150 Letter X. 
bananas and pine-apples; also, tinned meats, flour, jams, &c., 
from the colonies. Of course, all these things are not to be 
obtained at every station; and although the list looks tolerably 
large, there is a great want of variety, especially in fresh meat, 
and it must task the lady of the house considerably to vary the 
bill of fare. 
Here is what they produce. BreakrasT :—Ham and 
eggs, yams, bread, biscuits, and coffee. DINNER :—Soup, 
fowls, yams, bananas, tea, custard and snow-pudding. TEa :— 
Bread, biscuits, jam, cake, honey, cheese, and tea. This is 
high style of living, however, and cannot be always maintained ; 
for frequently the flour or biscuits go bad, or the supply of na- 
tive produce runs short. ‘Through these mishaps, one of the 
mission families was, some time ago, almost reduced to 
cocoanuts, before the vessel arrived with new stores from 
the colonies. 
So much for the outer form of mission life; and as what 
I have said in a general way will apply, with considerable ex- 
actness, to this island of Aniwa, from which this letter is dated, 
I shall go on to speak of the other kinds of life which are to 
be found on it—that, namely, of the natives, the lower animals, 
the insects, and the visitor. 
The’ first and the last seem to pass the time very much in 
the same way; and if either party kept a diary, I am afraid it 
would run very much like that of Mark Twain’s,—“ Got up, 
washed, and went to bed.” 
The natives appear to be quiet and good-natured members 
of society, but some of them do not seem quite so far removed 
from heathenism as to have thrown aside all the badges of it. 
I saw several with paint on their faces, and some, when 
out of sight of the mission house, seemed to prefer carry- 
ing their lava-lava over their shoulder to wearing it round 
their waist. 
i 
