The morning call., 1893-03-12
taken its abode upon your visage, but


know your principal sensation is one of
simOn-pure horror.
NOW, you try it." says EDicurus. Ten
tatIYely you thrust one fngertip into the
mes: and gather up a minute dose of the
delectabe Wand As you raise it toward
your mouth your nose takes cOgniZance of
q sour smell that harmOnizes perfectly with
the appearance of the poi You close your
eyes, and mentally breathing forth devout
ejaculation, you open your mouth and suck
the poi from your fingers. BY sublime
effort Of will you keep your lips closed over
the mOuthful. while your companion looks
on lnterestedly, evidently expecting to hear
your palate scream with delight Meantime
your Imagination is working with lightning
speed. The poi is cold and clammy. The
poi tastes like stale yeast; it stings your
tongue and an unulteraDle disgust possesses
your soul. You are sure you are going
TO choke, though you know you dare
not. and you hguratively take your
self By the throat and force yourself to
swallow the compound. You can trace its
progress through the RSOpnagus by the
Mortified shudder that organ gives as the
mouthful passes along 1t; you can hear the
Will in your stomach Shrek as the frog
like lump makes its appearance among
them, and You think you are going to die
then ana there. Don't you like it?" you
hear some one say. You struggle back to
consciousness and murmur your fear that
you are not educated to such high point
of taste.
"Oh. never mind" is the consollng reply.
You'll be so fond of it in a day or two you
can't keep house without it,"
You know better than that but you offer
no contradiction to the assertion. But if
you would leave the Islands with con-
science untainted by poi you must hold TO
your resolution to abstain from tasting the
stun again. This will be difficult To do.
You will see all your acquaintances dipping
into their ealabashes and hear them exDiat-
ing on the delights Of poi, and you begin to
aspire TO taste again. y gu think about it
by day and by night, and at last you yen-
ture. You take another step along the
downward pathway. AS the poet has so
touchinGly described, you first endure,
then ply, then embrace" the caabash.
The closing steps in your career are easy
to picture. You call for poi at every meal.
ou take poi for an appetizer. yOu use it as
tOp-dTesSing after dessert, you ballast with
IL before eating, you use 1t for broken
storage 10 make the other viands ride easy.
If your food don't taste good you eat little
poi tc tone up your palate. If you are feel
ing out OF sorts or under the weather you
take little poi Tor your stOmach's sake 1t
is useful as an eye-openeT in the morning,
1t serves admirably as nightcap on retir-
ing, II takes the place of afternoon tea an d
tlttin IS Incomplete without poi In a word
you have contracted the poi habit.
You grow critical in your judgment and
fancy YOU can discriminate between poi and
pot. You become particular as to the shape
and appearance of your calabash and finally
90 downtown and purchase one after your
own taste. You regard with cold disfavor
the blunders of ineXDert pOi.eRters. II is
not considered elegant TO use more than two
fingers In eating it or TO put the stuff on
the edges of the ealabash or drop any Of It
In transit on acquire scientific twirl of
the fingers in gathering up your mOuthful
and an airy grace in conveying 1t to your
mouth. You feel your own loveliness while
thus engaged and believe that all beholderO
recognize it.
Poi is dish that must long remain pc
cullar to the Hawaiian Islands-always, in
fact, unless some means is contrived for
preserving tarO so that it will stand export.
Poi is made from taro, a root resembling
the turnip. 1t grows in the water. with
large, handsome green leaf aud is almost
tasteless. There is also an upland taro
cultivated in the mountains by the natives
which has more decided taste, and which,
as | learned to my cost on tasting it raw,
bites the throat like hoTseradish. The low
taro is the chief vegetable in the island,
and in early days constituted the natives
principal crop. When cooked it assumes a
mOtted, gray and white appearance, very
like the lava rock that abonnds every where
in the Islands. The process of manufacturing
the pol Is quite lengthy one. A great hole
is dug ln. the ground, and into this the
taro-roots are placed around piles Of hot
stones. The earth is then heaped over the
place and the tarO left to steam. When the
taro Is thoroughly cooked, which is often
several hours. the roots are dug out again.
peeled and put into huge stone RECEPTACLE
In which they are pounded to pulp. This
work is performed by the men, 1t Is an
ardu0us task, and on a hot day land nearly
all days are hot in the islauds) the pounding
of poi is a scene over which it is advisable
to draw a veil The Doi-pounder not only
earns his bread by the sweat of his brow,
but mixes it as well largely by the aid of
that fluid.
The ''poi of commerce" is now made bv
machinery. The natives, however. still
make their own. When the mass is thor
oughiy beaten and smOothed it is mixed
with wateT,to the proper consistency, about
ike good, thick paste, strained through a
coarse cloth and Set away for two or three
days, until it begins TO ferment when IL is
ready to be eaten. 1t then tastes little
like buttermilb, and is very nutritious and
wholesome. The natives eat it by the gal
Ion. Give the average native a big pot of
poi, half dozen raw fish and bottle of
gin. and you may have the kingdom and
the rest OF the earth as we'll. He will SQUAT
upon the ground, break the head off one
OF the fish, take bite from its raw side.
pack it in mouthful of poi ard wash the
whole down with swallow of gin, and re-
peat the process until all have disappeared
Singularly enough, revolving as this
sounds, the actual scene is far from
being disgusting. l have watched dozen
natives feeding thus, all dipping poi from
the same calabash, and seen,less dainty and
cleanly table manners in many backwoods
hotel in the States. Why we should swal-
low raw oyster without winking and
shiver at the thought of raw fish Is one of
the mysteries of esthetics few can solve.
OF course readers Of THE CALL will un-
derstand that only the poorer class of ma
tives live thus. 10 be sure, all, from the
Queen down. eat poi. / saw a notice among
the regulations at the palace forbidding
any smoking In the poi depaT tment, and bids
ora m oda and oor traa iaf for luip al