1770 HOUSES—FOOD 237 
carved planks of a workmanship superior to any other we 
saw on the land. For what purpose this was built or why 
deserted we could not find out. 
Though these people when at home defend themselves so 
well from the inclemencies of the weather, yet when they are 
abroad upon their excursions, which they often make in search 
of fern roots, fish, etc., they seem totally indifferent to shelter. 
Sometimes they make a small shade to windward of them, 
but more often omit that precaution. During our stay at 
Opoorage, or Mercury Bay, a party of Indians were there, 
consisting of forty or fifty, who during all that time never 
erected the least covering, though it twice rained almost 
without ceasing for twenty-four hours together. 
Their food, in the use of which they seem to be moderate, 
consists of dogs, birds (especially sea fowl, as penguins, 
albatrosses, etc.), fish, sweet potatoes, yams, cocos, some few 
wild plants, as sow-thistles 1 and palm-cabbage, but above all, 
the root of a species of fern which seems to be to them what 
bread is tous. This fern is very common upon the hills, and 
very nearly resembles that which grows upon our hilly 
commons in England, and is called indifferently fern, bracken, 
or brakes. As for the flesh of man, although they certainly 
do eat it, J cannot in my own opinion debase human nature 
so much as to imagine that they relish it as a dainty, or 
even look upon it as common food. Thirst for revenge may 
drive men to great lengths when their passions are allowed 
to take their full swing, yet nature, through all the superior 
part of the creation, shows how much she recoils at the 
thought of any species preying upon itself. Dogs and cats 
show visible signs of disgust at the very sight of a dead 
carcass of their own species; even wolves or bears are said 
never to eat one another except in cases of absolute necessity, 
when the stings of hunger have overcome the precepts of 
nature, in which case the same has been done by the in- 
habitants of the most civilised nations. Among fish and 
insects, indeed, there are many instances which prove that 
1 The New Zealand bracken and sow-thistle are identical with the English 
(Pteris aquilina, Linn., and Sonchus asper, Vill.). 
