i769' There are houfes alfo of a much larger Aze, not built ei-
ther for the accommodation of a Angle Chief, or a Angle family
; but as common receptacles for all the people of a.
diflrift. Some of them are two hundred feet long, thirty
broad, and, under the ridge, twenty feet high; thefe are
built and maintained at the common expence of the diftridt,
for the accommodation of which they are intended; and
have on one Ade o f them a large area, inclofed with low pal-
lifadoes.
Thefe houfes, like thofe o f feparate families, have no
walls* Privacy, indeed, is little wanted among people who-
have not even the idea of indecency, and who gratify every,
appetite and paflion before witnefles, with no more fenfe o f
impropriety than we feel when we fatisfy our hunger at a
focial board with our family or friends. Thofe who have-
no idea of indecency with refpeft to adtions, can have none
with refpedt to words; it is, therefore, fcarcely neceilary to-
obferve, that, in the corfverfation of thefe people, that which
is the principal fource of their pleafure, is always the principal
topic; and that every thing is mentioned without any
reftraint or emotion, and in the moft diredt terms, by both
fexes.
Food. Of the food eaten here the greater part is vegetable. Here
are no tame animals except hogs, dogs, and poultry, as I
have obferved before, and thefe are by no means plenty.
When a Chief kills a hog, it is almoft equally divided among;
his dependants-; and as they are very numerous,, the fhare of
each individual at thefe feafts, which are not frequent, mull
neceflaaily be fmalL Dogs and fowls fall fomewhai more:
frequently to the fhare of the common people. I cannot
much'commend the flavour of their fowls; but we all agreed,
that a South Sea dog was little inferior to an Englifh lamb
x . their
their excellence is probably owing to their being kept up, { ,
and fed wholly upon vegetables. The fea affords them a
great variety of Afh. The fmaller flfh, when they catch any,
are generally eaten raw, as we eat oyfters; and nothing that
the fea produces comes amifs to them: they are fond of lob-
fters, crabs, and other fliell-fifh, which are found upon the
coalt; and they will eat not only fea-infects, but what the
feamen call Blubbers, though feme of them are fo tough, that
they are obliged to fuffer them to become putrid before they
can be chewed. Of the many vegetables that have been mentioned
already as ferving them for food, the principal is the
bread-fruit, to procure which cofts them no trouble or labour
but climbing a tree: the tree which produces it, does not indeed
flioot up fpontaneoufly ; but i f a man plants ten of them in
his lifetime, which he may do in about an hour, he will as
completely fulfil his duty to his own and future generations,
as the native of our lefs temperate climate can do by
ploughing in the cold of winter, and reaping in the fum-
mer’s heat, as often as thefe feafons return; even if, after he
has procured bread for his prefent houfehold, he fhould convert
a furplus into money, and lay it up for his children.
It is true, indeed, that the bread-fruit is not always in fea-
fon; hut cocoa-nuts, bananas, plantains, and a great variety
of other fruits, fupply the deficiency.
It may well be fuppofed, that cookery is but little ftudied
by thefe people as an art; and, indeed, they have but two
ways of applying fire to drefs their food, broiling and baking
; the operation of broiling is fo Ample that it requires no
defeription, and their baking has been deferibed already,
(page 152.) in the account of an entertainment prepared
for us by Tupia. Hogs, and large fiih, are extremely well
drefiedin the fame manner; and, in our opinion, were more
C c 3 juicy