148 
A VOYAGE TO 
1777. 
December. 
V---/ 
food; as they are obliged, from the change of feafons, to 
life different forts at different times. 
Their common diet is made up of, at leaft, nine-tenths 
of vegetable food; and, I believe, more particularly, the 
mahee , or fermented bread-fruit, which enters almoft every 
meal, has a remarkable effedt upon them, preventing a cof- 
tive habit, and producing a very fenfible coolnefs about 
them, which could not be perceived in us who fed on 
animal food. And it is, perhaps, owing to this tempe¬ 
rate courfe of life that they have fo few dileafes among 
them. 
They only reckon five or fix, which might be called 
chronic, or national diforders; amongft which are the 
dropfy, and the fefai, or indolent fwellings before men¬ 
tioned, as frequent at Tongataboo. But this was before 
the arrival of the Europeans; for w r e have added to this 
fhort catalogue, a difeafe which abundantly fupplies the 
place of all the others; and is now almoft univerfal. For 
this they feem to have no effectual remedy. The priefts, 
indeed, fometimes give them a medley of fimples; but 
they own that it never cures them. And yet, they allow, 
that, in a few cafes, nature, without the afliftance of a 
phyfician, exterminates the poifon of this fatal difeafe, and 
a perfect recovery is produced. They fay, that if a man 
is infebfed with it, he will often communicate it to others 
in the fame houfe, by feeding out of the fame utenfils, or 
handling them \ and that, in this cafe, they frequently die, 
while he recovers; though we fee no reafon why this fliould 
happen. 
Their behaviour, on all occafions, feems to indicate a 
great opennefs and generality of difpofition. Omai, in¬ 
deed, who, as their countryman, fhould be fuppofed rather 
willing 
