CHAP. X.

ADVANTAGES DERIVED FROM VISITING THE FRIENDLY ISLANDS.—BEST ARTICLES FOR TRAFFIC.—REFRESHMENTS THAT MAY BE PROCURED.—THE NUMBER OF THE ISLANDS, AND THEIR NAMES.—KEPPEL’s AND BOSCAWEN’S ISLANDS BELONG TO THEM.—ACCOUNT OF VAVAOO.—OF HAMOA.—OF FEEJEE.—VOYAGES OF THE NATIVES IN THEIR CANOES.—DIFFICULTY OF PROCURING EXACT INFORMATION.—PERSONS OF THE INHABITANTS OF BOTH SEXES.—THEIR COLOUR.—DISEASES.—THEIR GENERAL CHARACTER.—MANNER OF WEARING THEIR HAIR.—OF PUNCTURING THEIR BODIES.—THEIR CLOTHING AND ORNAMENTS.—PERSONAL CLEANLINESS.

Thus we took leave of the Friendly Islands and their inhabitants, after a stay of between two and three months; during which time, we lived together in the most cordial friendship. Some accidental differences, it is true, now and then happened, owing to their great propensity to thieving; but, too often encouraged by the negligence of our own people. But these differences were never attended with any fatal consequences; to prevent which, all my measures were directed; and, I believe, few on board our ships left our friends here without some regret. The time employed amongst them was not thrown away. We expended very little of our sea provisions; subsisting in general upon the produce of the islands, while we staid; and carrying away with us a quantity of refreshments sufficient to last till our arrival at another station, where we could depend upon a fresh supply. I was not sorry, besides, to have had an opportunity of bettering the condition of these good people, by leaving the useful animals before-mentioned among them; and, at the same time, those designed for Otaheite, received fresh strength in the pastures of Tongataboo. Upon the whole, therefore, the advantages we received by touching here were very great; and I had the additional satisfaction to reflect, that they were received, without retarding one moment the prosecution of the great object of our voyage; the season for proceeding to the north being, as has been already observed, lost, before I took the resolution of bearing away for these islands.

But, besides the immediate advantages, which both the natives of the Friendly Islands, and ourselves, received by this visit, future navigators from Europe, if any such should ever tread our steps, will profit by the knowledge I acquired of the geography of this part of the Pacific Ocean; and the more philosophical reader, who loves to view human nature in new situations, and to speculate on singular, but faithful representations of the persons, the customs, the arts, the religion, the government, and the language of uncultivated man, in remote and fresh discovered quarters of the globe, will, perhaps, find matter of amusement, if not of instruction, in the information which I have been enabled to convey to him, concerning the inhabitants of this Archipelago. I shall suspend my narrative, of the progress of the voyage, while I faithfully relate what I had opportunities of collecting on these several topics.

We found by our experience, that the best articles for traffic, at these islands, are iron tools in general. Axes and hatchets; nails, from the largest spike down to tenpenny ones; rasps, files, and knives, are much sought after. Red cloth, and linen, both white and coloured; looking-glasses, and beads, are also in estimation; but of the latter, those that are blue are preferred to all others; and white ones are thought the least valuable. A string of large blue beads would, at any time, purchase a hog. But it must be observed, that such articles as are merely ornaments, may be highly esteemed at one time, and not so at another. When we first arrived at Annamooka, the people there would hardly take them in exchange even for fruit; but when Feenou came, this great man set the fashion, and brought them into vogue, till they rose in their value to what I have just mentioned.

In return for the favourite commodities which I have enumerated, all the refreshments may be procured that the islands produce. These are hogs, fowls, fish, yams, bread-fruit, plantains, cocoa-nuts, sugar-cane, and, in general, every such supply as can be met with at Otaheite, or any of the Society Islands. The yams of the Friendly Islands are excellent, and when grown to perfection, keep very well at sea. But their pork, bread-fruit, and plantains, though far from despicable, are, nevertheless, much inferior in quality to the same articles at Otaheite, and in its neighbourhood.

