xS8 R E M' A R K- S* - o n _ t 'h »•
on fruits : they fkim the water with wonderful eafe, and though;
we faw one fwimming, I think, this Angle fad, gives me no right
to pronounce them expert fwimmers. It' is known that they frequent
the water-, in, order to wafh t-hemfelves from any filthinefs os
to get rid of vermin which might accidentally flick to them. Their
fmell is fomewhat offenfive. When-irritated they bite hard, but are
for the reft quite inoffenfive. In Tanna there are, befides thefe larger
bats, myriads of a minute fpecies, which we faw and heard, but
never could- obtain-for examination. At New-Caledonia the. natives
ufe the hair of- the great bats in ropes and in the taflels to
their clubs; and they interweave it among the threads of.the grafsi
(iyperus fqliarrofus,)< which is made ufe o f for that purpofe..
The two domeftic quadrupeds are; the hog ■ and the dog. The
Society-Iiles alone are fortunate enough to poflefs them both : New—
Zeeland-and the low iflands- muft be content with dogs alone; the.
Marqueias, Friendly-Ifles, and New-Hebridcs: have only hogs j.
and Eafter-Ifland and Nev/-Calcdonia arc deftitute of both. The:
bogs are of that breed which we call the Chinefe, having
a Ihort body, ihort legs, belly hanging down almoft to the:
ground, the ears ereft,, and very few thin hairs on. the body : their
meat is the moft juicy, and their fat the moft agreeable and the
leaft cloying I ever tailed, which can only be attributed to the
excellent food they are ufed to y confifting chiefly of the bread-
c fruit
fruit or its four pafte, yams, eddoes, &c. They are very numerous
at the Society-Ifles, where you hardly pal's a Houfe that is
without them, and frequently1 meet with fome that keep a great
number. There is likewife abundance of them at the Marquefas
and a confiderable number at Amfterdara, one of the Friendly-
Ifles ;■ but they are more rare at' the Weftern-ifles of the New -
Hebrides. T h e dogs o f the South Sea ifles are o f a lingular race :
they moft refemble the common cur; but have a prodigious large
head, remarkably little eyes-,, prick-ears, long hair and a fliort
bufhy tail. They are chiefly fed with fruit at the Society Ides ;
but in the low ifles and New Zeeland, where they are the
only domeftic animals, they live upon filh.. They are exceedingly
ftupid, and feldom or never bark, only howl now and then;
have the fenfe of fmelling in a-very low degree, and are' lazy be-'
yond meafure ; they are kept by the natives chiefly for the fake o f
their flefh, o f which they are very fond, preferring it to pork ;
they al lb make lift o f their hair, in various ornaments, cfpecially-
to fringe their bread plates in the Society Ifles, and to face or even
line the whole garment at New Zeeland:
Befideo the dog, New-Zeel.tml boalls tour other quadrupeds, one is
the rut, the Other a Ituall hat, refembltng that deferihed in Mr. pennant1*
Synenfl« of Quadrupeds, No. 585, under the name of New-
Yorlt bat; the third is the lea-bear, orttrline leal, I’cnti, Syn. (fond.
a n i m a l
k i n g d o m .