1770. ROUND THE WORLD. 207 



direction, like a rabbit burrow, about two yards 

 long, and opening into a hole at each end, one of 

 which is large and the other small : by the large 

 hole the fire is put in, and the small one serves for a 

 draught. The earth over this burrow is perforated 

 by circular holes, which communicate with the cavity 

 below ; and in these holes are set earthen pots, 

 generally about three to each fire, which are large 

 in the middle, and taper towards the bottom, so that 

 the fire acts upon a large part of their surface. Each 

 of these pots generally contains about eight or ten 

 gallons, and it is surprising to see with how small a 

 quantity of fire they may be kept boiling ; a palm 

 leaf, or a dry stalk, thrust in now and then, is suf- 

 ficient : in this manner they boil all their victuals, 

 and make all their syrup and sugar. It appears by 

 Frazier's account of his voyage to the South Sea, 

 that the Peruvian Indians have a contrivance of the 

 same kind, and perhaps it might be adopted with 

 advantage by the poor people even of this country, 

 where fuel is very dear. 



Both sexes are enslaved by the hateful and per- 

 nicious habit of chewing betel and areca, which 

 they contract even while they are children, and 

 practise incessantly from morning till night. With 

 these they always mix a kind of white lime, made of 

 coral stone and shells, and frequently a small quan- 

 tity of tobacco, so that their mouths are disgustful 

 in the highest degree both to the smell and the sight: 

 the tobacco taints their breath, and the betel and 

 lime make the teeth not only as black as charcoal, 

 but as rotten too. I have seen men between twenty 

 and thirty, whose fore-teeth have been consumed 

 almost down to the gums, though no two of them 

 were exactly of the same length or thickness, but 

 irregularly corroded like iron by rust. This loss of 

 teeth is, I think, by all who have written upon the 

 subject, imputed to the tough and stringy coat of 

 the areca nut ; but I impute it wholly to the lime : 



