1774- ROUND THE WORLD. SI 



man, in particular, followed us a considerable time, 

 and did not reach us till it was calm, and the thing 

 was forgotten. As soon as he came along-side, he 

 held up the thing which several were ready to buy ; 

 but he refused to part with it, till he saw the person 

 to whom he had before sold it, and to him he gave 

 it. The person not knowing him again, offered him 

 something in return, which he refused, and showed 

 him what he had given him before. Pieces of cloth 

 and marbled paper were in most esteem with them ; 

 but edge tools, nails, and beads, they seemed to dis- 

 regard. The greatest number of canoes we had 

 alongside at once did not exceed eight, and not more 

 than four or five people in each ; who would fre- 

 quently retire to the shore all on a sudden, before 

 they had disposed of half their things, and then others 

 would come off. 



At the time we came out of the harbour, it was 

 about low water, and great numbers of people were 

 then on the shoals or reefs which lie along the shore, 

 looking, as we supposed, for shell and other fish. 

 Thus our being on their coast, and in one of their 

 ports, did not hinder them from following the 

 necessary employments. By this time they might be 

 satisfied we meant them no harm ; so that, had we 

 made a longer stay, we might soon have been upon 

 good terms with this ape-like nation ; for, in ge- 

 neral, they are the most ugly, ill-proportioned people 

 I ever saw, and in every respect different from any 

 we had met with in this sea. They are a very dark- 

 coloured and rather diminutive race ; with long 

 heads, flat faces, and monkey countenances. Their 

 hair mostly black or brown, is short and curly ; 

 but not quite so soft and woolly as that of a negro. 

 Their beards are very strong, crisp, and bushy, and 

 generally black and short. But what most adds to 

 their deformity, is a belt, or cord, which they wear 

 round the waist, and tie so tight over the belly that 

 the shape of their bodies is not unlike that of an over- 



