CULTURE OF THE YAM.

A great variety of yam-like tubers are cultivated in Torres Strait.
Although on Murray and Darnley and other thickly peopled and fertile
islands a considerable extent of land in small patches has been brought
under cultivation, at the Prince of Wales Islands the cleared spots are
few in number, and of small extent--nor does the latter group naturally
produce either the coconut or bamboo, or is the culture of the banana
attempted. On the mainland again I never saw the slightest attempt at
gardening.

The principal yam, or that known by the names of kutai and ketai, is the
most important article of vegetable food, as it lasts nearly throughout
the dry season. Forming a yam garden is a very simple operation. No
fencing is required--the patch of ground is strewed with branches and
wood, which when thoroughly dry are set on fire to clear the surface--the
ground is loosely turned up with a sharpened stick, and the cut pieces of
yam are planted at irregular intervals, each with a small pole for the
plant to climb up. These operations are completed just before the
commencement of the wet season, or in the month of October.

When the rains set in the biyu becomes the principal support of the Cape
York and Muralug people. This is a grey slimy paste procured from a
species of mangrove (Candelia ?) the sprouts of which, three or four
inches long, are first made to undergo a process of baking and
steaming--a large heap being laid upon heated stones, and covered over
with bark, wet leaves, and sand--after which they are beaten between two
stones, and the pulp is scraped out fit for use. It does not seem to be a
favourite food, and is probably eaten from sheer necessity. Mixed up with