the biyu to render it more palatable they sometimes add large quantities
of a leguminous seed, the size of a chestnut, which has previously been
soaked for a night in water, and the husk removed, or the tuber of a wild
yam (Dioscorea bulbifera) cut into small pieces, and well steeped in
water to remove its bitter taste.

Among the edible fruits of Cape York I may mention the leara, a species
of Anacardium or cashew nut (the lurgala of Port Essington) which, after
being well roasted to destroy its acridity has somewhat the taste of a
filbert--the elari (a species of Wallrothia) the size of an apricot, soft
and mealy, with a nearly insipid but slightly mawkish taste--wobar, the
small, red, mealy fruit of Mimusops kaukii--and the apiga (a species of
Eugenia) a red, apple-like fruit, the pericarp of which has a pleasantly
acid taste. The fruit of two species of pandanus yields a sweet mucilage
when sucked, and imparts it to water in which it has been soaked, after
which it is broken up between two stones, and the kernels are extracted
and eaten.

NO RECOGNISED CHIEFTAINSHIP.

Throughout Australia and Torres Strait, the existence of chieftainship,
either hereditary or acquired, has in no instance of which I am aware
been clearly proved: yet in each community there are certain individuals
who exercise an influence over the others which Europeans are apt to
mistake for real authority. These so-called chiefs, are generally elderly
men, who from prowess in war, force of character, or acknowledged
sagacity, are allowed to take the lead in everything relating to the
tribe. In Torres Strait such people are generally the owners of large
canoes, and several wives; and in the northern islands, of groves of
coconut-trees, yam grounds, and other wealth. Among the Kowraregas, there