to have more direct evidence.  One of our seamen, when he was on shore, run a large splinter into his foot, and the surgeon being on board, one of his comrades endeavoured to take it out with a penknife; but after putting the poor fellow to a good deal of pain, was obliged to give it over.  Our good old Indian, who happened to be present, then called over one of his countrymen that was standing on the opposite side of the river, who, having looked at the seaman’s foot, went immediately down to the beach, and, taking up a shell, broke it to a point with his teeth; with this instrument, in little more than a minute, he laid open the place, and extracted the splinter; in the mean time the old man, who, as soon as 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,