MAR 
they are addicted to theft, yet they reftore on the firft de¬ 
mand, and even with laughter, the articles which they 
have purloined. Nevertheless, robbery is not authorised, 
nor even tolerated, at Santa Chriftiana ; and, whilft they 
Real from Grangers, they obServe the moll Scrupulous fide¬ 
lity among one another. 
The only tame fowls are cocks and hens, and their 
quadrupeds only hogs and rats ; but the woods are inha¬ 
bited by Small birds, whofe plumage is exceedingly beau¬ 
tiful, and their notes fweetly varied. The oceanic birds, 
which frequent the bay, are man-of-war birds, tropic- 
birds, boobies, and different Species of terns and Swallows. 
Santa Chriftiana poffefl’es the Sugar-cane 5 but the inha¬ 
bitants are ignorant of its value. European animals, 
though left there by Capt. Cook, either could not accom¬ 
modate themfelves to this climate, or v.-ere neglefted, and 
perhaps exterminated, by the inhabitants, So that later 
voyagers could not difcover any of them 5 neither could 
they find any of the European utenfils or commodities, 
Such as looking-glaffes, knives, hatchets, nails, glafs- 
beads, &c. left there by Capt. Cook in 1774- 
Captain Cook, Mr. Reinhold Forfter, and Mtflrs. Chanal 
and Roblet, have given a vocabulary of the words com¬ 
monly ufed in this ifland; from which it appears, that 
the Mendogans employ no difficult articulation, and that 
their language, notwithftanding the frequent alpirations, 
and the vehemence with which they are accuftomed to 
exprefs themfelves, poffefles fweetnefs and a fort of har¬ 
mony. The language of this ifland has indeed a great 
affinity to that of the Society I(lands, or it is rather, as 
Marchand Suggefts, the Same tongue 5 and, if this be true, 
it proves, that, although the two archipelagos are Sepa¬ 
rated by an interval of Sea of 260 leagues, and although it 
may be prefumed that their canoes do not maintain be¬ 
tween them an habitual communication, the people who 
inhabit them mult have had a common origin. A native 
of the Society Hands, who was embarked in the Resolu¬ 
tion, converfed fluently with the natives of La Mad re de 
Dios | but Capt. Cook Says, that the Englifh, who mult 
in their vifits to Otaheite have acquired a knowledge of 
mod of the words Spoken there, could never Succeed in 
making themfelves underftood at Santa Chriftiana. As 
farasit has been examined, the language of this ifland em¬ 
ploys s vowels, a, e, i, 0, a; but the confonants, in 95 
words that have been collected by Capt. Chanal, are only 
8 in number, and perform the office of 12 of ours ; viz. 
b or p, d, c hard, g hard, k and q,f m, n, t, v. The na¬ 
tives of Santa Chriftiana cannot articulate our r, and they 
Supply the defeft by a fort of afpiration. Our confo¬ 
nants, z,f x , make no part of the articulations of the lan¬ 
guage of this ifland. 
As to the population of thefe i(lands, we have no Satis¬ 
factory account. The number of inhabitants, fays Mr. 
G. Forfter, cannot be very considerable, on account of 
the Small Size of the i(lands which they occupy. Such 
Spots as are fit for culture in thefe i(lands are very popu¬ 
lous; but, as they are all very mountainous, and have 
many inacceffible and barren rocks, it is to be doubted 
whether the whole population of this group amounts to 
50,000 perfons. From Marchand’s Voyage, and the (late- 
ment which it contains, it appears that it would be grant¬ 
ing much to the ifland of Santa Chriftiana to give it 1000 
inhabitants for every league of coaft, and in all 7000 ; to 
fuppofe 6000 in Dominica, which Mr. Forfter, on account 
of the Sterility of the greater part of its foil, rightly pre¬ 
sumes not likely to prefent a population So numerous as 
that of Chriftiana; and to admit 6000 for'Magdalena, 
whofe circuit is fix leagues; the total number o( the in¬ 
habitants of the three large i(lands might then amount 
to 19,000 individuals, which might be extended to 20,000, 
if we allow a few inhabitants to the Small i(lands San 
Pedro and Hood. This refult is very wide of that of 50,000 
individuals according to Mr. Forfter’s ftatement; and 
yet even this is fuppofed by the French voyager to be 
exaggerated. Cook's Second Voyage, v ol. i. Marchand's Voyage, 
MAR 403 
vol. i. MiJJionary Voyage. See alfo Lifianjki's , Krufenfern's, 
and Langsdorjf's, Voyages, 18-03-7. 
