between the thumb and remaining fingers, which serve only to give it direction, the velocity being communicated by the becket and fore-finger.  The former flies off from the dart the instant its velocity becomes greater than that of the hand.  But it remains on the finger ready to be used again.  With darts they kill both birds and fish, and are sure of hitting a mark, within the compass of the crown of a hat, at the distance of eight or ten yards; but, at double that distance, it is chance if they hit a mark the size of a man’s body, though they will throw the weapon sixty or seventy yards.  They always throw with all their might, let the distance be what it will.  Darts, bows and arrows are to them what musquets are to us.  The arrows are made of reeds pointed with hard wood; some are bearded and some not, and those for shooting birds have two, three, and sometimes four points.  The stones they use are, in general, the branches of coral rocks from eight to fourteen inches long, and from an inch to an inch-and-half in diameter.  I know not if they employ them as missive weapons; almost every one of them carries a club, and besides that, either darts, or a bow and arrows, but never both; those who had stones kept them generally in their belts.

I cannot conclude this account of their arms without adding an entire passage out of Mr Wales’s journal.  As this gentleman was continually on shore amongst them, he had a better opportunity of seeing what they could perform, than any of us.  The passage is as follows:  “I must confess I have been often led to think the feats which Homer represents his heroes as performing with their spears, a little too much of the marvellous to be admitted into an heroic poem; I mean when confined within the strait stays of Aristotle.  Nay, even so great an advocate for him as Mr Pope, acknowledges them to be surprising.  But since I have seen what these people can do with their wooden spears, and them badly pointed, and not of a very hard nature, I have not the least exception to any one passage in that great poet on this account.  But, if I see fewer exceptions, I can find infinitely more beauties in him; as he has, I think, scarce an action, circumstance, or description of any kind whatever, relating to a spear, which I have not seen and recognised among these people; as their whirling motion, and whistling noise, as they fly; their quivering motion, as they stick in the ground when they fall; their meditating their aim, when they are going to throw, and their shaking them in their hand as they go along, etc. etc.”

I know no more of their cookery, than that it consists of roasting and baking; for they have no vessel in which water can be boiled.  Nor do I know that they have any other liquor but water and the juice of the cocoa-nut.