The native life with which one comes constantly in contact, is very
interesting.
The men do whatever hard work is done in cultivating the kalo
patches and pounding the kalo. Thus kalo, the Arum esculentum,
forms the national diet. A Hawaiian could not exist without his
calabash of poi. The root is an object of the tenderest solicitude,
from the day it is planted until the hour when it is lovingly eaten.
The eating of poi seems a ceremony of profound meaning; it is like
the eating salt with an Arab, or a Masonic sign. The kalo root is
an ovate oblong, as bulky as a Californian beet, and it has large
leaves, shaped like a broad arrow, of a singularly bright green.
The best kinds grow entirely in water. The patch is embanked and
frequently inundated, and each plant grows on a small hillock of
puddled earth. The cutting from which it grows is simply the top of
the plant, with a little of the tuber. The men stand up to their
knees in water while cultivating the root. It is excellent when
boiled and sliced; but the preparation of poi is an elaborate
process. The roots are baked in an underground oven, and are then
laid on a slightly hollowed board, and beaten with a stone pestle.
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