rniture of
such a house consists in a few pots, made by the women, some highly
polished cocoa-nut dishes, to hold water, some hatchets, a sabre or
two, a few sailor's knives, and a good many spears. A family generally
possesses two or three palongs, or boats.

Their chief food is melory bread, made of the fruit of a kind of
palm-tree[5], which is very palatable; yams, several other good roots,
and great plenty of fruit from various trees and shrubs; all which grow
in great abundance. Of pigs and common fowls they have a vast
profusion. These are fed with cocoa-nuts, and their flesh is remarkably
good. The sea furnishes them with various kinds of fishes, and an
abundance of crabs and other shell-fish, so that they may easily enough
serve their god, which is their belly.

[5] A species of Pandanus. See Asiatic Researches, Vol. III. p.
292.

The clothing of the men consists of a narrow piece of cloth, about
three yards long. This they wrap twice round their waist, then passing
it between their legs, and through the girth behind, leave the end of
it to drag after them[6]. The women wear a piece of cloth, commonly of
a blue colour, about a foot wide, fastened round their waist, so as to
hang down like an apron, reaching not quite to their knees. They pride
themselves upon their fine skin, which indeed they keep very clean, and
do not in general use any paint. Both sexes live from their infancy
without any restraint, and commit every kind of abomination, often to
the utter ruin of their health and constitutions, in very early life.
In general they do not live regularly in the married state, till they
are past their prime; though I have known some who had married early,
remain faithful to each other, and keep their families in good order.

[6] Hence the fabulous stories of men with tails, related by
Kloping, a Swedish navigator.

As savages, they may be justly esteemed a good-natured race, being
always ready to do a kind action, to their friends; of which I will
relate one instance. We used to buy of them what we wanted, and pay
with tobacco, the current medium. Even when they had nothing to sell,
they would come and fetch their portion of tobacco, which we never
refused them, as long as we had any, till, by the non-arrival of the
ship, we were left entirely without it. We therefore told the captain
of the village, that, as we had no more tobacco, the people need not
bring us any more provisions,