66 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
with care, and grew remarkably well; the leaf 
was green, the stalks high and strong, and the ears 
large; but as they began to turn yellow, few of 
them contained a single grain, and those that 
were found were shrivelled and dry. Potatoes 
were also tried, and have been repeatedly planted 
since, in different situations and seasons; but 
although, after the first growth, they usually ap¬ 
pear like young potatoes,—if planted again, they 
are invariably soft and sweet, very small, and less 
palatable than the indigenous sweet potato. 
At Afareaitu I had sown a number of seeds 
from England, Rio Janeiro, and New South Wales. 
Coffee and cashew-nuts, anacardinm occidentale , 
I had before planted in boxes; they grew well, but 
the coffee and the cashew-nuts were totally de¬ 
stroyed by the goats, which, leaping the fence one 
day, in a few minutes ate up the plants on which 
I had bestowed much care. The custard-apple, 
anona triloba or squamosa , that I had brought from 
Rio, were preserved, and plants from it are now 
bearing fruit in several of the islands. Jn addition 
to these, I w T as enabled to cultivate the papaw 
apple, carica papaya , French-beans, carrots, tur¬ 
nips, cabbages, and Indian com; while our little 
flower-garden, in Huahine, was adorned with the 
convolvulus major and minor, capsicum, helian- 
thus, and amaranthus, with several brilliant native 
flowers, among which the gardenia and hibiscus 
rosea chinensis were always conspicuous. The 
front of our house was shaded by orange trees, and 
our garden enclosed with a citron hedge. 
The comfort connected with a garden, and the 
means of support derived therefrom, were not our 
only inducements to its culture ; we vrere desirous 
to increase the vegetable productions of the island, 