Good water, which ships on long voyages stand so much in need of, is scarce at these islands. It may be found, it is true, on them all; but, still, either in too inconsiderable quantities, or in situations too inconvenient to serve the purposes of navigators. However, as the islands afford plenty of provisions, and particularly of cocoa-nuts, ships may make a tolerable shift with such water as is to be got; and if one is not over nice, there will be no want. While we lay at anchor under Kotoo, on our return from Hapaee, some people from Kao informed us that there was a stream of water there, which, pouring down from the mountain, runs into the sea on the south-west side of the island; that is, on the side that faces Toofoa, another island remarkable for its height, as also for having a considerable volcano in it, which, as has been already mentioned, burnt violently all the time that we were in its neighbourhood. It may be worth while for future navigators to attend to this intelligence about the stream of water at Kao; especially as we learned that there was anchorage on that part of the coast. The black stone, of which the natives of the Friendly Islands make their hatchets and other tools, we were informed, is the production of Toofoa.

Under the denomination of Friendly Islands, we must include not only the group at Hapaee, which I visited, but also all those islands that have been discovered nearly under the same meridian to the north, as well as some others that have never been seen, hitherto, by any European navigators; but are under the dominion of Tongataboo, which, though not the largest, is the capital, and seat of government.

According to the information that we received there, this Archipelago is very extensive. Above one hundred and fifty islands were reckoned up to us by the natives, who made use of bits of leaves to ascertain their number; and Mr. Anderson, with his usual diligence, even procured all their names. Fifteen of them are said to be high or hilly, such as Toofoa and Eooa; and thirty-five of them large. Of these only three were seen this voyage; Hapaee (which is considered by the natives as one island), Tongataboo and Eooa: of the size of the unexplored thirty-two, nothing more can be mentioned, but that they must be all larger than Annamooka; with those, from whom we had our information, ranked amongst the smaller isles. Some, or indeed several, of this latter denomination, are mere spots, without inhabitants. Sixty-one of these islands have their proper places and names marked upon our chart of the Friendly Islands, and upon the sketch of the harbour of Tongataboo, to both which I refer the reader. But it must be left to future navigators to introduce into the geography of this part of the South Pacific Ocean, the exact situation and size of near a hundred more islands in this neighbourhood, which we had not an opportunity to explore, and whose existence we only learnt from the testimony of our friends, as above mentioned. On their authority the following list of them was made; and it may serve as a ground work for farther investigation.

Names of the Friendly Islands and others in that Neighbourhood, mentioned by the Inhabitants of Annamooka, Hapaee, and Tongataboo. [196]

Komooefeeva, Kollalona, Felongaboonga, Kovereetoa, Fonogooeatta, Modooanoogoo noogoo, Tongooa, Koooa, Fonooa eeka, Vavaoo, Koloa, Fafeene, Taoonga, Kobakeemotoo, Kongahoonoho, Komalla, Konoababoo, Konnetalle, Komongoraffa, Kotoolooa, Kologobeele, Kollokolahee, Matageefaia, Mallajee, Noogoofaeeou, Koreemou, Failemaia, Koweeka, Konookoonama, Kooonoogoo, Geenageena, Kowourogoheefo, Kottejeea, Kokabba, Boloa, Toofagga, Loogoobahanga, Taoola, Maneeneeta, Fonooaooma, Fonooonneonne, Wegaffa, Fooamotoo, Fonooalaiee, Tattahoi, Latte, Neuafo, Feejee, Oowaia, Novababoo, Golabbe, Vagaeetoo, Gowakka, Goofoo, Mafanna, Kolloooa, Tabanna, Motooha, Looakabba, Toofanaetollo, Toofanaelaa, Kogoopoloo, Havaeeeeke, Tootooeela, Manooka, Leshainga, Pappataia, Loubatta, Oloo, Takounove, Kopaoo, Kovooeea, Kongaireekee, Tafeedoowaia, Mallalahee, Gonoogoolaiee, Toonabai, Konnevy, Konnevao, Moggodoo, Looamoggo, Kongaiarahoi, Kotoobooo, Komotte, Komoarra, Kolaiva, Kofoona, Konnagillelaivoo, Hamoa, Neeootabootaboo, Fotoona, Vytooboo, Lotooma, Toggelao, Talava.

