*48 HISTORY OF 



turn when the other is tired. It is performed 

 by fixing the ' cylindrical piece of wood in a 

 hollow made in a plane, the round part is then 

 twirled round swiftly between both the hands, 

 sliding them up and down, and thus it goes 

 round till the wished-for fire is produced. 



The men ' «ften singe the beard, which is 

 deemed qrfe of* the most painful operations they 

 can undergo. 



These people, whose natural capacity so little 

 can be urged in favour of, display in some 

 cases extraordinary ingenuity, for various ■ 

 figures have been discovered, cut on the surface 

 of large stones, representing themselves in dif- 

 ferent attitudes, their canoes, fish, and animals; 

 and when that rudeness of the instruments, they 

 must necessarily have used is considered, they 

 exhibit perhaps, generally speaking, as strong 

 likenesses as many portraits painted by our own 

 artists in England. 



The natives had no conception of boiling 



water originally, for when the crew of a boat 



were boiling some fish, a native, while our 



*\ people were at a little distance, put his hand in 



to get some fish, and was of course sxalded, and : 



> much astonished. 



Both the male and female natives are particu- 

 larly filthy in their food, indeed they care not 

 what they devour, even the vermin from the 

 head and maggots from trees they deem a great 

 relish ; and not content with what may come 

 in their way by chance, they throw pieces of 



