chewed, either in the fresh or in the dried state, as the Indian chews his maize." The pulp is then mixed with cold water, which after a brief interval is strained from the chewed fibre, and is ready for use. The taste, to one unaccustomed to it, is not pleasant. It reminded Captain Wilkes of the taste of rhubarb and magnesia! According to the white persons who have tried it, this infusion does not intoxicate in the same manner as ardent spirits. It more resembles opium in some of its effects, producing a kind of temporary paralysis, tremors, indistinctness, and distortion of vision, and a confused feeling about the head.

The presence of a narcotic ingredient in the root of this plant is very probable. Its leaf is used very largely for chewing with the well-known betel nut,† and is believed to have a share in producing the pleasing state of mild excitement in which the betel-chewer delights. The extraction of this narcotic substance, during the process of mastication and straining, accounts for the intoxicating qualities acquired by the liquor, before ordinary fermentation and the production of common alcohol has had time to begin. Still, that the saliva produces a chemical change in the ingredients of the root, upon which change their intoxicating quality in some measure depends, is in itself very probable, from what we know of the general properties of saliva. And the probability of such a change becomes greater, when it is considered that the intoxicating qualities of the leaf only become sensible to the betel-chewer as the roll he chews becomes softened in his mouth, and saturated with saliva.

In the Tonga Islands, the ava root, when dry, is split up into small pieces with an axe or other sharp instrument,

*Fig. 49 represents the leaf and a section of the root of the ava pepper. I have been unable to procure a figure of the entire fresh root and plant.

+ See THE NARCOTICS WE INDULge in.

AVA-DRINKING IN THE FEEJEES.

257

is scraped clean, and is then handed to the attendants to be chewed. No one offers to chew it but young persons who have good teeth, clean mouths, and have no colds. The women often assist-(MARINER). But as the most curious passage I have met with in connection with the preparation and use of this liquor, I quote the following from Captain Wilkes

"The ceremony attending the ava-drinking of the king at Somu-somu, one of the Feejee islands, is peculiar. Early in the morning, the first thing heard is the king's herald, or orator, crying out in front of his house, Yango-na ei ava,' somewhat like the muezzin in Turkey, though not from the house-top. To this the people answer, from all parts of the koro, Mama' (prepare ava). The principal men and chiefs immediately assemble together from all quarters, bringing their ava bowl and ava root to the mbure, where they seat themselves to talanoa, or converse on the affairs of the day, while the younger proceed to prepare the ava. Those who prepare the ava are required to have clean and undecayed teeth, and are not allowed to swallow any of the juice, on pain of punishment. As soon as the ava root is chewed, it is thrown into the ava bowl, where water is poured upon it with great formality. The king's herald, with a peculiar drawling whine, then cries, 'Sevu-rui-a-na ' (make the offering). After this a considerable time is spent in straining the ava through cocoa-nut husks; and when this is done, the herald repeats with still more ceremony, his command, Sevu-rui-a-na.' When he has chanted it several times, the other chiefs join him, and they all sing, 'Mana endina sendina le.' A person is then commanded to get up and take the king his ava, after which the singing again goes on. The orator then invokes their principal god, Tava Sava, and they repeat the names of their

departed friends, asking them to watch over and be gracious to them. They then pray for rain, for the life of the king, the arrival of wangara papalangi (foreign ships), that they may have riches, and live to enjoy them. This prayer is followed by a most earnest response, 'Mana endina' (amen, amen). They then repeat several times' Mana endina sendina le.' Every time this is repeated, they raise their voices until they reach the highest pitch, and conclude with 'O-ya-ye,' which they utter in a tone resembling a horrid scream. This screech goes the rounds, being repeated by all the people of the koro, until it reaches its farthest limits, and, when it ceases, the king drinks his ava. All the chiefs clap their hands with great regularity while he is drinking; and after he has finished his ava, the chiefs drink theirs without any more ceremony. The business of the day is then begun. The people never do anything in the morning before the king has drunk his ava. Even a foreigner will not venture to work or make a noise before that ceremony is over, or during the preparation of it, if he wishes to be on good terms with the king and people."

It will strike the reader as a singular circumstance, that this mode of preparing fermenting drinks-the ava and the chica—by chewing the raw materials, should exist in the islands of the Pacific, and amid the sierras of South America, and there only. The materials employed in the two regions are very different, and the chemical changes produced by the chewing in the two cases very different also, though the apparent result, in the production of an intoxicating liquor, is the same. Where did the custom originate? Is its origin continental or insular? Is it in any way connected with the eastward migrations,

WILKES' United States' Exploring Expedition, vol. ii., p. 97.

COINCIDENCE IN CUSTOMS.

259

which the unknown past has doubtless witnessed, towards the Pacific shores of the American continent? Where analogies of tongue and features fail, may not the occurrence of strange customs point to old national relations which now no longer subsist?

CHAPTER XIII.

THE LIQUORS WE FERMENT.

THE WINES.

The wines.-Apple and pear wines.-Cider and perry.-Differences in quality.Varieties of cider apple.-Composition of cider; tendency to sour.-Grape wines. -Rapid fermentation of grape juice.-Circumstances influence the quality of wino.-Composition of wine.-Proportion of alcohol in different wines; proportion of sugar.-Tartaric acid the peculiar acid of grape wine.-Proportions of acid in different wines.-Enanthic ether gives the vinous flavour to wines.-Peculiar odoriferous principles which impart to each wine its own flavour or bouquet.— Consumption of wine in the United Kingdom.-Palm wine or toddy.-How extracted from the cocoa-nut tree, and from the date tree.-Extensive use of palm wine. Sugar-cane wine, or guarapo.-Pulque, or agave wine.

II. THE WINES.-Wines are distinguished from beers chiefly by three characters: First, They contain little of that solid nutritious matter which enables our home-brewed beer to feed the body as well as quench the thirst and exhilarate the spirits. Second, They are free from any bitter or narcotic ingredient, such as the hops we add so largely to many of our English ales. Third, They are all fermented, without the addition of yeast, by a spontaneous fermenta. tion; and in consequence they contain other acids besides the acetic acid, or vinegar, to which sour beer owes its acidity.

1o. APPLE AND PEAR WINES.-Cider and perry are