Yam

“ Further, the prayers and offerings of the individual peasants on the occasion of the yam festival are described as follows. “In the evening, when the town is swept clean, the people go to the fields to fetch yams, which, however, they may not yet bring into the town and therefore they hide them in the forest. As soon as the high priest quits the town next morning to go to the sacrificial place of his god, the women set out to fetch the yams which they had deposited. Now they begin to cook. Many people kill fowls or goats, and others buy fish for the festival. ”

“ The natives of Yam and Tut are one people. In olden days they resided part of the year in one island, and the rest in the other; now the greatly reduced population is permanently quartered on Yam. The people occasionally come across from Yam to look after their gardens, and we photographed the simple huts they had erected, which, we were informed, were like the old houses before the natives had adopted the South Sea type of house. ”

“ When the yams are laid out on the ground, the chiefs inspect them, and select the best ones, which are to be given to the chiefs of the community invited to the dance. To these selected yams they tie croton leaves as distinguishing marks. Then each man stands by his own yams, and has a boy standing by his own post; each man picks up his best yams, and whilst holding these they all (only the men with the yams) begin to sing. The moment the song is over, each man rushes with his selected best yam to his post, and hands the yam to the boy, who climbs up the post, and hangs up the yam. ”

“ Among savages the belief that like is caused by like is exemplified in very many practices. The New Caledonians, when they wish their yam plots to be fertile, bury in them with mystic ceremonies certain stones which are naturally shaped like yams. The Melanesians have reduced this kind of magic to a system. Among them certain stones have a magical efficacy, which is determined in each case by the shape of the stone. "A stone in the shape of a pig, of a bread-fruit, of a yam, was a most valuable find. No garden was planted without the stones which were to increase the crop." ”

“ Persons going to search for bush yams in time of scarcity gave a yam to the stones as a thank-offering, supposing that these gods caused the yams to grow, and could lead them to the best places for finding such edible roots. ”

“ The whole country was taken up with yam farms, and was divided amongst the various towns, each town having its own bush. At the end of each year, when it was time to dig the yams, there was a big play held, which was called the New Yam feast. At this festival there was always a big human sacrifice, fifty slaves being killed in one day. These slaves were tied up to trees in a row, and many drums were beaten; then a strong man, armed with a sharp matchet, went from one slave to another and cut their heads off. ”

“ To her astonishment the yam answered, “If I were to become your daughter, would you promise never to reproach me with having been a yam?” She eagerly gave her promise, and at once the yam changed into a beautiful, well-made girl. The woman was overjoyed and was very kind to the girl. She named her Adzanumee. The latter was exceedingly useful to her mother. She [78] would make the bread, gather the yams, and sell them at the market-place.
78 THE BIRD CALLS TO ADZANUMEE
She had been detained, one day, longer than usual. ”

“ The roots of a climbing plant growing in tropical climates. The root of the yam is wholesome and well-flavored; nearly as large as a man's leg, and of an irregular form. Yams are much used for food in those countries where they grow; the natives either roast or boil them, and the white people grind them into flour, of which they make bread and puddings. The yam is of a dirty brown color outside, but white and mealy within.
What are Mangoes?
The fruit of the Mango Tree, a native of India and the south-western parts of Asia; it also grows abundantly in the West Indies and Brazil. ”

“ The yam is apparently regarded by the Mafulu people as a vegetable possessing an importance which one is tempted to think may have a more or less superstitious origin-witness the facts that only men may plant it and that it is the only vegetable in the planting of which superstitious methods are employed, and the special methods and ceremonies adopted in the hanging of the yams at the big feast. ”

“ It grows well, and with very little trouble, and is far before many other vegetables in the matter of nutriment. In the South Sea Islands the natives live on yam from their infancy. The best and pleasantest way to cook them is to bake them in the ashes. Lay them in the dull, red ashes, turning them occasionally till done; then scrape off the outside, break open the yam, and eat with a spoon and some fresh butter and salt. They are delicious for supper on a cold night. Boiling them quite spoils their flavour. The English potato done in the same way is far nicer than boiled. ”

“ The Iranian Yima also has a sister of like name, although she does not appear till late in the literature.
That Yama's father is the sun, Vivasvant (Savitar, 'the artificer,' Tvashtar, x. 10. 4-5) , [5] is clearly enough stated in the Rik; and that he was the first mortal, in the Atharvan. Men come from Yama, and Yama comes from the sun as 'creator,' just as men elsewhere come from Adam and Adam comes from the Creator. But instead of an Hebraic Adam and Eve there are in India a Yama and Yam [=i] , brother and sister (wife) , who, in the one hymn in which the latter is introduced (loc. cit.) ”

“ The yams are cultivated by cutting them in pieces like potatoes; they are planted a few feet distant from each other, and in about six or eight months they arrive at maturity; they are known to be fit for use when the top or leaves begin to lose their verdure, till then they are of a deep green colour, and creep along the ground like ivy, with ligneous shoots. The yam is amongst the principal food of the slaves throughout the West Indies, and is alone sufficient to supply the want of bread ”

“ The part exposed is globular, of a dirty-white colour, warty, and internally the yam is tough and fibrous rather than spongy. One brought on board, on account of its size, weighed 474 lb., and measured 91⁄2 feet in circumference; others, of still greater size, were not uncommon. It will be conceived, that such vast masses of vegetable matter are but little adapted to become the food of man ”

