I was led to this digression by seeing, for the first time, some
very fine plants of the Piper methysticum. This is awa, truly a
"plant of renown" throughout Polynesia. Strange tales are told of
it. It is said to produce profound sleep, with visions more
enchanting than those of opium or hasheesh, and that its repetition,
instead of being deleterious, is harmless and even wholesome. Its
sale is prohibited, except on the production of evidence that it has
been prescribed as a drug. Nevertheless no law on the islands is so
grossly violated. It is easy to GIVE it, and easy to grow it, or
dig it up in the woods, so that, in spite of the legal restrictions,
it is used to an enormous extent. It was proposed absolutely to
prohibit the sale of it, though the sum paid for the licence is no
inconsiderable item in the revenue of a kingdom, which, like many
others, is experiencing the difficulty of "making both ends meet;"
but the committee which sat upon the subject reported "that such
prohibition is not practicable, unless its growth and cultivation
are prevented. So long as public sentiment permits the open
violation of the existing laws regulating its sale without rebuke,
so long will it be of little use to attempt prohibition.
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