A Botanist's Memories of the Fiji

Dr. Wylie considered the Namosi village one of the most beautifully located towns in the world. On the bases of the mountains were fields of taro, which was a major food product of the region. The approach to the village was through a grove of orange trees. The houses were grouped in the form of a rectangle around an open grassy space. From the edge of the village loomed Mt. Voma, 2500ft in height. On the other side of the valley the mountains sloped and were heavily forested. Wylie's most interesting experience was a climb up the mountain valley to an altitude of about five hundred feet were he saw a vast display of tree ferns. He viewed the "graceful stems of the ferns Alsophila lunulata which rose to over forty feet." The leaves were ten to twelve feet in length. Over a considerable areas these ferns were the dominant form. He also observed, while living in a Fijian home, a fern called Marattiaceae, which grew heavily on the island. Its leaves were twelve to fifteen feet in length, but the stems were short and tuberous.

Before going to Namosi, the party went to the village of Nakuavu and were received by the village head men. There they were treated to an age-old ceremony. Everyone present including the guests drank kava which was made from the roots of a plant called Piper methysticum. It was served in half shells of a coconut. Dr. Wylie said, "I found the beverage not unpleasant to the taste. It is a non-alcoholic drink widely used by the indigenous people as well as many whites. Although non-alcoholic it possesses an alkaloid which is habit forming for some." But he saw no ill effects.

Ceremony at Namosi Village