A General History & Collection of Voyages and Travels ... - Nauticus

Their houses, or at least most of them, are circular, something like a bee- hive, and full as close and warm.The entrance is by a small door, or long square hole, just big enough to admit a man bent double. The sidewallsare about four feet and a half high, but the roof is lofty, and peaked to a point at the top; above whichis a post, or stick of wood, which is generally ornamented either with carving or shells, or both. Theframing is of small spars, reeds, &c. and both sides and roof are thick and close covered with thatch, madeof coarse long grass. In the inside of the house are set up posts, to which cross spars are fastened, andplatforms made, for the conveniency of laying any thing on. Some houses have two floors, one above theother. The floor is laid with dry grass, and here and there mats are spread, for the principal people to sleepor sit on. In most of them we found two fire-places, and commonly a fire burning; and, as there was novent for the smoke but by the door, the whole house was both smoky and hot, insomuch that we, who werenot used to such an atmosphere, could hardly endure it a moment. This may be the reason why we foundthese people so chilly when in the open air, and without exercise. We frequently saw them make little firesany where, and hustle round them, with no other view than to warm themselves. Smoke within doors maybe a necessary evil, as it prevents the musquitoes from coming in, which are pretty numerous here. In somerespects their habitations are neat; for, besides the ornaments at top, I saw some with carved door-posts.Upon the whole, their houses are better calculated for a cold than a hot climate; and as there are nopartitions in them, they can have little privacy.They have no great variety of household utensils; the earthen jars before mentioned being the only articleworth notice. Each family has at least one of them, in which they bake their roots, and perhaps their fish,&c. The fire, by which they cook their victuals, is on the outside of each house, in the open air. There arethree or five pointed stones fixed in the ground, their pointed ends being about six inches above thesurface. Those of three stones are only for one jar, those of five stones for two. The jars do not stand ontheir bottoms, but lie inclined on their sides. The use of these stones is obviously to keep the jars fromresting on the fire, in order that it may burn the better.They subsist chiefly on roots and fish, and the bark of a tree, which I am told grows also in the WestIndies. This they roast, and are almost continually chewing. It has a sweetish, insipid taste, and was likedby some of our people. Water is their only liquor, at least I never saw any other made use of.Plantains and sugar-canes are by no means in plenty. Bread-fruit is very scarce, and the cocoa-nut trees aresmall and but thinly planted; and neither one nor the other seems to yield much fruit.To judge merely by the numbers of the natives we saw every day, one might think the island verypopulous; but I believe that, at this time, the inhabitants were collected from all parts on our account. MrPickersgill observed, that down the coast, to the west, there were but few people; and we knew they camedaily from the other side of the land, over the mountains, to visit us. But although the inhabitants, upon thewhole, may not be numerous, the island is not thinly peopled on the sea-coast, and in the plains and valleysthat are capable of cultivation. It seems to be a country unable to support many inhabitants. Nature hasbeen less bountiful to it than to any other tropical island we know in this sea. The greatest part of itssurface, or at least what we saw of it, consists of barren rocky mountains; and the grass, &c. growing onthem, is useless to people who have no cattle.The sterility of the country will apologise for the natives not contributing to the wants of the navigator. Thesea may, perhaps, in some measure, compensate for the deficiency of the land; for a coast surrounded byreefs and shoals, as this is, cannot fail of being stored with fish.