The chief food of these islanders consists of fish, cocoa-nuts, taro, and the fruit of the pandanus (dawa); only at rare intervals do they taste pork or poultry. The rearing of pigs and poultry is chiefly carried on for the purpose of trading with foreign vessels, so as to obtain in return the products of a higher civilization. Their fish-nets are prepared from the rind of their trees. A few looms which they also possess have been given them by whale-fishers. The cincture round the loins, which is their sole article of apparel, is also prepared from the inner bark of the tree.
When the king dies, the oldest member of the community is elected his successor. At their festivals they sing in a sort of monotonous drone, and blow at the same time through mussel-shells.
When mourning for the dead, they stain their faces red with the seeds of the Bixa orellana, and wear a piece of white calico, shaped something like a capuchin's hood, which reaches down till it covers the shoulder. One native, who was wearing one of these head coverings, could not be induced to traffic, nor even to approach the place where our improvised market was being held, because, as he made us understand, one of his near relatives had lately died. Altogether the inhabitants of Sikayana struck us as a primitive, very moral, and honourable race, and it made us almost
melancholy to think that these excellent people should be without the blessings of Christianity. To our great amazement, however, we learned that the natives themselves strenuously opposed the settlement in their midst of any missionaries of any Christian denomination,—"Because," said they, "all their Kai-kai (i. e. their food) would belong to the missionaries." This naïve reply reminds us of a similar remark on the part of the Quiche Indians, which we once overheard in the highlands of Guatemala, in whose language a missionary or priest is known as Ki-sol-re-le-ak-úch, which being interpreted means "devourer of all hens!" And just as among the Mormons every care is taken to keep certain professions out of their community, as, for instance, the physician, in order to prevent illness, or the lawyer, with the intent to keep away law-suits, thus in their simplicity the natives of Sikayana have fallen into the error of viewing the missionary, that moral physician, as only of importance or of necessity in those places where there are really spiritual and moral evils to cure!
The liquors of Europe are as yet but little known to the inhabitants of Sikayana. In none of the huts could we discern any sort of spirituous fluids, nor was any offered to us. Even during the trading, amid the demands for every sort of article, no desire was expressed for them, not a question even was asked respecting them, whereas hitherto all the wild or semi-savage races with which we came in contact at once clamoured for "Brandy," and not seldom presented themselves in a riotous
condition. That there is as yet no demand for spirits at Sikayana shows how little intercourse they can as yet have had with civilization. In former years this group was occasionally visited by American and English merchantmen, owing to the abundance of Trepang. Since the year 1845, however, when one American captain collected 250 Chinese piculs[201] (about 15 tons), and ten years later when Captain Cheyne in the course of nine months gathered 265 piculs (about 16 3⁄4 tons), the business is no longer profitable and at present years sometimes slip by without a ship lying to off Sikayana.
As these worm-like animals,[202] which in the dried state command, like the Salangan swallows' nests, a high price as a costly delicacy in China and Japan, form an important article of commerce and employ a considerable number of ships annually, we shall indulge in a few remarks on the very laborious operations of preparing the Trepang.
Of the large number of varieties of Trepang which are found among the coral reefs of the Pacific, there are only ten suited to the Chinese market, which are accurately distinguished by their special names. As they fetch a price according to quality of from 6 to 35 dollars per picul, it is
a matter of great importance to obtain the very highest qualities.
The four species most in demand are known in China by the following names,—Bangkolungan, Kiskisan, Talipan, and Munang, each of which has a distinctive appearance, and is found at various depths on the coral reefs.