THE P A C I F I C O C E A N. 197 



ftained, or painted, all over with black, in numberlcfs fmall 1777. 

 figures ; as fquarcs, triangles, &c. and excelled, by far, ^" ' 

 any thing of that kind I had ever feen at any other ifland 

 in this ocean. Our friends here, indeed, feemed to have ex- 

 erted more fldll in doing this, than in pundluring their own 

 bodies. The paddles were about four feet long, nearly ellip- 

 tical ; but broader at the upper end than the middle. Near 

 the fame place v/as a hut or fhed, about thirty feet long, 

 and nine or ten high; in which, perhaps, thefe boats are 

 built ; but, at this time, it was empty. 



The greateftnumber of the trees around us were cocoa-palms; 

 fome forts of hiblfcus; a fpecies oi euphorbia \ and, toward the 

 fea, abundance of the fame kind of trees we had feen at 

 Mangeea Nooe Nainaivva ; and which feemed to furround 

 the fhores of this iiland in the fame manner. They are tall 

 and ilender, not much unlike a cyprefs; but with bunches 

 of long, round, articulated leaves. The natives call them 

 etoa. On the ground we faw fome grafs ; a fpecies of con- 

 volvulns ; and a good deal of treacJe-muJiard. There are alfo, 

 doubilefs, other fruit-trees and ufeful plants which we did 

 not fee. For, bcfides feveral forts of plantains, they brought, 

 at different times, roots which they call taro (the coccos of 

 other countries) ; a bread-fruit ; and a bafket of roafled nuts, 

 of a kidney-fhape, in tafle like a chefnut, but coarfer. 



What the foil of the ifland may be, farther inland, we 

 could not tell. But, toward the fea, it is nothing more 

 than a bank of coral, ten or twelve feet high, fleep, and 

 rugged; except where there are fmall fandy beaches, at 

 fome clefts where the afcent is gradual. The coral, though 

 it has, probably, been expofed to the weather for many 

 oenturies, has undergone no farther change than becom- 

 ?-., ing; 



