1770. ROUND THE WORLD. 58- 



ends, and sometimes headed with bone : these are 

 grasped by the middle, so that the part behind ba- 

 lancing that before, makes a push more difficult to 

 be parried, than that of a weapon which is held by 

 the end. The dart and other weapons have been suf- 

 ficiently described already ; and it has also been re- 

 marked, that these people have neither sling nor 

 bow. They throw the dart by hand, and so they do 

 stones ; but darts and stones are seldom used, except 

 in defending their forts. Their battles, whether in 

 boats or on shore, are generally hand to hand, and 

 the slaughter must consequently be great, as a second 

 blow with any of their weapons is unnecessary, if 

 the first takes place : their trust, however, seems to 

 be principally placed in the Patoo-Patoo, which is 

 fastened to their wrists by a strong strap, lest it 

 should be wrenched from them, and which the prin- 

 cipal people generally wear sticking in their girdles* 

 considering it as a military ornament, and part of 

 their dress, like the poniard of the Asiatic, and the 

 sword of the European. They have no defensive 

 armour ; but, besides their weapons, the chiefs carry 

 a staff of distinction, in the same manner as our offi- 

 cers do the spontoon : this was generally the rib of 

 a whale, as white as snow, with many ornaments of 

 carved work, dog's hair, and feathers; but some- 

 times it was a stick, about six feet long, adorned 

 in the same manner, and inlaid with a shell like 

 mother-of-pearl. Those who bore this mark of dis- 

 tinction were generally old, at least past the mid- 

 dle age, and were also more marked with the Amoco 

 than the rest. 



One or more persons, thus distinguished, always 

 appeared in each canoe, when they came to attack 

 us, according to the size of it. When they came 

 within about a cable's length of the ship, they used 

 to stop; and the chiefs rising from their seat, put on 

 a dress which seemed appropriated to the occasion, 

 generally of dog's skin, and holding out their deco- 



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