190 cook's VOYAGE TO JAN. 



a view to make another excursion up the country. 

 But before this could be put in execution, the day 

 was too far spent, so that I laid aside my intention 

 for the present, and it so happened that I had not 

 another opportunity. At sun-set, I brought every 

 body on board, having procured in the course of the 

 day, nine tons of water ; and, by exchanges, chiefly 

 for nails and pieces of iron, about seventy or eighty 

 pigs, a few fowls, a quantity of potatoes, and a few 

 plantains and taro roots. These people merited our 

 best commendations in this commercial intercourse, 

 never once attempting to cheat us, either ashore or 

 alongside the ships. Some of them, indeed, as al- 

 ready mentioned, at first betrayed a thievish dispo- 

 sition, or rather, they thought that they had a right 

 to every thing they could lay their hands upon ; but 

 they soon laid aside a conduct which, we convinced 

 them, they could not persevere in with impunity. 



Amongst the articles which they brought to bar- 

 ter this day, we could not help taking notice of a par- 

 ticular sort of cloak and cap, which, even in countries 

 where dress is more particularly attended to, might 

 be reckoned elegant. The first are nearly of the size 

 and shape of the short cloaks worn by the women of 

 England, and by the men in Spain, reaching to the 

 middle of the back, and tied loosely before. The 

 ground of them is a net-work upon which the most 

 beautiful red and yellow feathers are so closely 

 fixed that the surface might be compared to the 

 thickest and richest velvet, which they resemble, both 

 as to the feel and the glossy appearance. The man- 

 ner of varying the mixture is very different ; some 

 having triangular spaces of red and yellow, alter- 

 nately ; others, a kind of crescent ; and some that 

 were entirely red, had a broad yellow border, which 

 made them appear, at some distance, exactly like 

 a scarlet cloak edged with gold lace. The brilliant 

 colours of the feathers, in those that happened to be 

 new, added not a little to their fine appearance j and 



