hospitality, and in perfect union. He seems to be altogether the
contemplative man.

To this dexterity in managing the husband's business whilst he is
absent, the Nantucket wives unite a great deal of industry. They
spin, or cause to be spun in their houses, abundance of wool and
flax; and would be for ever disgraced and looked upon as idlers if
all the family were not clad in good, neat, and sufficient home-spun
cloth. First Days are the only seasons when it is lawful for both
sexes to exhibit some garments of English manufacture; even these
are of the most moderate price, and of the gravest colours: there is
no kind of difference in their dress, they are all clad alike, and
resemble in that respect the members of one family.

A singular custom prevails here among the women, at which I was
greatly surprised; and am really at a loss how to account for the
original cause that has introduced in this primitive society so
remarkable a fashion, or rather so extraordinary a want. They have
adopted these many years the Asiatic custom of taking a dose of
opium every morning; and so deeply rooted is it, that they would be
at a loss how to live without this indulgence; they would rather be
deprived of any necessary than forego their favourite luxury. This
is much more prevailing among the women than the men, few of the
latter having caught the contagion; though the sheriff, whom I may
call the first person in the island, who is an eminent physician
beside, and whom I had the pleasure of being well acquainted with,
has for many years submitted to this custom. He takes three grains
of it every day after breakfast, without the effects of which, he
often told me, he was not able to transact any business.