I have not the least doubt that Prince William’s Islands, discovered and so named by Tasman, are included in the foregoing list. For while we lay at Hapaee, one of the natives told me, that, three or four days’ sail from thence to the north-west, there was a cluster of small islands, consisting of upward of forty. This situation corresponds very well with that assigned in the accounts we have of Tasman’s voyage to his Prince William’s Islands. [197]

We have also very good authority to believe that Keppel’s and Boscawen’s Islands, two of Captain Wallis’s discoveries in 1765, are comprehended in our list; and that they are not only well known to these people, but are under the same sovereign. The following information seemed to me decisive as to this. Upon my inquiring one day of Poulaho, the king, in what manner the inhabitants of Tongataboo had acquired the knowledge of iron, and from what quarter they had procured a small iron tool, which I had seen amongst them, when I first visited their island, during my former voyage, he informed me that they had received this iron from an island, which he called Neeootabootaboo. Carrying my inquiries further, I then desired to know whether he had ever been informed from whom the people of Neeootabootaboo had got it. I found him perfectly acquainted with its history. He said that one of those islanders sold a club for five nails to a ship which had touched there; and that these five nails afterward were sent to Tongataboo. He added that this was the first iron known amongst them; so that, what Tasman left of that metal must have been worn out, and forgot long ago. I was very particular in my inquiries about the situation, size, and form of the island; expressing my desire to know when this ship had touched there; how long she staid; and whether any more were in company. The leading facts appeared to be fresh in his memory. He said that there was but one ship; that she did not come to an anchor, but left the island after her boat had been on shore. And from many circumstances which he mentioned, it could not be many years since this had happened. According to his information, there are two islands near each other, which he himself had been at. The one he described as high and peaked like Kao, and he called it Kootahee; the other, where the people of the ship landed, called Neeootabootaboo, he represented as much lower. He added, that the natives of both are the same sort of people with those of Tongataboo; built their canoes in the same manner; that their islands had hogs and fowls; and, in general, the same vegetable productions. The ship so pointedly referred to in this conversation could be no other than the Dolphin; the only single ship from Europe, as far as we have ever learned, that had touched, of late years, at any island in this part of the Pacific Ocean, prior to my former visit to the Friendly Islands. [198]

But the most considerable islands in this neighbourhood that we now heard of (and we heard a great deal about them), are Hamoa, Vavaoo, and Feejee. Each of these was represented to us as larger than Tongataboo. No European, that we know of, has as yet seen any one of them. Tasman, indeed, lays down in his chart an island nearly in the situation where I suppose Vavaoo to be; that is, about the latitude of 19°. [199] But, then, that island is there marked as a very small one; whereas Vavaoo, according to the united testimony of all our friends at Tongataboo, exceeds the size of their own island, and has high mountains. I should certainly have visited it; and have accompanied Feenou from Hapaee, if he had not then discouraged me, by representing it to be very inconsiderable, and without any harbour. But Poulaho, the king, afterward assured me, that it was a large island; and that it not only produced every thing in common with Tongataboo, but had the peculiar advantage of possessing several streams of fresh water, with as good a harbour as that which we found at his capital island. He offered to attend me if I would visit it; adding, that, if I did not find every thing agreeing with his representation, I might kill him. I had not the least doubt of the truth of his intelligence; and was satisfied that Feenou, from some interested view, attempted to deceive me.

Hamoa, which is also under the dominion of Tongataboo, lies two days’ sail north-west from Vavaoo. It was described to me as the largest of all their islands, as affording harbours and good water; and as producing, in abundance, every article of refreshment found at the places we visited. Poulaho himself frequently resides there. It should seem that the people of this island are in high estimation at Tongataboo; for we were told that some of the songs and dances with which we were entertained, had been copied from theirs; and we saw some houses said to be built after their fashion. Mr. Anderson, always inquisitive about such matters, learnt the three following words of the dialect of Hamoa.

Tamolao [200] , a chief man. Tamaety, a chief woman. Solle, a common man.

