618 
EXTRACTS NATURAL HISTORY. 
“At Asariaita, I had sown a number of seeds from England, Rio Janeiro, and 
New South Wales. Coffee and Cashew-nuts (Anacardium occidentale) I had 
before planted in boxes; they grew welly but the Coffee and Cashew-nuts were 
totally destroyed by the goats, which, reaping the fence one day, in a few minutes 
ate up the plants, on which I had bestowed much care. I succeeded, however, 
in preserving the Custard-apple (Annona triloba , or squammosa) that I had 
brought from Rio, and plants from it are now bearing fruit in several of the 
islands. In addition to these, I was enabled to cultivate Papaw-apple (Carica 
papaya,) French-beans, carrots, turnips, cabbage, and Indian-corn; while our 
little flower-garden in Huahine, was adorned with the Convolvulus major and 
minor, capsicum, helianthus, and amaranthus, with several brilliant native 
flowers, amongst which, the Gardenia and Hibiscus rosa Sinensis , were always 
conspicuous. The front of our house was shaded by orange trees, and our 
garden enclosed with a citron hedge.” 
“ The natives display a taste for the beautiful, In their fondness of flowers. 
The Gardenia , Hibiscus , and Amaranthus were often wove in the most graceful 
wreaths and garlands, and worn on their brows. They were delighted when the 
Helianthus was added to their flowers. The king and queen passed by my 
garden, when the first ever grown in the islands was in flower, and came in 
to admire its size and brilliant colours. Soon after their return, I received a 
note from the king, asking a flower for the queen, and also one for her sister; 
I sent them each a small one ; and the next time they appeared in public, the 
large sun-flowers were fixed as ornaments in their hair.” 
Tobacco. —“The Tobacco plant is another exotic, common now in all the 
islands; it was introduced by Captain Cook, and has since been cultivated to a 
small extent by the natives, merely for their own use. Mr. Williams encou¬ 
raged its culture to a considerable extent in the island of Raiatea, and the 
natives were taught to prepare it for the market of New South Wales in a man¬ 
ner that rendered the Raiatian tobacco equal to any brought into Sydney.” 
Habits of the Female Borneo, and the Male Chimpanzee Orang 
Utans. —As observed during their exhibition at the Egyptian Hall in 1831, 
The most striking points of distinction between the two were the length of the 
facial angle in the female or Borneo orang (Simia Satyrus.) The singular small¬ 
ness of the ear, and its close resemblance to that of the human species; the pear 
shaped head, the nose but in a slight degree elevated, the nostrils narrow and 
oblique, the extreme length of the arms, the use made of them in walking, the 
animal resting the hands on the ground, and swinging as if on crutches, the hair 
of a reddish brown, very short, and but slightly scattered over the body, the 
abdomen exceedingly protruberant, the feet long, with the largest toe peculiarly 
short, but exhibiting a perfect nail. The Chimpanzee (Simia Troglodytes) exhi¬ 
bited a marked contrast, presenting a much nearer approach to that of the human 
race. The form of the head, the intellectual superiority that distinguishes the 
cast of the features; the proportionate length of the arms to that of the body, 
the larger and perfect thumb, the roundness of the thigh, the perfect feet, and 
the consequent upright mode of walking, the complete formation of the last joint 
of the great toe, and the quality of the sounds which it occasionally utters, de¬ 
note the superiority of the Chimpanzee over the Borneo Orang Utan. On their 
first introduction they stood at some distance from each other, resting on their 
knuckles in evident contemplation of the new form they saw for the first time. 
