124 SISSANO. 
citations are all drawn from his volume ‘‘The History of Melanesian 
Society,” but the order of citation varies considerably, as will be seen 
by the pagination credits, from that which he has followed in the 
sequence of development of his observations in the passage from 
island to island under the compulsive direction of the infrequency of 
means of travel. 
For the purpose of simplicity I have so far spoken of the immigrants into 
Melanesia as if they were all of the same culture and the same stock. It is 
now necessary to study the immigrant culture in different parts of Melanesia 
more closely, with the aim of discovering whether it had the homogeneous 
character hitherto assumed, or whether it was itself complex. 
There is nothing more striking in the distribution of objects throughout 
Melanesia than the respective ranges of the two substances, kava and betel. 
Kava is found in the southern and eastern islands of Melanesia, as well as 
in Polynesia, while betel is used in the northwestern part of Melanesia. It 
has usually been supposed that there is a hard and fast line between the kava 
and betel regions of Melanesia, the line passing between the Torres Islands 
and the Santa Cruz group. It is clear, however, that this line is not so sharp 
as has been supposed. ‘Though the use of betel is an obvious feature of the 
culture of Vanikolo, there is no doubt that kava is also used on ceremonial 
occasions. There seems to be little doubt that kava is not used in Santa 
Cruz and the Reef Islands, even in ceremonial, while the use of betel is habit- 
ual. In Tikopia, an island which, though distinctly Polynesian, has yet 
had frequent communication with the Santa Cruz group, the use of kava in 
ceremonial stands beyond doubt, though the use of betel prevails in every- 
day life. We have at present no evidence whatever of the use of kava in 
the Solomons. In Polynesia the drinking of kava is almost universal, the 
chief places where the custom does not exist being New Zealand and Easter 
Island. In both places, however, the word, in its usual form or as kawa, is 
found with the meaning of ‘‘bitter,’’ while in New Zealand kawa and kawa- 
kawa are also applied to a species of pepper (Piper excelsum) much used in 
religious ceremonies, and also to various ceremonies themselves. 
The view generally accepted is that kava has been introduced into Melanesia 
from Polynesia. In some parts of Melanesia it is probable either that the 
use of kava has been so introduced or that recent Polynesian influence has 
greatly modified an earlier method of using the substance. Thus, in Anai- 
teum, Tanna, Aniwa, and Futuna (Fotuna) the name is the same as in Poly- 
nesia, while in Eromanga it is ne have. In the Banks Islands it is called 
gea and in the Torres Islands gi, both of which are perhaps related to the 
Polynesian word. When, however, we come to the northern New Hebrides, 
we find that in Pentecost [Arag] kava is malohu, in Efaté maluk [not recorded 
in Macdonald’s dictionary], in Epi milik, and in Malekula meruk, words 
which, though evidently related to one another, are absolutely unrelated to 
the Polynesian term. In Fiji again we find a wholly different term, yanggona. 
The evidence from language is confirmed by the study of the method of 
making the drink. Where the name differs from the Polynesian word, the 
method of preparation is also, with one exception, very different. The 
exception is Fiji, where kava is used in a way closely resembling that of 
Polynesia, although the Fijian term has no affinity whatever to the Poly- 
nesian name. It is possible, however, that the word yanggona comes down 
from a time when the mode of preparation was different. In Pentecost the 
root 1s not chewed but grated, and those who are drinking usually arrange 