Feejee, as we were told, lies three days’ sail from Tongataboo, in the direction of north-west by west. It was described to us as a high, but very fruitful island; abounding with hogs, dogs, fowls, and all the kinds of fruit and roots that are found in any of the others; and as much larger than Tongataboo; to the dominion of which, as was represented to us, it is not subject as the other islands of this archipelago are. On the contrary, Feejee and Tongataboo frequently make war upon each other. And it appeared, from several circumstances, that the inhabitants of the latter are much afraid of this enemy. They used to express their sense of their own inferiority to the Feejee men, by bending the body forward, and covering the face with their hands. And it is no wonder that they should be under this dread; for those of Feejee are formidable on account of the dexterity with which they use their bows and slings; but much more so, on account of the savage practice to which they are addicted, like those of New Zealand, of eating their enemies whom they kill in battle. We were satisfied that this was not a misrepresentation. For we met with several Feejee people at Tongataboo, and, on inquiring of them, they did not deny the charge.

Now that I am again led to speak of cannibals, let me ask those who maintain that the want of food first brings men to feed on human flesh, what is it that induceth the Feejee people to keep it up in the midst of plenty? This practice is detested very much by those of Tongataboo, who cultivate the friendship of their savage neighbours of Feejee, apparently out of fear; though they sometimes venture to skirmish with them on their own ground; and carry off red feathers as their booty, which are in great plenty there, and, as has been frequently mentioned, are in great estimation amongst our Friendly Islanders. When the two islands are at peace, the intercourse between them seems to be pretty frequent; though they have, doubtless, been but lately known to each other; or we may suppose that Tongataboo and its adjoining islands would have been supplied, before this, with a breed of dogs which abound at Feejee, and had not been introduced at Tongataboo so late as 1773, when I first visited it. The natives of Feejee, whom we met with here, were of a colour that was a full shade darker than that of the inhabitants of the Friendly Islands in general. One of them had his left ear slit, and the lobe was so distended, that it almost reached his shoulder; which singularity I had met with at other islands of the South Sea during my second voyage. It appeared to me that the Feejee men, whom we now saw, were much respected here; not only, perhaps, from the power, and cruel manner of their nation’s going to war, but also from their ingenuity. For they seem to excel the inhabitants of Tongataboo in that respect, if we might judge from several specimens of their skill in workmanship which we saw; such as clubs and spears, which were carved in a very masterly manner; cloth beautifully chequered; variegated mats; earthen pots, and some other articles; all which had a cast of superiority in the execution.

I have mentioned that Feejee lies three days’ sail from Tongataboo, because these people have no other method of measuring the distance from island to island, but by expressing the time required to make the voyage in one of their canoes. In order to ascertain this with some precision, or, at least, to form some judgment how far these canoes can sail in a moderate gale, in any given time, I went on board one of them when under sail, and, by several trials with the log, found that she went seven knots or miles in an hour, close hauled, in a gentle gale. From this I judge that they will sail, on a medium, with such breezes as generally blow in their sea, about seven or eight miles in an hour. But the length of each day is not to be reckoned at twenty-four hours. For when they spoke of one day’s sail, they mean no more than from the morning to the evening of the same day; that is, ten or twelve hours at most. And two days’ sail, with them, signifies from the morning of the first day to the evening of the second; and so for any other number of days. In these navigations the sun is their guide by day, and the stars by night. When these are obscured, they have recourse to the points from whence the winds and the waves came upon the vessel. If, during the obscuration, both the wind and the waves should shift (which, within the limits of the trade-wind, seldom happens at any other time), they are then bewildered, frequently miss their intended port, and are never heard of more. The history of Omai’s countrymen, who were driven to Wateeoo, leads us to infer, that those not heard of are not always lost.

Of all the harbours and anchoring places I have met with amongst these islands, that of Tongataboo is by far the best; not only on account of its great security, but of its capacity, and of the goodness of its bottom. The risk that we ran in entering it from the north, ought to be a sufficient caution to every future commander not to attempt that passage again with a ship of burden; since the other, by which we left it, is so much more easy and safe. To sail into it by this eastern channel, steer in for the north-east point of the island, and keep along the north shore, with the small isles on your starboard, till you are the length of the east point of the entrance into the lagoon; then edge over for the reef of the small isles; and, on following its direction, it will conduct you through between Makkahaaa and Monooafai, or the fourth and fifth isles, which you will perceive to lie off the west point of the lagoon. Or you may go between the third and fourth islands, that is, between Pangimodoo and Monooafai; but this channel is much narrower than the other. There runs a very strong tide in both. The flood, as I have observed before, comes in from the north-west, and the ebb returns the same way; but I shall speak of the tides in another place. As soon as you are through either of these channels, haul in for the shore of Tongataboo, and anchor between it and Pangimodoo, before a creek leading into the lagoon; into which boats can go at half flood.

