THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
399 
fubdivided; fo that one feldom fees above two or three 1777- 
perfons eating together. The women are not excluded . ^ y ‘ . 
from eating with the men; bnt there are certain ranks or 
orders amongft them, that can neither eat nor drink to¬ 
gether. This diftindtion begins with the king ; but where 
it ends, I cannot fay. 
They feem to have no fet time for meals; though it 
Ihould be obferved, that, during our fray amongft them, 
their domeftic ceconomy was much difturbed by their con- 
ftant attention to us. As far as we could remark, thofe of 
the fuperior rank, only drink ka-oa in the forenoon, and the 
others eat, perhaps, a bit of yam; but we commonly faw 
all of them eat fomething in the afternoon. It is probable 
that the practice of making a meal in the night is pretty 
common, and their reft being thus interrupted, they fre¬ 
quently lleep in the day. They go to bed as foon as it is 
dark, and rife with the dawn in the morning A 
They are very fond of aftociating together ; fo that it is 
common to find feveral houfes empty, and the owners of 
them convened in fome other one, or, rather, upon a con¬ 
venient fpot in the neighbourhood, where they recreate 
themfelves by converfing, and other amufements. Their 
private diverfions are chiefly flnging, dancing, and muftc 
performed by the women. When two or three women fing 
in concert, and fnap their fingers, it is called oobai ; but 
when there is a greater number, they divide into feveral 
parties, each of which lings on a different key, which makes 
a very agreeable mufic, and is called heeva , or halva. In the 
fame manner, they vary the mufic of their flutes, by play- 
* Cantova fays of his iflanders, “ Ils prennent leur repos des que le foleil eft couche, 
<c et ils fe levent avec Paurore.” Lettres Edifiantes ct Curieufes , Tom, kv. p. 314, 
mg 
