KAVA THE WINE OF THE ISLANDS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3610, 22 May 1923, Page 63

KAVA THE WINE OF THE ISLANDS.

Written for the Otago Witness by Te Pan a. The Polynesian, be he Tahitian, Rarotongan, Samoan or Tongan, is forbidden the consumption of spirituous liquors of the white man beloved. The restriction does not worry him overmuch. He gets sufficient of the glad feeling from his own particular brand of tipple—kava—and mighty little of the dark brown taste that is sequel to our convivial evenings. Time was when the mode of brewing savoured of the primitive. The prettiest girls in the village were assembled, a huge wooden bowl placed in their midst, and the kava root passed round. Each maiden took a bite of the stringy stuff, and with hands on knees and eyes fixed on the bowl commenced to chew. It was hard work. They gurgled and swished and rolled the dry bark in their mouths, chew, chew, chew, until the fibre was soft. At a given signal from the party in charge of the function they ejected the lump into the vessel and patted and squeezed the pulp into little pellets Water was slowly added, a fibre straining cloth brought into use, and deft hands alternately dredging and mixing produced a muddy-looking fluid—kava, the wine of the islands. There are still greybeards and bent old men in the Pacific that tell of the wild nights of long ago, when the beating of a log of wood summoned them to the meeting place, where the girls chewed and made eyes, and the flavour of the beverage was goodly. They sigh, do these old people at the memory. Times have changed. The advent of the white man, sawing machines, and cotton prints altered the outlook of the simple islander. The trader developed a taste for kava, but insisted on more hygienic methods of preparation. The pretty girls in the village were gradually relieved of their chewing, and stones substituted for jaws as a crushing medium. To-day kava-dr inking is quits an institution in the islands. The whites indulge; the brown men mix it up with the births, deaths and marriages. On the beach at Apia, at Nuktilofa and Papeete it takes the place of eleven o’clock beef tea. To the native of the country it is all that whisky is to Tonal M'Duff, red wine to Jaques le Pinaud and ice water to the Yank. This is how the tourist sees the kavadrinking. A smoky lamp illumines the interior of a native house. Tiny putt's of cool air drift in through the reed blinds that serve as walls, and the soft rust ing of the palms outside tells of a dreamy scented breeze. The floor mats are comfortable, and thereon squat half a dozen people of the country. In the centre of the group is a big wooden bowl, two stones, a bucket of water, some dried kava root and a few half shells of coconuts garnish the centre piece. One of the group whispers something. A girl arises, selects a root, and proceeds to pound it between the stones. It is reduced to powder and fibre, placed in the bowl, and another piece operated on until a layer of chips and yellow dust covers the bottom. Water is poured in, the mixture stirred, and strained till not a vestige of pulp remains, nothing but a brown, thick-looking fluid. A man calls your name to the maid officiating at the bowl. You clap your hands and feel foolish. Kava does not look in the least appetising. Actually it is worse than it looks. You handle the half-coconut-shell gingerly, close your eyes, say “Ofa atu” ((Good luck), and swallow the stuff. What a flavour! No one has been able to describe it adequately, though tourists, missionaries, journalists, sea captains, Prime Ministers, globe trotters and touring politicians have tried to do so at various times in their lives. It is like a dash of Dovers Powder mixed with borax taken in a two ounce solution of Mag. sulph. It is awful. You toss the shell back, make use of your handkerchief, and sigh for the breeze outside. The chanting goes on, the calling of names continues until every person present has drunk of the nectar. And that’s a “fai kava,” the parallel of the white man's theatre party, or joy ride, or the homely supper of fish and chips.