26^ cook's first voyage SEPT. 



lour, and even in our eye had not an inelegant 

 appearance. This cloth they manufacture themselves, 

 and two pieces, each about two yards Ions;, and a 

 yard and a half wide, make a dress : one of them is 

 worn round the middle, and the other covers the 

 upper part of the body : the lower edge of the piece 

 that goes round the middle, the men draw pretty 

 tight just below the fork, the upper edge of it is left 

 loose, so as to form a kind of hollow belt, which 

 serves them as a pocket to carry their knives, and 

 other little implements which it is convenient to have 

 about them. The other piece of cloth is passed 

 through this girdle behind, and one end of it being 

 brought over the left shoulder, and the other over 

 the right, they fall down over the breast, and are 

 tucked into the girdle before, so that by opening or 

 closing the plaits, they can cover more or less of their 

 bodies as they please ; the arms, legs, and feet are 

 always naked. The difference between the dress of 

 the two sexes consists principally in the manner of 

 wearing the waist-piece, for the women, instead of 

 drawing the lower edge tight, and leaving the upper 

 edge loose for a pocket, draw the upper edge tight, 

 and let the lower edge fall as low as the knees, so as 

 to form a petticoat ; the body-piece, instead of being 

 passed through the girdle, is fastened under the arms, 

 and cross the breast, with the utmost decency. I 

 have already observed, that the men fastened the 

 hair upon the top of the head, and the women tie it 

 in a club behind, but there is another difference in 

 the head-dress, by which the sexes are distinguished : 

 the women wear nothing as a succedaneum for a cap, 

 but the men constantly wrap something round their 

 heads in the manner of a fillet ; it is small, but gene- 

 rally of the finest materials that can be procured : we 

 saw some who applied silk handkerchiefs to this pur- 

 pose, and others that wore fine cotton, or muslin, in 

 the manner of a small turban, 



These people bore their testimony that the love 



