Now And Then They Get Wild Pig Or Kangaroo, But Too Rarely To Form Anything Like A Regular Part Of Their Diet, Which Is Essentially Vegetable; And What Is Of More Importance, As Affecting Their Health, Green, Watery Vegetables, Imperfectly Cooked, And Even These In Varying And Often In Sufficient Quantities.

To this diet may be attributed the prevalence of skin diseases, and ulcers on the legs and joints.

The scurfy skin disease so common among savages has a close connexion with the poorness and irregularity of their living. The Malays, who are never without their daily rice, are generally free from it; the hill-Dyaks of Borneo, who grow rice and live well, are clean skinned while the less industrious and less cleanly tribes, who live for a portion of the year on fruits and vegetables only, are very subject to this malady. It seems clear that in this, as in other respects, man is not able to make a beast of himself with impunity, feeding like the cattle on the herbs and fruits of the earth, and taking no thought of the morrow. To maintain his health and beauty he must labour to prepare some farinaceous product capable of being stored and accumulated, so as to give him a regular supply of wholesome food. When this is obtained, he may add vegetables, fruits, and meat with advantage.

The chief luxury of the Aru people, besides betel and tobacco, is arrack (Java rum), which the traders bring in great quantities and sell very cheap.

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