'august hands. We proceeded a little farther up in a narrow
valley, where a well-looking man invited us to fit down in
the fhade before his houfe. There was a little area paved
with broadifh ftones, on which he fpread banana leaves for
us, and brought out a little ftool made of the bread-tree-
wood, cut out of one piece, on which he defiled one of us
to fit down, whom he took to be the principal perfon.
Seeing us all feated he ran into his houfe, and brought out
à quantity of bread-fruit baked, which he laid before us
on frefh banana leaves. To this he added a matted bafket
full of the vee, or Taheitee apples, a fruit of the fpondias
genus, which refembles the anâna, or pine-apple in the
tafte, and entreated us to partake of thefe refrefhments. We
breakfafted with a hearty appetite, fharpened by the exercife
we had taken, the fine air of the morning, and the excellence
of the provifions. We found the Taheitee method of
dreifing bread-fruit and other victuals, with heated ftones
under ground, infinitely fuperior to our ufual way of boiling
them ; in the former all the juices -remained, and were
concentrated by the heat ; but in the latter, the fruit imbibed
many water,y particles, and loft a great deal of its
fine flavour and mealinefs. To conclude this treat our hoft
brought us five frefh coco-nuts, which he opened by pulling
the fibres off with his teeth. The cool limpid liquor
contained in them he poured into a clean cup, made of a
ripe cojco-nut-fhell, and offered that to each of us in our
turns.
A V O Y A G E ROUND THE WORLD. 2 7 9
turns. The people in this country had on all occafions f e \ r
been good-natured and friendly, and for beads fometimes
fold us coco-nuts and fruit, if we called for them; but
we had not yet feen an inftance of hofpitality exercifed info
complete a manner during our fhort ftay. We therefore'
thought it our duty to recompenfe our friend as much as-
lay in our power, and prefented him with a number of
tranfparent beads and iron nails, with which he was
highly fatisfted and contented.
We continued our walk into the country from this feat
of patriarchal hofpitality, notwithftanding the uneafinefs
which many of the natives expreffed, among the croud that
followed us. When they faw us perfift in our expedition,
the greateft part of them difperfed to their different habitations,
and only a few of them attended us, who made it
their bufinefs to a<5t as our guides. We came to the foot
of the firft hills, where we left the huts and plantations
o f the natives behind us, and afeended on a beaten path,
paffing through an uncultivated fhrubbery mixed with
feveral tall timber-trees; Here we fearched the moft intricate
parts, and found feveral plants and birds hitherto
unknown to natural hiftorians. With thefe little acqui-
fuions we returned towards the fea, at which our friends
the natives exprefled their fatisfaftion; We found a vaft
concourfe of inhabitants on the beach at our trading-place,
and faw that our people had brought a great quantity of
large