368 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
The tree is slow in growth, and the fruit does not, 
probably, come to perfection in much less than twelve 
months after the blossoms have fallen. A bunch will 
sometimes contain twenty or thirty nuts, and there are, 
perhaps, six or seven bunches on the tree at a time. 
Each nut is surrounded by a tough fibrous husk, in some 
parts two inches thick ; and when it has reached its full 
size, it contains, enclosed in a soft white shell, a pint 
or a pint and a half of the juice usually called cocoa- 
nut milk. 
There is at this time no pulp whatever in the inside. 
In this stage of its growth the nut is called oua, and 
the liquid is preferred to that found in the nut in any 
other state. It is perfectly clear, and in taste combines 
a degree of acidity and sweetness, which renders it equal 
to the best lemonade. No accurate idea of the consis¬ 
tency and taste of the juice of the cocoa-nut can be 
formed from that found in the nuts brought to England. 
These are old and dry, and the fluid comparatively 
rancid; in this state they are never used by the natives, 
except for the purpose of planting or extracting oil. The 
shell of the oiia^ or young cocoa-nut, is often used medi¬ 
cinally. 
In a few weeks after the nut has reached its full 
size, a soft white pulp, remarkably delicate and sweet, 
resembling, in consistency and appearance, the white 
of a slightly boiled egg, is formed around the inside of 
the shell. In this state it is called niaa^ and is eaten 
by the chiefs as an article of luxury, and used in pre¬ 
paring many of what may be called the made-dishes of 
Tahitian banquets. After remaining a month or six 
weeks longer, the pulp on the inside becomes much 
firmer, and rather more than half an inch in thickness. 
