We Were Not Wholly Without Refreshments; For Besides The Fish, Which Our
Seine Now And Then Provided Us With, We
Procured daily some fruits or roots
from the natives, though but little in proportion to what we could consume.
The
Reason why we got no more might be our having nothing to give them in
exchange, which they thought valuable. They had not the least knowledge of
iron; consequently, nails and iron tools, beads, &c. which had so great a
run at the more eastern isles, were of no consideration here; and cloth can
be of no use to people who go naked.
The produce of this island is bread-fruit, plantains, cocoa-nuts, a fruit
like a nectarine, yams, tarra, a sort of potatoe, sugar-cane, wild figs, a
fruit like an orange, which is not eatable, and some other fruit and nuts
whose names I have not. Nor have I any doubt that the nutmeg before
mentioned was the produce of this island. The bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, and
plantains, are neither so plentiful nor so good as at Otaheite; on the
other hand, sugar-canes and yams are not only in greater plenty, but of
superior quality, and much larger. We got one of the latter which weighed
fifty-six pounds, every ounce of which was good. Hogs did not seem to be
scarce; but we saw not many fowls. These are the only domestic animals they
have. Land-birds are not more numerous than at Otaheite, and the other
islands; but we met with some small birds, with a very beautiful plumage,
which we had never seen before.
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