embraneous part of the stock of the
plantain tree; those that they wear from the _pandanus_, cultivated for
that purpose, and never suffered to shoot into a trunk; and the coarser
sort, which they sleep upon, from a plant called _evarra_. There are
many other articles of less note, that employ the spare time of their
females; as combs, of which, they make vast numbers; and little baskets
made of the same substance as the mats, and others of the fibrous
cocoa-nut husk, either plain, or interwoven with small beads; but all
finished with such neatness and taste in the disposition of the various
parts, that a stranger cannot help admiring their assiduity and
dexterity.

The province allotted to the men is, as might be expected, far more
laborious and extensive than that of the women. Agriculture,
architecture, boat-building, fishing, and other things that relate to
navigation, are the objects of their care.[179] Cultivated roots and
fruits being their principal support, this requires their constant
attention to agriculture, which they pursue very diligently, and seem to
have brought almost to as great perfection as circumstances will permit.
The large extent of the plantain fields has been taken notice of
already, and the same may be said of the yams; these two together, being
at least as ten to one, with respect to all the other articles. In
planting both these, they dig small holes for their reception, and
afterward root up the surrounding grass, which, in this hot country, is
quickly deprived of its vegetating power, and, soon rotting, becomes a
good manure. The instruments they use for this purpose, which they call
_hooo_, are nothing more than pickers or stakes of different lengths,
according to the depth they have to dig. These are flattened and
sharpened to an edge at one end, and the largest have a short piece
fixed transversely, for pressing it into the ground with the foot. With
these, though they are not more than from two to four inches broad, they
dig and plant ground of many acres in extent. In planting the plantains
and yams, they observe so much exactness, that, whichever way you look,
the rows present themselves regular and complete.

[Footnote 179: How remarkably does Captain Cook's account of the
employments of the women and men here, agree with Father Cantova's, of
the Caroline Islanders?--"La principale occupation des hommes, est de
construire des barques, de pecher, et de cultiver la terre. L'affaire