Dec. 



1825. 



PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 127 



twenty-two inches ; another, twenty-one inches and chap 

 three-quarters ; and in Polly Young, surnamed Big- 

 head, twenty -three inches, — the hair would make a 

 difference of about three-quarters of an inch. The 

 coronal region is full ; the forehead of good height 

 and breadth, giving an agreeable openness to the 

 countenance; the middle of the coronal suture is 

 rather raised above the surrounding parts. Their 

 complexion, in the first generation, is, in general, a 

 dark gipsy hue: there are, however, exceptions to 

 this ; some are fairer, and others, Joseph Christian in 

 particular, much darker.* 



The skin of these people, though in such robust 

 health, compared with our own, always felt cold ; 

 and their pulses were considerably lower than ours. 

 Mr. Collie examined several of them : in the fore- 

 noon he found George Young's only sixty ; three 

 others, in the afternoon, after dinner, were sixty- 

 eight, seventy -two, and seventy-six ; while those of 

 the officers who stood the heat of the climate best 

 were above eighty. Constant exposure to the sun, 

 and early training to labour, make these islanders 

 look at least eight years older than they really 

 are. 



The women are nearly as muscular as the men, 

 and taller than the generality of their sex. Polly 

 Young, who is not the tallest upon the island, mea- 

 sured five feet nine inches and a half. Accustomed 

 to perform all domestic duties, to provide wood for 

 cooking, which is there a work of some labour, as it 



* This man was idiotic, and differed so materially from the others 

 in colour that he is in all probability the offspring of the men of 

 colour who accompanied the mutineers to the island, and who, un- 

 less he be one, have left no progeny. 



