92 CRUISE OF THE 'CUBAQOA.' 



found it mucli more enjoyable than at Pango-Pango, or 

 Apia, where I always felt as if I was in a vapour bath. I 

 saw but two species of land shells, very small and like those 

 of Apia ; the small birds, also, that I killed were similar to 

 those I had previously met with. I saw fields of yams, of 

 taro of two kmds, sweet potatoes, bananas of tliree varieties, 

 and pine-apples not yet ripe. A hibiscus covered with large 

 yellow flowers was in abundance everywhere ; the papaw 

 apple, orange tree, pammelo or shaddock, the lemon, citron, 

 and other trees, grow marvellously well in the island, and 

 yield, it appears, fine large fruit. No trees that I saw were 

 at all remarkable for their circumference or height. A 

 species of ti-tree [Draccena) here and there showed its flowers 

 and fruit of a fine red. I also saw some plantations of ava, 

 and frequently came upon patches of land in good condition 

 for receiving crops. The ferns did not appear to me very 

 numerous ; those I saw were of the same species I had 

 previously met with in the Samoan Islands. I passed 

 through several villages, and met a good many natives ; the 

 women for the most part had tlieir bosoms covered with 

 a sort of small pinafore, which only reached to the waist, 

 and all of them had their hair cropped so close as to make 

 them undistinguishable, as far as their heads were concerned, 

 from the men ; and, by means of lime paste (chinam), they 

 brought the colour of their hair into a kind of harmony 

 with that of their skin, making their hair of a redder tint 

 than is usual in Samoa. The people of Nciafu and the 

 neighbourhood appeared to me very orderly and industrious. 



