﻿3S3 A SHORT DESCRIPTION 



of cloth-petticoats from the ships, commonly tie them 

 round immediately under the arms. The men wear 

 nothing but a narrow strip of cloth about the middle, 

 in which they wrap up their privkies so tight, that 

 there hardly is any appearance of them. The ears of 

 both sexes are pierced when young, and by squeez- 

 ing into the holes large plugs of wood, or hanging 

 heavy weights of shells, they contrive to render them 

 wide, and disagreeable to look at. They are natu- 

 rally disposed to be good humoured and gay, and are 

 very fond of sitting at table with Europeans, where 

 they eat every thing that is set before them ; and they 

 eat most enormously. They do not care much for 

 wine, but will drink bumpers of arrack as long as they 

 can see. A great part of their time is spent in feast- 

 ing and dancing. When a feast is held at any vil- 

 lage, every one that chuses goes uninvited, for they 

 are utter strangers 10 ceremony. At those feasts they 

 eat immense quantities of pork, which is their favour- 

 ite food. Their hogs are remarkably fat, being fed 

 upon the cocoa-nut kernel and sea-water : indeed all 

 their domestic animals, fowls, dogs, he. are fed upon 

 the same. They have likewise plenty of small sea-fish, 

 which they strike very dexterously with lances, wading 

 into the sea about knee deep. They are sure of kill- 

 ing a very small fish at ten or twelve yards distance. 

 They eat the pork almost raw, giving it only a hasty 

 grill over a quick fire. They roast a fowl, by run- 

 ning a piece of wood through it, by way of spit, and 

 holding it over a brisk fire, until the feathers are 

 burnt off, when it is ready for eating, in their taste. 

 They never drink water ; only cocoa-nut milk and 

 a liquor called soura, which oozes from the cocoa-nut 

 tree after cutting off the young sprouts or flowers. 

 This they suffer to ferment before it is used, and 

 then it is intoxicating, to which quality they add 

 much by their method of drinking it, by sucking 

 it slowly through a small straw. After eating, the 



