History of the Caribs. 239 
it be unwholesome, but, instead of salt, they use a great 
quantity of pepper. * They will eat jiggers and lice, 
because, they say, these insects bit them. 
When they eat, they never invite anybody to join them. 
The stranger, if hungry, must take a seat near them, of 
his own accord, and eat and drink with them, as if he 
belonged to the house. f 
They never speak or drink during meals : their con- 
versation afterwards is generally about fishing, hunting, 
travelling, etc. They are very vindi6tive and will nurse 
a hatred not for one year only, but for life, and do 
not rest, until the enemy is killed : often for very little 
cause, such as for broken arrows, for a knife, for a word. 
Sometimes on account of their wives, with whom they 
cohabit in numbers, and without distinction of parentage. 
I have seen some that took their daughters for wives, 
and left them whenever they pleased. There is no 
nation more inclined towards drunkenness, and, it is 
when intoxicated that they slay one another. 
They are quite independent, and this is a great obsta- 
cle in trying to convert them. They do not obey their 
father, and the father does not command his child. 
The captain of a boat will never order his men to pull, 
they work as they like. It is not the duty of the captain 
to steer, he has only to bale the boat. % 
* Indians now are very fond of salt and will go long distances to pro- 
cure it. The peppers used are, of course, capsicums. 
f According to the Red Man's Code of hospitality, the stranger in the 
house is, in the fullest sense of the words, at home. 
X This custom, strikingly different from anything to be seen among 
the Indians of the mainland, must have been a peculiar adaptation to 
the sea-going habits of the Rcdmcn of the West India Islands. 
