Page 429
An.1687
Their Boats, Fishing, Food.
thick set with these Hills and Towns: and the Natives, whether for fear of Pyrates, or Foreign Enemies, or Factions among their own Clans, care not for building but in these Fastnesses : which I take to be the reason that Orange Isle, though the largest, and as fertile as any, yet being level, and exposed, hath no Inhabitants. I never saw the like Præcipices and Towns.
These People are pretty ingenious also in build- ing Boats. Their small Boats are much like our Deal Yalls, but not so big ; and they are built with very narrow Plank, pinn'd with Wooden Pins, and some Nails. They have also some pretty large Boats, which will carry 40 or 50 Men. These they row with 12 or 14 Oars of a side. They are built much like the small ones, and they row dou- ble banked ; that is, two Men setting on one Bench, but one rowing on one side, the other on the other side of the Boat. They understand the use of Iron, and work it themselves. Their Bel- lows are like those at Mindanao.
The common employment for the Men is Fish- ing ; but I did never see them catch much : whe- ther it is more plenty at other times of the year I know not. The Women do manage their Planta- tions.
I did never see them kill any of their Goats or Hogs for themselves, yet they would beg the Paunches of the Goats that they themselves did fell to us : and if any of our furly Seamen did heave them into the Sea, they would take them up again, and the Skins of the Goats also. They would not meddle with Hogs-guts; if our Men threw away any beside what they made Chitterlings and Sawsages of. The Goat-skins these people would carry athore, and making a fire they would singe off all the hair, and afterwards let the skin lye and parch on the coals, till they thought it eatable: and then they would