43 
of present gratification. Circumscribed in their ideas 
to the circle of relative and domestic concerns, they 
have but little exercise for reflection; and, when not 
engaged in husbandry, war, or amusements, they pass 
the time in sleep. In their habits they are temperate, 
and even abstemious. Want alone regulates their 
hours of meals, at which they take only what nature 
requires, except it be on particular occasions, such as 
a circumcision, conclusion of a treaty, or any other 
public affair. Their ordinary food consists of the 
natural produce of the island, principally rice, dressed 
in the simplest manner, and seasoned with white pep¬ 
per ; and they usually drink hot water, or broth from 
the boiled meats : wines, of which they make several 
kinds, are reserved for the entertainment of their 
friends on occasions of ceremony and festivity. 
Towards those with whom they are in friendship, 
their conduct is humane, generous, and good-natured ; 
nor will they attack strangers unprovoked.* * Even to 
their enemies, though cruel in the extreme when en¬ 
gaged in the conflict, and their passions are excited, 
they sometimes display a whimsical sort of mag- 
Ihe next industrious cultivators of the ground, and the next 
warriors.” 
* f< l have frequently travelled,” says the late General Burn, 
“ for a whole day over the hills unarmed, and met them in the 
woods with their formidable spears, fully persuaded I had no 
ill treatment to fear. They would shake me by the hand in a 
familiar manner, jabber a few sentences in their language, and 
then, when they found we could not understand one another, 
walk on with a smile.”— Burn’s Memoirs , vol. ii. p. lb. 