Although Tongataboo has the best harbour, Annamooka furnishes the best water; and yet it cannot be called good. However, by digging holes near the side of the pond, we can get what may be called tolerable. This island too, is the best situated for drawing refreshments from all the others, as being nearly in the centre of the whole group. Besides the road in which we anchored, and the harbour within the south-west point, there is a creek in the reef, before the eastern sandy cove on the north side of the island, in which two or three ships may lie very securely, by mooring head and stern, with their anchors or moorings fast to the rocks.

I have already described the Hapaee islands; and shall only add to that description by mentioning, that they extend south-west by south, and north-east by north, about nineteen miles. The north end lies in the latitude of 19° 39ʹ S. and 33ʹ of longitude to the east of Annamooka. Between them are a great many small islands, sand-banks, and breakers; so that the safest way to arrive at Hapaee is either by the course I held, or round by the north; according to the situation of the ship bound thither. Lefooga, off which we anchored, is the most fertile isle of those that are called Hapaee; and, consequently, is the best inhabited. There is anchorage along the north-west side of this island; but it will be necessary to examine the ground well before you moor. For, although the lead may bring up fine sand, there are, nevertheless, some sharp coral rocks that would soon destroy the cables.

They who want a more particular description of the Friendly Islands, must have recourse to the chart that we constructed. There every thing is delineated with as much accuracy as circumstances would permit. Recourse must also be had to the same chart for the better tracing the several stations of the ships, and their route from the one island to the other. To have swelled my journal with a minute account of bearings, tackings, and the like, would neither have been entertaining nor instructive.

What has been here omitted, concerning the geography of these islands, will be found in the narrative of my last voyage. [201] To that narrative I must also refer [202] for such particulars concerning the inhabitants, their manners, and arts, as I had observed then, and about which I saw no reason to change my judgment. At present I shall confine myself to such interesting particulars, as either were not mentioned in that narrative, or were imperfectly and incorrectly represented there; and to such as may serve to explain some passages in the foregoing account of our transactions with the natives.

It may, indeed, be expected that, after spending between two and three months amongst them, I should be enabled to clear up every difficulty, and to give a tolerably satisfactory account of their customs, opinions, and institutions, both civil and religious; especially as we had a person on board, who might be supposed qualified to act the part of an interpreter, by understanding their language and ours. But poor Omai was very deficient. For unless the object or thing we wanted to inquire about was actually before us, we found it difficult to gain a tolerable knowledge of it from information only, without falling into a hundred mistakes; and to such mistakes Omai was more liable than we were. For, having no curiosity, he never gave himself the trouble to make remarks for himself; and, when he was disposed to explain matters to us, his ideas appeared to be so limited, and, perhaps, so different from ours, that his accounts were often so confused, as to perplex, instead of instructing us. Add to this, that it was very rare that we found, amongst the natives, a person who united the ability and the inclination to give us the information we wanted; and we found that most of them hated to be troubled with what they probably thought idle questions. Our situation at Tongataboo, where we remained the longest, was likewise unfavourable. It was in a part of the country where there were few inhabitants except fishers. It was always holiday with our visitors, as well as with those we visited; so that we had but few opportunities of observing what was really the domestic way of living of the natives. Under these disadvantages it is not surprising that we should not be able to bring away with us satisfactory accounts of many things; but some of us endeavoured to remedy those disadvantages by diligent observation; and I am indebted to Mr. Anderson for a considerable share of what follows in this and in the following chapter. In other matters I have only expressed, nearly in his words, remarks that coincided with mine; but what relates to the religion and language of these people, is entirely his own.

