a cubic foot of air for every minute's natural respiration; and if the frequent visits of the young chief be taken into account, there was air enough to last them about a fortnight or three weeks. But setting calculations aside, there is one ascertained fact, viz. that the air was very pure at the time Mr. Mariner was there, and none of the company made any complaint, relating to this matter, after breathing the air for the space of two hours. After all, there may be other openings which are not accessible, and which do not admit the light, not being sufficiently straight and regular; and though these openings may be but small, they may still be sufficient to renew the whole air of the cavern in no great space of time, seeing that the rise and fall of the tide in the lower part of it would act as bellows without a valve, producing the same effect, by expiration and inspiration, as the action of the diaphragm of animals:-if, on the contrary, there be no other opening,-then the rise and fall of the tide in the cavern ought not to be so great as out of it, because the pressure of the internal air would impede its rise, and in the same proportion it would have less extent to fail. It did not occur to Mr. Mariner to

ascertain whether this was the fact. He believes that this place is very seldom visited by the natives.

Finow and his party having finished their cava, dived out of the cavern, and resumed their proper dress after which they proceeded across the country, and got into the public roads, to amuse themselves with the sport of shooting rats. These animals are not so large as in our parts of the world, but rather between the size of a mouse and a rat, and much of the same colour: they live chiefly upon such vegetable substances, as sugar-cane, bread-fruit, &c. they constitute an article of food with the lower orders of people, but who are not allowed to make a sport of shooting them, this privilege being reserved for chiefs, matabooles, and mooas*. The plan and regulations of the game of fanna gooma (rat-shooting) are as follow.

A party of chiefs having resolved to go ratshooting, some of their attendants are ordered to procure and roast some cocoa-nut, which being done, and the chiefs having informed them what road they mean to take, they proceed along the appointed road, chewing the

*For a description of these ranks in society, see the subject in the second volume.

roasted nut very finely as they go, and spitting, or rather blowing, a little of it at a time out of their mouths with considerable force, but so as not to scatter the particles far from each other; for if they were widely distributed, the rat would not be tempted to stop and pick them up, and if the pieces were too large, he would run away with one piece instead of stopping to eat his fill. The bait is thus distributed, at moderate distances, on each side of the road, and the men proceed till they arrive at the place appointed for them to stop at. If in their way they come to any cross roads, they stick a reed in the ground in the middle of such cross roads, as a taboo or mark of prohibition for any one to come down that way, and disturb the rats while the chiefs are shooting and this no one will do; for even if a considerable chief be passing that way, on seeing the taboo he will stop at a distance, and sit down on the ground, out of respect' or politeness to his fellow chiefs, and wait patiently till the shooting party has gone by: a petty chief, or one of the lower orders, would not dare to infringe upon this taboo at the risk of his life. The distributors of the bait being arrived at the place appointed for them to stop at, sit down to prepare cava, having previously given

the orders of their chiefs to the owners of the neighbouring plantations to send a supply of refreshments, such as pork, yams, fowls, and ripe plantains.

The company of chiefs having divided themselves into two parties, set out about ten minutes after the boóhi, (or company that distributes the bait) and follow one another closely in a row along the middle of the road, armed with bows and arrows. It must be noticed, however, that the two parties are mixed; the greatest chief, in general, proceeding first, behind him one of the opposite party, then one of the same party with the first, and behind him again one of the other party, and so on alternately. The rules of the game are these: no one may shoot a rat that is in advance of him, except he who happens to be first in the row (for their situations change, as will directly be seen); but any one may shoot a rat that is either abreast of him or behind him. As soon as a man has shot, whether he hits the rat or not, he changes his situation with the man behind him, so that it may happen that the last man, if he have not shot so often as the others, may come to be first, and vice versâ, the first come to be last: and for the same reason, two or three, or more, of the

'same party, may come to be immediately behind one another. Whichever party kills ten rats first, wins the game. If there be plenty of rats, they generally play three or four games. As soon as they arrive at any cross roads they pull up the reeds placed as a taboo, that passengers coming afterwards may not be interrupted in their progress. When they have arrived at the place where the bobhi are waiting, they sit down and partake of what is prepared for them; afterwards, if they are disposed to pursue their diversion, they send the bobhi on to prepare another portion of the road: the length of road prepared at a time is generally about a quarter of a mile. If, during the game, any one of either party sees a fair shot at a bird, he may take aim at it; if he kills it, it counts the same as a rat, but whether he hits it or not, if he ventures a shot, he changes place with the one behind him. Every now and then they stop and make a peculiar noise with the lips, like the squeaking of a rat, which frequently brings them out of the bushes, and they sit upright on their haunches, as if in the attitude of listening. If a rat is alarmed by their approach, and is running away, one or more cry out too! (stop!) with a sudden percussion of the tongue, and is used, we may