POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 359 
use is generally of a dark brown colour, with a roughish 
skin; it is called by the natives ohura. 
The yam is cultivated with much care, though to no 
very great extent, on account of the labour and attention 
required. The sides of the inferior hills, and the sunny 
banks occasionally met with in the bottoms of the val¬ 
leys, are selected for its growth. Here, a number of 
small terraces are formed one above another, covered with 
a mixture of rich earth and decayed leaves. The roots 
intended for planting are kept in baskets till they begin 
to sprout I a yam is then taken, and each eye, or sprout, 
cut off, with a part of the outside of the root, an inch long 
and a quartel* of an inch thick, attached to it| these 
pieces, sometimes containing two eyes each, are spread 
upon a board, and left in some part of the house to dry; 
the remainder of the root is baked and eaten. This 
mode of preparing the parts for planting does not appear 
to result from motives of economy, as is the case in 
some parts, where the Irish potato is prepared for 
planting in a similar manner; but because the natives 
imagine it is better thus to plant the eyes when they 
first begin to Open, or germinate, with only a small 
part of the root, than to plant the whole yam, which 
they say is likely to rot. Whether the same plan 
might be adopted in planting the sweet potato, and 
other roots, I am not prepared to say, as it is only in 
raising the yam that it is practised in the horticulture 
of the natives. When the pieces are sufiiciently dry, 
they are carefully put in the ground with the sprouts 
uppermost, a small portion of dried leaves is laid upon 
each, and the whole lightly covered with mould. When 
the roots begin to swell, they watch their enlargement, 
and keep them covered with light rich earth, which is 