“ As he was putting the yams into the basket, he took a great fancy to one particular yam-tail which he thought he would like to take home and eat, so he placed the yam-tail behind the tree where his father was standing, and then took the remaining yams out to the people on the farm to plant. When the work for the day was finished, and it was time to go [Pg 46] home, Chief Alankor called his people together and started off, Eba carrying his father’s bag as usual, but he entirely forgot his yam-tail which he had left behind the tree until they got half way home. ”

“ In the first instance the yam tubers are planted in pretty deep holes, the tubers being long. The yams then grow, and twine over the tree stems, and spread. After about ten months the men dig up the tubers, which in the meantime have grown larger, and cut away from them all the trailing green growth, and then hang the tubers up in the houses and emone, to let the new growing points sprout. ”

“ In their gardens mere women are not allowed to plant yams because these are “true gardens,” and [Pg 56] women are considered too dirty either to plant or eat the precious vegetable. They are permitted to plant taro, but yam work and yam eating are for True Men. It’s all very confusing, and as ridiculous as some of our civilized conventions.
Ahuia was never quite the man of the world among these stranger tribes. Father Fastre’s jolly Mondos were piling lumber, down below Popolo. The first night we stopped there Ahuia and Quai came creeping up to my door. ”

“ Dioscorea globosa, the most esteemed yam of India, which has very fragTant flowers, and roots white internally; Dioscorea rubella, another Indian kind, with tubers sometimes 3 feet long, tinged with red below the skin, etc. The Chinese yam (Dioscorea divaricata) is a perfectly hardy sort. Its edible club-shaped roots descend perpendicularly into the ground from two to three feet, and largely on this account it is little cultivated. ”

“ The chief plant is a broad-leaved species of yam, trained upon tall poles kept in position by cross bamboos, forming a framework divided into little squares, each of which contains a plant. A species of Calladium with an esculent root is also much cultivated; it is planted in regular rows with the earth heaped up in ridges, as in a potato or turnip field at home. I noticed some small plots of ground prepared with more than usual care for the growth of what Giaom told me was a herb used as tobacco; the young plants were protected from the sun with pieces of matting. ”

“ Christoval, I was accompanied by some half-a-dozen natives of both sexes who were bringing down yams to sell to the traders on the beach. The men were content with carrying their tomahawks; whilst the women followed up with heavy loads of yams on their heads. When a feast is in preparation, it is the work of the women to bring in the yams and taro from the “patches,” which may be one or two miles away. In my excursions, I frequently used to see at work in their “patches” these poor creatures, whom drudgery had prematurely deprived of all their comeliness. ”

“ If a man's pigs multiply, and his gardens are productive, it is not because he is industrious and looks after his property, but because of the stones full of mana for pigs and yams that he possesses. Of course a yam naturally grows when planted, that is well known, but it will not be very large unless mana comes into play; a canoe will not be swift unless mana be brought to bear upon it, a net will not catch many fish, nor an arrow inflict a mortal wound. ”

“ Women may help the men in all these things, except the ceremonious hanging up of the yams.
They do not, however, hang all the yam, sugar-cane, banana and taro, some of each being kept back in the houses for a purpose which will appear hereafter.
The ine and malage fruits are not hung up at all, but are kept in the avale of the village emone until the day of the actual feast, when the various vegetables and fruits are, as will be seen, put in heaps for distribution among the guests. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Yakut, ya-kōōt′, n. a member of a mixed Turkish race in Siberia, in the Lena district.
Yald, Yauld, yäld, adj. (Scot.) active, supple.
Yam, yam, n. a large root like the potato growing in tropical countries. [Port. inhame.]
Yama, yam′a, n. in Hindu mythology, the first mortal progenitor of the human race. [Sans.] ”

“ Among the Worgaia, when the yams begin to sprout, the chief of the Yam clan sends men of the phratry of which he is not a member himself to gather some of these plants; these bring some to him, and ask him to intervene, in order that the species may develop well. He takes one, chews it, and throws the bits in every direction. [1126] Among the Kaitish when, after various rites which we shall not describe, the grain of a certain grass called Erlipinna has reached its full [Pg 333] development, the chief of the totem brings a little of it to camp and grinds it between two stones ”

“ Foo-foo, the common food of the rich and poor, is of two kinds—white and black: the white is merely boiled yams beaten into a paste with water, and sold in balls of about a pound weight each. The black is made as follows:—The yam is first parboiled, then cut into small pieces and exposed to the rays of the sun till quite dry ”

“ The first cutter was sent to Brierly Island today, for the double purpose of endeavouring to procure yams from the natives for the use of the ship's company, and enabling me to make additions to my vocabulary and collection. Mr. Brady took charge of the bartering, and drawing a number of lines upon the sandy beach, explained that when each was covered with a yam he would give an axe in return. At first some little difficulty occurred as the yams were brought down very slowly--two or three at a time--but at length the first batch was completed and the axe handed over. ”

“ It will be conceived, that our situation was not the most enviable; those near the outside were exposed to the pitiless storm; while they who occupied the centre, where we had spread our hammocks, were necessarily oppressed with heat and smoke. About two o'clock, some of the natives, finding it impossible to sleep, got up and amused themselves until daylight in conversation, and roasting yams on the fire.
Friday, 23.—At day-break, the whole of the natives rose and commenced their yam feast, succeeded by plentiful supplies of palm-wine. ”

“ Traders and settlers now have plantations of coffee, bananas, and a few other profitable products, as I have already mentioned, and this industry is beginning to be successful. Taros and yams are cultivated by the natives, and require a good deal of attention, and so nearly all the work is left to the women. Yams vary from about the size of a small marrow to a much larger affair. The “Chief’s Yam” is pale pink in colour, and the ordinary ones are like a white mealy potato. ”