EDIBLE VEGETABLES. 
47 
less palatable than the taro or the yam. It is 
dressed by the natives in their stone ovens, and is 
only used when the bread-fruit is scarce. 
Patara , is a root growing wild in the valleys, in 
shape and taste resembling a potato more than any 
other root found in Tahiti. It is highly farina¬ 
ceous, though less nutritive than the yam; the 
stem resembles the woodbine or convolvulus. The 
natives say the flower is small and white; I never 
saw one, for it is not cultivated, and but seldom 
sought, as the tuberous root is small, and more 
than two are seldom found attached to the same 
vine or stalk. 
The natives are acquainted with rice; but, 
although both the soil and climate would probably 
favour its growth, it has not yet been added to the 
edibles of Tahiti. We have not been very anxious 
to introduce it, as the quantity of water required 
for its culture, would, we have supposed, induce in 
such a climate a state of atmosphere by no means 
conducive to health. But though they have not 
rice, they have a plant which they call hoi , the 
shape and growth of which resemble the patara; 
but in taste and appearance it is so much like 
rice, that the natives call the latter by the native 
designation of the former. It is very insipid, and 
only sought in seasons of scarcity. 
The pia, or arrow-root, chailea tacca, is indige¬ 
nous and abundant. It is sometimes cultivated ; 
but in most of the islands it grows spontaneously 
on the high sandy banks near the sea, or on the 
sides of the lower mountains, and appears to 
thrive in a light soil and dry situation. Though 
evidently of a superior quality, and capable of 
being procured in any quantity, it requires some 
labour to render it fit for food, and on this account 