The natives of the Friendly Islands seldom exceed the common stature (though we have measured some who were above six feet); but are very strong and well made, especially as to their limbs. They are generally broad about the shoulders; and though the muscular disposition of the men, which seems a consequence of much action, rather conveys the appearance of strength than of beauty, there are several to be seen who are really handsome. Their features are very various; insomuch, that it is scarcely possible to fix on any general likeness by which to characterize them, unless it be a fulness at the point of the nose, which is very common. But, on the other hand, we met with hundreds of truly European faces, and many genuine Roman noses amongst them. Their eyes and teeth are good; but the last neither so remarkably white, nor so well set, as is often found amongst Indian nations; though, to balance that, few of them have any uncommon thickness about the lips, a defect as frequent as the other perfection.

The women are not so much distinguished from the men by their features as by their general form, which is, for the most part destitute of that strong fleshy firmness that appears in the latter. Though the features of some are so delicate, as not only to be a true index of their sex, but to lay claim to a considerable share of beauty and expression, the rule is by no means, so general as in many other countries. But, at the same time, this is frequently the most exceptionable part; for the bodies and limbs of most of the females are well proportioned; and some absolutely perfect models of a beautiful figure. But the most remarkable distinction in the women, is the uncommon smallness and delicacy of their fingers, which may be put in competition with the finest in Europe.

The general colour is a cast deeper than the copper brown; but several of the men and women have a true olive complexion; and some of the last are even a great deal fairer; which is probably the effect of being less exposed to the sun; as a tendency to corpulence, in a few of the principal people, seems to be the consequence of a more indolent life. It is also amongst the last, that a soft clear skin is most frequently observed. Amongst the bulk of the people, the skin is more commonly of a dull hue, with some degree of roughness, especially the parts that are not covered; which, perhaps, may be occasioned by some cutaneous disease. We saw a man and boy at Hapaee, and a child at Annamooka, perfectly white. Such have been found amongst all black nations; but, I apprehend that their colour is rather a disease than a natural phenomenon.

There are, nevertheless, upon the whole, few natural defects or deformities to be found amongst them; though we saw two or three with their feet bent inward; and some afflicted with a sort of blindness, occasioned by a disease of the cornea. Neither are they exempt from some other diseases. The most common of which is the tetter, or ring-worm, that seems to affect almost one half of them, and leaves whitish serpentine marks every where behind it. But this is of less consequence than another disease, which is very frequent, and appears on every part of the body, in large broad ulcers, with thick white edges, discharging a thin clear matter; some of which had a very virulent appearance, particularly those on the face, which were shocking to look at; and yet we met with some who seemed to be cured of it, and others in a fair way of being cured; but this was not affected without the loss of the nose, or of the best part of it. As we know for a certainty [203] (and the fact is acknowledged by themselves), that the people of these islands were subject to this loathsome disease before the English first visited them, notwithstanding the similarity of symptoms, it cannot be the effect of the venereal contagion; unless we adopt a supposition, which I could wish had sufficient foundation in truth, that the venereal disorder was not introduced here from Europe, by our ships in 1773. It assuredly was now found to exist amongst them; for we had not been long there before some of our people received the infection; and I had the mortification to learn from thence, that all the care I took, when I first visited these islands, to prevent this dreadful disease from being communicated to their inhabitants, had proved ineffectual. What is extraordinary, they do not seem to regard it much; and as we saw few signs of its destroying effects, probably the climate, and the way of living of these people, greatly abate its virulence. There are two other diseases frequent amongst them; one of which is an indolent firm swelling, which affects the legs and arms, and increases them to an extraordinary size in their whole length. The other is a tumour of the same sort in the testicles, which sometimes exceed the size of the two fists. But, in other respects, they may be considered as uncommonly healthy; not a single person having been seen, during our stay, confined to the house by sickness of any kind. On the contrary, their strength and activity are every way answerable to their muscular appearance; and they exert both, in their usual employment, and in their diversions, in such a manner, that there can be no doubt of their being as yet little debilitated by the numerous diseases that are the consequence of indolence, and an unnatural method of life.

