In Colour They Resemble The Tahitians, From Whom
They Do Not Widely Differ In Features.
Some of the women,
however, show a good deal of the Chinese character.
I liked
both their general expressions and the sound of their voices.
They appeared poor, and their houses were destitute of
furniture; but it was evident, from the plumpness of the little
children, that cocoa-nuts and turtle afford no bad sustenance.
On this island the wells are situated, from which ships
obtain water. At first sight it appears not a little remarkable
that the fresh water should regularly ebb and flow with the
tides; and it has even been imagined, that sand has the power
of filtering the salt from the sea-water. These ebbing wells
are common on some of the low islands in the West Indies.
The compressed sand, or porous coral rock, is permeated like
a sponge with the salt water, but the rain which falls on the
surface must sink to the level of the surrounding sea, and
must accumulate there, displacing an equal bulk of the salt
water. As the water in the lower part of the great sponge-
like coral mass rises and falls with the tides, so will the
water near the surface; and this will keep fresh, if the mass
be sufficiently compact to prevent much mechanical admixture;
but where the land consists of great loose blocks of
coral with open interstices, if a well be dug, the water, as I
have seen, is brackish.
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Words from 188660 to 188911
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