The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-08-15

easily caught, and is, therefore, deli cacy. There are squid epicures among the Kanakas, just as there are terrapln epicures In New York and Baltimore, On the island of Kauai there are doz- ems of great ponds of salt water where squids-a small species of the cutie tish -are cultivated. EX-Queen Liliuoka- lani had a pond some two acres in area on her estate where squids were grown for the money there was in the sale ot them and for her own native feasts. The squid that the natives like is dank, slimy, squirming thing, with strong fishy smell and a great staring eye. Hold live squid up before an ts- semblage of Kanakas and the effect is magical. You will see a movement of the lips of every one who looks upon the fish. At luau the squids are held upon the Ii leaves by strings attached to small weights. A feaster will reach over now and then and break off ten tacle from squid, and while the poor creature doubles and expands in pain at its dismehberment, the Kanaka will chew the meat down with grin of pleasure.
 Raw shrimps are a luxury also in the Kanaka diet They are never pre- pared there by boiling. It takes some nerve to see @ bewitching native girl in gay-colored muslin, with wreath of flowers about her shoulders and prodi- gtous hirsute decorations, put her swart hand into a wooden bowl of shrimps and bring forth handful of tiny, Wriggling creatures and stuff them in her mouth. l remember being at luau given by the Princess Liliuokalani Qater queen) when Robert Louis Ste venson had his first introduction to the love of raw fish by the Kanakas. I smile still at the memory of how aston ished he looked in spite of his efforts to appear unmoved when very hand some, jolly young lady opposite him grabbed mass of live shrimps and stuffed handful into her mouth with unmistakable evidence of relish. Dried seaweed, chopped with savory sauce of peppers and served as a salad, is an- other entree. Then there are dozens of fruits served in many ways on the ti leaves. Gin and mixture of milk, wa ter and gin are the drinks.
 But then there is the poi. That de- serves a whole chapter to itself. In all the range of foods of the human race there is nothing that can be compared to poi. It is unknown outside of the Hawaiian Islands, and nothing can ever be devised that will fill the place of poi In the diet of the Kanakas. Eve ry one who has ever been in Honolulu knows what poi is. Long before the steamer from San Francisco reaches Honolulu harbor the initiated begin to say:
 Well, the day after tomorrow at this time you will be eating poi
 You hear it on every side, until at last you begin to look forward with ea- gerness to your introduction to poi Not that you know what poi is. No one ever tells you that. It is deemed suf- ficient for you to know that poi is, and you are forced to content yourself with rosy dreams of the gustatory delights awaiting you.
 Poi is made from taro, and taro is a tuber like our potatoes. It grows only in the Hawaiian Islands, and there it may be found in the water at the edge of ponds. It has a big green leaf like | lily. The name of the man who in- vented poi from taro is lost in the murk of years. May he rest in sweet sleep wherever he lies for he has brought joy to the hearts and stomachs of thou sands of his fellow men and women. | There is an upland taro cultivated in | the mountains by the natives which 1 has more decided taste and which, as l learned to my cost on tasting it raw, l bites the throat like horseradish. The | lowland taro is the chief vegetable in | the island, and in early days constitu- 1 ted the natives principal crop When cooked it assumes a mottled gray and 1 white appearance, very like the lava rock that abounds on the islands. The process of manufacturing poi is quite long, and has been in vogue hundreds of years in the islands A great hole is dug in 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 often takes several hours. the roots are dug out again, peeled and put into a huge stone receptacle, in which they are pounded into pulp
 This work is performed by the men,
 It is an arduous task, and on a hot day 1 (and nearly all days are hot in the is- | lands), the pounding of poi is a scene over which it is advisable to draw a veil
 | Yankee invention has taught the Kanakas how to make poi wholesale, so that the oldfashioned, crude poi-mak- l ing ways are passing away. The poor backwoods natives still make their own | poi When the mass is thorouehly
 beaten and smoothed it is mixed with water to the proper consistency-about like good thick paste-strained through a coarse cloth and set away for two or three days until it begins to ferment
 when it is ready to be beaten It then tastes a little like buttermilk. and is | very nutritious and wholesome. The natives eat it by the gallon. Give the average native a big pot of poi, half a dozen raw fish and bottle of gin and you may have the Kingdom and the rest of the earth as we'll. He will souat upon the ground, break the head off one of the fish, take a bite from it's raw side, pack it in a mouthful of poi and