1770. riches of the proprietor. Some are four hundred feet long,
September. an(j fome are not more than twenty: they are all raifed upon
pofts, or piles, about four feet high, one end of which is
driven into the ground, and upon the other end is laid a
fubftantial door of wood, fo that there Is a vacant fpace of
four feet between the floor of the houfe and the ground.
Upon this floor are placed other pofts or pillars, that fupport
a roof of doping fides, which meet in a ridge at the top;
like thofe of- our barns: the eaves of this roof, which is
thatched with palm leaves, reach within two feet of the'
floor, and over-hang it as much: the fpace within is generally
divided lengthwife into three equal parts ; the middle
part, or center, is inclofed by a partition of four fides, reaching
about fix feet above the floor, and one or two fmall
rooms are alfo fometimes taken off from the fides, the reft
of the fpace under the roof is open, fo as freely to admit the
air and the light: the particular ufes of thefe different apartments,
our fhort flay would not permit us to learn, except
that the clofe room in the center was appropriated to the
women.
The food of thefe people confifts of every tame animal in
the country, of which the hog holds the firft place in their
eftimation, and the horfe the fecond; next to the horfe is the
buffalo, next to the buffalo their poultry, and they prefer
dogs and cats to fheep and goats. They are not fond of filh,
and, I believe, it is never eaten but by the poor people, nor
by them, except when their duty or bufinefs requires them
to be upon the beach, and then every man is furnifhed with
a light calling net, which is girt round him, and makes
part of his drefs ; and with this he takes any fmall fi£h which
happen to come in his way.
The efculent vegetables and fruits have been mentioned
already, but the fan-palm requires more particular notice,
for
for at certain times it is a-fuccedaneum for all other food Se^ er
both to man and beaff. A kind of wine, called toddy, is - . '
procured from this tree, by cutting the buds which are to
produce flowers,- Toon after their appearance, - and tying
under them fmall bafkcts, made of the leaves, which are fo
clofe as to hold liquids without leaking. The juice which
trickles into thefe veffels, is collefted by perfons who climb
the trees, for that purpofe, morning and eveping, and is the
common drink of every individual, upon the ,#land ; yet a' ,
much greater quantity is drawn off than is confuriied in this’
ufe,, and the furplus they make both a fyrup and coarfe
fugar. The liquor is called ffwa, ,or dyac, and both the fyrup
and fugar,-gula.- The fyrup is prepared by boiling the liquor
down in pots of earthen ware, till it is fufliciently infpiffated;
it is not unlike treacle- in appearance, but is fomewhat
thicker, and has a much’more agreeable tafte: the fugar is-
of a reddifh brown, - perhaps the fame with the Jugata fugar
upon the continent of India, and it was more agreeable to-
our palates than any cane fugar, unrefined, that we had -
ever tailed. We were at firft afraid that the fyrup, of which
fome of our people eat very great quantities, would have
brought onfluxes, but its aperient quality was fo very flight, -
that what effeét it produced was rather falutary than hurtful.
I have already obferved, that it is given with the hulks •
of rice to the hogs, and-that they grow enormoufly fat without
taking any other food: we were told alfo, that this fyrup 1
is ufed to fatten their dogs and their fowls, and that the
inhabitants themfelves have fubfifted upon this alone for
feveral months, when other crops have failed, and animal’
food has been fcarce. The leaves of this tree are alfo put to-*
various ufes, they thatch houfes, and make baikéts, cups,
umbrellas, and tobacCo-pipes. The fruit is leaft efteemed,
and as the blofibms are wounded for the tuac or toddy, there