The National Geographic Magazine 



VANILLA PLANT AND BLAN 



are stupefied and sleepy and quite unable 

 to walk, for yancrgona taken in excess 

 paralyses the legT for an hour or two, 

 even though the head may be quite clear. 

 The British government has forbidden 

 the ancient method of preparing the root, 



in which it was chewed and spat out into 

 the bowl, instead of being pounded. For 

 all that, yanggona is very frequently 

 chewed at the present day, when no white 

 people are about. 



There are no woods in the world more 

 beautiful and valuable than the woods 

 of Fiji, although want of capital and, to 

 some extent, want of enterprise has pre- 

 vented their becoming widely known. 

 "Bua-bua," the boxwood of the Pacific, 

 is very common and grows to an immense 

 size. It weighs 80 pounds to the cubic 

 foot, is very hard, and most durable. 

 The "cevua," or bastard sandalwood, a 

 strong-scented, very durable wood, grows 

 freely in logs one foot and two feet in 

 diameter ; and the real sandalwood is also 

 found, though not plentifully. Another 

 useful wood is "vesi," which grows two 

 and three feet in diameter. It is much 

 like teak — hard, heavy, and extremely 

 lasting in the ground or out of doors ; it 

 is also rich-colored and very easily 

 polished. The "dakua" is one of the 

 most valuable woods ; it much resembles 

 the New Zealand kauri pine and grows 

 to a large size, sometimes six and seven 

 feet in diameter. It contains a great deal 

 of gum, and quantities of this can be 

 taken out of the ground wherever a tree 



DRYING VANILLA, FIJI 



