of porridge, which they put into gourds and allow to
ferment; it will then keep a long time. They also use to mix with it,
fish, which they commonly eat raw with the addition of a little salt,
obtained by evaporation.

[Footnote E: Bougainville calls it "Calf-foot root."]

The _ava_ is a plant more injurious than useful to the inhabitants of
these isles; since they only make use of it to obtain a dangerous and
intoxicating drink, which they also call _ava_. The mode of preparing
this beverage is as follows: they chew the root, and spit out the result
into a basin; the juice thus expressed is exposed to the sun to undergo
fermentation; after which they decant it into a gourd; it is then fit
for use, and they drink it on occasions to intoxication. The too
frequent use of this disgusting liquor causes loss of sight, and a sort
of leprosy, which can only be cured by abstaining from it, and by
bathing frequently in the water of the sea. This leprosy turns their
skin white: we saw several of the lepers, who were also blind, or nearly
so. The natives are also fond of smoking: the tobacco grows in the
islands, but I believe it has been introduced from abroad. The bark of
the mulberry furnishes the cloth worn by both sexes; of the leaves of
the _pandanus_ they make mats. They have also a kind of wax-nut, about
the size of a dried plum of which they make candles by running a stick
through several of them. Lighted at one end, they burn like a wax taper,
and are the only light they use in their huts at night.

The men are generally well made and tall: they wear for their entire
clothing what they call a _maro_; it is a piece of figured or white
tapa, two yards long and a foot wide, which they pass round the loins
and between the legs, tying the ends in a knot over the left hip. At
first sight I thought they were painted red, but soon perceived that it
was the natural _color_ of their skin. The women wear a petticoat of the
same stuff as the _maro_, but wider and longer, without, however,
reaching below the knees. They have sufficiently regular features, and
but for the color, may pass, generally speaking, for handsome women.
Some to heighten their charms, dye their black hair (cut short for the
purpose) with quick lime, forming round the head a strip of pure white,
which disfigures them monstrously. Others among the young wear a more
becoming garland of flowers. For other traits, they are very lascivious,
and far from observing a