1777* THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 44.5 



roots and fruits being their principal support, this 

 requires their constant attention to agriculture, 

 which they pursue very diligently, and seem to have 

 brought almost to as great perfection as circum- 

 stances will permit. The large extent of the plan- 

 tain fields has been taken notice of already ; and 

 the same may be said of the yams ; these two 

 together being at least as ten to one with respect to 

 all the other articles. In planting both these, they 

 dig small holes for their reception, and afterward 

 root up the surrounding grass, which, in this hot 

 country is quickly deprived of its vegetating power, 

 and soon rotting, becomes a good manure. The in- 

 struments they use for this purpose, which they call 

 hooo, are nothing more than pickets or stakes of 

 different lengths, according to the depth they have 

 to dig. These are flattened and sharpened to an 

 edge at one end ; and the largest have a short piece 

 fixed transversely, for pressing it into the ground 

 with the foot. With these, though they are not 

 more than from two to four inches broad, they dig and 

 plant ground of many acres in extent. In planting 

 the plantains and yams, they observe so much exact- 

 ness, that whichever way you look, the rows present 

 themselves regular and complete. 



The cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees are scattered 

 about without any order, and seem to give them no 

 trouble after they have attained a certain height. 

 The same may be said of another large tree which 

 produces great numbers of a large roundish com- 

 pressed nut, called eeefee ; and of a smaller tree that 

 bears a rounded oval nut two inches long, with two 

 or three triangular kernels, tough and insipid, called 

 mabba, most frequently planted near their houses. 



The kappe is commonly regularly planted, and in 

 pretty large spots ; but the mawhaha is interspersed 

 amongst other things, as the jeejee and yams are ; 

 the last of which, I have frequently seen in the inter- 

 spaces of the plantain trees at their common distance. 



