400 APPEARANCE OF THE NATIVES. [1841. 



Nearly thirty miles north-east of Nukufetau, is another 

 atoll of about the same size, known as Tracy's Island among 

 navigators, but called Oaitupu by the natives. The popula- 

 tion of this island is said to be from three to four hundred. 

 Near the sixth parallel of southern latitude, still further to 

 the north-west, are three coral islets — St. Augustine, Spie- 

 den's Island, and Hudson's Island — the last two named, 

 respectively, after the purser and commander of the Peacock. 

 All three of these islands are inhabited, but the population 

 cannot be very large. 



The islands belonging to Ellice's Group are well-wooded 

 with the cocoa-nut, pandanus, and pisonia. The inhabitants 

 subsist on the fruit of the first two, together with a species 

 of taro and another larger root, called pulaka, and the fish 

 that they take in abundance from the neighboring waters ; 

 to which is now and then added a pig from the small stock 

 on the islands. They are evidently descended from the 

 natives of the Union Group, though they are far less re- 

 served, and appear to have had more frequent intercourse 

 with the whites. Their complexion is several shades darker 

 than that of the Samoans, but there is a striking similarity 

 in their respective dialects. They are of middle size, slen- 

 der, and well-proportioned, though not handsome ; and their 

 features are sharp and distinctly marked, like those of 

 the Hawaiians. They salute strangers in the same manner 

 as the natives of the Union Group, but they are more active 

 and sociable, and, withal, more licentious. Their hair is 

 fine, black, and glossy, and is worn long, sometimes hanging 

 over the ears and shoulders, and at others gathered up in a 

 number of puffs or rolls on the head. The men allow their 

 beards and moustaches to grow, and seem to be as proud of 

 these appendages as a Feejeean. Holes arc bored in the 

 lobes of their ears and distended, and tortoise-shell rings 

 inserted in them. 



Tattooing is quite tastefully performed among them. 

 The men ornament their bodies, from the navel half-way 

 down the thighs, principally with horizontal stripes; and the 



