Opposite each door an inclined beam--one end of which rests on the ground, and the other leans against the fork of a short upright post--serves as a step for mounting by.
Near these huts were several large sheds, open at one side, where the cooking is performed--judging from the remains of fires under them.

On two small stages, planked over, we saw a number of thin and neatly carved earthen pots, blackened with smoke; these are usually a foot in diameter, but one was as much as eighteen inches.

I was struck with a feature exhibiting the cleanly habits of these savages, from whom in this respect the inhabitants of many villages in the mother country might take a lesson--it consisted in the well swept ground, where not a stray stone or leaf was suffered to remain, and the absence about the dwellings of everything offensive to the smell or sight.
FOOD OF THE NATIVES.
I could not help contrasting the condition of these people with that of the Australian blacks, a considerable portion of whose time, at certain periods of the year, is spent in shifting about from place to place, searching for food, living from hand to mouth, and leading a hard and precarious life.

But here, on this little island, the coconut-tree alone would be sufficient to supply many of the principal wants of man.

The fruit serves both for food and drink--the shell is used to carry about water in*--the fibres of the husk are converted into cordage, and the leaves into matting, while the wood is fashioned into spears and other useful articles.