the
loins nearly to the knees. Some few wear rings upon their wrists made of
white shells, and some had this kind of ornament made of turtle-shell.
In their ears, which are always bored, they sometimes wear a leaf; and
round their necks a necklace made of the shell of the cocoa-nut, and a
small white shell, called _keem_ shell. The children go entirely naked.
The complexion of these islanders is a light copper color; much lighter
than the Malays, or the Pelew islanders; which last, however, they
resemble in the breadth of their faces, high cheek bones, and broad
flattened noses. They do not color their teeth, by chewing any thing, as
many of those islanders do; but their teeth are so strong that they can
husk a cocoa-nut with them instantly.

Their principal food is the cocoa-nut. They occasionally succeed in
procuring fish, though the supply obtained during our residence there
was exceedingly small. Their fish-hooks are made of turtle-shell, and
not well contrived for the purpose; but we could not induce them to use
our hooks, till they had heated them and altered their form so that they
would not hold the fish. They did this, because they said that Yarris
(God) would be angry with them, if they used our hooks without preparing
them according to their fashion. Sometimes they are so fortunate as to
obtain a sea-turtle; five only were taken during the two years we were
there. The turtle, I may add, has something of a sacred character with
them. They also raise small quantities of a vegetable somewhat
resembling the yam; but while we were with them they were unsuccessful
in cultivating it. These constitute the slender means of their support;
and they are thus barely kept from actual death by famine, but on the
very verge of starvation. When any one of them begins to fail, for want
of food, so that his death is pretty certain, they inhumanly turn him
off from among them, to starve to death.

Their religion is such as might be expected among a people in their
condition. Their place of worship is a rudely constructed building, or
hut, about fifty feet long and thirty wide. In the centre, suspended
from the roof, is a sort of altar, into which they suppose their deity
comes to hold converse with the priest. Rudely carved images are placed
in different parts of the building, and are supposed to personate their
divinity. As nearly as could be ascertained by us, they supposed that
the object of their worship was of like passion