A VOYAGE TO 
I 5° 
1779 - 
March. 
which thefe hooks are made, their ftrength and neatnefs 
are really aflonifhing; and in fadt we found them, upon 
trial, much fuperior to our own. 
The line which they ufe for fifhing, for making nets, and 
for other domeftic purpofes, is of different degrees of fine¬ 
ness, and is made of the bark of the tout ®, or cloth tree, 
neatly and evenly twilled, in the fame manner as our com¬ 
mon twine; and may be continued to any length. They 
have a finer fort, made of the bark of a fmall fhrub called 
areemah ; and the finefi is made of human hair; but this lafl 
is chiefly ufed for things of ornament. They alfo make 
cordage of a flronger kind, for the rigging of their canoes, 
from the fibrous coatings of the cocoa-nuts. Some of this 
we pur chafed for our own ufe, and found it well adapted to 
the lmaller kinds of running rigging. They like wife make 
another fort of cordage, which is flat, and exceedingly 
llrong, and ufed principally in lafhing the roofing of their 
houfes, or whatever they wifh to fallen tight together. 
This lafl is not twilled like the former forts, but is made 
of the fibrous firings of the cocoa-nut’s coat, plaited with 
the fingers, 'in the manner our failors make their points for 
the reefing of fails. 
The gourds, which grow to fo enormous a fize, that fome 
of them are capable of containing from ten to twelve gal¬ 
lons, are applied to all manner of domeflic purpofes; and in 
order to fit them the better to their refpe£live ufes, they 
have the ingenuity to give them different forms, by tying 
bandages round them during their growth. Thus, fome of 
them are of a long, cylindrical form, as belt adapted to con¬ 
tain their fifhing-tackle ; others are of a difh form, and 
thefe ferve to hold their fait, and falted provifions, their 
puddings, vegetables, See.; which two forts have neat dole 
covers. 
