BATHING IN RIVERS. 
131 
mg till evening, scarcely rising, except to eat, 
unless some amusement, or other call, urgently 
require it. 
Although irregular, the people are cleanly ; but 
to the influence of climate, the habit of frequent 
bathing, so prevalent among the South Sea Island¬ 
ers, is probably to be attributed. This salutary 
custom is followed alike by all classes, without 
regard to sex or age. The infant immediately after 
its birth is with its mother taken to the sea; and 
the last effort often made by the aged and decrepit, 
is to crawl or totter to the water, and enjoy its 
refreshing influence. Their loose light mode of 
dressing, and the abundance of cool, clear, and 
secluded streams meandering through almost every 
valley in the islands, probably favour the frequency" 
of the practice, and its grateful effects render it 
one of their greatest luxuries. 
Contrary to the practice of those who are accus¬ 
tomed to resort to the sea-side for the purpose of 
bathing in salt-water, the natives of these islands, 
without exception, prefer on every account to 
bathe in the mountain streams. It is a principal 
remedy in many of their diseases ; yet doubtless it 
often aggravates what they design to alleviate. It 
is, however, a practice of great benefit: for this, as 
well as every other purpose, they prefer the fresh 
water; and even those whose avocations lead them 
to frequent the sea for fishing, although they may 
have plunged beneath the wave fifty times in the 
day, yet invariably repair to the nearest stream to 
bathe, before they return to their houses. They 
say the sea-water produces an irritation which is 
peculiarly unpleasant. Children not more than 
three or four years of age, are often seen playing 
in groups along the margin of the sea, without the 
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