124 cook's voyage to march, 



amongst whom was the old king, that cut it off entire- 

 ly; and others that wore it only upon the upper lip. 

 The same variety in the manner of wearing the hair 

 is also observable here, as among the other islanders 

 of the South Sea; besides which, they have a fashion, 

 as far as we know, peculiar to themselves. They 

 cut it close on each side the head, down to the ears, 

 leaving a ridge, of about a small hand's breadth, run- 

 ning from the forehead to the neck ; which, when the 

 hair is thick and curling, has the form of the crest of 

 the ancient helmet. Others wear large quantities of 

 false hair, flowing down their backs in long ringlets, 

 like the figure of the inhabitants of Horn Island, as 

 seen in Dalrymple's Voyages ; and others, again, tie 

 it into a single round bunch on the top of the head, 

 almost as large as the head itself; and some into five 

 or six distinct bunches. They daub their hair with 

 a grey clay, mixed with powdered shells, which they 

 keep in balls, and chew into a kind of soft paste, 

 when they have occasion to make use of it. This 

 keeps the hair smooth; and, in time, changes it to a 

 pale yellow colour. 



Both sexes wear necklaces, made of strings of 

 small variegated shells; and an ornament, in the form 

 of the handle of a cup, about two inches long, and 

 half an inch broad, made of wood, stone, or ivory, 

 finely polished, which is hung about the neck, by 

 fine threads of twisted hair, doubled sometimes an 

 hundred fold. Instead of this ornament, some of 

 them wear, on their breast, a small human figure, 

 made of bone, suspended in the same manner. 



The fan, or fly-flap, is also an ornament used by 

 both sexes. The most ordinary kind are made of the 

 fibres of the cocoa-nut, tied loose, in bunches, to the 

 top of a smooth polished handle. The tail-feathers 

 of the cock, and of the tropic-bird, are also used in 

 the same manner; but the most valuable are those 

 which have the handle made of the arm or leg bones 

 of an enemy slain in battle, and which are preserved 