MAR'QUESS. See Marquis. 
MAR'QUETRY, or Inlaid Work ; a curious kind 
of work, compofed of pieces of hard fine wood of dif¬ 
ferent colours, fattened, in thin dices, on a ground, and 
Sometimes enriched with other matters, as tortoife-ffiell, 
ivory, tin, and brafs. 
The art of inlaying is very ancient, and is fuppofed to 
have parted from the eaft to the weft, as one of the Spoils 
brought by the Romans from Ada. Indeed, it was then 
but a fimple tiling ; nor did it arrive at any tolerable per- 
feftion till the fifteenth century, among the Italians. It 
Seems finally to have arrived at its height in the Seven¬ 
teenth century, among the French. Till John of Verona, 
contemporary with Raphael, the fined works of this kind 
were only black and white, which are what we now call 
morefcoes ; but that religious, who had a genius for paint¬ 
ing, Itained his woods with dyes, or boiled oils, which 
penetrated them. But he went no further than the repre- 
fenting of buildings and perfpeftives, which require no 
great variety of colours. Thofe who Succeeded him, not 
only improved on the invention of dyeing the woods, by 
a fecret which they found of burning them without con¬ 
suming, which Served exceedingly well for the ffiadows ; 
but they had alfo the advantage of a number of fine new 
woods of naturally-bright colours, by the difcovery of 
America With thefe affiftances, the art is now capable 
of imitating any thing ; whence Some call it, the art of 
painting in wood. 
The ground, whereon the pieces are to be arranged and 
glued, is ordinarily of oak or fir, well dried ; and, to pre¬ 
vent warping, it is compofed of Several pieces glued to¬ 
gether. The wood to be ufed, being reduced into leaves 
of the thicknefs of a line, is either Itained with Some co¬ 
lour, or made black for Shadow : which Some effect by 
putting it in Sand extremely heated over the fire; others 
by fteeping it in lime-water and Sublimate ; and others, in 
oil of Sulphur. Thus coloured, the contours of the pieces 
are formed according to the parts of the defign they are to 
represent. The laft is the molt difficult part of marquetry, 
and that wherein molt patience and attention are required. 
The two chief inltruments are the Saw and the vice ; the 
latter to hold the matters to be formed ; the former to take 
off from the extremes, according to occafion. This vice 
is of wood, having one of the chaps fixed, the other move- 
able, and is opened and (hut by a lever worked with tire 
foot, by means of a cord fattened to a treadle. Its ftruc- 
ture is very ingenious, yet fimple enough, and will be ea- 
fily conceived from the figure; w.here a is the vice, b the 
treadle, c the cord, and d the lever, the whole fixed to 
the table, or work-bench. 
The leaves to be formed (for there are frequently three 
or four of the fame kind formed together) are put-within 
the chaps of the vice, after being glued on the outermoft 
part of the defign, whofe profile they are to follow ; then 
the workman, pretting the treadle, and thus holding fait 
the piece, with his Saw runs over all the outlines of the 
defign. By thus joining and forming three or four pieces 
together, they not-only gain time, but the matter is like¬ 
wise the better enabled to fuftain the effort of the faw ; 
which, how delicate Soever it may be, and how lightly 
3 loever 
