elapses into slumber, as his eccentric raft regains
the current of the river. One cut of his bolo-knife easily detaches
sufficient of the husk of the nuts to allow of their being fastened
together; in this way a kind of wreath is formed which encircles and
holds together the loose nuts piled up in the middle.

[Labor-saving conditions.] The arduous labors of many centuries
have left as their legacy a perfect system of transport; but in
these Islands man can obtain many of his requirements direct with
proportionately trifling labor, and a large amount of comfort for
himself.

[Easy food.] Off the Island of Talim, in the great Lagoon of Bay, my
boatmen bought for a few cuartos several dozens of fish quite twelve
inches long; and those which they couldn't eat were split open, salted,
and dried by a few hours' exposure to the heat of the sun on the roof
of the boat. When the fishermen had parted with their contemplated
breakfast, they stooped down and filled their cooking-vessels with
sand-mussels (paludina costata, 2.a G.), first throwing away the
dead ones from the handfuls they picked up from the bottom of the
shallow water.

[River's importance.] Nearly all the dwellings are built by the water's
edge. The river is a natural self-maintaining highway, on which loads
can be carried to the foot of the mountains. The huts of the people,
built upon piles, are to be seen thickly scattered about its banks,
and particularly about its broad mouths. The appropriateness of
their position is evident, for the stream is at once the very
center of activity and the most convenient spot for the pursuit
of their callings. At each tide the takes of fish are more or less
plentiful, and at low-water the women and children may be seen picking
up shell-fish with their toes, for practice has enabled them to use
their toes as deftly as their fingers, or gathering in the sand-crabs
and eatable seaweed.

[Riverside gaiety.] The riverside is a pretty sight when men, women,
and children are bathing and frolicking in the shade of the palm-trees;
and others are filling their water-vessels, large bamboos, which they
carry on their shoulders, or jars, which they bear on their heads;
and when the boys are standing upright on the broad backs of the
carabaos and riding triumphantly into the water.

[Coco-palms.] It is here too that the coco-palm most flourishes, a tree
that supplies not only their food and drink, but also every material
necessary f