The only tools which they possess are hatchets or adzes of a smooth black stone ; augers made of shark's teeth ; 'asps composed of a rough fish-skin fastened on flat pieces of wood; and knives made of sharp shells; vet with these def..ctiv e instruments they produce many articles of neat and curious workmanship, which at once testify their in gelluity and patience.
Their weapons, such as clubs, spears, and darts, are made of hard wood, curiously carved and ornamented! Their stool; or pillo'Ns, which arc made of brown or black wood, are finely polished, and frequently inlaid with ivory. Their cordage is made of the fibres of thc cocoa-nut husk, from which they form four or five-inch rope, laid exactly like those of Europe ; and fishing lines as strong and even as the best cord. Their small hooks are made entirely of pearl shell, but the larger ones are only covered with it on the back ; and the points of both kinds arc generally of tortoise-shell. They have small nets of the most delicate texture; and their baskets, made of the same cocoa-nut fibres, arc at once durable and beautiful, being generally composed of different colours, and studded with beads made of shells or bones. Their manufacture of cloth and mats, which is the chief employment of the women, is executed with wonderful skill. The cloth is made from the slender stalks and trunks of the paper-mulberry, which rarely grows above seven feet in height, and four fingers in thickness. From these stalks they strip the bark, which, after scraping off the extelior rind, they roll up and ma cerate in water. It is then beaten with a square wooden instrument, sometimes smooth, and sometimes full of coarse grooves. This operation is frequently repeated ; and the pieces, which are generally from four to seven feet in length, and half as broad, are then laid out to dry. These pieces are joined together with the glutinous juice of a berry, and, being then placed over a large piece of wood with a sort of stamp beneath them, are rubbed hard with a bit of cloth clipped in the juice of some bark, which gives to the surface a dry brown gloss, while the stamp at the same time makes a slight impression. This glazing ren ders the stuff both more durable, and capable of resisting rain. The finer sorts, in addition to this operation, are dyed of different colours, and stamped of different pat terns. In this manner they proceed, joining and staining, and gluing spare bits upon any holes or thin spots, till they have produced a piece of cloth of the requisite length and breadth. The mats are of seven or eight different sorts, and excel those of most other countries both in tex ture and beauty. Some are intended merely for ornament, and are made from the tough membranous part of the plan tain tree ; others are worn as a part of dress, and are ge nerally prepared from the pandanus; and a coarser kind for beds and sails is formed from a plant called evarra.
The food of these islanders consists principally of vege tables, such as cocoa nuts, bread-fruit, plantains, yams, and tarns, a root resembling a carrot. Their chief articles of animal food are hogs, fish, and fowls, which are, how ever, only occasional dainties, reserved for persons of rank ; but the common people frequently eat rats, which abound in all the islands. Their food is generally dressed by bak ing, and they make several palatable dishes from different sorts of fruit. They sometimes boil their fish in the green leaves of the plantain tree, tied up so as to form a bag, which holds both the fish and the water, thus producing a kind of fish soup. Hogs are generally baked whole, in holes dug in the earth, having the bottom covered with red hot stones about the size of a man's fist. Some of these stones, wrapped in leaves of the bread-fruit trees, being at the same time introduced into the belly of the hog, and the carcase having been placed on cross sticks, and covered with leaves, the whole is closed around with earth, and left, without farther attention, to the influence of the heat. They are not very cleanly, either in their cooke ry or manner of eating ; and, except in families, seldom sit down in companies to a sociable meal. Their usual drink at meals is water, or the milk of the cocoa nut ; but they use at breakfast, or as a morning beverage, a favourite li quor named kava, which is prepared in a manner suffi ciently diSgusting to European feelings. The kaya is a species of pepper, which is carefully cultivated around the habitations, and which generally grows to the height of a man. Thu root of this plant, after being properly cleaned, is split into small pieces, which arc distributed among the young people who have clean teeth, to be chewed. Each of these has a leaf placed before him, on which lays his portion of the masticated root ; and, when it is all chew ed, the contents of the leaves are emptied into a large bowl. It is then mixed with a proper quantity of water, and squeezed hard with the hands, to press out the liquor; then put three or four times through a fine strainer, made of the inner bark of a tree. It is next served out in cups, made of plantain leaves, and about a quarter of a pint is put into each ; but they often continue to drink in considera ble quantities. When taken by some of Captain Cook's tailors, it operated like spirits, producing intoxication, or rather stupefaction ; but seemed to have very little effect upon the natives.