180 PRODUCTIONS. [1839. 



with the cultivation of a few bananas, and a small patch of 

 yams and sweet potatoes, they are always ready for any kind 

 of amusement. Fishing is one of their chief sports, and every 

 fine night the romantic scenery of the numerous bays and 

 inlets is illuminated by the glare of their torches, and the 

 coral rocks echo back their cheery songs and joyous shouts. 

 They fish mostly with the spear, in the use of which they 

 are very expert. 



(7.) There are few trees or plants usually found in the 

 tropics, which are not indigenous to, or have not been accli- 

 mated in, this group. The soil made by the decomposing 

 rocks and decayed vegetable matter, is of great fertility, yet 

 agriculture is in a languishing state ; and there are acres of 

 the most fruitful ground, to which, were it not for the spon- 

 taneous growth of its products, the expressive phrase of part 

 du diable, used in designating the fallow corners of the 

 ploughed fields of Finisterre, might well be applied. There 

 is, indeed, no very powerful inducement to labor, where the 

 means of subsistence are so easily obtained. 



On the hills and uplands there are forests of stately trees, 

 and the mountain sides are variegated with shrubbery, and 

 richly embroidered with the parasitic plants that grow in 

 every rift and cranny. Ornamental shrubs and aromatic 

 plants are common. Yellow, orange, red, and party-colored 

 acacias, enliven the scene with their gorgeous dyes. The 

 laughing sunlight rests lovingly on the rich yellow fruit of 

 the lime and orange, and the soft breezes, of the ocean delight 

 to linger amid the bright green foliage of the banana, the 

 broad leaves of the bread-fruit, and the waving tufts of the 

 cocoa. 



Of the apapa and faifai — the latter the more valuable of 

 the two — the canoes of the natives are made ; and the tarn- 

 anu and hibiscus of the plains, are used for the same purpose, 

 and also for making furniture. The mape (inocarpus edulis) 

 furnishes excellent timber for small vessels, but only a lim- 

 ited supply can be obtained. The wood of the bread-fruit 

 tree is used in various ways, in house and ship building. 



