ARROW ROOT.


[Mr. Andrew Mathews, of Lima, has communicated to the _Gardeners'
Magazine_ the following account of the Otaheitan method of preparing
the excellent farinaceous substance termed _Arrow Root_, so
extensively used in this country.]

The root (_Tacca_ pinnatifida _Lin._, the _Pea_ of the natives) grows
in the greatest abundance in all the islands which we visited; viz.,
in Otaheite, Eimeo, Huaheine, Raiatea, and Otaha. Its favourite
situation is on the sides and ridges of the hills which rise directly
from the sea, and which are generally covered with a coarse grass, on
a red sandy loam. The root is round, white, smooth, full of eyes like
a potato, and from 2 to 3 in. in diameter. The flower-stem rises
directly from the root, simple; from 2 to 4 ft. in height, as thick as
a man's finger, bearing its flowers in a loose simple umbel on the
summit; and, when large and full blown, it presents a beautiful and
delicate appearance. The leaf is large, tri-pinnatifid, segments
acute, of a rich shining green: it is subject to great variation in
the size of the segments, some leaves being much more cut, and having
the segments narrower, than others. When a sufficient quantity of the
roots is collected, they are taken to a running stream, or to the
sea-beach, and washed; the outer skin is carefully scraped off at the
same time with a shell; and those who are particular in the
preparation scrape out even the eyes. The root is then reduced to a
pulp, by rubbing it up and down a kind of rasp, made as follows:--A
piece of board, about 3 in. wide, and 12 ft. long, is procured, upon
which some coarse twine, made of the fibres of the cocoa nut husk, is