Item 01: Fred Hamilton-Kenny letter diary, 29 August-19 October 1914 - Page 164
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[Page 164]
There's a lot of land here covered with Lantana scrub which will take some clearing - Everywhere you see the Taro growing - The sole requisite is moisture - It's the staple food of many Fijian natives - Its true name is Colocasia Antiguorum – vary= Exulentum - Now Cunjevoi of the Queensland Scrub is C antiquorum so that this edible aroid is but a variety of Cunjevoi - The Arum lily & the Taro are cousins - One day I'll tell you a tale of a village, eaten hut by hut full, with the Taro grown on the site of each burnt hut by the cannibal chief of a tribe - I got it out of Seeman - The acrid bulbouse root of Taro is washed, roasted, grated & made into cake or bread - The top is cut off & replanted - I've seen Aroids here 6 feet high & more - They are not the Taro though -
The Yam too is a great food – like to but not a sweet potato & does best on hard, sterile ground - It's a creeper - Here again it's the bulbous root that is eaten - A lady told me it was excellent eating -