There are multitudes of hogs which breed rapidly, and sonic of which are of a very large size. The clogs, also, are plentiful, and are much relished as food. Rats abound on the island, and occasion much damage. By European navigators and missionaries other animals have been in troduced, namely, cows, which have run wild in the moun tains, and which the natives are afraid to approach ; goats, which have increased abundantly, but which, being dislik ed as food, and becoming destructive to the plantations, have also been driven to the mountains ; sheep, which at first perished, but have been replaced with better prospect of their thriving; cats, which have multiplied, and proved useful ; and rabbits, which can scarcely fail to spread.
There are poultry in great abundance, and of the best quality; wild ducks, paroquets, doves, herons, woodpeckers, gulls, plovers, martins, sand-larks, men-of-war, tropic birds, and a multitude of others, little known to Europeans. The feathers of the tropic and men-of-war birds are held in great request as ornaments. The smaller birds of the island are caught with birdlime made of the breacl-fruit gum ; and many of the natives are able to bring them down with stones thrown by the hand.
Swarms of fish of all frequent the shores of the island, and the natives are the most dexterous fishermen in the world. They have nets of all sizes, some of which arc fifty fathoms long and twelve deep. They make fishing hooks with great neatness from pearl shells, bones, and sometimes hard wood. They use also three-pronged spears to dart at the fish %% hid) come into shallow water; and they take certain kinds, such as the hedgehog fish, which take refuge in the cavities of the coral rock, by diving, and seizing them with the hand. With their lines and hooks, they take such large fish even as the dolphin, the albicore, the skip-jack, and the shark. During the rains, they catch great quantities of small fry, at the mouth of the rivers, by large nets, or rather bags, with a wide mouth, secured by stones at the bottom. The shell-fish arevery abundant ; oysters, crabs, cray fish, cockles of an enormous size, and many others, of peculiar beauty. There are lizards, scorpions, musketoes, butterflies, and a variety of the com mon insects, but none that are very troublesome or dan gerous. Their houses are infested with fleas, which are the greatest pest in the island.
The government of this island is monarchical and he reditary, with this peculiarity, that the heir apparent is acknowledged as king at his birth, and the reigning sove reign thenceforth acts as regent for his son. It is the dis
tinctive honour of the king and queen, that they are car ried about on men's shoulders ; and the queen alone has the farther privilege of eating the vermin, which she picks from the heads of her bearers. These sovereigns are precluded, also, from entering any house, except their own, because all the land that they touch with "their feet, and every dwelling-that they enter, becomes thenceforth sacred, or appropriated to their use and service for ever. It is thus only on their own lands, that they occasionally alight and walk about. The mode of saluting these royal person ages, by all ranks, is to uncover the head, breast, and shoulders. Next in authority is the father of the king, or regent of the state ; and, under him, are the chiefs of the different districts, who exercise a regal power in their respective jurisdictions. The near relations, younger brothers, and chosen friends of these chiefs, rank next to them, and are placed over portions of their territories ; and, after these, come the smaller proprietors, or gentle men. Under these are the lower class, or cottagers, who are bound to do certain services to the chiefs and gentle men, such as building their houses, making cloth for them, and assisting in any laborious work, but who are at liberty to change their residence, and to put themselves under other chiefs. A chief is always noble, though deprived_ of his property, but no common man can rise higher than the rank of gentleman, or the towha of a chief. Yet the lower ranks are not in a state of slavish subjection, and are admitted to the freest intercourse with the chiefs, from whom they are scarcely to be distinguished in outward appearance. There are no records respecting property, excepting tradition and land marks ; but encroachments on one another's possessions are said to be very rare, as there is nothing so much condemned among them as avaricious ness and stinginess. Their litigations are often referred to any bystander, and individuals are scarcely ever known to fight in consequence of a personal quarrel. Their grounds of offence are commonly some want of customary respect; then the whole family or district take up the quarrel, and either a peace-offering is made, or a war is the consequence.