190 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



paper, growing between the tree and the bark" was that of the breadfruit, though 

 it may possibly have been that of the nunu, or banyan. 



Besides using the latex in calking boats, the natives of Guam find it, when fresh 

 and viscid, an excellent medium for mixing paint, and it is a good sizing for white- 

 wash. The usual pigments were a red ferruginous earth and lampblack made by 

 burning cocoanut shells. The Caroline Islanders still use it with various pigments for 

 painting their canoes, and it resists the action of water pretty well, though for this 

 purpose it is inferior to oil. 



The wood is of fine yellow color. It is not very hard, but it has the virtue of 

 resisting the white ant, and if kept dry it is durable. In Guam it is used for cup- 

 boards, shelving, furniture, and for partitions between rooms. It is also used for 

 canoes, but as these are not well cared for by the natives and moisture injures the 

 wood, they do not last very long. In Samoa the framework of the roofs of all the 

 best houses is made of the curved limbs of the breadfruit, beautifully rounded and 

 scarped together and wrapped at the joints with coconut sennit. 



Dugdug, the ' ' breadnut, ' ' or seeded variety of the breadfruit, grow r s everywhere 

 in Guam — in the woods, on rocky cliffs, and in low, sandy soil. It is the chief source 

 of timber and of gum, the seedless lemae being too valuable as a fruit tree to be used 

 generally for these articles. The fruit of the dugdug is inferior to that of the lemae, 

 than which it is softer and more sw T eetish. It is seldom eaten, but its seeds, called 

 "nangka" (the name in the Philippines for Artocarpus integrifolia, the "jack-fruit"), 

 are rich in oil and are relished by the natives They are eaten roasted or boiled and 

 are much like chestnuts. 



Lemae, being sterile, is propagated from the shoots which spring up around the 

 base of the trunk. They readily take root. The dugdug is grown from the seed, 

 though it occurs in such abundance on the island that it is not much planted. There 

 are a number of varieties of breadfruit recognized by the natives. The species grows 

 so readily that it might prove profitable to plant it for the manufacture of starch or 

 "arrowroot" from the fruit. 



Horses and cattle are very fond of the leaves and bark, so that young trees must 

 be protected from them. When pasture is scarce breadfruit leaves are gathered and 

 fed to stock; and the fruit is so abundant that it is fed to cattle, horses, and pigs. 



The breadfruit season begins in June and lasts for about five months. This accounts 

 for the fact that Pigafetta and several other early navigators who visited Guam 

 during the time of the year when it was out of season fail to mention it among the 

 fruits which they obtained from the islanders. Magellan visited the island in March, 

 Legaspi in January, and the Nassau fleet also in January. In the narrative of the 

 latter expedition the cultivation of rice is "mentioned (see quotation under Oryza 

 sativa), and a food staple so important as breadfruit would surely have been men- 

 tioned had it come within the notice of the Dutch. 



The first to record the breadfruit as a food staple of the Marianne Islands was 

 Dampier, who has given the following accurate description of it in his New Voyage 

 Round the World: 



The Bread-fruit (as we call it) grows on a large Tree, as big and as high as our 

 largest Apple- Trees. It hath a spreading head full of branches, and dark leaves. 

 The fruit grows on the boughs like Apples: It is as big as a Penny-loaf, when Wheat 

 is at five shillings the Bushel. It is of a round shape, and hath a thick tough rind. 

 When the fruit is ripe, it is yellow and soft; and the taste is sweet and pleasant. 

 The Natives of this Island use it for Bread: they gather it when full grown, wdiile it 

 is green and hard; then they bake it in an Oven, which scorcheth the rind and 

 makes it black: but they scrape off the outside black crust, and there remains a ten- 

 der thin crust, and the inside is soft, tender and white, like the crumb of a Penny 

 Loaf. There is neither seed nor stone in the inside, but all is of a pure substance 

 like Bread: it must be eaten new, for if it is kept above 24 hours, it becomes dry, 

 and eats harsh and choaky; but 'tis very pleasant before it is too stale. This fruit 

 lasts in season 8 months in the year; during which time the Natives eat no other 



