=34 A V O Y A G E T O 



^'779- clofe habitations may afTord a comfortable retreat in bad 



r cbruary. ' 



weather, they feem but ill-adapted to the warmth of the 

 climate. They are, liowever, kept remarkably clean ; and 

 their floors are covered with a large quantity of dried grafs, 

 over which they fpread mats to fit and fleep upon. At one 

 end flands a kind of bench, about three feet high, on which 

 their houfehold utenfds are placed. The catalogue is not long. 

 It confifts of gourd-fhells, which they convert into veiTels that 

 fervc as bottles to hold water, and as bafl^ets to contain their 

 vidluals, and other things, with covers of the fame ; and of 

 a few wooden bowls and trenchers, of different fizes. Judg- 

 ing from what we faw growing, and from what was brought 

 to market, there can be no doubt, that the greateft part of their 

 vegetable food confills of fweet potatoes, taro, and plantains ; 

 and that bread-fruit and yams are rather to be efteemcd ra- 

 rities. Of animal food, they can be in no want ; as they 

 have abundance of hogs, which run, without reftraint, 

 about the houfes ; and if they eat dogs, which is not im- 

 probable, their (lock of thefe fcemed to be very confiderable. 

 The great number of fifliing-hooks found amongft them, 

 fliewed, that they derive no inconfiderable fupply of animal 

 food from the fea. But it fhould feem, from their pracT:ice 

 of faking fifh, that the opennefs of their coafl: often inter- 

 rupts the bufinefs of catching them ; as it may be naturally 

 fuppofed, that no fet of people would ever think of preferv- 

 ing quantities of food artificially, if they could depend upon 

 a daily, regular fupply of it, in its frcfh flate. This fort of 

 reafoning, however-, will not account for their cuftom of 

 fahing their pork, as well as their fifli, which are preferved 

 in goufd-fliclls. The fait, of which they ufe a great quan- 

 tity for this purpofe, is of a red colour, not very coarfe, and 

 kcma to be much the fame with what our llragglers found 



I. a:. 



