mss142-vasilevShishmarev-i5-010

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surrounded by red-hot stones. They cover it with red-hot
stones, and cover them with earch. In a few hours the root
is baked. Then they are cleaned of the skin and ground in
troughs, diluting the dough with hot water until it turns
into a kissel, or rather, a mass resembling diluted starch.⁷
Then the root is ready, and is used by the natives with every
other dish like bread. This root has a strange property. Not
baked, but boiled, it causes an unbearable burning in the mouth
and throat. To avoid this burning, it has to be boiled three
times, letting it cool every time. Prepared in such a manner,
and then cut into slices and fried in oil, this root con-
stitutes a very pleasant and wholesome food. The iniams do
not have this property, and for this reason the islanders do
not like them as much. The iniams cannot be converted into
kissel by means of grinding.

Besides these vegetables, the natives also produce in
quantity, kava or ava, known for a long time from the des-
criptions of other travelers. But not its use is going out
of style, especially among the common people, and only the
nobility drink the beverage prepared from it.

Fruits here are coconuts, bananas, nizang, breadfruit,
oranges, lemons, and grapes. The last three species were
brought here during the last few years and grow very suc-
cessfully, except grapes, for which the climate is too warm,
although planted in the shade by the Spaniard, Marini.

Concerning the animal kingdom, there is no country