254< cook's voyage to april, 



acceptable to him ; but, on his going away, he 

 seemed rather disappointed than pleased. I afterward 

 understood that he was very desirous of obtaining a 

 dog, of which animal this island could not boast, 

 though its inhabitants knew that the race existed in 

 other islands of their ocean. Captain Clerke had 

 received the like present, with the same view, from 

 another man, who met with from him the like dis- 

 appointment. 



The people in these canoes were in general of a 

 middling size, and not unlike those of Mangeea ; 

 though several were of a blacker cast than any we 

 saw there. Their hair was tied on the crown of the 

 head, or flowing loose about the shoulders ; and 

 though in some it was of a frizzling disposition, yet, 

 for the most part, that, as well as the straight sort, 

 was long. Their features were various, and some 

 of the young men rather handsome. Like those of 

 Mangeea, they had girdles of glazed cloth, or fine 

 matting, the ends of which, being brought betwixt 

 their thighs, covered the adjoining parts. Orna- 

 ments, composed of a sort of broad grass, stained 

 with red, and strung with berries of the night-shade, 

 w T ere worn about their necks. Their ears were 

 bored, but not slit ; and they were punctured upon 

 the legs, from the knee to the heel, which made 

 them appear as if they wore a kind of boots. They 

 also resembled the inhabitants of Mangeea in the 

 length of their beards, and like them, wore a sort of 

 sandals upon their feet. Their behaviour was frank 

 and cheerful, with a great deal of good-nature. 



At three o'clock in the afternoon, Mr. Gore re- 

 turned with the boat, and informed me, that he had 

 examined all the west side of the island, without 

 finding a place where a boat could land, or the ships 

 could anchor, the shore being every where bounded 

 by a steep coral rock, against which the sea broke in . 

 a dreadful surf. But as the natives seemed very 

 friendly, and to express a degree of disappointment 



