]
[374] [Cava, "kava," or "ava," is an intoxicating drink, prepared from
the roots and stems of a kind of pepper (_Piper methysticum_).
[374] [Cava, "kava," or "ava," is an intoxicating drink, prepared from
the roots and stems of a kind of pepper (_Piper methysticum_).
Byron
Early in the
morning," says Mariner, "when the air is calm and still, the beating of
the _gnatoo_ at all the plantations about has a very pleasing effect;
some sounds being near at hand, and others almost lost by the distance,
some a little more acute, others more grave, and all with remarkable
regularity, produce a musical variety that is . . . heightened by the
singing of the birds, and the cheerful influence of the
scene. "--_Polynesia_, 1846, pp. 249, 250. ]
[373] [Marly, or Malai, is an open grass plat set apart for public
ceremonies. ]
[fg]
_Ere Fiji's children blew the shell of war_
_And armed Canoes brought Fury from afar_. --[MS. D. erased. ]
[fh] _Too long forgotten in the pleasure ground_. --[MS. D. erased.
]
[374] [Cava, "kava," or "ava," is an intoxicating drink, prepared from
the roots and stems of a kind of pepper (_Piper methysticum_). Mariner
(_An Account, etc. _, 1817, ii. 183-206) gives a highly interesting and
suggestive account of the process of brewing the kava, and of the solemn
"kava-drinking," which was attended with ceremonial rites. Briefly, a
large wooden bowl, about three feet in diameter, and one foot in depth
in the centre (see, for a typical specimen, King Thakombau's kava-bowl,
in the British Museum), is placed in front of the king or chief, who
sits in the midst, surrounded by his guests and courtiers. A portion of
kava root is handed to each person present, who chews it to a pulp, and
then deposits his quid in the kava bowl. Water being gradually added,
the roots are well squeezed and twisted by various "curvilinear turns"
of the hands and arms through the "fow," _i. e. _ shavings of fibrous
bark. When the "kava is in the cup," quaighs made of the "unexpanded
leaf of the banana" are handed round to the guests, and the symposium
begins. Mariner (_ibid. _, p. 205, note) records a striking feature of
the preliminary rites, a consecration or symbolic "grace before"
drinking. "When a god has no priest, as Tali-y-Toobo [the Supreme Deity
of the Tongans], no person . . .
morning," says Mariner, "when the air is calm and still, the beating of
the _gnatoo_ at all the plantations about has a very pleasing effect;
some sounds being near at hand, and others almost lost by the distance,
some a little more acute, others more grave, and all with remarkable
regularity, produce a musical variety that is . . . heightened by the
singing of the birds, and the cheerful influence of the
scene. "--_Polynesia_, 1846, pp. 249, 250. ]
[373] [Marly, or Malai, is an open grass plat set apart for public
ceremonies. ]
[fg]
_Ere Fiji's children blew the shell of war_
_And armed Canoes brought Fury from afar_. --[MS. D. erased. ]
[fh] _Too long forgotten in the pleasure ground_. --[MS. D. erased.
]
[374] [Cava, "kava," or "ava," is an intoxicating drink, prepared from
the roots and stems of a kind of pepper (_Piper methysticum_). Mariner
(_An Account, etc. _, 1817, ii. 183-206) gives a highly interesting and
suggestive account of the process of brewing the kava, and of the solemn
"kava-drinking," which was attended with ceremonial rites. Briefly, a
large wooden bowl, about three feet in diameter, and one foot in depth
in the centre (see, for a typical specimen, King Thakombau's kava-bowl,
in the British Museum), is placed in front of the king or chief, who
sits in the midst, surrounded by his guests and courtiers. A portion of
kava root is handed to each person present, who chews it to a pulp, and
then deposits his quid in the kava bowl. Water being gradually added,
the roots are well squeezed and twisted by various "curvilinear turns"
of the hands and arms through the "fow," _i. e. _ shavings of fibrous
bark. When the "kava is in the cup," quaighs made of the "unexpanded
leaf of the banana" are handed round to the guests, and the symposium
begins. Mariner (_ibid. _, p. 205, note) records a striking feature of
the preliminary rites, a consecration or symbolic "grace before"
drinking. "When a god has no priest, as Tali-y-Toobo [the Supreme Deity
of the Tongans], no person . . .
