108 
ON MATICO. 
side towards the rim : this is done that a judgment may 
afterwards be formed of the quantity of beverage it will 
make, as each portion is disengaged from the leaf, the leaf 
is thrown anywhere on the ground. 
U The cava being thus deposited in the bowl, those per- 
sons who had been busy collecting it retire to their places 
and sit down ; the man before whom the bowl is placed, 
now tilts it up a little towards the chief, that he may see the 
the quantity of its contents, saying, 'This is the cava chewed.' 
If the chief thinks there is not enough, he says, 6 Cover it 
over, and let there come a man here.' The bowl is then 
covered over with a plantain or banana leaf, and a man 
goes to receive more cava root to be chewed as before ; but 
if it be thought there is a sufficiency, he says 6 Mix'. The 
two men, who sit one on each side of him who is to pre- 
pare the cava, now come forward a little, and making a 
half-turn, sit opposite to each other, the bowl being between 
them ; one of these fans off the flies with a large leaf, while 
the other sits ready to pour in the water from cocoa-nut 
shells, one at a time. 
" Before this is done, however, the man who is about to 
mix, having first rinsed his hands with a little of the water, 
kneads together the chewed root, gathering it up from all 
sides of the bowl, and compressing it together; upon this 
the mataboole, an attendant, says, ' Pour in the water,' and 
the man on one side of the bowl continues pouring, fresh 
shells being handed to him, until the mataboole thinks there 
is sufficient, which he announces by saying, * Stop the water.' 
He now discontinues pouring, and takes up a leaf to assist 
the other in fanning. The mataboole now says, 6 Mix it 
everywhere equally, and make it firm' — i. e. bring the dregs 
together in a body. 
"Things being thus far prepared, the mataboole says, 
e Put in the fow ;' which is the bark of a tree stripped into 
small fibres, and has very much the appearance of willow- 
shavings. A large quantity of this fibrous substance, suf- 
