40 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
from the root, it bears in about five years, and 
will probably continue bearing fifty or sixty. 
The bread-fruit is never eaten raw, except by 
pigs; the natives, however, have several methods 
of dressmg it. When travelling on a journey, 
they often roast it in the flame or embers of a 
wood-fire ; and, peeling off the rind, eat the fruit: 
this mode of dressing is called tunu pa, crust or shell 
roasting. Sometimes, when thus dressed, it is im- 
mersed in a stream of water, and, when completely 
saturated, forms a soft, sweet,spongy pulp, or sort of 
paste ; of which the natives are exceedingly fond. 
The general and best way of dressing the bread- 
fruit, is by baking it m an oven of heated stones. 
The rind is scraped off, each fruit is cut into 
three or four pieces, and the core carefully taken 
out; heated stones are then spread over the bottom — 
of the cavity forming the oven, and covered with 
leaves, upon which the pieces of bread-fruit are 
placed ; a layer of green leaves is strewn over the 
fruit, and other heated stones are laid on the top; 
the whole is then covered with earth and leaves, 
several inches in depth. In this state, the oven 
remains half an hour or longer, when the earth 
and leaves are removed, and the pieces of bread- 
fruit taken out; the outsides are in general nicely 
browned, and the inner part presents a white or 
yellowish, cellular, pulpy substance, in appear- 
ance slightly resembling the crumb of a small 
wheaten loaf. Its colour; size; and structure are, 
however, the only resemblance it has to bread. It 
has but little taste, and that is frequently rather 
sweet; it is somewhat farinaceous, but not so much 
so as several other vegetables, and probably less so 
than the English potato, to which in flavour it is 
also inferior. It is slightly astringent, and, as a 
