or a piece of raw fish; and from the great dexterity of the fishermen, and the vast quantity of fish, with which this harbour abounds, the natives of this part are most abundantly supplied with this excellent article of food.
When speaking of the dexterity of the fishermen, I should have mentioned that of the fisherwomen also; for the women here are as expert at all the useful arts as the men, sharing equally the fatigue and the danger with them upon all occasions, excepting war; in which, though they undergo considerable fatigue, they do not participate in the danger.
I have commenced my account of the arts in New Zealand with those relating to the means of procuring food, as being the primary consideration in savage life; and as it will be understood, that the natives in general are abundantly supplied, it will be proper in the next place to say some thing of their culinary operations.
Roasting and broiling are the common
