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ARTS AND MANUFACTURES

something to boast of in this respect; at leastthe people of the Tonga islands can invite yonto partake of at least thirty or forty differentkinds of dishes, consisting in or prepared fromone or more of the following articles, viz. pork,turtle, fowls of different kinds, fish, yams,bread-fruit, plantains, bananas, cocoa-nuts, talo,and cabe, (esculent roots), and mahoa, a pre-paration from a root of the same name. We shallgive a short account of the principal prepara-tions of food.

Baked pork. The animal is first stunned bya blow with a stick, and then killed by repeatedblows on both sides of the neck. It is thenrubbed over with the juicy substance of thebanana tree, after which it is thrown for a fewminutes on the fire, and, when warm, scrapedwith muscle shells or knives, and then washed.It is next laid on its back, when the cook cutsopen the throat, and drawing forth the wind-pipe and gullet, passes a skewer behind them,and ties a string tight round the latter, after-wards to be divided: he then cuts a circularpiece from the belly, from four to six inchesdiameter, and draws forth the entrails*, separat-

* He has already made a circular incision round the anus,and tied the rectum to secure the contents, lest the interiorof the abdomen should get dirty, which they are very care-ful to avoid, as they do not otherwise wash the inside, whichthey say would spoil it.