1 8 Voyage of the No vara. 



The most disagreeable feature is tlie mouth, which, in con- 

 sequence of the loathsome custom of incessantly chewing the 

 betel-nut, seems to have become utterly distorted in shape. 

 In a few cases this filthy habit had resulted in such deformity 

 among the teeth, that these were barely visible between the 

 thick swollen lipsy like a malignant tumour ! The apparel of 

 the natives is pretty universally entii-ely primitive, consisting 

 of nothing but a long very narrow strip of dark blue linen, 

 which they wind round the body, bringing it from the front 

 between the legs backwards, when it is made fast to the girdle, 

 and the ends left to hang loosely down. Some of the natives 

 make a very singular use of the different articles of old 

 clothes which they receive in exchange from the ship cap- 

 tains, or have had given as a present, as they appear now in 

 a black hat, now in a coat or a shirt, without a vestige of 

 other clothing ! 



Almost every native we saw brought to us a soiled, 

 crumpled-up testimonial, setting forth his good character, and 

 his honesty in the cocoa-nut trade, which he had received 

 from various slii]) captains, who bartered their merchandise 

 for ripe cocoa-nuts, which they afterwards sold in the East 

 Indies or Ceylon at an immense profit. The greater number 

 of these testimonials were written in English ; we found only 

 one in German from the skipper of a Bremen ship, and one 

 in Dutch. In these certificates are set forth the objects best 

 worth enquiring for, as also a statement of the articles bar- 

 tered in the course of exchange for cocoa-nuts, a practice 



