s he
had called the other over, went a little way into the wood, returned
with some gum, which he applied to the wound upon a piece of the cloth
that was wrapped round him, and in two days time it was perfectly
healed. We afterward learned that this gum was produced by the apple
tree, and our surgeon procured some of it, and used it as a vulnerary
balsam with great success.

The habitations of these happy people I have described already; and
besides these, we saw several sheds inclosed within a wall, on the
outside of which there were several uncouth figures of men, women, hogs,
and dogs, carved on posts, that were driven into the ground. Several of
the natives were from time to time seen to enter these places, with a
slow pace and dejected countenance, from which we conjectured that they
were repositories of the dead. The area within the walls of these places
was generally well paved with large round stones, but it appeared not to
be much trodden, for the grass every where grew up between them. I
endeavoured with particular attention to discover whether they had a
religious worship among them, but never could find the least traces of
any.

The boats or canoes of these people are of three different sorts. Some
are made out of a single tree, and carry from two to six men: These are
used chiefly for fishing, and we constantly saw many of them busy upon
the reef: Some were constructed of planks, very dexterously sewed
together: These were of different sizes, and would carry from ten to
forty men. Two of them were generally lashed together, and two masts set
up between them; if they were single, they had an out-rigger on one
side, and only one mast in the middle. With these vessels they sail far
beyond the sight of land, probably to other islands, and bring home
plantains, bananas, and yams, which seem also to be more plenty upon
other parts of this island, than that off which the ship lay. A third
sort seem to be intended principally for pleasure and show: They are
very large, but have no sail, and in shape resemble the gondolas of
Venice: The middle is covered with a large awning, and some of the
people sit upon it, some under it. None of these vessels came near the
ship, except on the first and second day after our arrival; but we saw,
three or four times a week, a procession of eight or ten of them passing
at a distance, with streamers flying, and a great number of small canoes
attending them, while many hundreds of p