Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/408

350 almost put out of dispute by the manner in which their teeth are destroyed; they are not loosened or drawn out as they would be by the too frequent labour of chewing tough substances, but melt away and decay as metals in strong acids; the stumps always remaining firmly adhering to the jaws, just level with the gums. Possibly the ill-effects which sugar is believed by us Europeans to have upon the teeth may proceed from the same cause, as it is well known that refined or loaf-sugar contains in it a large quantity of lime.

To add flavour, I suppose, to the betel and areca, some use with it a small quantity of tobacco, adding the nauseous smell of that herb to the not less disagreeable look of the other, as if they were resolved to make their mouths disgustful to the sense of smell as well as that of sight. They also smoke, rolling up a small quantity of tobacco in one end of a palm leaf, about as thick as a quill and six inches long; of this not above one inch is filled with tobacco, so that the quantity is very small. To make amends for this the women especially often swallow the smoke, which no doubt increases its effects in no small degree.

Their houses are all built upon one and the same plan, differing only in size according to the rank and riches of the proprietors, some being 300 or 400 feet in length, and others not 20. They consist of a well-boarded floor, raised upon posts three or four feet from the ground; over this is raised a roof shelving like ours in Europe, and supported by pillars of its own, independent of the floor. The eaves of this reach within two feet of the floor, but overhang it by as much; this arrangement serves to let in air and light, and makes them very cool and agreeable. The space within is generally divided into two by a partition, which takes off one-third: in front of this partition is a loft, shut up close on all sides, raised about six feet from the ground, and occupying the centre of the house. There are sometimes one or two small rooms on the sides of the house. The use of these different apartments we did not learn, we only were told that the loft was appropriated to the women.