THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 



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us with prefents, fuitable to the refpect and kindnefs with «779- 



which he had received us. For, on our telling him we ■ e T* 7 ' 



mould leave the ifland on the next day but one, we obferved, 



that a fort of proclamation was immediately made, through 



the villages, to require the people to bring in their hogs, 



and vegetables, for the king to prefent to the Orono, on his 



departure. 



We were this day much diverted, at the beach, by the 

 buffooneries of one of the natives. He held in his hand 

 an inftrument, of the fort defcribed in the lafl volume*; 

 fomc bits of fea-weed were tied round his neck ; and 

 round each leg, a piece of ftrong netting, about nine 

 inches deep, on which a great number of dogs' teeth were 

 loofely fattened, in rows. His flyle of dancing was en- 

 tirely burlefque, and accompanied with flrange grimaces, 

 and pantomimical diftortions of the face ; which though 

 at times inexpreflibly ridiculous, yet, on the whole, was 

 without much meaning, or expreflion. Mr. Webber thought 

 it worth his while to make a drawing of this pcrfon, as ex- 

 hibiting a tolerable fpecimen of the natives ; the manner in 

 which the maro is tied ; the figure of the inftrument before 

 mentioned, and of the ornaments round the legs, which, at 

 other times, we alfo faw ufed by their dancers. 



In the evening, we were again entertained with wreftling 

 and boxing matches ; and we difplaycd, in return, the few 

 fireworks we had left. Nothing could be better calculated 

 to excite the admiration of thefe iilanders, and to impici's 

 them with an idea of our great fuperiority, than an exhibi- 

 tion of this kind. Captain Cook has already defcribed the 

 extraordinary effects of that which was made at Hapaec ; 



* See Vol. ii. p. 236. 



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