Joseph Banks's Descriptions of Places, South Sea Islands, page 108

Page 108

Joseph Banks's Descriptions of Places

South Sea Islands

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South Sea Islands (continued)

To this plain diet prepard with so much simplicity salt water is the universal sauce; those who live at the greatest distance from the sea are never without it keeping it in large bamboes set up against the sides of their houses. When they eat a cocanut shell full of it always stands near them, into which they dip every morsel especialy of fish and often leave the whole soaking in it, drinking at intervals large supps of it out of their hands, so that a man may use ½ a pint of it at a meal. They have also a sauce made of the Kernels of cocoa nutts fermented till they dissolve into a buttery paste and beat up with salt water; the taste of this is very strong and at first was to me most abominably nauseous, a very little use however reconcild me intirely to it so much that I should almost preferr it to our own sauces with fish. It is not common among them, possibly it is thought ill management among them to use cocoa nuts so lavis[h]ly, or we were on the Islands at the time when they were scarce ripe enough for this purpose.

Small fish they often eat raw and sometimes large ones. I myself by being much with them learnt to do the same insomuch that I have made meals often of raw fish and bread fruit,

Voyaging Accounts

© Derived from State Library of NSW Transcription of Banks's Journal page (vol.1) 353, February 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/-banks_remarks-108.html