a^ust often found tit the foot of the hills, are farther proofs of
this aflertion, The exterior ranges of hills are fometimes
entirely barren, and contain a great quantity of yellowifh
clay, mixed with iron-ochre; but others are covered with
mould, and wooded like the higher mountains. Pieces of
quartz' are fometimes met with here, but we never faw indications
o f precious minerals or metals of any kind, iron-
excepted, and of that there were but fmall remains in the
lavas which we picked u p ; but the mountains may perhaps
contain fome iron-ore rich enough for fufion. As to
to the piece of falt-petre, as big as an egg, which Captain
Wallis mentions as a produdl of Taheitee*, with all refpeCt
for his nautical abilities, I beg. leave to doubt of its evidence,
fince native falt-petre has never yet been found in
folid lumps, as appears from Cronftedt’s Mineralogy.
The view of O-Taheitee, along which we now failed
to the northward, fuggefted thefe curfory obfervations on
its foffil productions, while our eyes remained eagerly fixed
on the fpot which had afforded us fuch a fund of real
amufement and inUruciion. Our reflections were only
interrupted by the fummons to dine on frelh pork, which
was inftantly obeyed' with an alacrity, that fuflSciently
proved our long abftinence. We were agreeably fur-
prifed to find this pork entirely free from the lufcious
richnefs which makes it refill the ftomach fo foon in Eu-
* See Hawkefworth, vol. I. p< 457*
rope $
3 IS
rope; the fat was to be compared to marrow, and the lean August,
had almoft the tender tafte of Veal. The vegetable diet
which the hogs are ufed to at O-Taheitee, feems to be the
principal caufe of this difference, and may have had fome
influence even on the natural inftinCts of thefe animals..
They were of that fmall breed which is commonly called
the Chinefe, and had not thofe pendulous ears, which
according to the ingenious count de Buffon, are the characters
of flavery in animals. They were likewife much
cleanlier than our European hogs, and did not feem to have
that Angular cultom of wallowing in the mire. It is certain
that thefe animals are a part of the real riches of the
Taheitians, and we faw great numbers of them at Aitepeha,
though the natives took great pains to conceal them. But
they are fo far from being their principal dependence, that
I believe their total extirpation would be no great lofs,
efpecially as they are now entirely the property of the
chiefs, They kill their hogs very feldom, perhaps only
on certain folemn occafions ;"but at thofe times the chiefs
eat pork with the fame unbounded greedinefs, with which
certain fets of men are reproached at the turtle-feafts in
England; while the common fort rarely, if ever tafte a
little bit, which is always held as a .great dainty among
them. Notwithftanding this, all the trouble of breeding,
bringing up, and fattening the hogs is allotted to the loweft
clafs of people.
S s 2 We