Note 54 — Chapter V · CULTIVATION—FOOD, ETC.

The small taro, which also grows wild on the sides of the streams and is called “koko” in Bougainville Straits, is apparently Colocasia esculenta. The large taro, which grows to a height of 7 or 8 feet, and is known as the “kalafai,” may be the same as the “via kana” of Fiji (Cyrtosperma edulis). I cannot, however, speak with any authority on this subject, as I collected no specimens.

[55] Traders occasionally introduce foreign vegetables. Gorai, the Shortland chief, grows a little maize in one of his plantations.