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CALEDONIA. 



New (dolic/ios tuberosuf), the roots of which are very 

 Caledonia. muc [i i (1 reqiu-st as an article of food. There were 

 observed, moreover, some new or peculiar species, or 

 varieties, as well in the vegetable as in the aiiimel king- 

 doms. In the former may be distinguished some new 

 species of figs, a peculiar fern, and a jasmine ; a plant 

 or two of the asparagi and the 1 oti families ; several 

 species of limodorum, of passiflora, and of cerbera. 

 In the latter we remark some uncommon pigeons, a 

 bfeautiful species of magpie, with a species of fish be 

 longing to the genus tetraodon of Linnaeus, appa- 

 rently of a poisonous quality. Till the arrival of Cap- 

 tain Cook at this island, the inhabitants appear to 

 have been altogether unacquainted with goats, hogs, 

 dogs, or cats. The animals of some of those kinds 

 which he left in it they probably devoured or de- 

 stroyed, as no vestiges of them were discovered by 

 D'Entrecasteaux's people ; and the existence or the 

 properties of such animals seemed to be as much un- 

 known to the natives as if they had never been seen 

 amongst them. Some poultry appear to be raised 

 here ; but owing, probably, to the little attention 

 paid to them, they are but few in number, and seem- 

 ingly in a degenerate state. 



The inhabitants of New Caledonia are a race of 

 people robust, well made, active, and of features and 

 an expression of countenance rather agreeable. The 

 common stature, both of men and women, especially 

 of the former, is above what we usually distinguish 

 as the middle size. There were some instances of 

 persons not less than six feet four inches high. The 

 prevalent colour ia somewhat between a copper co- 

 lour and a jet black. The beards of the men, and 

 the hair in both sexes, is usually strong, coarse, 

 and very much frizzled. The practice prevails of 

 pulling out the beard by the roots, though in some 

 cases also it is allowed to grow long. The hair is 

 worn in many different ways, sometimes tied up to 

 the crown of the head, sometimes clubbed at the 

 aides, sometimes cropped short, and sometimes the 

 appearance of long hair is acquired by means of two 

 or three artificial tresses, made commonly with the 

 leaves of some plant of the grass kind, and covered 

 with the hair of the vampyre bat. A kind of combs 

 is in general use, consisting of several sticks of hard 

 wood joined together, of about the thickness of knit- 

 ting needles, and from seven to ten inches in length. 

 For the greater convenience, these are commonly 

 worn in the hair. Both the hair and the beard are 

 generally of a deep black colour. 



The men of this island wear little or no clothing. 

 A kind of garments made of coarse matting was ob 

 served among them, but these they seldom used. 

 Their ordinary dress consisted merely of a piece of 

 stuff manufactured from bark, or of the large leaf of 

 a tree suspended from the neck, and wrapt round 

 the middle of the body. The dress of the women is a 

 short petticoat, or fringe, formed by putting together 

 filaments of the plantain tree to the thickness of six 

 or eight inches, and not much more in length, which 

 are connected amongst themselves, and fastened about 

 the waist by means of a long string. Both in this 

 article uf dress, and in other respects, a good deal of 

 attention is paid to ornament. With this view, the 

 skin is dyed or punctured, the ears are perforated, 

 and much finery is brought into use, consisting of 



ear- rings, necklaces, amulets, bracelets made of shells, 



stones, or other precious or esteemed substances. A Caledonia. 



piece of dress which seems to be most valued among 



the men, is a kind of concave cylindrical black cap, 



made of strong paper, which was ,>uppo ed to be 



reserved exclusively for the chiefs and warriors. 



The houses or huts raised by this people are of a 

 circular construction, somewhat in the form of a bee- 

 hive. The framing is of small spars, reeds, or such 

 like materials. The lower part of the huts is erected 

 perpendicularly, to the height of three, four, or five 

 feet, wuen the roof tapers off in a pretty r.-gular 

 cone, and is terminated by the upper end of a post 

 fixed in the centre of the floor ; the whole being co- 

 vered, to the thickness of two or three inches, with 

 a thatch made of coarse long grass, ttome of these 

 houses are surround' d by palisades, equal in height 

 to their side-walls, and are decorated at top with 

 carved work, or shells. The entrance into them is 

 by an opening, which is commonly no more than, 

 sufficient to admit a person stooping. In the inte- 

 rior, more regard is had to convenience than to ele- 

 gance, or even to neatness. The floors are laid with 

 dry grass ; and mats are spread for the principal peo- 

 ple to sit or sleep on. Much use is made of fire in 

 these houses, and the only outlet for the smoke is 

 by the door ; whence, being accustomed to an atmo- 

 sphere at once gross and sultry the inhabitants are 

 extremely sensible to the cold of the open air. 



The subsistence of the people of New Caledonia 

 is chiefly derived from roots and fish ; and almost 

 their only household utensil is a sort of earthen jar, 

 in which they prepare whatever part of their food is 

 dressed by means of fire. This mode of living doea 

 not seem to indicate a very improved state of culti- 

 vation, t ven in those parts of the country which are 

 in this respect farthest advanced. But as to the in- 

 habitants of the mountains, they are obviously in a 

 condition of the greatest misery, being without shel- 

 ter from the severity of their climate, and in the ut- 

 most want of all manner of provisions. It is proba- 

 bly from necessity that some here have been led to 

 eat a species of spiders which are found in the woods, 

 nay, even to allay their hunger with a kind of earth 

 called steatite. A certain enjoyment seems to be 

 found by many in chewing the bark, or other parts, 

 of particular plants. The common drink is water, 

 which appears to be taken in a manner strangely un- 

 couth and peculiar. The navigation of this people 

 is less dextrous than that of several of the other 

 islanders of the South Sea. The sort of canoe which 

 they use seems to be peculiar to themselves, being a 

 double canoe, formed by the junction, at the distance 

 of about three feet asunder, of two distinct single 

 ones. The mast is in the middle space betwixt both j 

 and this clumsy and inartificial vessel is earned for- 

 ward by means of one or two latteen sails, extended 

 to a small latteen yard. A kind of fishing nets was 

 occasionally, though rarely, seen among the people 

 of this island, made of the filaments of the plantain 

 tree, or of some similar substance. Hooks and lines 

 seem to be unknown among them. Their chief me- 

 thod of catching large fish was by striking them with 

 darts, in which practice they were very dextrous. 

 It is principally the women that take the shell fish, 

 in quest of which they wade out a great way into 



