They Likewise Have Such Pavements
Near Their Houses, On Which They Sit To Eat And Amuse Themselves.
In the article of eating, these people are by no means so cleanly as the
Otaheiteans.
They are likewise dirty in their cookery. Pork and fowls are
dressed in an oven of hot stones, as at Otaheite; but fruit and roots they
roast on the fire, and after taking off the rind or skin, put them into a
platter or trough, with water, out of which I have seen both men and hogs
eat at the same time. I once saw them make a batter of fruit and roots
diluted with water, in a vessel that was loaded with dirt, and out of which
the hogs had been but that moment eating, without giving it the least
washing, or even washing their hands, which were equally dirty; and when I
expressed a dislike, was laughed at. I know not if all are so. The actions
of a few individuals are not sufficient to fix a custom on a whole nation.
Nor can I say if it is the custom for men and women to have separate
messes. I saw nothing to the contrary: Indeed I saw but few women upon the
whole.
They seemed to have dwellings, or strong-holds, on the summits of the
highest hills. These we only saw by the help of our glasses; for I did not
permit any of our people to go there, as we were not sufficiently
acquainted with the disposition of the natives, which (I believe) is humane
and pacific.
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