Both sexes are enslaved by the hateful and pernicious habit of chewing betel and areca, which they contract even while they are children, and practise incessantly from morning till night. With these they always mix a kind of white lime, made of coral stone and shells, and frequently a small quantity of tobacco, so that their mouths are disgustful in the highest degree both to the smell and the sight: The tobacco taints their breath, and the betel and lime make the teeth not only as black as charcoal, but as rotten too. I have seen men between twenty and thirty, whose fore-teeth have been consumed almost down to the gums, though no two of them were exactly of the same length or thickness, but irregularly corroded, like iron by rust. The loss of teeth is, I think, by all who have written upon the subject, imputed to the tough and stringy coat of the areca-nut; but I impute it wholly to the lime: They are not loosened, or broken, or forced out, as might be expected if they were injured by the continual chewing of hard and rough substances, but they are gradually wasted like metals that are exposed to the action of powerful acids; the stumps always adhering firmly to the socket in the jaw, when there is no part of the tooth above the gums: And possibly those who suppose that sugar has a bad effect upon the teeth of Europeans, may not be mistaken, for it is well known that refined loaf-sugar contains a considerable quantity of lime; and he that doubts whether lime will destroy bone of any kind, may easily ascertain the fact by experiment.[109]
[Footnote 109: The injurious effect of sugar on the teeth, it is believed, is not now seriously contended for by any persons who think and make observations on the matter, though, undoubtedly, the assertion respecting it holds its place as strongly as ever, among the economical maxims of prudent matrons. A word or two as to lime. When this is spoken of, let it be understood always what is meant; whether pure lime, that is what is called burnt lime, or the same substance in combination with fixed air, or carbonic acid, of which the process of burning deprives it. The effects of these two preparations are exceedingly different on animal bodies; the former causing rapid decomposition and consumption; the latter being, on the contrary, quite inert. Loaf-sugar, though prepared by means of lime, ought never to contain a particle of it, and scarcely ever does. So that, on the whole, the remarks in the text are totally incorrect. As a matter of fact, again, the writer, from his own experience, and as what he has often occasion to recommend to others, takes the liberty of prescribing a tooth-powder, equal in comfort, efficacy, and safety, to any sold in the shops under such pompous and imposing titles. It consists of equal parts of lump-sugar, (the finer the better) Spanish or French chalk, (which is in fact lime) rose-pink, (for the purpose of colouring, and also as an absorbent) and oris-root, (remarkable for its pleasant smell, and to be had in the perfumers' or druggists' shops, ready powdered) all in very fine powder, and properly mixed together. A box of this never-to-be-excelled dentifrice, may cost two-pence, or so, for which, however, or for something else not a whit better, if as good, they who choose may give half-a-crown. When the teeth are already tolerably clean, and not encrusted with what is called tartar, a soft brush is always to be preferred, as risking the enamel less. Hard brushes and gritty powders ruin more teeth than all the sugar and lime in the world. Charcoal is undoubtedly a good substitute for a tooth-powder; but it is to be objected to as leaving black furrows in the gums, which even much washing fails to remove in any reasonable time. This is a good deal obviated when it forms but a part of the article used. It may be mixed with the powder recommended.--E.]
If the people here are at any time without this odious mouthful, they are smoking. This operation they perform by rolling up a small quantity of tobacco, and putting it into one end of a tube about six inches long, and as thick as a goose-quill, which they make of a palm leaf. As the quantity of tobacco in these pipes is very small, the effect of it is increased, especially among the women, by swallowing the smoke.
When the natives of this island were first formed into civil society, is not certainly known, but at present it is divided into five principalities or nigrees: Laai, Seba, Regeeua, Timo, and Massara, each of which is governed by its respective raja or king. The raja of Seba, the principality in which we were ashore, seemed to have great authority, without much external parade or show, or much appearance of personal respect. He was about five-and-thirty years of age, and the fattest man we saw upon the whole island; he appeared to be of a dull phlegmatic disposition, and to be directed almost implicitly by the old man who, upon my presenting him with a sword, had procured us a fair market, in spite of the craft and avarice of the Dutch-factors. The name of this person was Mannu Djarme, and it may reasonably be supposed that he was a man of uncommon integrity and abilities, as, notwithstanding his possession of power in the character of a favourite, he was beloved by the whole principality. If any difference arises among the people, it is settled by the raja and his counsellors, without delay or appeal, and, as we were told, with the most solemn deliberation and impartial justice.
