110 NATIVE HAUNTS. [1844. 



light his fire by the primitive mode of rubbing together 

 two pieces of stick. Lucretius alludes to the probable 

 mode of thus obtaining fire, in his poem ' De natura 

 Rerum'.* 



" ' Et ramosa tamen quom, ventis pulsa, vacillans 

 -5stuat, in ramos incumbens arboris, arbor, 

 Exprimitur validis extritus viribus, ignis : 

 Emicat interdum flammai fervidus ardor, 

 Mutua dum inter se ramei, stipesque, teruntur.' 



" On one occasion we came suddenly upon a small hamlet, 

 named Dumalon, and were invited, in the true spirit of 

 hospitality, to enter one of the dwellings of these simple 

 people. There we saw a complete picture of a Bisayan 

 family. Two old wrinkled crones bustled about the 

 nibon floor, engaged in culinary and household cares ; 

 young girls were busy making mats, the men were lazily 

 smoking, and chewing betel, whilst a mother was care- 

 fully rocking her tender new-born, infant in a cradle of 

 very original construction. A bamboo, suspended hori- 

 zontally by a rope at each end, from the rafters, supported 

 two strings, to which the cross-piece of the cradle was 

 attached near its centre. By gently pressing on the margin 

 of the crib, the elasticity of the apparatus caused an up 

 and down movement, serving as a pleasant lullaby to the 

 small, brown, dozing suckling. 



" On our return, we came suddenly upon a group of 

 natives, who had just succeeded in killing a wild-boar, 

 and who very willingly, for a trifling consideration, parted 

 with a choice morsel for our consumption ; and upon ex- 

 periment, we found it tolerably palatable, although, of 

 course somewhat tough, and lean." 



* Lib. v. 1095-1099. 



