98 USEFUL PLANTS OF (ilAM. 



proximity to u oood hurhov, on the l)anks of a river for the sake of a 

 constant supply of fresh water, or on a high and inaccessil)le hill, as 

 in the case of Cliuchug-o, for the sake of security from attack. Those 

 on the l)each were composed of 50 to 150 houses, tliose in the intei'ior of 

 from 20 down to a half dozen. The principal town was Agadna, on 

 the west coast of the island, where a tine river, having its source in a 

 great spring called '' Matan-hanom,'' emptied into the sea. In all the 

 larger villages there was a ''great house "" frequented b}^ the " urritao," 

 or bachelors, in which unmarried men and women lived together. 



The houses contained little tliat could l)e called furniture. There 

 were common floor mats, diagonally braided, and sleeping mats, some 

 of very tine texture, made from the leaves of the textile Pandanus. 

 The water vessels were not coconut shells, as in many Polynesian 

 islands, but sections of large hollow bamboos, about 5 or 6 feet long, 

 which were inclined against the wall. There were coarse bags of Pan- 

 danus matting holding dried breadfruit, and every native carried a 

 finely woven bag of the same material containing betel nut. Coarse 

 baskets were made of fresh coconut leaves, as required, to be thrown 

 away when dry and useless. Baskets of Ijetter construction were 

 woven from strips of bamboo (piao). In thQ kitchen there was a hole 

 in the ground and a pile of stones for an oven. 



Food. — The}" subsisted principally on fruits, yams, taro, and fish. 

 They ate coconuts prepared in various ways, sugar cane, ban:inas, 

 plantains, and breadfruit. The last was in season only about four 

 months of the year, but after it 3'ams became mature. In the times 

 of famine following hurricanes they resorted to the woods for "" fadang," 

 or nuts of Oycas circinalis^ the poisonous properties of which they 

 removed by soaking and repeatedly changing the water, after which the 

 macerated starch}- substance was ground in cavities of convenient 

 stones and })aked. For relishes they ate certain seaweeds, Terminalia 

 nuts, and the kernels of Pandanus seeds. Pandanus drupes, which are 

 an important food staple on many islands, did not enter into their 

 domestic economy, and the widely spread "Polynesian chestnut" 

 {Bocoa ed}(,Us) was absent from the island. They had neither sweet 

 potatoes nor maize until after the discovery;, nor did the yam bean 

 (Cacara) occur on the island. Rice was cultivated by them and 

 sold to visiting ships. They regarded it as a luxury and kept it for 

 their feasts. They did not practice cannibalism. Indeed the early 

 navigators said that they could not be induced to eat meat of any kind. 

 Although they had pigs at a very early date it is probable that these 

 were introduced after the discovery. They also had fowls and kept 

 doves in captivity, but we have no evidence that they ate them. They 

 could not be induced to eat eels, .and spoke disparagingly of some of 

 the early missionaries for eating them. The creamy juice expressed 

 from the grated meat of ripe cocoanuts entered into the composition 