The graceful air and firm step with which these people walk, are not the least obvious proof of their personal accomplishments. They consider this as a thing so natural or so necessary to be acquired, that nothing used to excite their laughter sooner than to see us frequently stumbling upon the roots of trees, or other inequalities of the ground.

Their countenances very remarkably express the abundant mildness or good nature which they possess; and are entirely free from that savage keenness which marks nations in a barbarous state. One would indeed be apt to fancy, that they had been bred up under the severest restrictions, to acquire an aspect so settled, and such a command of their passions as well as steadiness in conduct. But they are at the same time, frank, cheerful, and good-humoured; though sometimes, in the presence of their chiefs, they put on a degree of gravity, and such a serious air as becomes stiff and awkward, and has an appearance of reserve.

Their peaceable disposition is sufficiently evinced, from the friendly reception all strangers have met with who have visited them. Instead of offering to attack them openly or clandestinely, as has been the case with most of the inhabitants of these seas, they have never appeared in the smallest degree hostile; but, on the contrary, like the most civilized people, have courted an intercourse with their visitors by bartering, which is the only medium that unites all nations in a sort of friendship. They understand barter (which they call fukkatou) so perfectly, that at first we imagined they might have acquired this knowledge of it by commercial intercourse with the neighbouring islands; but we were afterward assured that they had little or no traffic, except with Feejee, from which they get the red feathers, and the few other articles mentioned before. Perhaps, no nation in the world traffic with more honesty and less distrust. We could always safely permit them to examine our goods, and to hand them about, one to another; and they put the same confidence in us. If either party repented of the bargain, the goods were re-exchanged with mutual consent and good-humour. Upon the whole, they seem possessed of many of the most excellent qualities that adorn the human mind; such as industry, ingenuity, perseverance, affability, and, perhaps other virtues which our short stay with them might prevent our observing.

The only defect sullying their character, that we knew of, is a propensity to thieving; to which we found those of all ages and both sexes addicted, and to an uncommon degree. It should, however, be considered, that this exceptionable part of their conduct seemed to exist merely with respect to us; for, in their general intercourse with one another, I had reason to be of opinion, that thefts do not happen more frequently (perhaps less so) than in other countries, the dishonest practices of whose worthless individuals are not supposed to authorize any indiscriminate censure on the whole body of the people. Great allowances should be made for the foibles of these poor natives of the Pacific Ocean, whose minds we overpowered with the glare of objects equally new to them as they were captivating. Stealing amongst the civilized and enlightened nations of the world, may well be considered as denoting a character deeply stained with moral turpitude, with avarice unrestrained by the known rules of right, and with profligacy producing extreme indigence, and neglecting the means of relieving it. But at the Friendly and other islands which we visited, the thefts so frequently committed by the natives, of what we had brought along with us, may be fairly traced to less culpable motives. They seemed to arise, solely from an intense curiosity or desire to possess something which they had not been accustomed to before, and belonging to a sort of people so different from themselves. And, perhaps, if it were possible, that a set of beings seemingly as superior in our judgment as we are in theirs, should appear amongst us, it might be doubted, whether our natural regard to justice would be able to restrain many from falling into the same error. That I have assigned the true motive for their propensity to this practice, appears from their stealing every thing indiscriminately at first sight, before they could have the least conception of converting their prize to any one useful purpose. But, I believe, with us, no person would forfeit his reputation, or expose himself to punishment, without knowing before-hand, how to employ the stolen goods. Upon the whole, the pilfering disposition of these islanders, though certainly disagreeable and troublesome to strangers, was the means of affording us some information as to the quickness of their intellects. For their small thefts were committed with much dexterity; and those of greater consequence with a plan or scheme suited to the importance of the objects. An extraordinary instance of the last sort, their attempts to carry away one of the Discovery’s anchors at mid-day, has been already related.

Their hair is in general straight, thick, and strong; though a few have it bushy or frizzled. The natural colour, I believe, almost without exception, is black; but the greatest part of the men, and some of the women, have it stained of a brown or purple colour; and a few of an orange cast. The first colour is produced by applying a sort of plaster of burnt coral, mixed with water; the second by the raspings of a reddish wood, which is made up with water into a poultice, and laid over the hair; and the third is, I believe, the effect of turmeric root.

