382 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
it was daylight; she awoke her son. took him out, 
and they beheld a large and handsome tree, clothed with 
broad shining leaves, and loaded with bread-fruit. She 
directed him to gather a number, take the first to the 
family god and to the king; to eat no more red earth, 
but to roast and eat the fruit of the tree growing 
before them.—^This is only a brief outline of the 
tradition which the natives give of the origin of 
the bread-fruit. The account is much longer, and I 
wrote it out in detail once or twice from the mouth of 
the natives, but it is too absurd to demand attention 
or afford information. It was probably invented by 
some priest, to uphold the influence of the gods, and the 
tribute of first-fruits paid to the king. The origin of 
the cocoa-nut, chestnut, and yam, are derived from simi^ 
lar sources; the cocoa-nut having grown from the head 
of a man, the chestnut from his kidneys, the yams from 
his legs,—and other vegetable productions from diffe¬ 
rent parts of his body. 
The fei, or mountain plantain, beaten into a pulp, 
and diluted with cocoa-nut milk or water till brought to 
the consistency of arrow-root, as ordinarily prepared in 
England, was much used. Large quantities were usu¬ 
ally prepared for every festival; a kind of cistern 
was made, with a framework of wood, and a lining 
of leaves, which when filled was a sufficient load for 
six men to carry. Seven or eight of these were some¬ 
times filled, and carried on men’s shoulders to one feast. 
The mode of preparing their made-dishes was seldom, 
according to our ideas, the most cleanly, and we rarely 
partook of any of their dressed food, excepting it had 
been cooked as brought from the garden, or prepared by 
our own servants. 
