I777 THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 26'5 



this method was confined to those who seemed to be 

 of a superior rank ; and the men, in that case, were 

 also generally distinguished by their size and corpu- 

 lence, unless very young. The women of an ad- 

 vanced age had their hair cropped short ; and many 

 were cut in oblique lines all over the fore part of the 

 body ; and some of the wounds, which formed rhom- 

 boidal figures, had been so lately inflicted, that the 

 coagulated blood still remained in them. 



" The wife of one of the chiefs appeared with her 

 child laid in a piece of red cloth which had been pre- 

 sented to her husband, and seemed to carry it with 

 great tenderness, suckling it much after the manner 

 of our women. Another chief introduced his 

 daughter, who was young and beautiful, but appeared 

 with all the timidity natural to the sex, though she 

 gazed on us with a kind of anxious concern, that 

 seemed to struggle with her fear, and to express her 

 astonishment at so unusual a sight. Others advanced 

 with more firmness, and, indeed, were less reserved 

 than we expected, but behaved with a becoming 

 modesty. We did not observe any personal deformi- 

 ties amongst either sex, except in a few who had 

 scars of broad superficial ulcers remaining on the 

 face and other parts. In proportion to the number 

 of people assembled, there appeared not many old 

 men or women ; which may easily be accounted for, 

 by supposing that such as were in an advanced period 

 of life might neither have the inclination nor the 

 ability to come from the more distant parts of the 

 island. On the other hand, the children were nume- 

 rous ; and both these and the men climbed the trees 

 to look at us when we were hid by the surrounding 

 crowd. 



" About a third part of the men were armed with 

 clubs and spears ; and, probably, these were only the 

 persons who had come from a distance, as many of 

 them had small baskets, mats, and other things, 

 fastened to the ends of their weapons. The clubs 



