138 SISSANO. 
IQr. Rivers notes (p. 130) that kava requires prolonged preparation. 
This is, of course, only comparative. My experience has been in 
Samoa, where the practice is made graceful by fine details of courtesy, 
that the preparation of kava, from the presentation by the guest of 
the dried root to the clapping of hands which establishes satisfaction 
with the strength of the infusion, consumes about 30 minutes. 
Our author touches (p. 131) upon the portage of the ingredients of 
sirih-chewing. This engages directly with my suggestion (The Poly- 
nesian Wanderings, 139) of crop colonies. ‘There is nothing inherent 
in the nature of the betel-pepper plant which would operate to pre- 
clude its carriage from one such port of call to the next, where it might 
be again cultivated to maturity and to fresh transport beyond. ‘The 
difficulty is still less in the case of the areca nut. The seed, the por- 
tion which must inevitably be carried by the wanderers, since that 
is the part which alone is utilized in sirih-chewing, would at once 
suggest itself for planting in communities where the tree was not 
indigenous. The seed might be carried for at least a year, many seeds 
in small compass, for its germinating power would endure much longer 
than that period, and we must remember that in the conditions of 
such folk migration-the actual time spent at sea was measured by no 
more than a week beyond the amount of water which could be carried 
in a canoe and the longest time between semi-permanent stops (those 
necessitated for revictualing) was equally limited by the impractica- 
bility of transporting with the voyagers in any canoe any considerable 
supply of staple vegetable food. 
Continuing the theme, Dr. Rivers (p. 131) advances the supposition 
that the leaf of the pepper was first chewed and then the root was 
selected as producing more distinct results. JI have experimented 
with both of the peppers involved in these two cultures. As to the 
kava pepper (Piper methysticum) I can report that the leaf contains 
in no appreciable degree the principle potent in the root, whether dry 
or undried. The leaf, somewhat succulent, contains an appreciable 
amount of sap, its flavor is almost wholly that of raw collenchyma, 
much as in the leaf of the cabbage, and, while there is a slight sugges- 
tion of pungency of the pepper type, it is far milder that that of the root 
of the radish. ‘The root, on the other hand, while not more pungent 
or peppery than the radish, produces almost instantaneously an effect 
upon the mucosa of the mouth which is most comparable with the 
effect of a dose of magnesia; and this sensation extends even beyond 
the region actually in contact with the root chewed and in no long 
time is noticed as far as the pharynx, even though in the operation 
of chewing kava preparatory to maceration particular pains are taken 
to avoid even the slightest deglutition, in order that the comminuted 
root may be most practically ptyalized. The sirih leaf (Piper betle) 
has practically the same flavor as that of the kava pepper. For 
