360 CAPTAIN COOK'S VOYAGES 



do raw oysters. When he had done, the remains of the 

 head were cut in pieces, and given to the attendants, who 

 tore off the meat with their teeth, and gnawed the bones 

 like so many dogs. 



" Their method of building is as follows : They dig in 

 the ground an oblong square pit, the length of which 

 seldom exceeds fifty feet, and the breadth twenty ; but in 

 general the dimensions are smaller. Over this excavation 

 they form the roof of wood, which the sea throws ashore. 

 This roof is covered first with grass, and then with earth 

 so that the outward appearance is like a dunghill. In the 

 middle of the roof, towards each end, is left a square 

 opening, by which the light is admitted : one of these 

 openings being for this purpose only, and the other being 

 also used to go in and out by, with the help of a ladder. 

 Round the sides and ends of the huts, the families (for 

 several are lodged together) have their separate apart- 

 ments, where they sleep and sit at work, not upon benches, 

 but in a kind of concave trench, which is dug all round 

 the inside of the house, and covered with mats, so that 

 this part is kept tolerably decent. But the middle of the 

 house, which is common to all the families, is far other- 

 wise ; for, although it be covered with dry grass, it is a 

 receptacle for dirt of every kind. 



" Their household furniture consists of bowls, spoons, 

 buckets, piggins or cans, matted baskets, and perhaps a 

 Russian kettle or pot. All these utensils are very neatly 

 made, and well formed, and yet we saw no other tools 

 among them but the knife and the hatchet. There are 

 few, if any of them, that do not smoke, chew tobacco, and 

 take snuff ; a luxury that bids fair to keep them always 

 poor. 



" I saw not a fire-place in any one of their houses. They 

 are lighted, as well as heated, by lamps, which are simple 

 and yet answer the purpose very well. They are made of 

 a flat stone, hollowed on one side like a plate, and about 

 the same size, or rather larger. In the hollow part they 

 put the oil, mixed with a little dry grass, which serves the 

 purpose of a wick. 



" They produce fire both by collision and by attrition ; 

 the former by striking two stones one against another, 

 on one of which a good deal of brimstone is first rubbed. 

 The latter method is with two pieces of wood, one of which 

 is a stick of about eighteen inches in length, and the other 

 a flat piece. The pointed end of the stick they pressed 

 upon the other, whirling it nimbly round as a drill, thus 

 producing fire in a few minutes. 



" Their canoes are built nearly after the manner of those 