We were informed by Mr Lange, that the chiefs who had successively presided over the five principalities of this island, had lived for time immemorial in the strictest alliance and most cordial friendship with each other; yet he said the people were of a warlike disposition, and had always courageously defended themselves against foreign invaders. We were told also that the island was able to raise, upon very short notice, 7300 fighting men, armed with muskets, spears, lances, and targets. Of this force, Laai was said to furnish 2600; Seba, 2000; Regeeua, 1500; Timo, 800; and Massara, 400. Besides the arms that have been already mentioned, each man is furnished with a large pole-ax, resembling a wood-bill, except that it has a straight edge, and is much heavier: This, in the hands of people who have courage to come to close quarters with an enemy, must be a dreadful weapon; and we were told that they were so dexterous with their lances, that at the distance of sixty feet they would throw them with such exactness as to pierce a man's heart, and such force as to go quite through his body.
How far this account of the martial prowess of the inhabitants of Savu may be true, we cannot take upon us to determine; but during our stay, we saw no appearance of it. We saw indeed in the town-house, or house of assembly, about one hundred spears and targets, which served to arm the people who were sent down to intimidate us at the trading place; but they seemed to be the refuse of old armories, no two being of the same make or length, for some were six, and some sixteen feet long: We saw no lance among them, and as to the muskets, though they were clean on the outside, they were eaten into holes by the rust within; and the people themselves appeared to be so little acquainted with military discipline, that they marched like a disorderly rabble, every one having, instead of his target, a cock, some tobacco, or other merchandise of the like kind, which he took that opportunity to bring down to sell, and few or none of their cartridge-boxes were furnished with either powder or ball, though a piece of paper was thrust into the hole to save appearances. We saw a few swivel guns and pateraros at the town-house, and a great gun before it; but the swivels and pateraros lay out of their carriages, and the great gun lay upon a heap of stones, almost consumed with rust, with the touch-hole downwards, possibly to conceal its size, which might perhaps be little less than that of the bore.
We could not discover that among these people there was any rank of distinction between the raja and the landowners: The land-owners were respectable in proportion to their possessions; the inferior ranks consist of manufacturers, labouring poor, and slaves. The slaves, like the peasants in some parts of Europe, are connected with the estate, and both descend together: But though the landowner can sell his slave, he has no other power over his person, not even to correct him, without the privity and approbation of the raja. Some have five hundred of these slaves, and some not half a dozen: The common price of them is a fat hog. When a great man goes out, he is constantly attended by two or more of them: One of them carries a sword or hanger, the hilt of which is commonly of silver, and adorned with large tassels of horse hair; and another carries a bag which contains betel, areca, lime, and tobacco. In these attendants consists all their magnificence, for the raja himself has no other mark of distinction.
The chief object of pride among these people, like that of a Welchman, is a long pedigree of respectable ancestors, and indeed a veneration for antiquity seems to be carried farther here than in any other country: Even a house that has been well inhabited for many generations, becomes almost sacred, and few articles either of use or luxury bear so high a price as stones, which having been long sat upon, are become even and smooth: Those who can purchase such stones, or are possessed of them by inheritance, place them round their houses, where they serve as seats for their dependants.[110]
[Footnote 110: The specification of the Welch here is very vulgar, and the more so, as obviously sarcastic. Deeper or more scientific observation would have led Dr Hawkesworth to some general principle which produces a love of ancestry in all our species. Mr Gibbon has very expressively described it, in the beginning of the memoirs of his own life, to which the reader is referred. Nothing is less becoming a philosopher, than wittily pointing out national peculiarities, without taking the least pains to discover the foundations on which they are built, or connecting them with circumstances and principles common to mankind. Every thing, in fact, will seem anomalous and insulated in the history of different nations, if it is not distinctly recollected that human nature is the same throughout the globe which it inhabits, and is merely modified by external causes.--E.]
Every Raja sets up in the principal town of his province, or nigree, a large stone, which serves as a memorial of his reign. In the principal town of Seba, where we lay, there are thirteen such stones, besides many fragments of others, which had been set up in earlier times, and are now mouldering away: These monuments seem to prove that some kind of civil establishment here is of considerable antiquity. The last thirteen reigns in England make something more than 276 years.