PACIFIC AND BEERINC'S STRAIT. 149 



which did not argue much in favour of the supplies 

 of the place, or the good will of the islanders. A 

 green banana, lying upon one of the rafts, was the 

 only eatable thing among them, excepting some 

 boiled tee-root, and bundles of that execrable paste, 

 which they had provided for their own breakfast. 

 Almost all our visiters were naked, with the excep- 

 tion of a girdle made of a banana leaf, cut into strips, 

 which by no means answered our idea of the in- 

 tended purpose. Maros were worn only by the 

 aged, and instead of them ligatures of straw were 

 applied in the manner described at St. Christina and 

 Nukahiwa.* The average height of the islanders 

 was five feet nine ; they were, generally speaking, 

 well made, their limbs round, without being muscu- 

 lar, and their figure upright and flexible. Tattoo- 

 ing was very extensively practised, in which respect, 

 as also in the arrangement of the lines, they again 

 reminded us of the Marquesans. This general prac- 

 tice in the South Seas, when judiciously executed, 

 besides having its useful effects, is highly ornamental. 

 In the Gambier Islanders there is a greater dis- 

 play of taste than I have seen or heard of anywhere 

 else, not excepting the Marquesans : but the Nuka- 

 hiwers, as well as the Otaheitans and others, attend 

 principally to device ; whereas the Gambier Island- 

 ers dispose the lines so as materially to improve the 

 figure, particularly about the waist, which, at a little 

 distance, has the appearance of being much smaller 

 than it really is. Whether this has been accidental 

 or designed we had no opportunity of learning. 

 The number of visiters on board was considera- 



* Krusenstern's Embassy to Japan, 4to. 



