The line which they use for fishing, for making nets, and for other
domestic purposes is of different degrees of fineness, and is made of the
bark of the _touta_, or cloth-tree; neatly and evenly twisted, in the same
manner as our common twine; and may be continued to any length. They have a
finer sort, made of the bark of a small shrub, called _areemah_; and the
finest is made of human hair; but this last is chiefly used for things of
ornament. They also make cordage of a stronger kind, for the rigging of
their canoes, from the fibrous coatings of the cocoa-nuts. Some of this we
purchased for our own use, and found it well adapted to the smaller kinds
of the running rigging. They likewise make another sort of cordage, which
is flat, and exceedingly strong, and used principally in lashing the
roofing of their houses, or whatever they wish to fasten tight together.
This last is not twisted like the former sorts, but is made of the fibrous
strings of the cocoa-nut's coat, plaited with the fingers, in the manner
our sailors make their points for the reefing of sails.

The gourds, which grow to so enormous a size, that some of them are capable
of containing from ten to twelve gallons, are applied to all manner of
domestic purposes; and in order to fit them the better to their respective
uses, they have the ingenuity to give them different forms, by tying
bandages round them during their growth. Thus some of them are of a long
cylindrical form, as best adapted to contain their fishing-tackle; others
are of a dish form, and these serve to hold their salt and salted
provisions, their puddings, vegetables, &c. which two sorts have neat close
covers, made likewise of the gourd; others, again, are exactly in the shape
of a bottle with a long neck, and in these they keep their water. They have
likewise a method of scoring them with a heated instrument, so as to give
them the appearance of being painted in a variety of neat and elegant
designs.