VARIETIES OF VEGETABLES. 43 
bark, when punctured, in a thick mucilaginous 
fluid, which is hardened by exposure to the sun, 
and is serviceable in rendering water-tight the 
seams of their canoes. The bark of the young 
branches is used in making several varieties of 
native cloth. The trunk of the tree also furnishes 
one of the most valuable kinds of timber which the 
natives possess, it being used in building their 
canoes and houses, and in the manufacture of 
several articles of furniture. It is of a rich yellow 
colour, and assumes, from the effects of the air, 
the appearance of mahogany; it is not tough, but 
durable when not exposed to the weather. 
It is very probable, that in no group of the 
Pacific Islands is there a greater variety in the 
kinds of this valuable fruit, than in the South Sea 
Islands. The several varieties ripen at different 
seasons, and the same kinds also come to perfec¬ 
tion at an earlier period in one part of Tahiti than 
in another; so that there are but few months m 
the year in which ripe fruit is not to be found in 
the several parts of this island. The Missionaries 
are acquainted with nearly fifty varieties, for which 
the natives have distinct names—these, as col¬ 
lected by one of the first Missionaries, I have by 
me, but it is unnecessary to insert them—the 
principal are, the paea , artoearpus incisa, and the 
uru maohe , artoearpus integrifolia. 
Next to the bread-fruit, the taro , or arum , is 
the most serviceable article of food the natives 
possess, and its culture receives a considerable 
share of their attention. It has a large, solid, 
tuberous root, of an oblong shape, sometimes nine 
or twelve inches in length, and five or six in diame¬ 
ter. The plant has no stalk; the broad heart- 
shaped leaves rise from the upper end of the root. 
