pole for the 

 plant to climb up. These operations are completed 

 just before the commencement of the wet season, or 

 in the month of October. 



When the rains set in the hiyu becomes the prin- 

 cipal support of the Cape York and Muralug people. 

 This is a grey slimy paste procured from a species of 

 mangrove {Candelia ?) the sprouts of which, three or 

 four inches long, are first made to undergo a process 

 of baking and steaming— a larg'e heap being laid 

 upon heated stones, and covered over with bark, wet 

 leaves, and sand— after which they are beaten between 

 two stones, and the pulp is scraped out fit for use. 

 It does not seem to be a favourite food, and is 

 probably eaten from sheer necessity. Mixed up 

 with the biyu to render it more palatable they 

 sometimes add large quantities of a leguminous seed, 

 the size of a chestnut, which has previously been 

 soaked for a night in water, and the husk removed. 



