214 LETTER OF THE ADMIRAL'S SECRETARY. 
oranges, &c., and a few fish ; and in the yam 
season, each family kills a large pig, so that 
during the hard work of digging yams they may 
have a little animal 'food. Sometimes they get 
goats' flesh, and are trying to rear a few cattle 
they have there. The Admiral gave them a 
young bull and cow, also a ram. 
" Both sexes work very hard indeed. They 
usually rise at dawn ; have family prayers ; do 
the work that is necessary; about dusk have 
supper; then they go to the singing-school or 
to Mr. Nobbs, or meet to have a chat. About 
nine or ten, they go to bed, previously having 
family worship. Should one of the little ones go 
to bed or to sleep during its mother's absence, 
she immediately awakes it to say its prayers. 
Not a soul on the island would dream of com- 
mencing a meal or finishing it without asking a 
blessing, or returning thanks. Boys and girls 
can swim almost as soon as they can walk ; con- 
sequently they can swim through the largest 
surf, and play about amongst the broken water 
on the rocks that we look at with terror. One 
of their greatest amusements is to have a slide, 
as they term it : that is, to take a piece of wood 
about three feet long, shaped like a canoe, with 
a small keel (called a surf-board); they then, 
holding this before them, dive under the first 
heavy sea, and come up the other side ; they 
then swim out a little way until they see a rapid 
heavy sea come rolling in, the higher the better : 
they rest their breast upon the canoe or surf- 
board, and are carried along on the very apex 
of the surf at a prodigious rate right upon the 
