94 
VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP, island, measured five feet nine inches and a half. Accustomed to per- 
form all domestic duties, to provide vrood for cooking, ’which is there a 
Dec. work of some labour, as it must be brought from the hills, and some- 
times to till the ground, their strength is in proportion to their mus- 
cularity ; and they are no less at home in the water than the men. 
The food of the islanders consists almost entirely of vegetable sub- 
stances. On particular occasions, such as marriages or christenings, or 
when visited by a ship, they indulge in pork, fowls, and fish. Although, 
as has already been mentioned, they discovered a method of distilling 
a spirit from the tee-root, the miseries it entailed on them have taught 
them to discontinue the use of it, and to confine themselves strictly 
to water, of which, during meals, they partake freely, but they seldom 
use it at other times. The spirit, which was first distilled by M‘Coy, 
and led to such fatal consequences, bears some affinity to peat-reeked 
whisky. 
The treatment of their children differs from that of our own 
country, as the infant is bathed three times a day in cold water, and is 
sometimes not weaned for three or four years ; but as soon as that takes 
place it is fed upon “ popoe,” made with ripe plantains and boiled taro 
rubbed into a paste. Upon this simple nourishment children are reared 
to a more healthy state than in other countries, and are free from fevers 
and other complaints peculiar to the greater portion of the world. Mr. 
Collie remarks in his journal, that nothing is more extraordinary in the 
history of the island than the uniform good health of the children ; 
the teething is easily got over, they have no bowel complaints, and are 
exempt from those contagious diseases which affect children in large 
communities. He offered to vaccinate the children as well as all the 
grown persons; but they deemed the risk of infection to be too small to 
render that operation necessary. 
In rainy weather, and after the occasional visits of vessels, the islanders 
are more affected with plethora and boils than at other periods ; to the 
former the whole population appear to be inclined, but they are usually 
relieved from its effects by bleeding at the nose ; and, without searching 
for the real cause, they have imbibed a belief that these diseases are con- 
tagious, and derived from a communication with their visiters, although 
there may not be a single case of the kind on board the ship. The result 