When I first visited these islands, I thought it had been an universal custom for both men and women to wear the hair short; but, during our present longer stay, we saw a great many exceptions. Indeed they are so whimsical in their fashions of wearing it, that it is hard to tell which is most in vogue. Some have it cut off one side of the head, while that on the other side remains long; some have only a portion of it cut short, or perhaps shaved; others have it entirely cut off, except a single lock, which is left commonly on one side, or it is suffered to grow to its full length without any of these mutilations. The women in general wear it short. The men have their beards cut short, and both men and women strip the hair from their arm-pits. The operation by which this is performed has been already described. The men are stained from about the middle of the belly, to about half way down the thighs, with a deep blue colour. This is done with a flat bone instrument cut full of fine teeth, which being dipped in the staining mixture, prepared from the juice of the dooe dooe, is struck into the skin with a bit of stick, and by that means indelible marks are made. In this manner they trace lines and figures, which, in some are very elegant, both from the variety, and from the arrangement. The women have only a few small lines or spots, thus imprinted on the inside of their hands. Their kings, as a mark of distinction, are exempted from this custom, as also from inflicting on themselves any of those bloody marks of mourning, which shall be mentioned in another place.

The men are all circumcised, or rather supercised; as the operation consists in cutting off only a small piece of the foreskin at the upper part; which by that means, is rendered incapable, ever after, of covering the glans. This is all they aim at; as they say the operation is practised from a notion of cleanliness.

The dress of both men and women is the same; and consists of a piece of cloth or matting (but mostly the former), about two yards wide, and two and a half long; at least so long as to go once and a half round the waist, to which it is confined by a girdle or cord. It is double before, and hangs down like a petticoat, as low as the middle of the leg. The upper part of the garment above the girdle, is plaited into several folds; so that when unfolded, there is cloth sufficient to draw up and wrap round the shoulders, which is very seldom done. This, as to form, is the general dress; but large pieces of cloth and fine matting, are worn only by the superior people. The inferior sort are satisfied with small pieces; and very often wear nothing but a covering made of leaves of plants, or the maro which is a narrow piece of cloth or matting, like a sash. This they pass between the thighs and wrap round the waist; but the use of it is chiefly confined to the men. In their great haivas, or entertainments, they have various dresses made for the purpose; but the form is always the same; and the richest dresses are covered, more or less, with red feathers. On what particular occasion their chiefs wear their large red feather-caps, I could not learn. Both men and women sometimes shade their faces from the sun with little bonnets, made of various materials.

As the clothing, so are the ornaments, worn by those of both sexes, the same. The most common of these are necklaces made of the fruit of the pandanus, and various sweet-smelling flowers, which go under the general name of kahulla. Others are composed of small shells, the wing and leg-bones of birds, shark’s teeth, and other things; all which hang loose upon the breast. In the same manner, they often wear a mother-of-pearl shell neatly polished, or a ring of the same substance carved on the upper part of the arm; rings of tortoise-shell on the fingers; and a number of these joined together as bracelets on the wrists.

The lobes of the ears (though, most frequently, only one,) are perforated with two holes, in which they wear cylindrical bits of ivory, about three inches long, introduced at one hole, and brought out of the other; or bits of reed of the same size, filled with a yellow pigment. This seems to be a fine powder of turmeric, with which the women rub themselves all over, in the same manner as our ladies use their dry rouge upon the cheeks.

Nothing appears to give them greater pleasure than personal cleanliness; to produce which, they frequently bathe in the ponds, which seem to serve no other purpose. [204] Though the water in most of them stinks intolerably, they prefer them to the sea; and they are so sensible that salt water hurts their skin, that when necessity obliges them to bathe in the sea, they commonly have some cocoa-nut shells filled with fresh water, poured over them to wash it off. They are immoderately fond of cocoa-nut oil for the same reason; a great quantity of which they not only pour upon their head and shoulders, but rub the body all over, briskly, with a smaller quantity. And none but those who have seen this practice, can easily conceive how the appearance of the skin is improved by it. This oil, however, is not to be procured by every one; and the inferior sort of people, doubtless, appear less smooth for want of it.